In the dimly lit room, Qin Sheng opened her eyes, still feeling the sharp pain in her chest. Not long before, a knife had been embedded there.
She could not forget the sensation of the razor-sharp blade piercing her heart, the relentless agony burrowing into her core, searing through her very marrow.
Lying on the floor, her blood flowed steadily, and her breathing grew increasingly labored.
Her final vision was of Qin Churuo, also sprawled on the floor, her eyes blazing with fury.
Qin Churuo was dead. Qin Sheng had withdrawn the knife from her own chest and used it to strike at her, choosing to end their lives together.
Qin Churuo had once been Qin Sheng's sister, the person she trusted most in the world.
Yet it was she who had drained Qin Sheng's worth, ultimately demanding her life.
Qin Churuo had exploited her to get close to Fu Hanchuan.
Used her to become a master painter.
Used her to attain the status of a film queen.
Used her to elevate the Qin Group to a top 500 global conglomerate.
Qin Churuo had seized all honors for herself. Though she appeared innocent and harmless, every action she took was aimed at leading Qin Sheng to her demise.
Envious of her artistic talent, Qin Churuo had schemed to break her hands.
In the end, with Qin Sheng rendered worthless, Qin Churuo poisoned her food and water with slow-acting toxins.
Every recollection caused Qin Sheng's hands to clutch the bedsheet tightly, her heart filled with overwhelming hatred.
Qin Churuo had destroyed her, taken her family, and stripped her of everything.
But now?
Hadn't she died?
Why was she still here, alive?
Was Qin Churuo trying to save her just to torment her further?
Qin Sheng composed herself.
No, Qin Churuo would never save her, and she had also killed Qin Churuo. Qin Churuo was dead.
Qin Sheng then took a closer look at her surroundings.
A run-down brick house, a quilt tainted with mildew, a bed barely long enough for her—everything was hauntingly familiar.
"Feng Family?"
Perhaps due to her long silence, Qin Sheng's voice was slightly hoarse.
She clutched her chest. She could never forget this place.
For she had lived in this house for seventeen years.
Everything that had transpired here had become an indelible nightmare of her life.
How had she returned here?
Qin Sheng's brow furrowed.
At that moment, an impatient woman's voice rang out from the doorway.
"Lazy girl! Why are you still in bed?"
"I'm telling you, if you make your sister wait any longer, I won't spare you!"
Shen Mei, wearing an apron, entered.
Seeing Qin Sheng sitting on the bed, Shen Mei's anger flared further. "Get up already! You've had a fever and have been lying in bed for two days. Do you really think you're a young lady? Hmph, you're nothing but a lowly wretch I've toiled over."
Qin Sheng had a fever, and Shen Mei, unwilling to spend on medical care, had allowed her to remain bedridden for two days.
Shen Mei wiped her hands on her apron. "The guests have arrived. Get yourself ready quickly."
Hearing this, Qin Sheng's heart sank, and her expression grew cold.
It seemed she had been reborn, back to the day she was brought back to the Qin family.
Seeing that Qin Sheng had not moved, Shen Mei grew impatient. "Still waiting for me to serve you?"
A burning smell wafted from the kitchen.
"My fish!"
The Feng family was impoverished, and eating fish was considered a luxury.
Now, with the fish burnt, Shen Mei blamed Qin Sheng.
"You jinxed girl, nothing good has happened since you came to my house."
Shen Mei left in a huff.
Qin Sheng rose from the bed. After two days without food, the table in the living room was set with some meat, vegetables, and rice.
Qin Sheng could only eat one bowl of rice before feeling full.
During her seventeen years with the Feng family, Shen Mei had been stingy with food, so even after two days of hunger, her stomach could only manage a small amount.
"Is it ready?" a man in a suit entered.
Shen Mei had already served the fish, and upon hearing the man's question, she left the kitchen with a forced smile. "Coming right up."
Once the man left, Shen Mei glared at Qin Sheng. "Hurry up!"
Qin Sheng, not wishing to remain with the Feng family, returned to her room and quickly packed her few belongings.
She finished packing in no time.
Shen Mei and the others were already waiting outside.
As Qin Sheng came out, Shen Mei gave a harsh warning. "You'd better be good to your sister when you return to the Qin family. Without her, you wouldn't be going back. If she tells you to go east, you must not go west! Understand?"