The skyline of Yundu was swallowed by leaden clouds. Behind the floor-to-ceiling windows of the 88th floor of the Li Corporation, Su Ran's fingertips brushed repeatedly over the divorce agreement. The words "leave with nothing" were like icy blades, cutting into the palm of her hand. Five years of marriage had culminated in nothing but the man's cold, terse command: "Sign it."
Li Han sat behind the walnut executive desk, his gaze as frigid as glacial ice behind his gold-rimmed glasses. The knuckles of his fingers, flipping through the documents, were pale, and the wedding ring engraved with Bai Zhi's birthday reflected a piercing light under the office lamps. Su Ran suddenly remembered their wedding night—he had sat in the study just like this, not even glancing at her, leaving her kneeling on the carpet in her wedding dress until dawn.
"Mr. Li," she suddenly laughed, her voice trembling with a fragile edge, "can't you even grant me this last bit of dignity?" The pen tip left an ink blot on the agreement, like the thousand holes now puncturing her heart. Outside, thunder roared, and the rain finally poured down, washing over the gilded letters of "Li Corporation" on the glass façade.
Li Han's movements paused. The man who always seemed unshakable now had an Adam's apple bobbing, as if he were swallowing something searingly painful. He removed his glasses slowly, so slowly that Su Ran could clearly see the fine lines at the corners of his eyes—lines she had never noticed before, etched with a weariness she had never seen.
"What do you want?" His voice was hoarse, almost unrecognizable. "Anything I can give."
Su Ran suddenly recalled that stormy night three years ago. She had huddled in the hospital corridor, listening to the doctor ask, "Save the mother or the child?" On her phone was a message from him in Switzerland: "Take care of the pregnancy. Wait for me to return." But he didn't know that Bai Zhi's hospital room was just next door, his "white moonlight" undergoing chemotherapy.
"I want you to remember this day," she said, pressing her thumbprint onto the agreement, wet with rainwater. "Remember who you let go of." As she turned, her stiletto heels shattered the sunlight scattered across the floor. The glass façade reflected the diamond necklace around her neck—a gift he had given her on their third anniversary, mistaking her for Bai Zhi.
When the red stamp of the Civil Affairs Bureau marked the divorce, Su Ran smelled freedom. She placed the divorce certificate into her crocodile leather handbag—a compensation he had casually tossed to her the month before. As she stepped out into the rain, she felt for the hidden compartment and retrieved the bottle of antidepressants that had accompanied her through 730 sleepless nights. The white pills scattered into the downpour, and in that moment, a voice in her heart whispered, "Su Ran, your revenge has only just begun."
Li Han stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching her figure disappear into the rain. Absently, he rubbed the inside of his wedding ring, where Bai Zhi's birthday was engraved. Suddenly, he remembered the night before, when he had sorted through old belongings in the study and found a gilt-edged diary among Su Ran's things. The last page read: "If tears could freeze, Li Han, you would already be the Arctic in the palm of my hand."
The rain washed over Yundu's neon lights as Su Ran stood before the glass walls of the international airport, her fingertips lightly tracing her new name on the passport. "Raven, the name suits you," Shen Yizhou handed her a warm coffee, his gaze unfathomable behind his gold-rimmed glasses. Three years ago, when he had pulled her back from the edge of the rooftop, he had said the same thing.
In the first-class cabin, Su Ran slipped on black gloves, her fingers gliding over a tablet. The stock chart of Li Corporation resembled her own EKG, fluctuating wildly. As the plane broke through the clouds, she issued her first command on the dark web forum: "It's time to close the net."
Three years later, at the Yundu International Financial Summit.
Spotlights focused on the end of the red carpet as a man in a black tuxedo walked in, escorting a mysterious woman. Shen Yizhou's hand rested lightly on her waist. She wore a black veil, revealing only her crimson lips. The crowd buzzed when they noticed the emerald ring on her finger—an exact match to the heirloom engagement ring of the Li family.
"Welcome, Ms. Raven," the host began, but before he could finish, the crystal chandeliers in the banquet hall suddenly went dark. When the lights came back on, the giant screen began playing a video exposing the financial black hole of Li Corporation. Su Ran removed her veil, her crimson lips curling into a cold smile as she addressed the livid Li Han in the audience: "Mr. Li, it's been a while, hasn't it?"
Li Han shot to his feet, his wine glass shattering on the floor. Three years had passed, and she had transformed into someone cold and resolute, her eyes no longer holding the timidity and endurance of the past. He suddenly remembered the anonymous package he had received the night before. Inside was a blood-stained diary, its last page reading: "Li Han, can you guess what birthday gift I've prepared for you?"
The rain poured down again as Su Ran stood on the rooftop of Li Corporation, watching the man approach her. "Why?" Li Han's voice trembled as it never had before. "You—"
"I should have continued loving you like a dog, is that it?" Su Ran interrupted him, her fingers brushing the lapel of his suit, where the cufflinks she had given him were pinned. "Mr. Li, your biggest mistake was thinking I would always be the Su Ran you could trample on."
Outside, thunder roared, and Li Han suddenly grabbed her wrist, pinning it against the glass. Su Ran looked at the redness in the corners of his eyes and laughed. "Only now are you realizing the worth of your stand-in? Too late." She raised her left hand, the emerald ring glinting eerily in the lightning. "This ring? I dug it out of Bai Zhi's grave."
Li Han recoiled as if struck, stumbling back and knocking over a display shelf. Amid the shattering of glass, Su Ran walked toward the elevator, her stilettos clicking like a death knell. As the elevator doors closed, she heard the man's nearly broken cry: "Su Ran! I beg you..."
She pressed the button for the basement level, a victor's smile on her lips. In the underground garage, Shen Yizhou was waiting for her. And far away, Shen Yue's private jet was crossing the Pacific, unaware that his business empire was crumbling under Su Ran's control.