Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Nightmare and Reunion “Smack! Smack!” The instructor’s barbed whip came down hard across Mu Ruotang’s back, tearing her skin and leaving bloody welts crisscrossed over it. Beneath her tattered clothes, old and new wounds alike split open, and blood welled up once more. “Ah!” Before she could catch her breath, another instructor drove a sharp needle viciously into her finger. “Ah!” Mu Ruotang cried out in agony again and again. She tried to curl into herself, but the instructor grabbed her by the hair and forced her head up. “It’s supposed to hurt, Mu Ruotang. Who told you to make that call for help?” The instructor’s eyes were wild. “You pushed Lin Xuewei, Mr. Shen’s lifesaver, down the stairs and broke her leg. This is what you deserve.” “Miss Lin saved Mr. Shen’s life when she was a child, and she was left with hearing loss because of it. You’re Mr. Shen’s fiancée, yet not only did you refuse to help him care for her, you cruelly pushed her down the stairs. Don’t you think you deserve this?” The sharp pain bored relentlessly into her bones. She was in so much pain she had no strength left to struggle… “No!” Yan Xianyu jolted awake from her nightmare, cold sweat beading at her temples. Only when she saw the ceiling above her did she realize she had once again dreamed of the days of torment at the women’s academy on the isolated island. She wasn’t called Mu Ruotang anymore. When she was fifteen, her mother passed away. Her father soon married his childhood sweetheart and brought home a stepsister, but paid her no attention. Old Madam Shen and Mu Ruotang’s maternal grandmother had been old friends, and she and Old Madam Shen’s eldest grandson, Shen Xiuhan, had been betrothed since childhood. Worried her stepmother would mistreat her in the Mu household, Old Madam Shen took her in. A year and a half ago, at a birthday banquet for Shen’s mother, Lin Xuewei had fallen down the stairs and broken her leg. Mu Ruotang had been standing right behind her, so everyone decided she had cruelly pushed Lin Xuewei down the stairs. Although she urgently insisted she hadn’t pushed her, no one believed her. Not even her fiancé, Shen Xiuhan. To give the Lin family an explanation, Shen Xiuhan had discussed it with Old Madam Shen and then forcibly sent her to the “Virtue Cultivation Women’s Academy” on the DNY island to be reformed. Its motto was “Cultivate virtue and propriety; nurture grace and build character.” It looked like an institution devoted to education, but in truth it was a dark prison where students were forced into grueling labor. There, she was forced to work seventeen or eighteen hours every day, fed moldy steamed buns, and beaten and jabbed with needles by several instructors if she failed to meet her quota. She called Grandma Shen for help, but the line was busy. With no other choice, she called Shen Xiuhan, only to be met with his cold mockery: “What, it’s only been five days at Virtue Cultivation Women’s Academy and you, a pampered young lady, can’t take it already? Can’t you have some self-respect instead of clinging to the Shen family like a parasite, sucking us dry?” Her eyes reddened, her throat tight. She wanted to tell him that Virtue Cultivation Women’s Academy was nothing like the wonderful place people outside claimed it was. It was a living hell. They beat her, humiliated her, and tortured her every day. They forced her to work like a slave. She had only called for help because she couldn’t take it anymore. But before she could get the words out, Lin Xuewei’s frail, aggrieved voice came through on the other end. Shen Xiuhan immediately warned her in a cold voice to stay at the women’s academy and reflect on herself. She was not to call Grandma and put on a sob story to win her sympathy. If she didn’t change her vicious nature, she would never be allowed back! She had endured endless torment there, and she had lost count of how many times she had cried until her eyes were swollen. In her despair, she had even thought about killing herself. But remembering her mother’s final words, she dropped the shard of glass from her hand. She had to stay alive. They had abandoned her, and Shen Xiuhan didn’t want her—but that wasn’t her fault. Why should she die like this? She still had to return to the capital and reclaim the inheritance her maternal grandmother and mother had left her. She couldn’t let Mu Ruotang’s heartless, ungrateful stepfather—her father—keep the assets of the Mu family for himself. “Knock, knock, knock…” Assistant Liu tapped the counter lightly, his voice edged with anger. “Yan Xianyu, didn’t you hear what I said? Take a few coffees to Mr. Zhou’s office.” His voice broke into her thoughts. “Ass… Assistant Liu, I’ll go right away.” Seeing her dazed, foolish look, Assistant Liu shook his head in disdain. If it weren’t for Doctor Cheng’s sake, Mr. Zhou would never have hired such a dim-witted assistant. “Hurry up and take them over. Don’t keep the client waiting.” She made four cups of coffee in the break room, carried them to the general manager’s office, and knocked lightly. “Come in.” Hearing Mr. Zhou’s voice, she carried in the coffee without looking around. “Mr. Shen, have some coffee and take a break. Then we can continue talking.” Shen Xiuhan’s gaze was calm and reserved. “Mr. Zhou, your proposal is well thought out. I think we have a good chance of working together.” The tray in Yan Xianyu’s hands trembled almost imperceptibly, and coffee spilled over the edge at once. That voice exploded in her ears like a bolt of thunder. It was him! She would never forget his vicious voice: “Mu Ruotang, I always thought you were just spoiled and domineering, but I never imagined you could be so vicious as to push Xuewei down the stairs!” With one sentence, he had pronounced her guilty. The man before her had suddenly entered her field of vision. It was none other than her cold, heartless fiancé, Shen Xiuhan. He wore a dark, custom-made suit, and his bearing was still as noble and aloof, his expression cold and distant. All the color drained from Yan Xianyu’s face. What was a wealthy young master from the capital doing in Ningcheng, thousands of miles away? Or had he… discovered that she worked here and come all this way to drag her back to Virtue Cultivation Women’s Academy for more “reform”? The thought rooted her to the spot, as if she were trapped in a frozen nightmare. “Xiao Yan, what are you standing there for? Bring the coffee over.” Mr. Zhou’s voice reminded her that this wasn’t a dream. When she came back to herself, her legs were tingling. Then she suddenly thought of something and instinctively raised a hand to shield her face. But then she remembered that she no longer had her old face. She forced down her unease and quickly dismissed the idea that Shen Xiuhan had come for her. That was right. She had a different face now, and she was no longer a 150-jin heavyset girl. How could he recognize her? Besides, back then, Doctor Cheng had secretly arranged for a cold, lifeless corpse to take her place. He had also switched the DNA samples. Mu Ruotang had died on that island half a year ago. Shen Xiuhan must have heard by now that she had died in that fire. He would only be happy. So how could he possibly have found her here? Mr. Zhou noticed the coffee spilled across the tray and frowned in displeasure. “Can’t you even handle a little thing like this?” Seeing how utterly clueless Yan Xianyu was, Zhou Chengyun worried Shen Xiuhan would think they were treating him poorly. He softened his expression and apologized. “She’s new and still getting used to the workplace, Mr. Shen.” Shen Xiuhan happened to glance up. The moment he did, Yan Xianyu’s breathing went ragged, and her blood seemed to freeze all over again. Fortunately, Shen Xiuhan barely looked at her before coolly turning his gaze away.