Pain...
A searing, tearing agony jolted Su Qing'er awake.
Still dazed, she found herself staring into a pair of deep, familiar eyes. For a moment, she froze.
Hadn't she died?
Was this a dream?
The man's strikingly handsome yet icy face was glistening with sweat, his dark eyes burning with restrained desire. His low voice carried a barely contained fury, each word gritted between his teeth.
"Was it you who drugged me?"
Before she could even process the question, another wave of excruciating pain tore through her, radiating from her lower body. The agony was so intense it robbed her of all thought. A whimper escaped her lips, only to be swallowed by his bruising kiss.
Like a boat tossed in stormy seas, she gradually lost consciousness, sinking into a long, feverish dream.
She was back in that cold, merciless prison.
Shoved into a filthy, stinking restroom by a jeering crowd, she stumbled forward. A heavyset woman at the front sneered, gripping a thick wooden club. With a cruel laugh, she spat at Su Qing'er.
"Still acting like the high-and-mighty Miss Su of Haicheng, are we? Look at yourself now—nothing but a murderer!"
"Honestly, the world would be better off without her," another voice chimed in. "To fight over inheritance, she set her own family on fire! Killed them all, and then ran over her own sister, crippling her for life! What kind of monster does that?"
"No... it wasn't me!" Su Qing'er shook her head desperately, her half-burned face twisted in anguish. Her once-lustrous hair was now matted with filth, framing her disfigured features like a grotesque mask. Her swollen, stiff fingers clawed at the doorframe as hot tears streamed down her cheeks.
She hadn't started that fire. She hadn't...
"Pfft, still refusing to admit it even now? Still hoping someone will come save you?"
"Who'd bother saving her? The only family she's got left is that sister of hers. Thank heavens this wicked woman ended up in prison—her sister finally got free and married into a wealthy family."
Su Qing'er stiffened, her gaze drifting toward the woman who spoke, her voice barely a whisper. "Su Yueguang... got married?"
"Rumor has it the wedding's today. The groom? None other than the famous Young Master Bo, from one of the most powerful families in Haicheng."
Su Qing'er felt as if she'd been struck by lightning.
*Him.*
"Hey!" A plump woman clicked her tongue, giving Su Qing'er a disdainful kick. "I heard you used to be Young Master Bo's wife. Tsk tsk. Guess karma finally caught up with you, huh?"
Su Qing'er lowered her head, her eyes burning with unshed tears, a bitter ache tightening her chest.
Yes... five years ago, she *had* been his wife.
But now? Who in all of Haicheng even remembered her?
If anyone mentioned her name, they'd probably just spit in disgust.
Back then, she'd been too proud, too stubborn. She'd listened to the rumors calling him cruel and heartless, ignored every gesture of kindness he made, and stubbornly demanded a divorce.
She'd let her *dear sister* whisper poison in her ear—throwing tantrums every other day, stirring up ridiculous scenes, even pretending to be involved with other men.
Until finally, Bo Lichen had drifted further and further away... until their marriage shattered completely.
"Why waste time talking to her? Didn’t *he* say... today..." A short woman smirked, rubbing her fingers together in the universal sign for money.
The others grinned greedily, gripping their clubs as they closed in on Su Qing'er—lost in her pain, drowning in regret.
At last.
Under the brutal rain of blows, Su Qing’er—pale and emaciated—clutched her abdomen as a sudden, searing pain tore through her. The metallic tang of blood rose in her throat before darkness swallowed her. In that fleeting moment before unconsciousness, a single image flashed before her eyes: Su Yueguang shoving her into that malfunctioning car.
*"Go, sis! Just go! I’ll explain everything to the police!"*
*"It was her—she set the fire that killed Mom and Dad, then tried to run me over!"*
No...
That wasn’t how it happened.
It wasn’t...
No one believed her.
No one—except *him*.
But now, tainted and broken, she was no longer worthy of him.
————
Her eyes fluttered open.
Blinding sunlight spilled over her, warm and golden. Above her, an ornate crystal chandelier glittered, casting prismatic reflections across the room. Beneath her, the bed was impossibly soft, as if she were sinking into a cloud.
The sheer reality of it—the comfort, the luxury—jolted Su Qing’er upright. She stared, unblinking, at her surroundings.
This room...
Wasn’t this the bridal suite she had once shared with Bo Lichen?