The echo of the slap lingered in the silent living room.
No one spoke.
The Zhao elders, dignified and aloof, looked at her with half-closed eyes, barely wanting to even acknowlegde her presence.
On the other side, Zhao Haoran's expression tightened, his dark eyes flashing with something colder than indifference—disgust. He looked at Su Meili as though she were a leper, then turned his face away.
Zhao Yiran and her mother were obviously feeling satisfied, having witnessed her humiliation.
Zhao Dongyuan, always good-tempered, frowned, a little overwhelmed by the events. After a moment, he placed a hand on Lin Fanghua's trembling arm, guiding her aside with quiet firmness.
"That's enough." he said with a low voice edged with steel. "Control yourself and don't embarass the child like that in front of everyone."
Lin Fanghua was shaking, caught between rage and humiliation. "It wouldn't have hapenned if she actually knew shame!"
Kang Ya gave a sharp little laugh, covering her mouth with a hand, not even hiding her mocking tone. "Well, one thing's for sure. Haoran and Meili are siblings now. Whatever silly ideas your Meili has in her head must be corrected. We can't allow such nonsense staining the Zhao family's reputation."
Her words, coated in sugar, dripped with schadenfreude.
Zhao Dongyuan's face tightened, but he didn't reply. Instead, he turned toward the elders, inclining his head respectfully. "I apologize for the scene tonight. My family has troubled you all. We will take our leave."
He gathered his wife and children, and they departed the Zhao mansion in a strained silence.
Lin Fanghua walked stiffly beside her daughter, face pale with humiliation. The moment they were back in their own house, her fury boiled over.
Back at home, Zhao Dongyuan set his keys down and sighed. "Haoran, go to your room. I need to speak with your mother and your sister."
Zhao Haoran nodded stiffly, casting a brief, unreadable glance toward Su Meili before disappearing upstairs.
In the quiet that followed, Zhao Dongyuan gestured for Su Meili to sit. His expression was calm, his tone even but serious."Meili, tell me the truth. Is what Yiran said true?"
Su Meili's lips parted. She hesitated — not because she feared him, but because Zhao Dongyuan had always been fair with her, patient in a way no one else in the family was. She couldn't bring herself to lie.
"That was when I was younger," she admitted quietly. "I don't have any romantic feelings for Haoran now."
Before Zhao Dongyuan could respond, Lin Fanghua cut in sharply."Are you even saying the truth? If you don't like Haoran, why did you push Yiran? And why would she say that in front of everyone?"
Su Meili turned her head and fixed her mother with an unflinching stare. Her voice, though steady, carried a weight that silenced the room."Don't you know that Yiran hates me? That she'd do anything to make me look like a joke? Can't you see it?"
Lin Fanghua's face darkened. "If you behaved well, maybe she wouldn't be so against you. You can't get along with anyone in this family! You only go around playing the delinquent, dragging me down, making me a laughingstock!"
Su Meili stood in silence, letting every cruel word wash over her. She didn't argue back.
She doesn't know how her relationship with her mother became so strained.
Her parents had divorced when she was nine, after her father, Su Tian, betrayed her mother with another woman. Both remarried quickly and Su Meili found herself caught between two homes, spending only the week-ends on her mother's side.
Unfortunately, still young and naive, she believed the lies her father and stepmother told her about Lin Fanghua. Little by little, Su Meili came to believe that her mother was the one that broke their family and that she wanted to abandon her by divorcing. Thus, she would often start quarrel swith her mother because of that, especially when she witnessed how kind Lin Fanghua was with Zhao Haoran. Meanwhile, her stepmother showered her with indulgence, doing her best to make her a stupid spoiled brat.
By the time she was fourteen, the quiet sadness had hardened into open rebellion.Li Sitong, overwhelmed and unable to communicate, responded with strict rules, cries, and occasional slaps. And Su Meili, desperate for her mother's attention, pushed further and further—skipping classes, fighting at school, dressing like a street gangster, doing everything she could to be noticed in a household where Lin Fanghua's eyes were fixed on Zhao Haoran, the perfect son she wished she could have birthed.
Now looking at her mother, a hollow smile on her lips, she responded. "I'm sorry to be such a huge burden to you. Don't worry… I won't be a bother anymore."
She rose to her feet, then turned to Zhao Dongyuan, her voice softening. "Good night, Uncle Zhao."
Zhao Dongyuan's brows furrowed as though he wanted to say more, but before he could, she was already retreating toward her room.
Behind her, Lin Fanghua muttered under her breath, voice thick with bitterness:"As if anyone would believe that…"
The door closed softly, and the silence that followed weighed heavier than the arguments.
That night, after her mother's door slammed shut, Su Meili quietly pulled out a suitcase. One by one, she folded her clothes, and gathered her identity documents and important stuff.
Her mind was clear: she could not stay here anymore and endure the cries, the slaps and the humiliation. She needed to find another place to stay, or ele she would not be able to leave the past behind and enjoy this renewed breath of life.
She waited till dawn, when the house was still and sleeping, then she slipped out with a backpack and 2 suitcases in each hand.
With her pocket money, she booked a private room in a modest youth hostel not far from the city center. The space wasn't big but all the necessary was there: a bed, a desk and a bathroom.
She dropped her luggage in a corner and changed the bedding, then she unpacked her suitcases and put away her clothes. After that, she put on a pajama and climbed on the bed. She layed down, and for the first time since her rebirth, she could breathe. She was alive, had a place of her own and a long life ahead of her.
She slept a few hours and, later that morning, started getting ready to run some errands.
After a quick shower, she pulled on a pair of baggy jeans, an oversized black T-shirt, and her heavy combat boots. At the mirror, she puts some eye liner, tied up her hair, then headed to the hairdresser.
After getting a coloration touch-up and a moisturizing treatment, she had a cut. She originally only wanted to cut her damaged ends, but she finally changed her mind. The scissors snipped away, and reshaped her curtain of hair into a sharp wolfcut, still vivid red but wilder and fiercer.
She left the salon looking like the very picture of rebellion, her aura sharper than ever.
Her next stop was the private school she had been in since her first hight school year. Hoping for her to become a serious student, her mother had begged the Zhao family to place her in the honor class where all the school toppers were.
When she entered the educators' office, they blinked as they recognized the out of the ordinary outfit, but they weren't sure about the face. Whith her mask gone, she had a fresh and cute face that could have easily garnered some good feelings if they chose to ignore her piercings and atypical haircut.
Ignoring the stares, she went to the teacher responsible of her grade, and plainly said: "I want to transfer from the honor class to the regular track".
A silence fell. One of the female teachers frowned. "You… want to leave the honor class? You do realize many students would do anything for that opportunity, don't you?"
"Yes, but I don't belong there. My level is far below the other students, and I won't be able to follow their rythm."
The teachers exchanged glances, but there was no more resistance. Everyone knew she had been parachuted into the advanced class thanks to the Zhao name, not her grades. The adjustment was signed off almost immediately.
"And one more thing. I'd like to apply for a room in the dormitory."
The female teacher arched a brow. "Why would you move to the school dormitory? Don't you live with your parents?"
"I prefer the dorms."
The head teacher studied her for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. We'll assign you a room this afternoon."
With the paperwork signed, Su Meili left the office, her boots echoing down the polished hallway. Her back was straight, her head high.
She didn't notice the figure standing at the corner of the building.
A girl in a soft white dress, hair tied with a ribbon, watched her silently. Her features were delicate and she looked like the perfect good girl. The girl lips curved into a practiced, gentle smile when she recognized Su Meili. This was Su Wanrou, her half-sister from her father's side.
Her wide eyes blinked, a perfect picture of innocence. But beneath them, calculation flickered.
So… that's Su Meili? How come she discarded her trashy makeup today? Looks like there's something going on at the Zhao's side.
She turned gracefully, the hem of her dress swaying as she walked away, her phone already in her hand, looking for Zhao Haoran's number.