The sharp scent of antiseptic lingered in the air, mixing with the faint aroma of expensive perfume and sterilized sheets.
Li Wen lay still, his fragile chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. The sterile hum of medical equipment filled the background, broken only by the occasional muted footsteps of staff outside the private suite.
His mother, Madam Chen, held him with the same grace she carried in public — poised, practiced — but there was no affection behind her cool, almond-shaped eyes.
"It's done," she whispered softly, as if the words were for herself, not him.
His father, Li Zhonghai, didn't so much as glance at him. His sharp features, pressed suit, and distant eyes focused on a tablet in his hand — even now, skimming reports, scanning market numbers.
The birth of their first and only son — the heir to the vast Li Conglomerate — had been reduced to an item on their schedule.
Li Wen's newborn face betrayed none of the turmoil raging inside. But his mind… his mind was decades older, heavier with regret, sharper with the lessons burned into him by failure.
---
Two Hours Later — VIP Wing, Private Room
The soft knock on the door barely disturbed the quiet.
A tall, older woman entered — the family butler's wife, Mrs. Zhang. A figure Li Wen vaguely remembered from his previous life. Stern, competent, and, more importantly, one of the few staff members who wasn't corrupted by the family's inner politics.
She approached the crib, peering down at him.
"Already so quiet," she murmured, her sharp eyes studying him.
Li Wen's gaze met hers — or at least, tried to. His infant body limited him, but behind those undeveloped eyes burned awareness. Observation.
Mrs. Zhang hesitated for a moment — as if sensing something odd — then shook her head, brushing it off as fatigue.
"He'll need strength," she remarked to the silent room. "This family… it doesn't raise children. It tests them."
Li Wen's tiny fingers twitched, curling into soft fists.
He knew the tests.
The whispers.
The cousins plotting behind fake smiles.
The corporate games disguised as family dinners.
The father's impossible standards.
The mother's icy indifference.
The grandfather… always watching from the shadows.
He had walked that path before.
And fallen.
But now…
Now he walked it again — from the very first breath.
---
Later That Night — Alone in the Nursery
Moonlight spilled across the marble floors of the estate's nursery.
The security team rotated. The maids whispered in the hallway. In the plush crib worth more than most people's annual salary, Li Wen lay still, his mind racing.
No more wasting time.
No more playing the fool.
Every smile, every cry, every step… calculated.
He didn't have power yet.
But he had time.
And knowledge.
And a ruthless determination carved by death itself.
The Li Empire wouldn't break him again.
This time, he'd own it.