The full-length mirror reflected a tall slender woman with light-colored skin and ebony hair. Her features had the attraction of an older woman, lips curved slightly upward, with an elegant temperament. At first glance, her clothes might look simple, but the designer's uniqueness was in all the details.
Fang JunRong couldn't help but feel perplexed. Her hand touched her face reflexively, and the woman in the mirror did the same thing. When was the last time she looked at herself that way?
She was dressed elegantly and exhibited a tenderness of her own. She didn't appear unkempt, disheveled, and looked down upon by all.
Her husband, one of the wealthiest men in the country, with a net worth of over tens of billions, had an extremely prestigious status. Not to mention, their outstanding and eminent son and lively, loving daughter. Fang JunRong was what people called the winner of life; unfortunately, her life took a turn for the worse ever since the appearance of Jiang YaGe, her daughter-in-law.
Jiang YaGe was the daughter of her husband's best friend from college. After her parents died in a car accident, her husband, Li WangJin, felt pity for her and took her in after learning that her relatives were all plotting against her. Fang JunRong was quite welcoming to Jiang YaGe at the beginning as well, given that Fang JunRong was also friends with Jiang YaGe's father. Plus, Jiang YaGe was a pleasant and mature girl. Things changed after the conflicts began between Jiang YaGe and Li XinYun, Fang JunRong's daughter.
May it have been her husband Li WangJin, or her son Li ShiZe; everybody sided with Jiang YaGe. They would always pick Jiang YaGe's side and blame Fang JunRong's XinYun whenever there was a conflict between the two. So, how could Fang JunRong continue to be fond of Jiang YaGe given the situation? Ultimately, her son Li ShiZe fell further in love with Jiang YaGe and butted heads with his mother repeatedly while treating his sister coldly.
Jiang YaGe, on the other hand, was a drama queen. She seemed to be blessed by some unseen power – no matter what happened, she would always be able to avoid anything bad happening to her, and it was always those who were around her who'd end up taking the brunt of it. XinYun, her precious daughter, was one of those people. Because of Jiang YaGe, Li XinYun ended up scarred and unrecognizable, becoming more and more reclusive.
By then, Fang JunRong hated Jiang YaGe's guts and wanted to kick her out. Nevertheless, both her husband and her son unequivocally took Jiang YaGe's side and criticized and loathed Fang JunRong.
"YaGe had suffered a lot too. How could you keep placing the blame on her? It wasn't like she wanted it to happen. You're being so irrational right now. You are no longer the reasonable and loving wife that I married."
"If my sister hadn't befriended all these questionable people, this would have never happened. Once all this is settled, we will just send her overseas to have plastic surgery, and all will be fine again."
Their callous and estranged looks were burned into her memory, giving her a frigid feeling. Fang JunRong wanted to take revenge, but Jiang YaGe was loved and protected by many bosses. Their interference foiled all of her plans, and she was finally sent to the mental institution by her husband and son.
When she was locked up in a mental institution, everybody called her crazy. They thought it was her fault that all her loved ones had betrayed her. Finally, when she heard that her daughter Li XinYun had committed suicide, Fang JunRong took her last breath surrounded by dark iciness. At the same time, Li ShiZe, her wonderful son, was having a great time with her amazing daughter-in-law on their honeymoon.
Thinking of that, Fang JunRong couldn't help but let deep hatred crawl into her heart. Her teeth bit down so hard that her lips almost started to bleed. Finally, the pain helped her clear her mind. She let out a deep breath and did her best to calm the conflicting emotions within herself.
She had no idea why she went back eight years ago after she closed her eyes. Right before Jiang YaGe had joined the Li's, her family was still the model family in everybody's eyes.
She looked down reflexively and saw a jade bracelet on her pale wrist. The bracelet was uniform throughout and translucent in color. It was dazzling under the light. There was a darker shade of green on it that looked like the silhouette of mountains. This bracelet was given to her when her grandmother passed away. Worried that she might inadvertently nick or chip it, she had always kept it stored safely inside her safe and had never worn it. In her previous life, the bracelet went missing. She was enraged at the time and looked all over for it. Finally, her son told her that a maid had stolen it.
The bracelet should be lying quietly inside the safe right now. This was a peculiar discrepancy from her previous life.
Or was her previous life nothing but a nightmare?
No, that couldn't be. No nightmare could have so many details and be so heartbreaking. Just recalling the past events was enough to make her body shiver from hatred.
"Mom, where is my favorite dress? The one that Aunty designed for me? Which closet is it in?" came a crisp and lively voice.
Fang JunRong, immersed in her pain, looked up abruptly. She saw a girl with slightly curly hair and still a little bit of childishness in her look. The tip of her hair was dyed a red color, making her look cute and playful. This was her precious daughter Li XinYun.
She looked at her daughter's simple and cute look rapaciously, like she was in a dream. When was the last time she saw her daughter so lively? Ever since she was defaced, her daughter had locked herself up and never left her room, as though she had lost all will to live.
"Mom."
"Mom!"
A series of cries brought her back. Fang JunRong blinked away the moisture in her eyes.
Fang JunRong tried her best to control her emotions as she asked, "Which dress? You dyed your hair?"
Feeling a little guilty, Li XinYun touched the tip of her hair before she defended herself, "I have already graduated from high school. You said that I could dye my hair after the university entrance examination. Mom, where's that dress that was given to me by Aunty? I can't remember where I put it. I want to wear it on my birthday."
Her daughter XinYun was the only thing that kept her going when she was in the mental institution. She had reminisced over every memory of her daughter, and every little bit of it seemed like it had just happened yesterday.
"It's over on my side. You didn't want to misplace it, so you put it on my side specifically."
"Oh yeah! I had forgotten all about it!" said Li XinYun as she stuck her tongue out briefly, feeling silly. Then, wrapping her arm around her mother, she said affectionately, "Mom's the best. Oh, right, Mom. Do you think I can invite my classmates to my birthday?"
Fang JunRong had never been able to resist puppy eyes from her daughter. Now that she had gone back eight years and knew what was expected for her daughter, how could she let any sadness touch that smile of hers?
"Of course you can. You can invite as many people as you want."
"Heh, I knew Mom loved me the most." Li XinYun went on jabbering about herself. Fang JunRong looked at her smile and couldn't help but recall another detail. Jiang YaGe's parents passed away on the same day as XinYun's birthday. In her previous life, XinYun looked forward to her birthday so much and coordinated everything herself, yet her husband Li WangJin used "upsetting YaGe" as an excuse and canceled it. Even her son stood on his side. XinYun was his real[1] daughter, but he'd put Jiang YaGe ahead of her in everything.
That was the beginning of XinYun's displeasure with Jiang YaGe, and everything else snowballed from there on out.
XinYun might have had a little temper, but she was not a petty person. If the other two hadn't placed Jiang YaGe before her on just about everything, she never would have hated Jiang YaGe so much.
This time around, she wouldn't let her daughter feel a shred of grievance. Her man? She didn't want him anymore. Her son? She'd just pretend that she had given birth to a placenta. She owed them nothing. Any last bit of love she had for her son was gone during her time at the mental institution. The timing of her rebirth wasn't the best. She still had a lot of faith in her husband then, and he had control of the company. If she were to divorce him now, she wouldn't be able to come out ahead.
She had time. She could take her time and plan it all out. She would take back everything that was hers!
Listening to her daughter's coquettish voice, the darkness around her dissipated.
"XinYun, why are you still glued to your mother all day long like an immature child?"
The smile on Fang JunRong's lips disappeared after hearing her husband's voice. The man with whom she was supposed to spend the rest of her life was one of those who hurt her the most.
"XinYun will always be a child in my mind, no matter how old she is. I like her around me," said Fang JunRong mildly while exercising her best self-control to avoid scratching the hell out of that face.
Appearance-wise, Li WangJin, who was already in his forties, was well-maintained and looked to be in his thirties. That and his incredible net worth caused him to have many admirers over the years, but he had turned them all down and earned the reputation of being a good husband in the eyes of the public. Fang JunRong had once been very proud of that. But she never expected that her great husband would one day be able to watch his daughter suffer and his wife taken to the mental institution to suffer the way she did there.
When the public thought that it was Fang JunRong who was not familial, it was Li WangJin who stood up and stamped the approval that Fang JunRong had a bad temperament and was the source of all the problems. He blamed his wife for mistreating Jiang YaGe. In his eyes, everything was Fang JunRong's fault.
Thinking of her past, burning hatred hit her like a tidal wave and almost drowned her. Even until the end of her life, she never figured out why he treated Jiang YaGe better than his daughter and why he was so ruthless to her and her daughter.
Li WangJin resigned, as though he was going along with them. "The two of you are always on the same side. I can never win."
Li XinYun said gloatingly, "Mom loves me the most."
"Then can XinYun let me borrow your mother for a few minutes? There's something I wanted to talk to her about," said Li WangJin.
Li XinYun wasn't an immature person. She winked at Fang JunRong and let go of her as though she had misunderstood something. She bounced away, and her voice came from afar, "Don't worry. I won't eavesdrop on the adults' secrets!"
Fang JunRong had a pretty good idea of what Li WangJin wanted to talk to her about.
After their daughter was gone, Li WangJin let out a sigh and a disturbed look. "JunRong, do you remember the kid Jiang YaGe?"
How could she not?
Fang JunRong snickered to herself but said calmly, "The one who's lost her parents to a car accident, right?"
"Yes, that one," said Li WangJin as a hint of pain flashed through his eyes. "Originally, I figured that even though she had lost her parents, they had left her with plenty of money and she would be alright. Who'd have thought that her relatives could be so ruthless that they had taken away her money and her house with the help of her grandmother?
"Not only did they leave her nothing for her college tuition, they even wanted to marry her to some old man back in the village. Her father was my roommate back in college. I can't just stand around and let this happen to her, so I would like to bring her over."
Those were the same words from her previous life.
That truly was not a dream.
Fang JunRong's nails dug into her palm. Back then, she had been friends with Jiang YaGe's father and also felt bad learning about what had happened to her, and agreed to Li WangJin's suggestion right away. But this time around…
"What do you think, JunRong?"
Perhaps she had remained silent for too long, so there was a rare sense of anxiousness in Li WangJin's voice.
Fang JunRong looked up and put on the perfect look. She frowned slightly as though she felt for her and said, "What had happened to her was very awful."
She paused for a little and carried on, "But if she is to stay here without an official title, she'd have to withstand a lot of gossip for living in someone else's house."
Her words had, indeed, given Li WangJin some hesitation.
Fang JunRong continued, "Why don't we make it official and adopt her? That way, she won't be looked down upon."
Li WangJin was ecstatic, "JunRong, you are indeed the most caring and reasonable person in the world."
Fang JunRong did not fail to notice the irony in this whole situation. Anyone who didn't know better would think that Jiang YaGe was his real daughter. He had never been that nice to XinYun before. But since he looked at Jiang YaGe as his daughter, it was her duty to make sure that was the case. They'd be divorced by then, and Jiang YaGe wouldn't get any of her inheritance.
Fang JunRong also wanted to find out whether her wonderful son would still fall madly in love with Jiang YaGe with the added sibling title between them.
[1] I have a lot of opinions on "real" vs "fake" being used over family, but I feel like in certain parts of the story using the term is okay because it's how someone feels, like here JunRong is angry but later I change some language to suit the atmosphere and the character's thoughts