---
"A... metronome?"
Su Meilin's voice was barely above a whisper, her brows pinched together in confusion.
Li Yan's brows furrowed sharply. Her body stiffened, eyes narrowing.
Her fingers curled, and her entire body stiffened as if electricity had shot through her nerves.
Then—like something inside her snapped—she lunged.
SLAP!
The sharp crack echoed through the room like a whip.
The young nurse stumbled backward, clutching her burning cheek, eyes wide with stunned disbelief.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Li Yan shrieked, voice trembling with rage. "A metronome?! To a patient?! Who told you to bring it?! WHO?!"
SLAP!
Again.
The nurse's head jerked sideways from the force. Her cap fell to the floor, hair spilling out.
"Are you STUPID?! Bringing strange things near someone unstable—ARE YOU INSANE?!" Li Yan's hand rose a third time.
SLAP!
Everyone stood frozen. Su Meilin was too shocked to react.
Liang Yexuan narrowed his eyes but didn't move.
Even Jin Shu stiffened at the doorway, lips parting in disbelief.
The nurse didn't cry. She didn't scream.
She sat there on the floor, eyes blank and trembling.
Then, blood rose to her head like a tidal wave. Her hands trembled. Her lips parted in silent rage.
Her dark brown eyes, usually soft and harmless, now flashed like a blade pulled from velvet.
Calm down Jenny... calm down...
But her inner voice was losing the battle. Her instincts were screaming. Her fists were clenching.
Her pride—no, her royal dignity—was burning in flames.
But Li Yan raised her hand again.
"Enough!" Old Master Liang's voice boomed, snapping everyone out of their trance.
Li Yan froze mid-motion, chest heaving.
"She's just a nurse. She brought it out of goodwill. She didn't know what was inside." His eyes pinned her down with authority. "There's no need for violence."
Li Yan panted her eyes still trained on the nurse like a predator.
"Young lady," the old man now turned to the girl still seated on the floor. "Stand up."
The nurse shakily got to her feet, one hand covering her red, stinging cheek.
She didn't speak, but her big brown eyes filled with tears that glistened under the hospital lights.
She blinked slowly, trying to stop them, but they flowed anyway.
She wiped them silently, trying to contain herself.
Her gaze shifted to Su Meilin, who approached.
"What's your name?" Su Meilin asked, tone calm.
The girl blinked again.
"Jenny," she said softly.
Su Meilin nodded and gave her a conflicted look.
Old Master Liang sighed deeply. "Go now. Take care of your face. You're innocent. You did nothing wrong."
Jenny nodded and turned toward the door.
Li Yan, however, was still standing stiffly, glaring at her like she'd just found a snake in her bed.
"No need to hurt innocent people," Old Master Liang scolded.
As she turned to leave, she passed by the door—right where Liang Yexuan, Jin Shu, and the driver stood.
Her eyes caught Jin Shu's gaze.
For a split second, he froze.
He swore—just for a second—her eyes... they changed. From glassy and pitiful to something dark. Sinister. Dangerous.
Jin Shu felt it.
A chill ran down his spine as her gaze briefly locked with his.
For a moment, he saw it—pure bloodlust.
He blinked.
The next moment, she was just a teary, pitiful young woman walking out quietly.
Her shoulders hunched. Head bowed.
"Am I... imagining things?" he murmured.
Liang Yexuan glanced at him. "What?"
Jin Shu shook his head. "Nothing. Just... weird feeling."
Maybe he imagined it?
How could a girl that young look so... homicidal?
---
Outside, the door clicked shut behind her.
And Jenny snapped.
Her entire face twisted with anger, her body shaking.
Her eyes gleamed with madness.
"She slapped me."
The words echoed in her skull like a chanted curse.
"She slapped me. On the face. That... freaking... bitch!"
—
She stormed toward the elevator, the fire in her chest rising higher with each step.
That woman—Li Yan—had slapped her.
Not once. FOUR times.
On the face.
Her precious, unmarked, pampered face.
Jenny Zinelomhle Walter had never been slapped.
She did the slapping.
And now, she had been humiliated in front of everyone.
Her breath hitched as the elevator doors opened.
She stepped inside, pressed for the rooftop.
The moment she was alone, she yanked out her phone and dialed.
—
As the elevator reached the rooftop, the doors opened to the golden sun setting over the horizon.
She stepped into the silence, the wind catching her braids.
The call connected.
---
Somewhere across town, under the golden glow of the evening sun, a man was half-submerged in a luxurious swimming pool.
Dark-skinned, toned muscles, and a face carved like a statue, Eric Walter twirled a glass of red wine, smirking as the screen lit up.
"Jenny."
He answered without a rush. "Yes?"
"ERIC!" Jenny's voice exploded from the other side. "I've never been slapped in my entire life. NEVER. That bitch—SHE SLAPPED ME!!"
Eric raised an eyebrow.
"Who slapped you?"
"That Li Yan! That old witch! That mother of Su Meilin—she slapped me! And not once. FOUR TIMES. FOUR! I swear if I didn't hold back, I would've killed her right there!"
Eric sipped his wine and smirked. He knew his little sister too well.
Spoiled. Vengeful. Deadly.
She was the kind of girl who slapped others, not the one being slapped.
"Did you do what I asked you to do?" he asked calmly.
"Yes, I did," Jenny hissed, pacing the rooftop like a storm. "I played the obedient nurse! I apologized! I pretended to be weak! Then out of nowhere, this woman—this sick, ugly, crazy bitch— she lost her mind and jumped me like a rabid dog and slapped me like I was her daughter!"
Eric took a long sip of his wine. His rich, dark voice chuckled. "And slapped you... four times?"
Jenny hissed again, "Yes! Me! Jenny Zinelomhle Walter! Slapped! By a lowly mother of a spoiled brat!"
Eric chuckled.
Of course, his sister was furious.
Princess Jenny, pampered since birth.
No one dared speak harshly to her, let alone slap her.
And now, a woman had marked her face?
She inhaled sharply, then whispered like a lunatic:
"She's going to pay. I'm going to break her fingers one by one. Boil them into soup. Feed it to her. I'll make her life a living hell."
Eric finally laughed out loud, tipping his head back as the wine swirled in his glass.
"That's my sister."
Jenny smirked as the wind blew her hair into her face.
"You think I'm joking? Eric, I want revenge."
Eric paused. "Now?"
"NOW!"
He seemed pleased. "Well, uncle will be proud. His little girl's finally woken up from her pampered dream world."
Jenny's voice dropped into a silky whisper. "What's the plan?"
Eric hummed lazily, stretching in the water. "Simple. Befriend Su Meilin. Get close. Earn her trust."
Jenny raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"
"For now. I've already bought the mansion next to theirs. You'll be close. Do your part well—and I'll do the rest."
Jenny grinned. "What about that crazy woman Li Yan?"
Eric's voice dropped into a dangerous tone. "Anything for my sis. I'll make sure she pays... ten times more."
"Good."
She hung up.
The rooftop wind blew harder now. She raised her phone and looked into the camera.
Her reflection showed her perfect honey-brown complexion… now marked with angry red fingerprints.
She winced as she touched it.
"Damn! Did that woman eat bricks?! How can one slap hurt this much?"
But then her lips curled.
It had been too long since she had some real fun.
"Let's prank that bitch a bit..."
She giggled.
The rooftop wind swirled around her as the sky began to darken.
---