On the last day of the fifth year, the warden informed Jiang Wan that she could be released from prison.
When the heavy iron door slowly closed behind her, the dazzling sunlight shone on her, and the long-lost warmth made her feel dazed for a moment. After five years, she finally regained her freedom.
She took a deep breath, and the air was mixed with the fragrance of grass and soil, no longer the lingering smell of mold and disinfectant in the prison.
She stood at the prison gate, on the empty road, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind. She looked around subconsciously, perhaps with a trace of barely perceptible expectation deep in her heart.
Expecting her parents to come pick her up, even if only out of a hint of guilt.
Looking forward to... No, she no longer looks forward to that person.
Time passed by minute by minute, from morning till dusk, no car stopped for her, no familiar figure appeared. She was like a lonely ghost forgotten by the world, standing alone at the starting point of freedom.
The last bit of unrealistic fantasy also dissipated with the afterglow of the sunset.
Jiang Wan laughed at herself. Jiang Wan, Jiang Wan, what are you expecting? They were able to push you into hell five years ago, so how could they come to welcome you five years later?
She dragged a small prison parcel containing the outdated clothes she had worn when she was in prison. She walked to the side of the road and hailed a taxi.
"Master, let's go to the city center." Her voice was hoarse and dry, as if she hadn't spoken for a long time.
The taxi driver looked at her in the rearview mirror, saw her pale face and empty eyes, and didn't ask any more questions.
The car drove into the bustling city, with tall buildings and flashing neon lights. In five years, the city has become more glamorous and more unfamiliar. On the huge LED advertising screen, the latest commercials were playing.
Suddenly, a familiar face came into her sight.
That was Gu Hanshen.
He is dressed in a high-end suit, mature and handsome, and is endorsing a high-end watch as an "outstanding young entrepreneur". His confident and calm smile and deep and charming eyes are the kind of look that countless women are attracted to.
Beside him, smiling sweetly, was Jiang Rou. She was wearing an elegant Chanel suit and a diamond ring as big as a pigeon egg. As Mrs. Gu, she accepted an interview with a fashion magazine titled "Fairy Tale of the Wealthy: Cinderella's Secret to Happiness".
How ironic.
A real murderer, a thief who stole other people's lives, actually became the envied heroine of the "rich fairy tale".
Jiang Wan looked away expressionlessly, without a single wave of emotion in her heart. It wasn't that she didn't hate him, but the hatred had already penetrated deep into her bones, turning into a calm force that supported her actions.
Back in the city, she used the little money she had to stay in the cheapest hotel. The room was small and damp, but it was enough for her. The first thing she did was to buy a cheapest smartphone.
The moment the phone was turned on and connected to the Internet, countless pieces of information that had been sealed for five years came flooding in.
She opened those social apps, and the names of Gu Hanshen and Jiang Rou almost dominated all her information flows.
They have had a wonderful five years.
They went to Paris to watch a fashion show together and kissed under the Eiffel Tower; they went on vacation to the Maldives together and hugged each other under the blue sky and blue sea; they attended various charity dinners together and were hailed as the "golden boy and jade girl" by the media.
Gu Hanshen's business empire continued to expand, and the stock price of Gu Group hit new highs. Jiang Rou, on the other hand, went from being an inconspicuous second daughter of the Jiang family to becoming the most famous wealthy lady in City A, and founded her own jewelry brand, enjoying unlimited glory.
In every photo, Jiang Rou smiled so sweetly and innocently, as if she was born to have all this. And the doting in Gu Hanshen's eyes seemed real.
Jiang Wan flipped through the photos one by one, her face expressionless but her eyes growing colder and colder.
She saw that in the first month of her imprisonment, Gu Group and Jiang Family reached a major business cooperation, helping the precarious Jiang Family to overcome difficulties. It turned out that her sacrifice not only fulfilled their love, but also became a dirty deal.
She also saw that every year on her "death anniversary" - the day she was imprisoned, Jiang Rou would post a black-and-white photo on social media with the caption: "Sister, I miss you so much. Are you okay over there? Han Shen and I will live well with you."
There was praise and sympathy below.
"Rou Rou is so kind!" "It's unfortunate to have a sister like this, Rou Rou must be strong!" "Mr. Gu is so lucky to marry a wife as good as you."
"Hehe..." Jiang Wan finally couldn't help herself and let out a low and cold laugh. The laughter echoed in the quiet hotel room, seeming particularly weird.
They treated her as a dead person, consuming her "death", enjoying everything she had gained in exchange for her freedom, and also wanted to gain a good reputation for being kind and righteous.
How can there be such shameless people in the world?
She turned off her phone, the dim light from the screen disappeared, and the room fell into darkness again.
In the darkness, Jiang Wan's face was clearly outlined, and two cold flames burned in her eyes.
She opened the small package she had brought with her, and found in it, besides old clothes, a yellowed verdict. She took it out, read it carefully, then folded it carefully and put it away.
This is her shame, but also her medal.
It reminded her constantly of the hell she had been through.
From today on, she is no longer the Jiang Wan who is at the mercy of others.
She wanted everyone to know that she was back.
Not coming back to receive mercy, not coming back to beg for forgiveness.
He came back to collect a debt.
She would make those who owed her pay back double with interest!
The night scene of City A is cut into colorful pieces by countless neon lights. Jiang Wan stands in front of the window of the hotel, overlooking this familiar yet strange city. Five years ago, she was the most popular pearl in this city, the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, and the fiancée of Gu Hanshen. Five years later, she is an unknown prisoner who has been released after serving her sentence, and an avenger lurking in the shadows.
She knew that she had nothing now, while her enemies were standing on top of the world, possessing money, power and fame. Going directly to confront them would be like hitting a rock with an egg, and they would only crush her easily again.
Revenge requires patience and even more strategy.
The next day, the first thing Jiang Wan did was to completely change herself. She went to a barber shop, cut her ear-length hair even shorter, dyed it a low-key chestnut color, and bought a pair of black-framed glasses. The lenses had no prescription, but they could effectively block the overly sharp edge in her eyes. Then, she went to the clothing wholesale market and bought a few sets of the most ordinary and inconspicuous professional suits.
When she looked at the mirror again, the woman inside looked capable, calm, and a little distant. The once bright and beautiful face now looked too pale because of not seeing the sun for many years, but her eyes were unusually firm. Except for the vague traces of the past in the contours of her facial features, her temperament had changed drastically.
Now she is called "Lin Wan", an ordinary woman who came to City A from other places to look for job opportunities.
After making up her disguise, Jiang Wan began to investigate the truth of the car accident five years ago. She clearly remembered that when she took the blame, the police presented a very "complete" chain of evidence: her confession of "admitting" drunk driving, Jiang Rou's testimony as an "eyewitness", and a "blurred" screenshot of the intersection surveillance, in which the figure in the driver's seat looked very similar to her.
The loophole must be in this "complete" evidence.
The first place she wanted to go was the scene of the car accident that year - a winding mountain road on the outskirts of the city.
Five years later, that section of road has been renovated, and there is even a small viewing platform on the roadside. Jiang Wan stood by the guardrail, overlooking the night view of the city below the mountain. She closed her eyes and tried to recall that chaotic night.
The harsh sound of brakes, the smell of burning tires rubbing against the ground, Jiang Rou's terrified scream, and... the man who was knocked to the ground and never got up again.
She felt sorry for the innocent victim. This guilt was the heaviest emotion in her heart besides hatred. Therefore, she not only wanted to avenge herself, but also to seek true justice for the life that died in vain.
She took out her phone and took many photos of the surroundings. She found that there was a newly built holiday villa less than 100 meters away from the scene of the incident. Perhaps the surveillance camera of the holiday villa could have captured something?
In the next few days, Jiang Wan was like a ghost, shuttling around every corner of City A. She went to the traffic police brigade and tried to access the files from five years ago on the grounds of being an "intern reporter writing a traffic safety report", but was rejected on the grounds that "the case had been concluded long ago and involved personal privacy."
She went downstairs to the jewelry company that Jiang Rou was running. Seeing Jiang Rou getting out of the luxury car in high spirits and being surrounded by assistants and bodyguards and walking into the building, Jiang Wan's heart was not disturbed at all. She was just observing, observing Jiang Rou's living habits, looking for flaws to attack.
She found out that Jiang Rou went to a high-end private club for SPA every Wednesday afternoon. This might be an opportunity to get close to her.
However, to enter that club, high membership fees and member recommendations are required, which is as difficult as ascending to heaven for Jiang Wan now.
Just when she was at a loss, an unexpected opportunity came to her.
When she was browsing job information online, she accidentally saw a job notice: "Gu's Group Charity Dinner, urgently hiring a temporary on-site assistant, daily salary of 800, good appearance and temperament required, relevant work experience preferred."
Gu Group. Gu Hanshen.
Jiang Wan's fingertips paused on the screen.
This was an opportunity God had given her. A grand banquet meant that all the upper-class people in City A would gather there. Gu Hanshen, Jiang Rou, and even her parents would most likely attend.
This is a great opportunity to see them up close.
She submitted her resume without hesitation. She had carefully forged it under the pseudonym "Lin Wan". Her resume was impeccable, with "experience" of internships in several five-star hotels and public relations companies. In order to make her resume more credible, she also paid someone to make a recommendation letter that looked real.
Three days later, she received an interview notice.
The interviewer was a manager of the public relations department of Gu's Group, a smart and capable woman. She looked Jiang Wan up and down, and was quite satisfied with her calm temperament and decent conversation.
"Ms. Lin, you have very good qualifications. However, this job is very hard. You need to be on call at all times and deal with various emergencies."
"I understand. I'm mentally prepared." Jiang Wan answered calmly, without any emotion in her voice.
The interview went well and she was hired on the spot.
On the day of the dinner, Jiang Wan changed into a uniform black work uniform, put on her work ID, mixed in with a group of temporary staff, and entered the Gu family's magnificent villa halfway up the mountain.
She had been here countless times. She was very familiar with every plant and tree in the villa. The oil painting hanging on the wall was bought by her when she accompanied Gu's mother to the auction; the swing in the garden was built for her by Gu Hanshen himself.
Now, things are different.
Like a real stranger, she followed the foreman's instructions expressionlessly, arranging tableware and flowers in the banquet hall. However, her eyes, like radar, scanned every corner silently, looking for the target of her trip.
As night fell, guests began to arrive.
Jiang Wan carried a tray and moved among the well-dressed crowd, but her ears were like antennas, capturing all kinds of information.
Finally, she saw her "family" in the crowd.
Father Jiang Zhengming was chatting and laughing with several business leaders, while mother was showing off the jade bracelets given by Jiang Rou to several noble ladies. They looked radiant, not at all sad about losing a daughter, but more noble because they had climbed up the big tree of the Gu family.
Jiang Wan's heart felt like it was soaked in ice water, cold and hard.
Just then, there was a commotion at the door of the banquet hall.
Gu Hanshen appeared in front of everyone with Jiang Rou.