She arrived the next day after her shift. The grand iron gates of the Xu family estate creaked open like the jaws of a silent beast.
Xu Meilin stood at the entrance, suitcase in hand, heart heavy. The mansion rose before her, elegant, stately, and cold. It was the house she had grown up in, but never called home.
The chauffeur who picked her up earlier hadn't said a word. Just held a placard with her name at the curb of her workplace and gestured for her to follow. No one had informed her why she was being summoned so suddenly. But it wasn't curiosity that gnawed at her, it was dread. The kind that sinks its claws into you before a storm.
She had left the tiny apartment after her afternoon shift, still wearing her work blouse tucked into pressed slacks. She hadn't packed much, only the essentials. Just in case this was something temporary. But her gut told her it wasn't.
A maid opened the front door and stepped aside, bowing lightly.
"Miss Meilin," the maid murmured with careful politeness, but no warmth. Leading her to the family's reading room.
The polished marble floor gleamed under her feet as she stepped in. The chandelier overhead sparkled with expensive elegance. But none of it felt real to her. This place, this castle, had always belonged to everyone else in her family. Not her.
She entered the drawing room where the rest of the family was already seated.
Her mother, Li Wenhua, sat upright like a queen, legs crossed, eyes sharp. Beside her, her father Xu Zhenkai sipped tea without glancing up. Her sisters, Xu Yueran and Xu Lianyi, were whispering something behind their hands, probably about her plain blouse or tired eyes.
"Meilin, you're finally here," Li Wenhua said, her smile as thin as glass.
"Yes, Mother," Meilin replied quietly.
"You look tired," Xu Yueran said with a smirk. "What, did the subway not have air-conditioning today?"
"Enough," Xu Zhenkai said flatly. "We didn't call her here to argue."
Meilin stood silently, her fingers gripping the handle of her suitcase. Her brother wasn't here. Of course not. Xu Haoran hadn't stepped foot into this house in years.
"We have something important to discuss," her mother continued, smoothing her silk qipao. "It's about the Li family."
Meilin blinked. "The… Li family?"
Li Wenhua nodded, exchanging a glance with her husband. "You've heard of Li Zeyan, haven't you? CEO of the Li Corporation?"
Meilin's heart gave a quiet jolt. Of course she had. The man was a ghost in every business article, a cold legend in a suit. The rumors painted him as ruthless, brilliant, completely unfeeling, and impossible to reach.
"We received a proposal," Xu Zhenkai said. "Li Zeyan's family has chosen to form a marriage alliance with our family."
Meilin's eyes widened slowly. "W-With… us?"
"Yes," her mother said sharply, "but before you get any ideas, they didn't choose you."
She froze. Her breath caught somewhere between her throat and heart.
"They initially asked for your eldest sister, Yueran," Li Wenhua continued, sipping her tea. "But she refused. She's already pursuing her master's and doesn't want to throw away her future."
Xu Yueran gave a small, smug shrug. "I don't want to be caged in some cold palace just to be someone's trophy wife."
Meilin's eyes moved to her second sister, Lianyi, quiet, perhaps uncertain. But before she could speak, their father cut in.
"And Lianyi isn't emotionally mature for a marriage like that. We couldn't risk a scandal."
"So," her mother said, her tone suddenly dismissive, "you're what we're left with."
Meilin stared at them all. Her chest tightened, her fingers trembling.
"You're twenty now," Li Wenhua added, "and you're not doing anything of significance with your life. Marrying into the Li family will finally make you useful."
Useful.
It hit her like a slap.
"You mean…" she whispered, "I don't get a choice?"
"There is no choice," Xu Zhenkai said. "You're the only one suitable now. It's already been discussed."
"But what about him?" Meilin asked, voice rising slightly. "What about Li Zeyan? Did he agree to this?"
"That's not your concern," her mother snapped. "This is an arrangement between families. He'll do as his elders command. And so will you."
Meilin's eyes burned, but no tears fell. She had learned long ago that crying here was like bleeding in front of wolves.
"You'll be engaged by the end of the month," her father said firmly. "Start preparing."
There was a long silence. The room seemed to close in around her. Her sisters looked almost entertained. Her mother seemed satisfied. Her father had already dismissed her with his eyes.
Meilin finally looked down at her suitcase. She had brought it in hope, a foolish hope that maybe, just maybe, she was finally being invited back as a daughter.
Instead, she was being offered up like a pawn.
And yet… she smiled.
A small, soft, almost invisible smile.
"I see," she said quietly. "Thank you… for the opportunity."
She turned and walked toward the stairs. "I'll be in my old room"
No one responded. No one stopped her.
Because that's what she was now, the convenient excuse. The unchosen choice.
And still, she smiled.