The quiet hum of soft jazz filled the Mo residence lounge as the late afternoon light spilled across the marble floors. Lu Jingyan sat curled on the edge of the velvet sofa, her attention half on her tablet, the other half on the teacup cooling between her fingers.
Across from her, Mei Xiaotong lazily flipped through a look book, one leg crossed over the other. Hua Shu stood near the window, phone in hand, sending off a string of texts before slipping it into her pocket.
"She's late," Xiaotong muttered, not bothering to hide her impatience.
"She's still a Leng," Hua Shu replied coolly, glancing toward the door. "They rarely show up without letting tension walk in first."
Jingyan didn't say anything, her gaze fixed on a spot in the distance.
Then came the knock.
It was light, too polite for what everyone expected, but Hua Shu was already moving toward the door.
Leng Meixuan stepped inside dressed in muted gray—no jewels, no excessive flair, just tailored simplicity. Her expression was carefully composed, but the strain beneath her eyes betrayed something more complicated than pride.
"Thank you for receiving me," she said, voice neutral as her gaze swept across the room.
"No one did," Mei Xiaotong muttered under her breath.
Lu Jingyan didn't rise. "Sit if you're staying."
"I'm not here to start anything," Meixuan said, walking slowly into the room and lowering herself into the empty armchair across from Jingyan. "I came… because things have changed. And I thought you deserved to hear it from me."
Jingyan looked at her fully for the first time. "I thought your opinion of me didn't allow such grace."
Meixuan exhaled slowly. "I was wrong about you, alright? I judged you because I didn't want to see what was crumbling in my own house. I was bitter that you walked into our family with strength I couldn't fake."
Hua Shu raised a brow, but said nothing. Mei Xiaotong just stared.
Jingyan set her teacup down gently. "So now you're here to... what? Apologize for mocking my fall? Or excuse what your cousins did?"
Meixuan's jaw tightened. "I'm not defending Xuanmo. Nor Yumo. What they did—what they allowed to happen—was wrong."
"Allowed?" Xiaotong cut in with a sharp scoff. "You make it sound like a small misstep. That girl cried to her brother over playground insults and the entire Lu legacy crumbled because of it."
"Xiaotong," Jingyan said gently, though her voice trembled beneath the surface.
"No, let her speak," Hua Shu said, folding her arms as she leaned against the wall. "This should be good."
Meixuan glanced between them. "I didn't come to fight. I came to acknowledge that you were wronged—by all of us. And while I wasn't part of the actual decision, I was complicit in my silence and in the way I treated you before any of this happened."
Silence fell again.
Jingyan's shoulders relaxed slightly, though her face remained unreadable. "Why now?"
"Because Yumo told me what she finally confessed to you," Meixuan said. "And I saw the fallout it caused between her and Xuanmo. I saw how the truth fractured what little you had left. And I hated that for once, I couldn't blame you."
Jingyan gave a small, humorless laugh. "You thought I was just a pretty thorn in your family's side."
"You were a mirror," Meixuan said simply. "One that showed us everything we didn't want to face."
There was a beat.
And then Hua Shu crossed the room, placing a warm cup of tea in front of Meixuan. "We're not enemies anymore. But don't think you can walk in here and reset the pieces."
"I'm not trying to," Meixuan murmured, her tone humbled. "I came to say I was wrong. That's all."
Jingyan finally stood, her posture tall despite the weariness behind her eyes.
"Then thank you," she said quietly. "Not for the apology. But for saying it face to face."
Meixuan rose too. "If you ever need support outside of my family's name, I'll be there."
Xiaotong snorted. "Don't hold your breath."
But Jingyan nodded slowly. "I'll remember that."
As Meixuan turned to leave, she met Hua Shu's eyes.
"She's tougher than all of us," Hua Shu said under her breath. "Make sure the others finally realize it."
With a small nod, Meixuan stepped out into the growing noon, leaving the storm of the past at the door.