Thunder cracked through the night as rain lashed against the iron bars. In the dim, cold cell sat a woman — disheveled, broken, her beauty long buried beneath sorrow. Once admired by all, now she was nothing more than a fallen soul in chains.
Then, the sharp click of heels echoed through the cell. As she lifted her sunken eyes, her gaze fell upon the woman who had shattered her world and destroyed everything she held dear — her once-trusted best friend, Li Xinyi.
"Why…?" She wanted to scream, to demand, to ask, but her voice betrayed her. Her broken vocal cords held back every word, leaving only a choking, unbearable silence.
A tinkling, bell-like laugh cut through the gloom, carrying venom and delight in equal measure. Draped in a purple bodycon dress, Li Xinyi was every bit as bewitching as ever — yet that very beauty only sharpened the cruelty and disdain that radiated from her eyes.
"Ho, Yiran, look at you," Li Xinyi's voice dripped with malice, her eyes glittering with cruel amusement. "Even the lowest beggar would be more presentable than someone like you."
Yiran flinched. She had never imagined her best friend could wear such a face — in her memories, Xinyi had always been kind girl. Even knowing what Xinyi had done, she still didn't understand the reason behind it.
"Why so silent…? Oh, right, I forgot — you can't speak. Your voice is ruined," Xinyi sneered, each word dripping with cruel satisfaction.
"Do you know why you can't speak?" Xinyi's words dripped with malice, each syllable a blade. Yiran's thoughts spun — it was the infection that had destroyed her voice. But why was Xinyi asking, now, with that twisted curiosity in her eyes?
Xinyi's laughter rang like shards of glass. "Ho, Yiran… did you truly believe some petty infection could steal your voice forever? How utterly naïve, how deliciously foolish you are."
Yiran's stomach turned as the truth sank in. Xinyi's smile was sharp, almost predatory. "Yes… that's right, Yiran. I was the one who set it all in motion. The drug I gave you — the so-called infection — it was all deliberate. And then… I led you into surgery myself. Every suffering, every loss.. Xinyi's lips curled into a cruel sneer. 'Yes… your parents' accident? Believe me, it was no mere coincidence.'"
"Who told you to marry the man I've loved since childhood?" Xinyi's voice rose, trembling with venomous rage. "Who gave you that right, Yiran? You—" she spat, eyes blazing with hatred, "you were never worthy of him! He was perfect, and you… you're nothing but a worm groveling in the dirt.If not for you, I would be Mrs.Chen!" Xinyi's voice trembled with fury and bitter jealousy, each word laced with venom. "You've destroyed everything I ever dreamed of — my love, my future, my place by his side!.... 'Oh yes… your little sister… she died yesterday. A car accident. And tell me—who told her to search for evidence of your parents death and try to prove your innocence,such a busybody."
Yiran's chest constricted, every breath coming in shallow, desperate gasps. 'Her sister—the only family she had left—was gone, ripped from her in a single, merciless moment. The world tilted, darkness pressing in from all sides, and her heart screamed in disbelief. Anger surged like fire through her veins, tangled with a sorrow so raw it made her knees weak. How could this woman commit such a monstrous act against someone so pure, so innocent? The injustice burned, leaving Yiran trembling, numb, and yet unbearably alive with a rage that threatened to consume her entirely.
She wanted to scream—Kill this woman!—but the sound never found its way out. Yiran hurled herself at the cell door, palms raw as she hammered and clawed until her nails broke and her wrists ached; the metal didn't even tremble. Rage blurred her vision; her eyes went hot and hard, all tenderness drowned by a sudden, bloody hunger. Her mother, father, sister. Every loss, every wound, every sleepless night—she could trace them back to Xinyi. The thought of it condensed into a single, savage urge: to tear her apart, to devour her until there was nothing."
Xinyi laughed, a cold, satisfied sound that filled the tiny cell. "Don't worry, Yiran. I won't let you die today." She leaned closer, eyes bright with triumph. "Tomorrow I marry Brother Zeyan — and only after that will I let you die."After saying that, she turned and walked away, refusing to spare even a single glance at the woman in the cell.
"Yiran felt her body go numb, as if the world itself had turned to ice. All of this… all her suffering, her losses, her shattered life—had happened because of a man. If she hadn't insisted on marrying him, none of it would have come to pass. So why? Why did he marry her? If his heart belonged to that woman, he could have refused… he could have stopped it. But he hadn't. Her chest tightened, a storm of grief and fury raging inside her. Her eyes burned, overflowing with hatred so fierce it threatened to consume her entirely, leaving nothing but raw, desperate rage."
"She had been falsely accused of murder. No matter how loudly she cried the truth, no one believed her—no one but her parents and her sister, who had fought tooth and nail for her. And now… they were gone. All of them. The two people who had destroyed her life—a woman and a man—thrived, mocking her pain, living while she burned in grief and rage. How utterly laughable, how devastatingly cruel it was. Every heartbeat reminded her of their betrayal, every breath a bitter taste of the injustice that had consumed her world."
She hadn't slept a single moment all night. Every nerve in her body burned with a mixture of grief, anger, and a morbid curiosity—she wanted to see the marriage between the man she had once truly loved and the woman who had once been her best friend.
The television outside the cell flickered, showing a live view of the wedding venue. Somehow, it had been placed beside her—probably Xinyi's doing. Yiran's eyes locked onto the screen. There was Xinyi, radiant in a glamorous white gown, standing and waiting for the groom. But he never appeared.
She didn't know what had happened, only that he hadn't shown up. Later, she learned the wedding had been cancelled. Days passed in a numb haze, each one blurring into the next. Then, Xinyi appeared in the cell again—but she no longer looked radiant. Her face was pale, and her eyes were bloodshot, the sparkle of triumph gone, replaced by something fragile, worn, and haunted but the hatred in her eyes still remains.
"'Are you laughing at me now, huh?' Xinyi hissed, venom dripping from every word. 'Brother Zeyan refused to marry me! He didn't even yield to the elders. Damn bitch… it's all your fault!'
Yiran let out a humorless laugh, the sound hollow in the confined cell. She studied Xinyi—so ruthless, so scheming—but even she was powerless against him. Chen Zeyan… a man as cold and emotionless as stone. He loved no one, not Xinyi, not her, not anyone. His indifference was absolute, a void that swallowed every plan, every desire, every manipulation. And yet, here they were, both women trapped in the aftermath of his icy world, one furious, one quietly triumphant, while he remained utterly unmoved by the chaos he left behind.She also laughed to herself, bitter amusement curling in her chest. Once, she had thought she could make him fall in love with her—foolish, naive hope—and now she could see how utterly impossible that had always been."