CHAPTER 2 — THE NIGHT SHE COULDN'T REMEMBER
Shi Yunxi woke to darkness.
Her eyelids felt heavy, her mind foggy, as if thick clouds sat over her thoughts. Her head throbbed violently, and an unfamiliar warmth pressed against her side.
She froze.
Someone was beside her.
No—
Not someone.
A man.
Her breathing stalled as she blinked slowly, trying to make sense of the blurry silhouette lying next to her. She could barely form thoughts; her limbs were weak, her senses numb.
His face was turned away in the shadows, features softened by sleep. She couldn't distinguish anything—
not his jawline,
not his eyes,
not his voice.
Nothing.
Just a stranger.
Her heart hammered painfully.
She didn't know him.
She had never seen him.
She didn't even know where she was.
Her fingers trembled as she touched the sheets—
silk.
Cold.
Wrong.
The last thing she remembered was drinking a glass of juice at her stepsister's celebration dinner. Ying Yue had poured it herself…
smiling too sweetly.
Then darkness.
Then… this.
Panic surged violently through her.
"No… no no no…" she whispered, clutching the blanket to her chest.
Her legs shook as she slid off the bed, nearly collapsing from weakness. Her body felt strange, her skin burning with leftover traces of whatever drug she had been given.
She stumbled toward the mirror.
Her reflection nearly broke her.
Her lipstick was smudged.
Her hair tangled.
Faint red marks on her neck.
Her dress discarded on the floor.
Her stomach twisted painfully.
Her dignity—
her purity—
her life—
was stolen.
By a man she didn't even know.
Her trembling fingers covered her mouth as a silent sob escaped.
How could they do this to her?
How could her own sister—
her fiancé—
But the answer was obvious:
Jealousy.
Greed.
Hate.
They wanted to ruin her.
And they succeeded.
The door clicked.
Shi Yunxi spun around, terrified the stranger had awakened—
But it wasn't him.
Ying Yue walked in with a smile too bright to be human.
Behind her stood Chen Xiang, arms crossed, eyes cold.
"Good morning, sister," Ying Yue cooed. "Did you sleep well?"
Yunxi clenched her fists. "What… did you do to me?"
Ying Yue's smile widened.
"Exactly what needed to be done."
Chen Xiang took out his phone—
photos.
Videos.
Dozens.
Yunxi's face drained of color.
Her voice cracked.
"You monsters."
Ying Yue tilted her head.
"Relax. We didn't touch you. He did."
She gestured to the sleeping man.
Yunxi looked at him again—
but the darkness of the room masked every detail.
She couldn't even see the color of his hair.
Chen Xiang smirked.
"Who knows? Maybe he's some drunk nobody. Or maybe he's a married man. Or a criminal."
His eyes glittered.
"Does it matter? You can't prove anything."
Ying Yue added softly:
"No one will believe you. You look… willing."
Yunxi's knees buckled.
This was worse than she imagined.
"You ruined me…" she whispered.
"No," Ying Yue corrected, leaning in close, voice dripping with poison.
"We simply removed you from our path."
She walked out, Chen Xiang following.
The door closed.
Silence swallowed Yunxi whole.
Her tears fell—
but only for a moment.
Because suddenly—
Her pain crystallized into something sharper.
Harder.
Unbreakable.
A vow.
She would remember this night.
The humiliation.
The betrayal.
The stranger whose face she couldn't see.
She didn't know who he was.
He wouldn't remember her.
But fate would not spare either of them.
Her fingers curled tightly around the sheets.
"One day… everything you took from me, I will reclaim. And everything you cherish… I will destroy."
From this moment—
Shi Yunxi was reborn.
And the world had no idea what kind of storm they had created.