Lu Family Ancestral Hall – Midnight
The heavy double doors groaned open, revealing the grand ancestral hall drenched in shadows.
Selina stood frozen in the doorway, the biting cold of the marble floor seeping up through her heels.
Her fingers curled instinctively into tight fists at her sides, her nails digging painfully into her palms as her gaze fell upon the man standing beside Grandfather Lu.
Adrian Jiang.
The half-brother she wished she could forget… the very one who had sold her out all those years ago.
His sharp eyes scanned her slowly, and a mocking smile curled his lips as if he could see right through her fragile composure.
"It's been a while… dear sister."
A cold dread settled deep in Selina's stomach.
How? How was he standing here, side by side with the Lu Family patriarch? What cruel joke of fate was this?
The memories came flooding back—Adrian's betrayal, the forged documents that ruined her reputation, the night she was cast out with nothing but the clothes on her back.
She had vowed never to face him again.
And yet… here he was.
Standing in the heart of the empire she had lost, ready to finish what he started.
Her heart felt like a fragile paper lantern caught in a violent storm, flickering helplessly as the winds of the past threatened to extinguish her completely.
Damian stepped protectively in front of her, his broad shoulders blocking her from Adrian's scornful gaze.
"This has nothing to do with her," Damian's voice was cold as ice. "Name your price and leave."
Adrian chuckled, slow and deliberate.
"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Damian. Everything I want… starts and ends with her."
Selina's knees nearly buckled under the weight of his words.
Damian turned to her, his hand reaching out—his fingers brushing against hers, strong and grounding.
Hold it together, Selina. You've faced worse. Don't break. Not in front of him. Not again.
But Adrian's next words cut through her resolve like a sharpened blade.
"She still hasn't told you, has she?" His eyes gleamed with malicious delight. "About the debt she owes me. A debt paid… in blood."
The room fell deathly silent.
Selina felt the walls close in, the air growing thinner, heavier.
Damian's gaze darkened.
"Selina. What is he talking about?"
Her lips trembled, the truth she had buried deep for so long now clawing its way to the surface.
Flashback Scene – Five Years Ago
The night was cold, the alley dark and damp with rain.
Selina stood under the flickering streetlight, her trembling hands clutching a bloodied knife.
Adrian had forced her into a corner—sign away her inheritance or do the unthinkable.
And in that moment of unbearable fear and helplessness… she made a choice that haunted her every waking moment.
Present Day – Ancestral Hall
The shame surged through her veins like molten lava, scalding and impossible to contain.
Selina opened her mouth to confess, but the words died before they could escape.
Before she could speak, the lights in the hall snapped off, plunging them into complete darkness.
A single gunshot rang out.
And then… silence.