Her resolute gaze swept across the faces of the family of four, one by one.
Father Lin, Mother Lin, and Lin Wan’er all avoided her eyes, not daring to meet her gaze.
Even Lin Yanshu, who had been seething with anger, crumbled under her knife-sharp stare.
“Not talking? Then let me say it for you.”
“When Young Master Lin received the gown, it was intact. The surveillance footage can prove I never touched it along the way. Yet when that gown ended up in Lin Wan’er’s hands, it was damaged. Who actually ruined the gown is self-evident.”
“So, you don’t dare look at the footage. Because once you do, you can’t just pin this blame on me, and you can’t make me take the fall for someone else. Am I right?”
Taking the fall for someone else.
Those six words stabbed into Father Lin and Mother Lin’s hearts like a knife, reminding them of what happened five years ago.
Mother Lin was already in tears.
“Qianqian, it’s not like that. Let Mom explain. You and Wan’er are both my daughters. I love you both the same—how could I ever bear to do otherwise?”
If it had been the Lin Qian of five years ago, the one who craved her mother’s love, seeing her mother weeping and pleading would have melted her heart completely.
But after five years in prison, hearing these words now, she felt only one thing—disgust.
“Say whatever you want. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
With that, she couldn’t bear to look at the Lin family a second longer, and turned to leave.
As Lin Qian rounded the corner, she unexpectedly ran into Lu Chen.
He stood there quietly; everything that had just happened had clearly not escaped his eyes.
Lin Qian’s heart tightened, but her steps didn’t falter. Pretending not to see him, she kept walking forward with determination.
Every step felt like treading on her own aching heart. She wanted nothing to do with him—she only wanted to escape this suffocating place.
Just as they were about to brush past each other, Lu Chen’s voice—familiar yet foreign—sounded softly in her ear, gentle yet firm: “Qianqian, I believe it wasn’t you.”
Hearing this, Lin Qian felt no comfort at all—only mockery filling her heart.
The word “believe” coming out of his mouth was utterly laughable.
She paused for a moment, then quickened her pace.
Because of her bad leg, walking faster made it look like she was fleeing in panic, her limping figure appearing utterly wretched.
Lu Chen’s heart felt as if countless sharp needles had plunged into its softest depths, the pain spreading until he could barely breathe.
He wanted to call out her name, but something seemed to choke his throat, and not a single sound came out.
Lin Qian dragged her heavy steps back to the storage room.
She slowly sat down on the tattered folding bed, her body drained of all strength, exhaustion surging over her like a tide.
Her eyes were hollow. Her disappointment in this family was like a bottomless black hole, devouring what little attachment she had left.
The three years she had spent here—every minute and every second had been like walking on knife blades. The neglect, the grievances, the pain she had suffered were like a nightmare, seared into her memory from a single experience. She never wanted to fall into that mire again.
She took a deep breath, forced herself to pull together, and began packing her things.
Glancing around, she saw that in the shabby room there were hardly any belongings that were hers—only the change of clothes she had taken off. She stuffed them into a plastic bag.
It was time for her to leave.
She stood up and went to open the door.
Before her slender, pale fingers could touch the handle, the door was pushed open from outside, and a woman nearly sixty years old appeared before her.
Seeing her, the woman froze for a moment, then couldn’t hide her delight and said excitedly, “Young Miss, you’re really back?”
Lin Qian was slightly taken aback. “Wu Ma?”
Looking at Wu Ma, her heart was filled with mixed emotions.
In the entire Lin family, only Wu Ma had ever treated her as the true Young Miss; the other servants were all cold toward her.
In their minds, the Lin family had only one Young Miss—Lin Wan’er. As for her, they called her Miss Lin Qian.
In the scorching summer, when she broke out in heat rash in the stuffy storage room, it was Wu Ma who spent her own money to buy her a fan.
In the freezing winter, when she shivered from the cold, it was also Wu Ma who bought her an electric blanket to keep warm.
At the thought of this, Lin Qian’s eyes reddened uncontrollably.
After her initial excitement, Wu Ma’s gaze fell on the plastic bag in Lin Qian’s hands. “Young Miss, you’re leaving?”
Lin Qian opened her mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment, and simply nodded in silence.
Wu Ma looked at her with heartache. Words urging her to stay hovered on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t bring herself to say them.
She knew full well that Lin Qian’s days in the Lin family were like walking on thin ice. She had seen all the cold stares, the grievances, and the injustices with her own eyes—how could she bear to let her stay in this pit of fire any longer?
With a helpless sigh, she said, “Young Miss, I won’t stop you from leaving. But let me at least treat your wounds first.”
Lin Qian looked indifferent. “They’re just minor injuries. I’m used to it.”
Hearing this, Wu Ma felt a pang in her heart.
How much suffering must the Young Miss have endured to speak of her wounds so lightly?
She felt indignant on Lin Qian’s behalf, but she was only a servant—lowly and with no voice. Faced with everything in the Lin family, she was powerless.
Forcing down her heartache, Wu Ma put on a loving smile. “Young Miss, you haven’t eaten a single bite since you came home. I’ll go make you a bowl of noodles right now. Eat before you go.”
Lin Qian refused again.
“No, thank you.”
Then, feeling that she was being too cold, she added, “Leaving early means I can find a place to stay sooner.”
In truth, she simply didn’t want to eat the Lin family’s food.
She was poor now, and her health was poor too. She had nothing left—all that remained was her pitiful bit of pride.
Even if she had to beg on the streets, she would not stay in the Lin family and endure their contempt.
Anyone could make her suffer—except the Lin family.
The Lin family owed her. The Lin family didn’t deserve her.
“Wu Ma, I’m leaving.”
Wu Ma was extremely reluctant to let her go. She pulled a wad of money from her pocket and pressed it into her hands. “Young Miss, take this for the road. Take good care of yourself out there alone.”
As Wu Ma spoke, tears finally slid down her cheeks.
Lin Qian tried to refuse, but Wu Ma was firm. “A girl like you out there with no money—where would you sleep, under a bridge?”
Lin Qian gritted her teeth as tears fell silently.
Even someone with no relation to her knew to feel sorry for her.
So why didn’t her own birth parents and her own brother?