Thump—
Thump—
Thump—
Deafening music hammered against her heart like a heavy mallet, while the sharp laughter of men and women pierced her eardrums.
On the sofa, the young girl’s lashes, like delicate fans, fluttered before her eyes snapped open.
Before her were the bizarre, shifting lights of the bar, the air thick with the pungent smell of alcohol and perfume.
Across from her, Jiang Tangtang leaned in, her bright, beautiful face etched with concern.
“Ruan Yao! What’s with the daze? I’ve been calling you for ages.”
She waved a hand in front of the girl’s face. “What’s wrong with you? You look awful.”
The kaleidoscopic lights cast mottled shadows across the face of the girl on the sofa, revealing features of extraordinary beauty—like a delicate, classical painting come to life.
At this moment, her long, curled lashes trembled slightly. Those almond-shaped eyes, which always held a touch of innocent naivety when she looked at others, were now filled with confusion and fear.
Ruan Yao’s gaze slowly focused, settling on the concerned face before her.
It was her best friend, Jiang Tangtang.
What was going on?
She parted her cherry-colored lips, her voice so faint it was almost drowned out by the music.
“Tangtang, why are you here?”
“Oh my god, you’re starting to talk nonsense.” Jiang Tangtang pressed the back of her hand against Ruan Yao’s smooth forehead, feeling a slight coolness. “No fever. Is it too noisy here? You’re not used to it, are you?”
Jiang Tangtang knew her best friend well—she had always been a pampered, well-behaved girl raised in a sheltered home, rarely venturing into places like this.
“I… feel a bit dizzy,” Ruan Yao admitted truthfully.
“I told you you couldn’t handle drinking, but you insisted on doing it for me.” Jiang Tangtang took the glass from her hand with a pang of sympathy, unable to resist pinching her soft cheek. “Alright, alright, one glass is enough to show your support. You should head back now. I’m worried seeing you like this.”
Dizzy and unsteady, Ruan Yao pushed herself up from the edge of the sofa, swaying slightly. Her mind was a chaotic mess, and all she wanted was to find a place to be alone.
She walked out of the bar.
A cool night breeze greeted her, carrying with it the dampness of rain.
It was raining outside.
The icy raindrops against her face brought a sliver of clarity to her muddled consciousness.
Ruan Yao extended her hand, watching as raindrops fell into her palm, sending a faint shiver through her.
Hadn’t she jumped from the seventeenth floor, holding Shen Yu as they fell together?
The wind tearing at her body, the weightless sensation of the fall—it had felt so real.
Yet now, she was standing here, perfectly fine.
Ruan Yao looked down at her intact body, clad in a beautiful white dress whose hem fluttered gently in the night breeze.
Clean, slender, without a trace of blood.
She pulled out her phone and checked the date.
The first week after graduating from university.
Just now, it had been Tangtang’s birthday party.
Ruan Yao raised her hand, pressing her fair, delicate fingertips hard against her cheek. The pain made her gasp, her eyes instantly reddening.
This wasn’t a dream.
She had been reborn.
She had returned to two years ago, before any of the tragedies had occurred.
Now, the Ruan family hadn’t gone bankrupt, and Huo Yanzhi was still alive.
Huo Yanzhi didn’t know her yet. She hadn’t become Shen Yu’s pawn, hadn’t harmed the Huo family, hadn’t caused him to be imprisoned.
Everything could still be undone.
Ruan Yao’s eyes grew warm. She took a deep breath, struggling to hold back the tears threatening to spill and the turbulent emotions surging within her.
She remembered this day from her previous life.
It was right outside this bar, after bidding farewell to Jiang Tangtang and the others, as she was about to head home, that she encountered a drunken hooligan.
She was terrified, her newly bought phone fell to the ground and shattered its screen, and she ran home in the rain, falling seriously ill afterward.
Ruan Yao tightened her grip on the phone in her hand, ready to hail a ride.
She couldn’t afford to be as disheveled as she was in her past life.
She needed to go home, to see her parents and brother, to see Huo Yanzhi.
The screen lit up, displaying the ride-hailing app interface.
She was just about to tap "Call Vehicle."
A strong, pungent smell of alcohol suddenly drifted over from the darkness beside her.
A slurred male voice rang out.
"Hey, pretty girl, all alone?"
It still happened.
Ruan Yao’s body reacted before her mind could catch up. She took a step back, tightened her grip on her phone, her fingertip already hovering over the emergency call button.
Unlike the panic and frantic escape of her past life, but deep down, she was still the pampered Miss Ruan.
Though her heart felt like it was about to leap out of her chest, and her palms were already slick with sweat, she now understood that retreating and screaming were useless.
"Take one more step, and I’ll call the police."
Ruan Yao raised her phone, the screen’s light illuminating her deliberately calm expression.
Her eyes were misty, filled with poorly concealed panic.
The man was momentarily taken aback by her bluff, then grew angry and reached out to grab her wrist.
"Hey, you dare to stand up to me?"
Ruan Yao’s heart leaped into her throat.
Just then, a hand grabbed the hooligan’s wrist, effortlessly shoving him aside.
"What do you think you’re doing?" a calm male voice sounded.
Ruan Yao looked up and saw a man in a black suit standing between her and the drunkard.
The drunkard scrambled up from the ground, cursing under his breath, but upon seeing the man’s elite demeanor, he sobered up completely.
Knowing he was outmatched, he muttered a few words and slunk away.
The crisis was averted.
Only then did the man turn to look at Ruan Yao.
"Miss, are you alright?"
Qin Feng.
Huo Yanzhi’s most trusted assistant, his absolutely loyal subordinate.
Ruan Yao stared at him, her heart pounding wildly.
In her past life, after her relationship with Huo Yanzhi fell apart, Qin Feng had told her that Mr. Huo had done many things for her, that she had misunderstood.
But at that time, blinded by Shen Yu, she hadn’t been able to listen.
But why was Qin Feng here?
In her past life, there had been no scene of Qin Feng appearing to rescue her, and there had been no one else around.
A thought flashed through her mind, freezing the blood in her veins.
If Qin Feng was here, did that mean…
Ruan Yao’s gaze shifted past Qin Feng’s shoulder, urgently scanning the street opposite him.
The rain grew denser, blurring the neon lights across the street into hazy halos.
A figure emerged from the bright lights of a 24-hour convenience store.
He opened a black umbrella, its canopy blocking the shimmering lights above, casting a serene shadow around him.
The man wore a well-tailored dark suit, his figure tall and slender. Just standing there, he exuded an undeniable presence.
Holding the black umbrella, separated by a street of passing cars and a steady rain, he quietly looked over.
Those unfathomably deep eyes landed precisely on her.
In an instant, all the sounds of the world vanished.
The clamor of traffic, the noisy crowds, the cold sound of rain—all faded away.
In Ruan Yao's eyes, only that figure remained.
Huo Yanzhi.
It was him.
A living, real Huo Yanzhi, who had not yet been dragged into the abyss by her.
The scene from her death in her past life overlapped with the image of this man standing alive before her eyes.
His features were sharp, his nose bridge high, his thin lips pressed tightly together—exactly as she remembered him most vividly.
Only his eyes, across the rainy night, now appeared exceptionally calm and distant.
Unlike later, when they were always filled with an almost insane possessiveness and obsession toward her, like a snake lying in wait, coiling around her until she could hardly breathe.
Ruan Yao's nose suddenly stung.
Her heart felt as if gripped tightly by an invisible hand, the pain making it impossible to breathe, her fingertips tingling with numbness.
Her eyes quickly warmed, a layer of mist blurring her vision, turning the man holding the black umbrella across the street into a swaying shadow.
Huo Yanzhi was still alive.
Not the man whose eyes held only ashes after the Huo family's downfall.
Not the man who calmly signed the divorce papers, saying, "No one will force you anymore."
Not the man who ultimately died in prison, her ex-husband.
Joy and sorrow threatened to overwhelm her entirely.
Ruan Yao stood there, across the street, gazing at him through tear-blurred eyes.
On her pale face, the corners of her eyes and the tip of her nose were tinged with a fragile red from holding back tears, as if she might shatter at any moment, looking utterly pitiful.
She saw Huo Yanzhi's brow twitch slightly.
Then, he said something to Qin Feng beside him.
Qin Feng immediately nodded and hurried across the street, returning to her side.
"Miss."
A black long-handled umbrella was offered to her.
"The rain is getting heavier." Qin Feng's voice pulled her back from her emotions, carrying a gentle, persuasive tone. "Take this umbrella and hurry home."
Ruan Yao's fingers trembled as she mechanically took the umbrella handle, but her gaze still stretched past Qin Feng, firmly fixed on the man across the street.
She wanted to go over.
She wanted to run to him immediately, to say something to him.
Anything would do.
She took a step, about to move forward.
But across the street, Huo Yanzhi bent down, closed his umbrella, and got into the back seat of the black Bentley.
His movements were without pause, his gaze shifting away from her, never looking back.
It was the coldness and distance reserved for a stranger.
Completely different from the intense, almost devouring heat in his eyes when they first met in her past life.
The car door slammed shut with a "thud."
The black car smoothly merged into the traffic, soon disappearing into the distant lights.
Leaving only Ruan Yao, stunned, standing alone in place.