The moment the car parked, heavy rain began pouring outside.
After five years, Si Yuan had returned to this place where she had endured a year of bullying during high school.
Today, she would confront her tormentors.
And the root cause of that bullying—her foster brother, Song Yan.
Si Yuan unconsciously rubbed the scar on the inner side of her wrist.
Five years.
The city appeared more decadent and glamorous than when she left, though its gloomy tone remained unchanged.
As oppressive as ever.
Snapping back to reality, Si Yuan adjusted the collar of her beige trench coat, took a deep breath, opened her umbrella, stepped out of the car, and walked toward the banquet hall.
Her therapist had said that to fully recover, she must face what she once feared most.
That’s why she had to come.
“Si Yuan?”
She heard someone call her name.
“It really is you, Si Yuan!”
Turning around, Si Yuan saw a girl in a chestnut-colored sweater rushing toward her in quick strides.
It took Si Yuan three seconds to recall the girl’s name from memory.
Zhou Xiaoxiao—one of the few classmates who had been kind to her in high school.
“It really is you! You’ve changed so much, I hesitated to recognize you just now!”
Si Yuan nodded.
“I heard you’re a designer now? That’s amazing! I remember you were always so skilled at making little crafts back in high school!”
Si Yuan smiled. Her fair, delicate features carried a natural coolness, but when she smiled, the small mole beneath her eye shifted slightly, captivating anyone who noticed.
“Art installation and landscape design. Feel free to contact me if you need anything.”
Si Yuan handed over her business card.
“Perfect! Our company is hosting a birthday party for a celebrity soon—I’ll reach out to you then!”
Zhou Xiaoxiao pushed open the hotel door, pulling Si Yuan inside. “It’s freezing! Let’s hurry in. I heard almost everyone’s here.”
Si Yuan hunched her shoulders slightly. Yes, autumn in Hai City was colder than before.
The revolving door ushered them into the warm interior, yet a chill crept up Si Yuan’s spine.
At the entrance of the banquet hall, a poster with the gilded words “Five-Year Reunion” stood out prominently, accompanied by a class photo from their senior year.
In the picture, she stood at the very edge, her bangs nearly covering her eyes—a small, thin figure—while everyone else beamed brightly.
Lin Shuangyu stood at the center, basking in attention, her arm linked with Song Yan’s.
Song Yan—the most admired, unattainable figure in Hai City’s elite circles, refined and promising, now more illustrious than ever.
Si Yuan had called him “brother” for eight years.
Yet once, his pristine reputation had nearly been ruined because of her.
So, looking back now, his cold indifference toward her back then wasn’t entirely unjustified.
“Si Yuan?”
A soft, alluring female voice came from behind, sharp as an ice pick, piercing Si Yuan’s eardrums without warning.
Si Yuan turned.
Lin Shuangyu, in a striking red dress, radiant and captivating, glided over gracefully.
A few of her former followers trailed behind her.
Five years had polished Lin Shuangyu into an even more dazzling beauty, softening the sharp edges of her past cruelty.
“So it really is you?”
The moment she saw Lin Shuangyu, Si Yuan’s body tensed reflexively, as if countless tiny electric currents shot up her spine.
The long-healed cigarette burns on her back suddenly began to sear with pain.
That was the “mark” Lin Shuangyu had branded onto her body with a cigarette butt back in their school days, when she’d cornered Si Yuan in the equipment room.
And now, the perpetrator was smiling at her.
Si Yuan felt her throat tighten, a buzzing in her ears as if she’d been instantly transported back to those days of bullying.
“Lin Shuangyu?”
Si Yuan heard her own voice as if from a distance, hoarse and unfamiliar.
Lin Shuangyu approached, looking at her with a smile that held faint surprise. “You’ve become much prettier. I almost didn’t recognize you.”
Si Yuan secretly dug her thumbnail into her palm, the pain helping her regain some composure.
She forced herself to lift her head and meet Lin Shuangyu’s gaze directly.
Deep breath, she counted silently in her mind.
One, two, three…
Just as her therapist had taught her.
“Thank you.”
Si Yuan heard herself reply calmly.
This time, she didn’t flee in panic or curl into herself like she used to.
“I heard you went abroad,” Lin Shuangyu said with a fake smile, her red lips like a bright, split wound. “I never expected to see you here today.”
Si Yuan nodded calmly. “Yes, it’s been a long time.”
The air froze for a few seconds before Lin Shuangyu suddenly sighed dramatically. “You know, we had some… misunderstandings back in high school.”
Lin Shuangyu now resembled a meticulously dressed doll—gentle, refined, even understanding.
She placed a hand on Si Yuan’s shoulder. “We were young and foolish back then. Don’t hold it against me.”
Si Yuan looked at that hand, remembering how it had once poured cold water over her head, trampled her dignity, and nearly destroyed her academic life.
Her heart skipped a beat, but she maintained a polite smile. “It’s fine. After all, you’re not young anymore now.”
Lin Shuangyu’s face flushed red, the other words she’d prepared instantly stuck in her throat.
She was three years older than Si Yuan—those three years might as well have been thirty between them.
Lin Shuangyu’s gaze turned colder as she prepared to retort, when suddenly a voice cut through,
“Xiao Yuan.”
The entire first-floor banquet hall quieted almost instantly.
Si Yuan’s heart felt as if squeezed tight.
She didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.
Song Yan—the boy she’d secretly loved throughout her youth.
The one she’d called “brother” for eight years.
Yes, if it weren’t for her secret crush on him, Lin Shuangyu would never have… done those things to her.
Back then, to prevent Lin Shuangyu from telling Song Yan, she had endured their bullying again and again.
But it was only later that Si Yuan understood… Song Yan had known all along.
The memories halted as Si Yuan turned to look at Song Yan.
He stood beneath the crystal chandelier, warm yellow light casting a soft golden halo around him.
He possessed exceptionally handsome features—a sharply defined face with slightly downturned peach blossom eyes that always carried a hint of tenderness despite his usual aloofness.
In her youth, she had mistaken that smile for his special tenderness toward her, an exception made just for her.
But that day when she had looked at him, drenched and pathetic in the heavy rain, he had worn the same gentle expression.
Then coldly walked away.
It was in that moment Si Yuan finally understood.
That smile was merely Song Yan’s good upbringing.
Not because he liked her.
In fact, it was a deliberate distance maintained specifically toward her.
“Brother.”
Si Yuan called out softly, her throat tight.
The moment their eyes met, everyone else seemed to fade out of focus—Si Yuan could only see Song Yan’s gaze meeting hers.
Song Yan’s gaze lingered on her face for a few seconds, mirroring the same surprise Lin Shuangyu had shown earlier, but with an added touch of delight.
He seemed about to say something, but was ultimately interrupted by Lin Shuangyu.
“Ah Yan, your sister has changed so much! I almost didn’t recognize her earlier!”
Si Yuan lowered her gaze and saw Lin Shuangyu linking arms with Song Yan.
Coming back to his senses, Song Yan glanced at Lin Shuangyu’s hand with a slight frown.
After a pause, he still addressed Si Yuan first: “Xiao Yuan, you’re back. Why didn’t you tell your brother first?”
Si Yuan withdrew her gaze and responded with a calm, gentle smile: “It was because of work too. I wanted to surprise you and Mom and Dad!”
Seeing that Si Yuan didn’t seem to hold any resentment about being sent away five years ago, Song Yan felt relieved.
“By the way, this is Lin Shuangyu, my… fiancée. You two probably know each other.”
Si Yuan froze for a moment.
So Song Yan’s fiancée was Lin Shuangyu.
No wonder in their sparse correspondence during her time abroad, Song Yan had always been evasive about this matter.
Because he knew too, didn’t he?
He knew how Lin Shuangyu had bullied her in the past.