Under the blazing sun, a three-meter-long truck picked up two women outside an old, run-down apartment complex in the suburbs, then drove toward the city center.
“Aunt, where are we going?”
In the back seat, a girl sat anxiously, her white cane propped beside her. Her sightless eyes stared lifelessly ahead.
Beside her, a woman whose hands were covered in wrinkles took the girl’s hand and soothed her softly. “Huanyi, don’t be afraid! Aunt is helping you find a father for the baby in your belly!”
“Aunt knows Young Master Shen doesn’t want to take responsibility, but you can’t just get rid of the baby in your belly for no reason! Aunt has looked into it. Old Madam Shen is holding her seventieth-birthday banquet today. When we get there, just do as Aunt says! I promise I’ll make sure you have a good life!”
“Huanyi! If you really become the Shen family’s Young Madam, you mustn’t forget your uncle and his family.”
Aunt spoke with hopeful entreaty, but took advantage of Tao Huanyi’s blindness to exchange a smug look with her son in the rearview mirror.
Her earlier show of kindness was plainly a sham.
Tao Huanyi furrowed her brow, her hand unconsciously coming to rest on her slightly rounded belly.
Ten years ago, a fire suddenly broke out at the Tao family home. At the most perilous moment, Tao Huanyi’s mother summoned all her strength and braved the flames to rescue her young daughter from her room. But just a short distance from the exit, a burning beam fell across her back and pinned her down, trapping her in the flames.
Her husband, meanwhile, had already died in another room.
Tao Huanyi survived, but the fire had left her blind.
She had thought she would be sent to an orphanage, another orphan waiting to be chosen. But the day after the accident, her maternal uncle hurried back from abroad and took charge of the whole chaotic mess!
Including Tao Huanyi, who had been blinded.
Her uncle was willing to raise her, but her aunt had always despised her as a bringer of bad luck. Only because her uncle insisted did Aunt reluctantly allow her into the house. They had managed to coexist peacefully for nearly ten years.
That peace began to crumble six months ago, when her uncle’s company ran into a crisis.
After the crisis began, her uncle stopped coming home and started living at the office. Aunt was already on edge, and when she saw her son come home from work and spend his days preoccupied with Huanyi, she grew even more resentful of her presence.
A vicious idea took root. A month ago, Aunt pretended that Uncle needed something, claimed she couldn’t go herself, and sent Tao Huanyi to deliver some documents. Little did Huanyi know that the moment she entered a private room at the bar, someone would drag her farther inside and brutally torment her!
That man was Shen Yanchen!
At the thought of him, Tao Huanyi was overcome by fear. She clutched her white cane, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Shen Yanchen—
The most terrifying man in A City!
People called him the Smiling-Faced Yama. He ate vegetarian food and prayed to Buddha, presenting a gentle, refined appearance. But word had it that he was violent by nature, bloodthirsty, and cruel. At seventeen, he was forced to leave school after gouging out someone’s eyes. Yet at twenty, his temperament inexplicably changed, and he began to dominate the business world. Rumor had it that anyone who openly challenged him ended up dead without even a place to be buried!
The Shen family had him eat vegetarian food and pray to Buddha to cultivate his character and suppress the murderous urges within him. They had also arranged several matches with families of equal standing for him, but perhaps because Shen Yanchen was fated to bring death to his wives, his fiancées would die suddenly for one reason or another just days after each engagement—
Aunt knew perfectly well what that devil was really like, yet she spouted one lie after another!
She was making the bad sound good!
“Aunt, could we… not go?”
Perhaps she was so terrified that Tao Huanyi’s voice trembled. “I remember Mr. Shen warned us that day not to set our sights on the Shen family. He said if we dared show up again, he’d break our legs…”
Wei Minjun narrowed her eyes, a vicious glint in them.
That little bitch was still thinking of resisting? What a joke! She had chosen to make her move, and there was no turning back now!
Wei Minjun hastily tried to calm her. “Don’t worry! Mr. Shen said that because he didn’t know you were pregnant! If the Shen family finds out you’re pregnant now, they’ll surely accept you. Even Mr. Shen will let down his guard.”
“Huanyi, trust Aunt!”
“Aunt isn’t asking for anything. I just want you to have a good life.”
When she saw that Tao Huanyi still wanted to refuse, Wei Minjun curled her lip and nearly rolled her eyes to the heavens.
But remembering the precious nugget still growing in that wretched girl’s belly, Wei Minjun turned her head, took a deep breath, and forced herself to swallow her irritation. Then she continued coaxing her.
“Huanyi, everything Aunt has done is for your own good. Now that you’re pregnant, it’s fate that Heaven has arranged this marriage for you. Besides, the Shen family is wonderful. They’ll take care of you even better than Aunt does.”
Tao Huanyi knew there was no point arguing with Wei Minjun any further. Feeling helpless, she could only find another way to escape this forced marriage!
They wanted to use her and the baby in her belly?
Not a chance!
Even if she died, she would never obey that family.
But she was in the truck now. If she angered them, she was sure to pay for it.
Tao Huanyi changed her tack and nodded.
“I understand, Aunt. I’ll do as you say.”
“Ah, Huanyi! Aunt knew you were a good girl!”
As soon as she finished speaking, the truck arrived outside the hotel where Old Madam Shen’s birthday banquet was being held.
“Huanyi, we’re here! Come on, follow Aunt out!”
“Okay.”
Tao Huanyi held her white cane in one hand and used the other to steady herself against Wei Minjun as she got out of the truck.
She didn’t see how Wei Minjun, upon catching sight of the glittering, magnificent hotel, grinned so broadly she could hardly close her mouth.
Wei Minjun hurriedly supported Tao Huanyi by her slender arm and carefully helped her down.
Somehow, Wei Minjun had gotten hold of an invitation and managed to sneak Tao Huanyi into the banquet hall.
Tao Huanyi could hear the clink of glasses and the sound of people chatting and laughing all around them. Wei Minjun held her hand and seemed to be asking people here and there when Old Madam Shen would arrive.
Tao Huanyi held her breath and listened closely to the sounds around her. When she felt Wei Minjun’s grip gradually loosen, she seized her chance, wrenched her hand free, and ran in the opposite direction—
In the ten years since she’d gone blind, Tao Huanyi had trained her hearing until it was exceptionally sharp. That was why she’d heard every chilling, disgusting thing Wei Minjun and her family of three had said to her over the years.
Just now, she had also memorized the route Wei Minjun had taken her along and the landmarks on the way, giving her a chance to escape.
And somehow, she really did find the exit!
Hearing the wind howl outside and the endless traffic rushing past, Tao Huanyi felt a sudden surge of exhilaration at the prospect of escaping her desperate situation. She drew a deep breath and was about to charge through the hotel doors when her white cane suddenly tilted. As though she had stepped on loose gravel, she suddenly twisted her ankle—