That feeling was back again—
Someone was watching her.
It had started from the very first day she was brought back from the countryside to the Lin family.
Like a cold draft creeping up the back of her neck, goosebumps rose uncontrollably across her skin, sending a faint shiver down her spine.
There was no moon tonight, the light was dim, and tree branches cast spiderweb-like shadows on the ground.
She felt a flicker of excitement.
Just as she was about to savor the sensation, she was interrupted by a bald, overweight middle-aged man who suddenly appeared before her.
“Hey there, little beauty, all alone?”
The man grinned as he approached, raising a hand to wave at her.
Yan Sui stood still, looking innocent and bewildered.
When the man got a clear look at the girl’s face, his grin widened into a lecherous smile, the greasy fat on his face trembling with excitement.
“You’re so cute and pretty, little beauty. Feeling lonely? Want to come play with your uncle?”
The man drew closer and closer, then suddenly flung open his coat!
Revealing his naked, greasy flesh beneath.
He stared intently at the girl’s face, eagerly anticipating her terrified scream.
Yan Sui didn’t move. Her dark eyes swept up and down, then she flashed an innocent, pure smile, her voice soft and gentle.
“Uncle, you’re a little cigarette butt.”
The unexpected response, paired with the dim shadows, made her delicate face seem eerily unsettling.
The man froze in place.
But soon, anger overpowered his fear. Flustered and enraged, he shouted,
“What do you mean by that?!”
Fuming, he lunged toward Yan Sui, but in the next moment, a flash of steel gleamed.
The little girl’s fingers danced, metal reflecting a dull silver light as she stared at him with a slight curl of her lips.
His expression shifted, and in the end, he wrapped his coat tightly around himself, turned, and ran.
He didn’t forget to throw back a parting threat, “Was that really necessary? Just you wait!”
The little girl let out a regretful “tsk.”
That’s it?
She continued on her way home.
The middle-aged man, now far away, prepared to search for his next target.
Experienced in his ways, he decided to try his luck again in that alley without surveillance cameras.
Muttering curses under his breath about the little girl he’d just encountered, he suddenly paused in his tracks.
“Who are you? Get out of my way! Wait, what are you doing?!”
“Help, help… mmm!”
A twisted, grotesque expression froze on his greasy face.
The scent of blood, carried by the cool night breeze, drifted out from the mouth of the alley.
A man in a black raincoat struck once, then again.
Blood splattered across his pale cheek, his low, hoarse murmur blending into the night.
“How dare you…”
…
Yan Sui pushed open the front door, and the lively noise inside fell silent for a moment.
All eyes turned to the little girl who seemed so out of place.
Some were surprised, some disdainful, some amused, some pitying.
Over a decade ago, on the day Lin Jian, the chairman of the Yan Group, married his new wife, he sent away the three-year-old daughter from his deceased ex-wife to be raised elsewhere.
This daughter bore her late mother’s surname.
Though he claimed it was because the girl was frail, in truth, it was to please his new lover and erase his past as a social climber.
Recently, the Lin family finally brought this daughter back.
But her status… it was said even the live-in maids could order her around.
In the center of the living room, a noblewoman holding a champagne glass looked at the girl by the door in surprise, her brow furrowing as a flicker of disgust flashed in her eyes:
“What are you doing here?”
The little girl timidly shrank her neck, offering a soft, innocent smile.
“Auntie, I’d like to attend my younger brother’s coming-of-age banquet today.”
Upon hearing this, He Wan looked her up and down, as if appraising an object unworthy of her attention.
“This is the Lin family’s birthday celebration, not some make-believe game for country children to play at will,” she said with a flawless smile. “Yan Sui, you must be more proper, understand?”
Yan Sui glanced down at herself—a simple white T-shirt, a plain black skirt, sneakers, and a canvas backpack. Was that improper?
Amidst everyone’s gaze, He Wan approached with a gracious and elegant smile.
“You have no sense of time and don’t understand etiquette, but I won’t blame you.
“Go on, go to your room and change into something nicer, tidy yourself up, and look pretty, alright?”
Then, in a voice too low for others to hear, she leaned close to the girl’s ear, her eyes lowered, and gently placed a hand on Yan Sui’s shoulder in a caring gesture.
“What I mean is, lock yourself away and don’t come out. You’re an embarrassment. Don’t you see how unfit you are?”
Yan Sui silently lowered her head, her entire body trembling slightly as if shamed and humiliated by these words.
He Wan watched Yan Sui’s reaction with satisfaction and gave her shoulder a light pat.
She truly looked the part of a strict yet loving stepmother.
It was at this moment that Yan Sui raised her head and met He Wan’s eyes.
Her almond-shaped eyes, round and slightly moist, blinked like a fawn’s. In a whisper equally inaudible to others, she said softly:
“He Wan, don’t bring your ugly face so close to me. Do you know how foul your breath is? No matter how much you pretend to be a lady, you’re nothing but a dog that pisses all over my Yan family.”
He Wan’s expression changed instantly!
Her eyes widened as if she had swallowed a fly, her face flushing crimson with disbelief.
“What did you say?!”
Her sharp, piercing voice startled everyone, and they exchanged bewildered glances.
Yan Sui looked innocently at He Wan’s contorted face, took a step back, her eyes reddening further.
“Auntie, I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”
With that, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and hurried upstairs.
As she ran, colorless powder silently scattered onto the hem of He Wan’s skirt.
He Wan stood rooted to the spot, her face twitching, her chest heaving.
Since marrying Lin Jian, when had she ever been insulted like this!
Lin Jian approached with a frown. “What happened?”
He Wan felt as if she could crush the glass in her hand.
“That little bitch insulted me!”
Lin Jian coughed lightly. “What are you talking about? I know you don’t like her, but just ignore her. How could that girl possibly have the nerve to insult you? There’s no need for this.”
He Wan felt the anger she had barely contained surge back up, a lump of blood stuck in her throat, impossible to swallow or spit out.
But Lin Jian merely patted her shoulder perfunctorily in consolation before quickly turning away with a smile to curry favor with clients.
The people around them resumed their toasts and chatter, though everyone understood the situation clearly. He Wan, the stepmother, was truly harsh, but the young girl was also weak and easily bullied, unfit for the spotlight, destined to be devoured by this family until nothing remained.
Yan Sui returned to her room on the second floor.
It was once a storage room, with small windows and a wardrobe filled with Lin Ran’s formal dresses, neatly arranged in rows.
Lin Ran, her half-sister, was currently on an exchange program abroad and would reportedly return soon.
She had yet to meet this sister, but she had already seen the clothes her sister had worn out and no longer wanted.
This wardrobe had been prepared for her on the very first day she returned. At the time, He Wan had introduced it with a smile, saying that Lin Ran was generous and willing to give these dresses to her younger sister.
The young girl had seen these dresses before, but she had only absentmindedly brushed through them.
Suddenly, her fingers paused, and she stared straight into the deepest part of the wardrobe, her hair standing on end.