XIAO Mei POV

(Neglected Heiress of the Lin family

I woke up to pain. Cold iron bit into my wrists—I was chained to the wall. My body ached, my head pounded, and the silence around me felt suffocating.

I looked down at myself. My clothes were stained with dried blood, stiff and sticky. My own blood. My chest tightened.

Then… footsteps.

The door flung open. My heart froze. Standing there were my gege and meimei, faces smeared with grease. My second gege held a long whip, the kind used to beat stubborn animals. At first, I thought it wasn’t for me… until I saw the blood dripping from it.

“Are you still going to marry a sixty-year-old man?” he sneered.

“No,” I said firmly. The memories of yesterday’s betrayal surged back, and I refused to bow to them.

Flashback: The Betrayal

I was at home, treating my wounded feet, when Mei Mei messaged me: “I’m about to be kidnapped. Help me!”

Ignoring the pain in my leg, I ran. When I arrived, she was about to be struck. I lunged to protect her… and a baseball bat slammed into me. Darkness consumed me.

I woke up tied to a chair, surrounded by big, burly men. One moved forward to harass me. I could only endure it—my injuries too severe to resist.

Then Mei Mei appeared. Relief surged… but froze into horror. She didn’t come to save me. She sat on a large couch, surrounded by the men like they were her servants, enjoying snacks and massages.

Finally, she commanded them to leave. Then, with a cruel smile, she untied me—and kicked me to the ground.

“Since you came back to the Lin family seventeen years ago, I’ve been framing you… just to get attention. You threaten my position as heiress,” she whispered.

Fury and disbelief bubbled inside me. I wanted to hit her, to make her feel pain.

“Please!” she cried, dropping to her knees as my gege appeared. “Don’t hit me! I’ll leave the Lin family! I’ll stop competing for your favor!”

Second gege shoved me aside. I fell onto a glass table—bottles shattered around me. Then darkness.

Back to Present: The Whipping

I awoke chained to the wall again. My body screamed as first gege whipped me mercilessly, forcing me to submit. I said no each time, and each refusal brought more pain.

Finally, he ordered his men to free me. Relief flickered—but was quickly snuffed out. The same men grabbed me again and dragged me to the edge of the building.

The breeze was cold on my bloodied skin. Then Mei Mei appeared, her greasy face smiling cruelly. She whispered something I didn’t understand:

“Share with my dear sister.”

And pushed me.

I fell. Cement hit my body with crushing force. Blood flowed freely. Hope shattered.

I closed my eyes. Waiting.

Waiting for the end.

Before the darkness swallowed me completely, I whispered a vow to God:

If I get a second chance at life, I will make them pay—every single one of them.

And then… nothing.

Rebirth and New Path

When I opened my eyes, I was back on the day my parents divorced.

A system appeared before me. Its name: 009.

“You have only a few years to live. The only way to extend your lifespan is by gaining favor from the Gu family or the Lin family.”

I scanned the options. I chose the Gu family, pledging to follow a Ma. The system offered a gift: mind-reading talent. I accepted.

I told the Lin family I would leave with my Ma. Mei Mei wore the same cruel smirk from before—I knew she had also been reborn, though I couldn’t confirm it yet.

She began crying, blaming me for leaving Aba and Gege, claiming she would stay behind to care for them. In my previous life, I might have felt guilt. Now… I felt disgust.

Gege Haotian stood up and slapped me, calling me shameless and vile. Insults rained down, confirming my suspicions—Mei Mei had returned too.

I felt cold, but resolute. I would still follow Ma.

“How long until we can leave this house of hell?” I asked the system.

“Five minutes,” it replied.

Within that time, we packed our bags, a Ma signed the divorce papers, and we left the Lin family house.

I looked back once. That house… I would forever call it:

“The Gates of Hell.”

And in that moment, I swore to myself: this time, I would return not as a victim, but as a storm.

Wei Ling POV

(Scheming adopted sister of theLin family)

In my past life, after pushing Jiejie—Xiaomei—off the tall building, I thought everything would finally belong to me.

But things didn’t go exactly as planned.

I was supposed to be married off to a sixty-year-old man as well. However, with my Oscar-winning acting, I managed to exclude myself from that fate. I cried, fainted, acted pitiful—until everyone believed I was the real victim.

One of my loyal simps, GeGe Haotian, turned away to make a call. I was already preparing my next performance when exhaustion finally caught up with me. My legs gave out.

I slipped.

And fell from the same window Xiaomei had fallen from.

Death was instant.

⸻

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day my parents divorced.

Aba stood in front of us, his face tired and aged, asking us who we wanted to follow. My heart leapt—I immediately wanted to choose Aba. The Lin family still had status, connections… hope.

But before I could speak, Jiejie spoke first.

“I’ll follow Ama,” she said calmly. “To the Gu family.”

Shock slammed into me.

She’s reborn too.

But I quickly calmed myself. That didn’t make sense. In our past life, the Gu family had gone bankrupt. Xiaomei had suffered miserably after following Ama. Why would she choose that path again?

Unless…

I brushed the thought away.

If she’s reborn, she must be stupid.

Let her suffer like I did. In my past life, after I followed Ama to the Gu family, they never truly acknowledged me. They went bankrupt and abandoned us, leaving us miserable.

And yet… the Lin family, who were once on the verge of bankruptcy, suddenly rose again and surpassed all the elites in the social circle.

This time, I would stay.

This time, I would win.

After the divorce papers were signed, Ama and Xiaomei left the house together.

I lowered my head, hiding the smile tugging at my lips.

⸻

GeGe Haotian POV

( First son of the Lin family)

My parents’ divorce shattered the Lin family.

After everything was finalized, Aba asked us to choose who we would follow. I didn’t expect Xiaomei to answer so decisively.

“I’ll follow Ama,” she said, without hesitation.

Wei Ling tugged on my sleeve, her eyes red.

“GeGe… isn’t Jiejie too cruel?” she whispered. “Aba and you are on the verge of bankruptcy, and she still chooses to leave at a time like this.”

I gently stroked her hair.

“This,” I said calmly, “is the kind of meimei our family truly needs.”

Xiaomei scoffed, leaning back in her chair as if none of this mattered.

Something inside me snapped.

I stood up and slapped her hard, calling her vain, shameless, ungrateful, a betrayer—every insult I could think of. For a brief second, guilt flickered in my chest.

But it vanished just as quickly.

She deserved it.

Xiaomei should have been grateful. She had been switched at birth, found when she was five, and brought back to the Lin family. For over sixteen years, she had lived under our roof. She had never lacked food, clothes, or education.

She was one of us.

And yet, she chose to abandon us at our lowest point.

Even when she framed Wei Ling in the past, we never truly chased her out. We never betrayed her first.

But now?

She betrayed the Lin family.

I clenched my fists as Ama signed the divorce papers and left with her.

The more I thought about it, the more I resented Xiaomei.

Yunxi POV

(Mother of Wei Ling and Xiao Mei)

⸻

I discovered Yichen’s betrayal on a day I will never forget.

He had taken a mistress—and worse, he had secretly transferred most of the Lin family’s assets to her. By the time I uncovered the truth, the once-proud head of the Lin family was already drowning in debt.

There was nothing left to save.

I proposed a divorce immediately.

When the papers were ready, I handed them to him without hesitation.

“I want custody of both girls,” I said calmly.

Yichen refused.

He insisted that after the divorce, the girls would choose for themselves.

I agreed.

⸻

When the question was finally placed before them, I already knew what I expected.

Wei Ling would follow me. I had devoted almost my entire life to her—caring for her, indulging her, protecting her.

As for Xiaomei…

I thought she would follow Yichen.

After all, since she returned to the Lin family, I had rarely given her the attention she deserved.

But reality struck me harder than any blow.

Wei Ling chose Yichen.

And Xiaomei—my quiet, overlooked daughter—walked straight toward me.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

When she sat beside me, her hand clutching the edge of my sleeve, something deep in my chest shattered. I pulled her into my arms tightly.

“I promise you,” I whispered, my voice trembling, “I will give you a better life.”

⸻

Then—

I heard a voice.

Xiaomei doesn’t have much time left.

My heart stopped.

The only way for her to survive…

I froze.

The voice was clear—too clear. Yet it wasn’t spoken aloud. I searched the room, my pulse pounding, but no one else reacted.

Before I could make sense of it, the voice continued, calm and distant, as if explaining fate itself.

Xiaomei hadn’t opened her mouth.

And yet… I could hear her.

⸻

I didn’t understand what was happening.

I only knew that from that moment on, something about my daughter was different.

Later, her thoughts surfaced again—soft, guarded, filled with pain far too deep for a child her age. She spoke of betrayal. Of regret. Of a past that should not exist.

She said she had already lived once before.

And that this time, she had chosen me.

My arms tightened around her without thinking.

If what I was hearing was real—

If even half of it was true—

Then my daughter had suffered far more than I could ever imagine.

⸻

Once the divorce papers were signed, I did not hesitate again.

I took Xiaomei upstairs. We packed our belongings quickly and quietly. I did not look back at the Lin family home—not even once.

As we stepped outside, I made a silent vow:

No matter what secrets my daughter carried…

No matter what future awaited us…

This time, I would protect her.

Even if the truth terrified me.

As we stepped outside, I made a silent vow:

No matter what secrets my daughter carried…

No matter what future awaited us…

This time, I would protect her.

Even if the truth terrified me—

even if the path ahead was darker than anything I had ever imagined.