Chapter 5 — The First Move

Shen Xie didn't sleep that night.

The message kept returning to her mind.

Some doors, once closed, cannot be opened again.

It wasn't a threat meant to frighten her.

It was a warning.

Which meant whoever sent it believed they had something to lose.

She got up from the bed and sat beside the window with a notebook open before her.

She began writing names.

Hao Zeyu.

Su Wanqing.

Then she stopped.

There were too many questions.

Who arranged the accident?

Who altered the surveillance?

Who was the driver?

Why had Hao Zeyu known she would die?

And most importantly—

Why had someone wanted her dead?

She wrote another name.

Xia Yucheng.

Her pen stopped.

She didn't know why she had written it.

She didn't know his identity.

She didn't know his family.

She knew only a pair of eyes.

A black coat.

And the silver-black orchid.

Shen Xie closed the notebook.

She needed answers.

But before she could investigate the people around her, she needed to make sure nobody realized she had changed.

The following morning, she called Hao Zeyu.

He answered almost immediately.

“Xie?”

His voice sounded surprised.

“I've been thinking.”

“About what?”

“About our engagement.”

Silence.

Shen Xie could almost imagine his expression.

“What did you decide?”

She smiled faintly.

“I think we should continue.”

His relief was immediate.

“Of course.”

“But I want to change something.”

“What?”

“I don't want our relationship to interfere with my family anymore.”

Hao Zeyu went quiet.

That sentence mattered.

In her previous life, he had spent months persuading her to become independent from the Shen family.

This time, she was handing him exactly what he wanted to hear but for a completely different reason.

“I understand,” he said carefully.

“Do you?”

“Of course.”

“Good.”

She ended the call.

Then she opened another file.

It contained information about a company Hao Zeyu had recently invested in.

In her first life, she had never paid attention to it.

She remembered only that he had called it a small investment.

But now she knew something he didn't.

Three years from now, that company would become extremely valuable.

And six months after that—

It would disappear.

Taking millions with it.

Shen Xie leaned back.

She would let Hao Zeyu believe that everything remained exactly as it had been.

Let Su Wanqing believe she was still the trusting best friend.

Let everyone believe Shen Xie was still the same woman.

Then she would quietly take back every piece of her life they had planned to steal.

Her phone rang.

This time, it was her brother.

“Xie, where are you?”

“At home.”

“Grandfather wants you at the family company.”

“Why?”

“He says you're starting work there today.”

Shen Xie blinked.

Today?

She had completely forgotten.

In her first life, she had refused the position.

Because Hao Zeyu had told her that working inside the Shen Group would make their relationship difficult.

She smiled.

“Tell Grandfather I'll be there in twenty minutes.”

After ending the call, Shen Xie stood.

She looked at herself in the mirror.

Same face.

Same life.

But not the same woman.

“Let's begin.”

She picked up her coat.

And for the first time since returning to the past, Shen Xie walked towards the future instead of away from it.

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