Volume One, Chapter One: Rebirth

Haicheng Hospital.

The relentless summer heat, accompanied by the incessant cicadas, grated on everyone’s nerves.

Shen Hanchuan gazed at the silent girl lying in the hospital bed, a restless irritation gnawing at him. He scoffed, "Stop pretending, Shen Chaowu. I know you’re already awake."

Blinding rays scorched the girl’s bloodless cheeks. Her face was small and delicate, pale and frail, with thin skin through which bluish veins faintly showed.

Slowly, the girl opened her eyes. Her pupils were dark and damp, rigid, and she remained silent, as lifeless as a beautiful porcelain doll.

Seeing his sister like this, Shen Hanchuan was about to lose his temper, but in the next moment, the girl looked up, fixing her gaze upon him.

Those dark, hollow eyes suddenly filled with vitality.

Staring at the glaring handprint on the girl’s cheek, Shen Hanchuan felt a subtle and unwelcome pang of pity amidst his frustration.

Their parents had passed away barely half a year ago, and yet he had raised his hand against his own sister...

Thinking of Ayao’s fragile, youthful face, Shen Hanchuan hardened his heart. "You ruined Mr. Zhou’s painting. Ayao is wracked with guilt—she cried all night. Both you and Ayao are my sisters... The Zhou family is a pit of fire. Shouldn’t you trust your second brother, believe that I wouldn’t send you to the Zhou family to atone?"

Shen Chaowu pressed her numb lips together, a faint mocking light flickering in her dark eyes.

"So Second Brother knows the Zhou family is a pit of fire?"

Recalling the torment she suffered in that house in her previous life, Shen Chaowu found Shen Hanchuan’s demeanor especially hypocritical.

Hand and back of hand?

For Shen Hanchuan, only Jiang Yao was both.

Jiang Yao’s father had been the Shen family’s driver. During a trip chauffeuring Shen’s parents, the car exploded, and all three perished in the flames.

From that moment, Jiang Yao was brought into the Shen household.

In her past life, when Jiang Yao got into trouble, her three brothers, burdened by guilt toward Jiang Yao, forced her to take the blame.

Thus, she endured three years of suffering in the Zhou family on Jiang Yao’s behalf.

Called out, Shen Hanchuan grew flustered and angry, unable to fathom why his once obedient sister had become so sharp and sensitive.

"Ayao is naturally timid. You shouldn’t have left her alone at the party—otherwise, she wouldn’t have panicked and run into Mr. Zhou’s study, nor would she have damaged his cherished painting. It was all an accident; Ayao was just frightened."

How absurd—to shift Jiang Yao’s fault onto her.

Her second brother’s heart had been biased from the very start.

"Was it me who tore Zhou Jingdu’s painting?" Shen Chaowu’s lips were pale, and the words she never got to say before dying in her past life finally spilled forth. "Second Brother, is Jiang Yao your sister, or am I?"

Shen Hanchuan was stunned by the question.

"You know well that Ayao has no family left in this world. Shen Chaowu, don’t forget! Uncle Jiang died because of our family!"

That same excuse again!

Anything Jiang Yao wanted, she had to yield.

Now, with Jiang Yao at fault, she had to take the blame.

What twisted logic was this?

Shen Chaowu smiled coldly. "By that argument, shouldn’t Second Brother go to the Zhou family to apologize for Jiang Yao? Whether as a driver, a cook, or a gardener fertilizing their flowers, you should gladly accept any role, shouldn’t you?"

"Don’t be ridiculous!"

Shen Hanchuan’s face darkened with anger, rendered speechless by her retort.

Had he ever known his sister could be so sharp-tongued?

At that moment, a slender girl pushed open the door and, eyes red, rushed into Shen Hanchuan’s arms. "Brother Hanchuan, please don’t fight with Chaowu over me anymore, okay?"

"Ayao..."

Seeing Jiang Yao enter the hospital room, most of Shen Hanchuan’s anger dissipated, replaced by concern. "You’re not well. The hospital is full of all kinds of people. What if you catch something?"

Jiang Yao’s petite frame fit perfectly in the man’s embrace. She kept her head down, quietly wiping away tears.

"I—I’m sorry, Brother Hanchuan. I begged Chaowu to take me to the Zhou family. I didn’t mean to damage Mr. Zhou’s things... I didn’t expect—the housekeeper mistook me for Chaowu."

Shen Hanchuan froze. "What?"

Since returning from the Zhou family, Jiang Yao had been inconsolable, refusing to speak. He assumed she’d been traumatized and never pressed her further.

Shen Chaowu gazed at Jiang Yao’s face—she always wore the look of a victim, red-eyed and aggrieved.

In her past life, hadn't she also been deceived by Jiang Yao’s pitiful appearance?

In the midst of sweltering summer, Shen Chaowu felt a chill seep into her bones.

Her gaze toward Jiang Yao grew colder, as if forged into icy steel and then shattered again, the words she finally spoke edged with frost. "And then? Did you admit it? Jiang Yao, look at me! Did you admit it?"

"I—I..." Jiang Yao dared not look up, tears streaming down her face. Her rosy cheeks gradually paled. "I—"

"I wanted to deny it, I wanted to tell them I wasn't Chaowu... But I was so scared..."

Shen Chaowu let out a soft laugh—a clear, cool sound that made Jiang Yao shudder. "So, you ran away, letting the Zhou family believe I was the one who entered the study?"

Jiang Yao bit her lip in guilt, her slender body trembling.

"Enough. Ayao said she didn’t do it on purpose," Shen Hanchuan, hearing Jiang Yao recount the story for the first time and seeing her tears, couldn’t bear to blame her.

Shen Chaowu lowered her eyes, a trace of disdain curling at her lips.

In her previous life, during a bitter winter, she was locked in a freezing attic for three days and nights by the Zhou family’s spiteful servants, while Jiang Yao—

Was dressed in a splendid princess gown, celebrating her lavish twentieth birthday.

That party must have been magnificent, for word of it reached her ears through the Zhou family.

For three long years, she treaded carefully, trying to please everyone in the Zhou household. Her own brothers ignored her, while they cherished Jiang Yao as a precious jewel.

After returning from the Zhou family, her brothers were delighted.

Shen Chaowu thought her days of suffering had finally ended.

Until Jiang Yao fell down the stairs, crying that she had been pushed.

And so, she was mercilessly expelled from the Shen family.

Only then did Shen Chaowu realize that, in their hearts, Jiang Yao was their true sister—after all, for three years, it was Jiang Yao who had stayed by their side.

Once, she had been obsessed—why would her own family treat Jiang Yao like a treasure and discard her like refuse?

But now she felt that such obsession was pointless, for so much in this world is without reason.

Seeing Shen Chaowu’s indifferent expression, Jiang Yao bit her lip.

Her eyes brimmed with tears. "Chaowu, you still refuse to forgive me. I wanted to clarify things at the Zhou family, but I’m powerless—no one would believe me..."

Jiang Yao seemed overcome with grief, clutching her chest and gasping for breath. "Han... Brother Hanchuan, help me..."

In the next instant, she fainted.

"Ayao!"

"Quick! Call the doctor!"