The Secret Letter

The moon cast a cold glow over the Xiao family garden. Ye Chen clutched the crumpled envelope in his hand, its wax seal bearing the emblem of a dragon—a symbol he had not seen since childhood.

Inside lay a single sentence:

"Return to the Ye family, and the world shall kneel at your feet."

Memories flooded back: his grandfather's stern face, the night he was cast out for refusing an arranged marriage, the vow to never rely on the Ye name. Yet here he stood, the family's reach extending even into his wretched present.

A cough interrupted his thoughts. The Xiao family butler sneered, "Still lurking in the shadows, trash? Madam expects you to clean the banquet hall by dawn."

Ye Chen pocketed the letter. Not yet, he told himself. The time to reveal his lineage would come, but only when the Xiao family's arrogance reached its peak—when their fall would be most crushing.

As he scrubbed the marble floors, shards of a broken jade cup glinted in the moonlight—the same cup Madam Xiao had shattered during his humiliation. He picked up a fragment, its edge sharp as betrayal.

"You'll regret every insult," he whispered, the dragon seal burning like a promise in his pocket.