Chapter Nine: Ashes and Embers

The night air was thick with tension as Bai Lianhua stepped out of the luxury car, her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor of the elite banquet hall. Tonight wasn't just another social event hosted by the upper crust of society—it was a battlefield. And she was here to ignite the war.

Inside, chandeliers glittered, casting golden halos over perfectly dressed elites. Laughter and champagne flutes clinked in the air, but Lianhua's eyes were locked on her prey: Xia Meilin, draped in red silk, playing the doting daughter beside Madam Bai as if she were the epitome of virtue.

Lianhua's lips curled. Not for long.

The Bai family's PR team had arranged this event to officially reintroduce Lianhua as the Bai Patriarch's biological granddaughter. But Lianhua had her own reason for attending: it was time to rip the mask off the girl who had stolen her identity, her parents' affection, and her dignity.

As she entered, silence rippled through the room. The whispers began.

"Is that the real daughter?"

"She's stunning… Look at the aura she carries."

"But wasn't Meilin supposed to be—?"

Lianhua ignored them all. She walked straight to the center of the room, where the projector screen was ready. Her assistant, Qin Xue, gave a subtle nod from the control booth.

It was time.

The lights dimmed.

"Excuse me," Lianhua said calmly, her voice slicing through the noise like a blade. "Before the celebration continues, I'd like to present something. A piece of my past… and the truth of a deception."

Gasps rang out. Xia Meilin froze, her wine glass halfway to her lips.

The screen flickered to life.

Images played—carefully edited surveillance footage from five years ago, showing Xia Meilin entering a hospital room. Inside lay a barely conscious Bai Lianhua. The video continued, revealing Meilin switching files, signing discharge papers fraudulently, and walking out with a smug smile.

"I was drugged that night," Lianhua's voice rang out. "Hospitalized after collapsing. And someone used that opportunity… to erase me."

Shock crashed over the crowd like a tidal wave.

"No! That's not true!" Xia Meilin's shriek echoed, her eyes wild. "That video—it's fake! She's lying!"

But Lianhua was prepared.

Another clip rolled—Meilin whispering into Madam Bai's ear at an earlier banquet: "She's just clinging to us for money. She's not even your real daughter."

The room erupted.

Madam Bai looked pale. "Meilin… is this true?"

Meilin stepped back, stammering, "I—Mom—I did it for us. She was ruining our image—she—she didn't belong—"

Slap.

The sound cracked through the room as Madam Bai's hand struck Meilin's cheek. Gasps followed.

"You deceived me for years," Madam Bai whispered, trembling. "And I turned my back on my real daughter because of you."

Lianhua stood tall, her voice calm. "Don't worry, Mother. I never expected your love. Not anymore."

Her words were like daggers, but she didn't flinch as Madam Bai's eyes filled with tears.

"I… I'm sorry," the older woman said, her voice breaking. "I didn't know. I didn't—"

"You didn't want to know," Lianhua replied coldly. "When I cried and begged, you looked away. When I collapsed, you turned your back. You wanted the daughter who brought you pride, not the one who needed you."

Meilin collapsed to her knees, sobbing. But Lianhua felt nothing but satisfaction. Let her taste just a sliver of the pain she had caused.

Just then, a familiar figure stepped through the crowd.

Mo Chen.

Tall, composed, and impossible to ignore, he approached Lianhua, his eyes shadowed but focused entirely on her.

"That was bold," he said quietly, once they were away from the crowd. "And dangerous. Meilin won't go down without dragging others with her."

"I'm not afraid," Lianhua replied, her eyes flashing. "Let them all come. I'm done playing the victim."

Mo Chen looked at her for a long moment. Then he reached into his coat pocket and handed her a small envelope.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Proof," he said. "Of who helped Meilin… and why."

Inside were documents—bank transactions, signed authorizations, and one name that made her chest freeze: Bai Ziyu.

"No," she whispered. "That can't be."

"I don't know how deep it goes," Mo Chen said carefully. "But your brother isn't as innocent as you think."

Her mind reeled. Bai Ziyu, the cold but loyal brother… had he betrayed her? Or was it something else?

"He's hiding something," Mo Chen continued. "I'm still investigating. But if you want the full truth—prepare yourself. It may break you."

Lianhua clenched the envelope tightly, her knuckles white.

"I'd rather face the pain than live in the dark again."

Silence settled between them.

Then Mo Chen stepped closer. "You're stronger than I imagined," he murmured, his voice lower now, more personal. "But you don't always have to carry the weight alone."

Her eyes met his. "Why do you care?"

He hesitated—then lifted his hand and gently brushed a strand of hair from her cheek.

"Because I should've protected you in your last life," he said softly. "And this time… I won't make that mistake again."

Her breath caught in her throat. There it was—that connection she couldn't shake. The man from her dreams, from her buried memories… He had been there all along.

But before she could respond, shouting erupted from the hall.

"Xia Meilin tried to run!" a servant cried. "She attacked Madam Bai and fled toward the garden!"

Lianhua's expression hardened. "She still thinks she can escape judgment."

Without hesitation, she and Mo Chen sprinted toward the garden. Spotlights flashed, guards shouted, and in the middle of it all, Xia Meilin was restrained, sobbing, her eyes wild with desperation.

"Let me go! I'm the real daughter! I was the one they loved!"

"You were loved under false pretenses," Lianhua said coldly, stepping forward. "That ends tonight."

Meilin lunged, but the guards held her back.

"I should've been the one to be reborn!" she screamed. "You were weak! You didn't deserve this life!"

Lianhua's gaze was like steel. "Maybe I was weak. But now? I'm everything you'll never be."

The final blow was poetic. The press had arrived. Cameras flashed. The story of Bai Lianhua's rebirth—and Xia Meilin's fall—would make headlines by morning.

But in the shadows, one figure watched silently.

Bai Ziyu.

His expression was unreadable. And as he turned to walk away, Lianhua felt it in her bones: this wasn't over.