A minute later...
"Ahhhh!"
A sharp scream ripped through the air from upstairs, making Xin ifang’s eyebrow twitch. She glanced around, but nobody else reacted. Maybe their ears were useless... She massaged her temples, the beginnings of a headache pulsing behind her eyes.
Right beside her sat Eveline, the light-blonde hair, ice-cold eyes and almost too silent. She wore a thin white overcoat and had those sharp, calculating eyes that never quite softened. On her lap, little Eirene was silent as a cat, just blinking up at the ceiling, her small fingers tangled in Eveline’s sleeve.
Xin ifang forced a casual tone. "Uh, I... just rembered, left my phone upstairs. Be right back." No one bothered to respond as she slipped away, her steps a little too quick. Honestly, this house needed hazard pay.
On the couch, Xinyue Zhilan barely concealed her exhaustion, stretching out with a sigh. "What is with everyone today?" she grumbled, eyeing the clock. "Ten more minutes and I’ll be late for my appointnt..."
She turned to Eveline, forcing a smile that didn’t fool anyone. "First day here, and you’ve already seen the full circus. Sorry about the ss. If it makes you feel better, it’s not always this wild. Just... most days."
Eveline just shrugged, stroking Eirene’s hair, voice cool and even. "I’m used to it... this is almost relaxing."
Xinyue Zhilan blinked, not sure if that was a joke. "Well... as long as you’re comfortable. If you need anything, just let know, okay? Spare towels, food, uh, a place to stay?"
Eirene looked up at her, still silent, eyes sharp and curious, way too old for her age.
Xinyue Zhilan hesitated, then pressed on. "You should stay tonight. Settle in. I’ll be out for a while, just a routine appointnt. Won’t be long."
Eveline nodded. "Thank you. We’re fine. Sorry for all the... excitent earlier."
Xinyue Zhilan waved her hand. "It’s not your fault... You’re braver than I am, coming here like this. Did Xiao Wang even warn you what you were getting into?"
Eveline let out a dry, knowing smile. "Not really. He just told , ’Relax, my family’s harmless.’" Her eyes flicked down to Eirene. "He lies as easily as he breathes."
Xinyue Zhilan snorted. "Don’t I know it. If I had a penny for every ti he brought ho a new woman or a kid out of nowhere..." She trailed off, the stress lines on her forehead deepening.
She stood up, hesitated as she looked toward the stairs, still no sign of Xin ifang, or anyone else. She gave the room a final once-over. Three daughters in the house, plus three different won, and now two kids who all called her son "dad." If she thought about it any longer, she’d need stronger ds than her therapist could prescribe.
She glanced at Yue, who sat in the corner, arms folded, lips tight. Yue shot Eveline a look that could kill but didn’t say a word. Xinyue Zhilan wondered if there was so grudge there she didn’t know about.
Probably.
Then there was Fu Yuxin, holding little Zenxi, the second granddaughter, courtesy of yet another woman, and another one of Wang Xiao’s "accidents." Xinyue Zhilan had long given up trying to keep score. If she started asking questions, she’d probably find out soone else was pregnant before dinner.
She slipped on her shoes and headed for the main door, muttering under her breath, "At least nobody’s making out in the living room... Small rcies."
She paused, cast one last look at the living room full of won and children, then shook her head. ’Why am I the one going to therapy? Clearly, it’s my son who’s the lost cause.’
She left, pulling the door shut behind her, already half-wondering if her therapist offered a family package.
The mont Zhilan’s footsteps faded, the living room’s fragile peace broke.
"You are so dead..."
The words slipped out, accusing and sharp. Yue shot Eveline a flat look across the coffee table.
Eveline arched a brow, her voice frosty. "Little mouth running wild again, huh? Watch it. I’m your Elder here."
Yue didn’t flinch. "Elder or not, what was that story earlier? If Dad finds out you fed that fairy tale, he’ll toss you in a pit of lava to burn."
Eveline’s lips parted, then closed, reconsidering her whole life for a second.
Wang Jiarong, who’d been quietly scrolling through her phone, finally looked up, wide-eyed. "Wait... She lied?" Her gaze flicked from Eveline to Yue, not sure if she should be impressed or scared. "All that stuff about rescuing Xiao after he fell? That was all fake?"
Yue just shrugged. "Of course she lied. What love story? Dad just kidnapped her ’cause he liked the way she looked. Kept her locked up, raped her for days until she broke. Didn’t stop until she finally gave in and started popping out his kids... Stupid, really."
A heavy silence settled for a mont.
Fu Yuxin, who hadn’t said a word the whole ti, just hugged Zenxi closer, eyes glazed, pretending she hadn’t heard any of it.
She tried to block out the conversation, but Yue’s words hit ho. Of course she believed it, Wang Xiao had done the sa to her. Seeing another beautiful woman broken and reshaped by him just made her feel tired, not angry.
Fu Yuxin shot Eveline a sideways glance, a faint pity softening her features. Such a gorgeous woman, and he ruined her too. She didn’t doubt for a second that Eveline’s story was all makeup and gloss for the elders.
Truth was always dirtier in this world.
But sothing still nagged at her. Why did Yue keep calling Wang Xiao "Dad"? The word sat strange in her ears.
Yue sighed, rubbing her temples, "I honestly don’t know why you’re still alive, Eveline. Dad doesn’t care about people weaker than him. You try to run, try to fight, he just laughs. It’s all a ga to him. Toys don’t get to break unless he says so..."
She narrowed her gaze at Eveline, who was wearing a faint, almost taunting smile, like she was enjoying the whole exchange.
"What a poisonous little toy you turned out to be..." Yue’s voice was gentle, almost sweet, "If you’re so miserable, why not just poison yourself and put an end to it?"
Yue shook her head, studying Eveline. The woman looked perfect on the outside, flawless face, goddess-like elegance, the kind of beauty n loved to conquer. But everything about her presence scread danger, like silk draped over a hidden blade.
Eveline’s smile tightened, brittle as frost. "Poison myself?" Her voice was soft, yet sohow made the whole room shrink. "You think the hunted chooses when the hunt ends? No, child. The chase belongs to the hunter, always."
She t Yue’s eyes, her own gaze ageless, a storm barely concealed behind cool detachnt. "Once, in a different age, I could run forever and none would dare follow. The forests parted for . Even gods kept their distance." Her fingers absentmindedly brushed a strand of Eirene’s hair, almost as if seeking comfort. "There was a ti when to reach for was to invite ruin. I kept my own laws, unbroken. I pitied those foolish enough to trespass."
Her eyes hardened, ancient hurt flickering beneath the surface. "But ti devours everything, even mory. Empires rot, thrones crumble, and the wild things are chained for sport. To walk as prey among mortals... to feel fangs in your throat and know the gods will not answer..." She shook her head, a trace of scorn coloring her words. "n believe the world was made for their pleasure. So, like your father, like mine... never learn the dangers of cornering a wounded beast."
A silence descended between them, heavy and suffocating.
Yue’s gaze darted from Eveline to the others, Wang i, Wang Jiarong, Fu Yuxin. All three looked away, but their eyes had flickered open, old mories flashing beneath the surface. They all knew that feeling what it ant to be caught, to be forced past breaking, to realize that making peace with hell was sotis the only way to survive.
Even those who now moved around Wang Xiao with practiced smiles wasn’t it just because there was never any hope of resisting? Powerlessness leaves a mark, even when you learn to wear it like jewelry.
Yue’s fingers curled tight, nails biting into her palm. That’s why she hated Eveline. This woman never scread, never fought openly, just smiled with that sa goddess calm, letting her poison seep in with every word. She could stir up old wounds with a single glance, force everyone to rember what it was like the first ti they realized they couldn’t win.
Her words always sounded so sentintal, so patient and cold, that it made Yue want to lash out, just to see her break.
But looking at Eveline now, Yue saw nothing to break. Only a wolf that had learned to survive alone, even in a cage.
And maybe, in the end, that was what made her the most miserable woman in the room.
"Misery?" she continued, voice dropping lower, edged in sadness that felt too old for the room. "I have known centuries alone beneath the moon, content in solitude. I have known devotion that would silence the stars. You speak of suffering as if it were a wound that bleeds once and then closes. So wounds run through every life. So chains tighten every ti you wake."
Her anger faded, leaving only exhaustion. "If death was freedom, I would have welcod it at the world’s first dawn. But the hunted rarely choose how their story ends."
Eveline turned her head, locking eyes with Yue, a gentleness there, but nothing soft. "Do you know what I learned, in those wild years when the forest was my only ho?"
"A cage can hold a beast, yes... but no iron stays strong forever. Even the sharpest bars rust, and one day, the door will fall away!"
She let the words sink, her gaze holding Yue’s, unblinking. "And the prey, it rembers. It rembers every insult, every day the hunter would stand outside it’s prison and laugh, as if it were a pet. But beasts aren’t made for cages. And when the rust cos, when the lock finally breaks... the beast doesn’t forget."
A current of fear and understanding moved through the room.
Fu Yuxin watched, her own scars reflected in Eveline’s words, and for the first ti pitied the woman not as a rival, but as sothing older and lonelier than she could ever imagine.
"It even.." Eveline was mid-sentence, voice low and hypnotic, when—
WHOOSH!
Sothing whizzed through the air, fast and unexpected.
"What!?" She jerked her head aside just in ti, a slipper flying past her cheek and smacking into the couch cushion with a dull thud.
Bang!
"Who dares...?" Eveline’s eyes widened, caught between shock and disbelief. For a split second, the goddess mask slipped.
"Oops..."
A small, mischievous laugh ca from near the kitchen. A woman, face flushed but determined, stood with her arms crossed and a satisfied little smile. "... Looks like the cage bars aren’t where they used to be, didn’t stop that one..."
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