It had been raining that night.
In her past life, Feng Xiao Xiao had wandered through the back garden of the Jiang estate, humiliated after whispers followed her through the ballroom. Her makeup had begun to smudge from tears she refused to let fall.
No one noticed her.
No one cared.
Until—
A scream split the night.
"Yichen!"
She turned, heart dropping to her knees.
Her little brother's body had been found near the koi pond. Unconscious. Pale. His tiny lips blue.
The maids screamed. The guards ran. Her father shouted for someone to call a doctor.
But all Xiao Xiao could do was fall to her knees beside him, her hands trembling as she cradled his small, cold fingers.
"No… no, no, no—"
At the hospital, they said it was a sudden illness. Something genetic. He had weak lungs, they said. His constitution was fragile.
She believed them.
Until months later, when she overheard her stepmother speaking to Feng Qian in the garden—
"—too bad it wasn't permanent. That little brat is too sharp for his own good."
"Mother! What if someone heard you?"
"Relax. Do you think that stupid Xiao Xiao would ever connect the dots? She's too busy begging that useless boyfriend of hers."
That moment broke something in her.
She had failed him.
She had failed everyone.
And worst of all—she never got the chance to make it right.
Now, in this life, the memory burned fresh.
But this time, she had caught it early.
This time, she wouldn't weep in the rain.
She would tear down every mask, expose every lie, and protect the ones she loved—even if it meant war.