CHAPTER 5 — The Weight of an Unwanted Dawn
For the next few hours, Shi Yunxi moved through the Shi household like a silent shadow. She ate little, spoke even less, and kept her gaze fixed somewhere far away—somewhere Roulan and Qin Yuchan could never reach.
But the world inside the Shi home was too small for peace.
Trouble had a way of finding her.
By afternoon, the living room was filled with the sound of delicate porcelain and Roulan's over-sweet laughter. Yunxi stepped downstairs just in time to see Roulan leaning comfortably against Qin Yuchan's shoulder while their father discussed the "upcoming engagement banquet."
Her engagement.
Her life.
Her future.
All handed over so easily, as if she had never mattered.
Her father looked up when she descended the stairs.
"Yunxi," he said coldly, "you will stay in your room during the banquet. I don't want unnecessary attention on this family."
That meant: Don't embarrass us. Stay invisible.
"Yes, Father," she answered in a soft, steady voice, even as her heart tightened sharply.
Shi Roulan tilted her head.
"Sister, I'll send you some of the leftover desserts from the banquet, okay? I know you must be… feeling lonely lately."
Lonely.
Discarded.
Left behind.
Yunxi simply nodded and walked past them.
She refused to let Roulan see her break.
Later that day, unable to withstand the suffocating atmosphere, Yunxi slipped outside for a walk. She wrapped her thin cardigan tighter around her arms as she moved along the quiet path outside the estate, breathing in the crisp afternoon air.
She didn't have a destination.
She only needed space—somewhere her thoughts could breathe.
But the world had never been gentle to her.
As she approached a quieter corner of the street, a group of girls stood clustered together, whispering loudly. Yunxi recognized them immediately—Roulan's friends from the entertainment club, girls who admired Roulan as if she were a delicate goddess.
When they saw Yunxi, their eyes lit up—not with kindness, but with the gleeful cruelty reserved for easy targets.
"Well, if it isn't the discarded daughter," one sneered.
"She actually dared to leave the house? I thought her father locked her up after what she did."
"What a shameless woman," another added. "Doesn't she feel embarrassed showing her face in public after trying to seduce a man her sister was supposed to meet?"
Yunxi stopped walking, feeling the familiar pressure coil around her heart.
She said nothing.
She kept her head low.
But silence only excited them further.
"Look at her. Pretending to be innocent."
"It's pathetic."
"If I were her, I'd disappear forever."
Yunxi inhaled slowly, forcing herself to remain calm. She had experienced worse. Pain was not new to her. Still, her fingers curled tightly around her sleeves.
But the girls weren't finished.
"Roulan is so kind," the leader continued. "Even after what Yunxi did, she still worries about her sister's feelings. She's more noble than Yunxi will ever be."
Kind?
Noble?
Yunxi's chest tightened painfully.
Her vision blurred for a moment, not because of tears—but because of the sheer exhaustion of everything she had endured.
Still, she said nothing.
Until one of the girls stepped forward and deliberately shoved her shoulder.
"Say something, you ghost. Or are you too ashamed to open your mouth?"
Yunxi stumbled back from the force, barely catching her balance.
Her silence cracked.
She lifted her head slowly, meeting the girl's eyes with a coldness that startled even herself.
"…Please stop," she said quietly, but her voice carried a firmness none of them expected. "I don't want any trouble."
The girl scoffed.
"You think you can order us—"
But before she could finish, a low, heavy rumble filled the street.
A black luxury car approached from the far end of the road, gliding like a panther through the afternoon light. Its windows were tinted darker than night, and its presence alone made the girls straighten up nervously.
"W-Wait… that car… isn't that—?"
The vehicle slowed as it approached them.
And then it stopped.
Right beside Shi Yunxi.
A suffocating, icy aura radiated from behind the dark windows. Even without seeing the occupant, everyone felt it.
The girls immediately bowed their heads, stepping back in fear.
"That's Mu Corporation's car!" one whispered, trembling.
"President Mu uses that model…!"
No one dared move.
Inside the car, the driver glanced in their direction—and then back at the road.
The window never rolled down.
The door never opened.
And no one inside paid them the slightest attention.
But that was exactly why the fear intensified.
Because everyone knew who rode behind those tinted windows.
Mu Lingchen.
The coldest, most terrifying, untouchable man in City A.
A man whose presence alone was enough to silence a street.
The car hummed quietly for a few seconds before continuing its path and disappearing around the corner—leaving behind a choking silence.
The girls immediately stepped away from Yunxi, their arrogance evaporating.
"Let's go," the leader whispered, face pale. "I—I don't want to be seen here."
They fled quickly.
Yunxi stood frozen for a moment, stunned.
She had no idea who had been inside the car.
She didn't know whose presence had just saved her from further humiliation.
She didn't even turn to look until the car was already gone.
Only a fading trail of cold air remained.
A presence so intimidating that even the wind seemed to retreat.
Yunxi pressed a hand over her chest, steadying her breath.
She had survived another moment.
Barely.
And far away, inside that same car, Mu Lingchen sat with his eyes half-closed, unaware that the woman walking alone on that street was the very same woman fate had tied him to.
Unaware that the road they traveled separately was slowly, quietly narrowing.
Soon, they would collide.
But for now—
He remained untouched.
Cold.
Unapproachable.
Unaware of the storm already forming around him.
And Yunxi remained alone.
Bruised.
Silent.
Carrying a future she had not yet discovered.
The threads of fate tightened ever so slightly.
Without either of them noticing.