The morning after the banquet dawned clear and crisp, with golden sunlight spilling through the wide windows of the Bai family estate. Birds chirped in the distance, and servants moved quietly through the halls.
But inside Bai Zhi's heart, the calm was an illusion. Beneath her poised surface, a storm churned.
Ten years ago, she had smiled the morning after that same banquet, feeling proud to have supported Bai Meilin, thinking they were bonded by fate and sisterhood.
Today, she poured tea for herself with steady hands and a cold heart.
No more illusions. Just bare truth.
"Zhi'er, Madam Bai requests your presence in the drawing room," a maid said softly.
Bai Zhi gave a brief nod and rose gracefully. "Very well."
As she walked toward the room, her lips curved slightly.
This was the moment they would begin shifting her from "eldest daughter" to "temporary guest." It had started here in her last life, gentle suggestions, subtle changes that seem like the natural thing to do and didn't seem excessive or outcasting. A room reassigned. Her seat at the dining table moved.
But now she was prepared.
In the elegant drawing room, Madam Bai sat on a cream settee. Bai Meilin was beside her, clad in soft pastels, her long hair brushed to perfection. She looked like a portrait of gentleness and innocence.
"Zhi'er," Madam Bai said with a faint smile. "Sit, child."
Bai Zhi obeyed wordlessly, her posture composed, her gaze unreadable.
Madam Bai hesitated, as if searching for the right words. "I trust you're not too tired from last night. You handled yourself with such grace."
"Thank you, Mother," Bai Zhi replied coolly.
Meilin leaned forward, voice tender. "Sister, you were stunning. Everyone was looking at you, not me! I was so jealous."
Madam Bai chuckled, lightly patting Meilin's hand. "Don't tease."
Bai Zhi's lips twitched. "Meilin has always been good at acting."
Both women froze for a beat. Then Madam Bai gave a tight laugh. "Oh, Zhi'er. You mean 'acting' like being dramatic, right?"
Bai Zhi didn't answer. She sipped her tea and let the silence speak.
Finally, Madam Bai cleared her throat. "Now, about your room arrangements… It's a bit awkward, but Meilin's original room has always been the one you're using now."
There it was.
"I see," Bai Zhi said mildly. "And where will I be staying?"
"The south wing guest room," Meilin chimed in. "It's lovely! It even has a garden view. I can help you pack!"
The word "Guest room" that was how the shift started, she just didn't understand in her past life.
Bai Zhi tilted her head. "You'll help me… move out of the life I've lived for 20 years?"
Meilin bit her lip, eyes watery. "I didn't mean it like that…"
"It's fine," Bai Zhi interrupted, placing her cup down. "If that's what's decided, then so be it. I'll move out tonight."
The ease with which she agreed left both Madam Bai and Meilin stunned.
They expected protests. Tears. Maybe even a breakdown.
She wouldn't give them that.
But Bai Zhi only stood up with elegance and said, "I hope Meilin enjoys her new room. After all, she's waited 20 years for it."
In her room, Bai Zhi began packing. Not because she was being forced out no, she had already decided she would leave that room.
It held memories of a life she no longer claimed or wanted to claim.
"Miss Bai," her personal maid, Xiao Cui, said with red eyes. "You're really leaving this room?"
"Don't cry," Bai Zhi said, folding a red silk cheongsam. "We're not leaving in disgrace. We're leaving with dignity."
"But this was your room…"
"It was a cage dressed in silk," Bai Zhi replied softly. "Now, it's time to step into my own space."
She packed her own boxes. She didn't ask for help. When she finished, she looked around the room that had been hers since childhood.
Then she shut the door.
The south wing guest room was larger than expected, with a wide balcony that faced the mountains. She stood there that evening, watching the sun set in a blaze of crimson and gold.
She didn't mourn the change.
She welcomed it.
In her last life, she would have clung to the room like it was proof of her place in the family. Now, she realized she had never truly belonged.
She wouldn't fight for scraps. She would build her own empire.
Meanwhile, in the main hall, Bai Meilin pretended to laugh along with the visiting cousins, but her thoughts were spinning.
Why didn't Bai Zhi fight the room change? Why didn't she cry?
That calm, that poise, it felt like a slap to Meilin's schemes. She had wanted Bai Zhi humiliated. Small. Broken.
But instead, she stood taller than ever.
And worse, others had noticed.
"I heard Bai Zhi's moving to the south wing," one cousin whispered. "She agreed so quickly. So composed."
"She looked amazing at the banquet too. Maybe she's still the better daughter…"
Meilin clenched her fist beneath her sleeve.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
Where did it start to go wrong?
That night, Bai Zhi stood before her desk, flipping through her old journals. Memories flooded back, some painful, some warm.
Then she opened a fresh notebook.
On the first page, she wrote:
New Timeline Day 6
Goals: Break engagement. Rebuild identity. Expose Bai Meilin.
Rule Number one : Never underestimate the white lotus in pink.
The next morning, Bai Zhi went to the university's research lab early.
The staff greeted her with polite surprise.
"Miss Bai, we weren't expecting you this week."
"I've made new adjustments to the AI program we were working on," she said, setting down her files.
This was her real battlefield, science. She had buried her talents in her last life, letting Meilin take the credit. Not anymore.
The lead professor glanced at the updated algorithm she had drafted overnight.
"This is… impressive," he murmured.
More than impressive. It was groundbreaking.
"I'd like to begin a new independent research project," Bai Zhi said calmly. "And I'd like it under my own name."
Her Name. Her Identity would be engraved in everything she owned. Nobody would take her glory. Not in this Life.
He nodded slowly. "Of course. We'll draw up the paperwork."
By noon, whispers had started spreading around campus.
"Bai Zhi's launching her own project?"
"I thought she was just a socialite…"
"She's been working in the lab for years quietly. Maybe she's the real genius."
When Bai Meilin arrived on campus in her shiny new car, the usual attention she received felt… diluted. She noticed the change instantly.
Everyone was distracted.
And they were all talking about Bai Zhi.