---
The moon hung like a pale coin in the night sky, casting silver light across the marble floors of the Lin estate. The house had finally fallen silent. Madame Wu's sharp heels no longer clicked through the halls, and Lin Xue's grating laughter had vanished behind her bedroom door.
Lin Xiao sat at her desk, her school uniform still crisp from the day. The old letter from her grandmother rested beneath her fingers. Her thumb traced each faded stroke, as if she could feel the warmth of the woman who had written it.
You were the light in my dimming world…
A whisper of sorrow brushed the edges of her chest, but she pushed it away. Sorrow had no place in this new life. Only strategy.
She folded the letter and slid it back into its hiding place beneath the floorboard, then leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling.
They thought she was weak. That was their greatest mistake.
And she would use it.
---
The next morning, Lin Xiao descended the staircase with calm, quiet steps. The dining room was alive with pretense and perfume. Madame Wu was already seated, flipping through a glossy magazine, her lips painted an aggressive red that clashed with her peach blouse.
"Ah, the little mouse is awake," she drawled without looking up. "Don't forget to clean the the hall floor after school. The maid is off today."
Lin Xiao gave a pleasant smile. "Of course, Aunt Wu. Shall I clean your room as well?"
That earned her a suspicious glance, but the woman only sniffed and turned another page.
At the far end of the table sat her father, Lin Zhenghua. His face remained buried in business documents, as always. He never even looked up.
Beside him sat Lin Xue, perfectly dressed in her uniform, sipping orange juice like royalty.
"Jie Jie," Lin Xue said sweetly. "Don't forget, Papa wants you to attend the family banquet next week. You remember those, right? The ones where you just… blend into the wallpaper?"
Lin Xiao's smile didn't waver. "Oh, I remember. I'll be sure to wear something eye-catching this time. Maybe red."
Lin Xue blinked, and for the briefest second, her composure cracked.
Red. The color of betrayal. The color Lin Xiao had bled in her final moments.
It was a test.
And Lin Xue had failed it.
---
At school, the tension was just as thick.
Zhao Jian was waiting for her by the gate again, holding two cups of milk tea as if that was enough to wash away the blood on his hands.
"Morning, babe," he said, holding out one of the drinks. "I got your favorite."
She took it with a smile. "Taro?"
He grinned. "Of course. You think I'd forget?"
He had.
Her favorite had always been peach. Taro was Lin Xue's.
The smile never left her lips. "Thanks," she said, and sipped.
Poison didn't always come in vials. Sometimes it wore a smile and carried your favorite drink.
---
Classes blurred by, but Lin Xiao moved through them like a dancer through a routine. Every glance, every word, every reaction—she cataloged them all.
Lin Xue was growing anxious. Her smiles were too tight. Her whispers to Zhao Jian more frequent. Lin Xiao didn't need to guess what they were about.
She was changing.
And it terrified them.
During lunch, Lin Xiao sat beneath the camphor tree by the far edge of the courtyard. It was the one place no one bothered her in the past—mostly because Lin Xue had labeled it as "the loser's corner."
Funny how peaceful it felt now.
As she unwrapped her lunchbox, filled lovingly by her mother that morning, she heard footsteps behind her.
"Skipping the popular tables again?" a voice drawled.
She turned, expecting Zhao Jian.
But it was someone else.
Not a new character. Not someone she'd ever spoken to before. But a classmate from the background of her past life—Liang Mei, the quiet girl who always sat two rows behind her in math class.
Lin Xiao raised a brow. "And here I thought you were allergic to talking."
Liang Mei shrugged and sat beside her, uninvited. "I like silence. But I like chaos more."
Lin Xiao blinked. Interesting.
"Everyone's talking," Liang Mei said, plucking a grape from Lin Xiao's box without asking. "You're… different."
Lin Xiao tilted her head. "Am I?"
"Yeah," the girl grinned. "And I love it. Let them squirm."
It wasn't an alliance. Not yet.
But maybe, just maybe… a pawn had just moved itself forward.
---
That night, as Lin Xiao returned home, she found the house dimly lit. Her mother was waiting for her by the kitchen table, holding an envelope.
"Lin'er," Mei Hua said softly. "This came today. From the notary's office."
Lin Xiao's blood stilled.
She took the envelope and opened it.
Inside was a photocopy of her grandmother's original will.
Her heart thundered as she read it again—each line carved into her bones already.
> …and to my granddaughter Lin Xiao, I leave the ancestral property in Suzhou, along with a 23% share in Lin Group's old holdings. This gift is made not by tradition, but by love.
Lin Xiao looked up slowly. "How did this get here?"
Her mother looked uneasy. "It seems… someone requested a confirmation of the will's validity. The office thought it best to notify you. But I—don't understand. Who would—?"
Lin Xiao's grip tightened around the page.
She knew.
Lin Xue had discovered it.
And the game was no longer in the shadows.
The board was set.
Let the war begin.