When Qiao Zhi awoke, the room was still.
Light filtered through the curtains, casting soft lines across the bed and floor. The air had the cool stillness of early morning. For a brief moment, she felt warm. Safe.
But the next moment—
Her arms were empty.
She blinked and reached forward instinctively, fingers brushing only cold, crumpled sheets.
The warmth was gone.
Her heart skipped.
She sat up quickly, the quilt slipping from her shoulders, her hair tousled, her pulse already quickening. The space beside her was hollow, as if Gu Yangjin had never been there at all. Only the faint imprint of her body on the mattress and a single strand of black hair on the pillow remained as proof.
"…Yangjin?"
She called out softly, her voice raw from sleep. No answer.
Just then, A slender figure suddenly turned in from the living room.
This king-size bedroom was connected to the living room, and the door behind had just been slammed shut with a loud bang.
Gu Yangjin stood there in yesterday's clothes—a simple T-shirt and jeans—but even in such casual wear, her figure was delicate and graceful. Her eyes were red and misty, her gaze quietly fixed on the person by the bed, like a startled rabbit trying to stay brave.
"My dad and the others are here," she said softly, her voice trembling. "They're insisting you come out and give an explanation. If not, they'll go public with it."
She lowered her head, twisting her fingers anxiously. "I managed to slip in here. Let's wait until they leave before going out. Don't worry... they're just bluffing. They won't actually do anything."
Qiao Zhi remembered now. That incident had indeed happened in the first world that they had met. At that time, Gu Yangjin was just a normal human that she had some interest in which later turned into mad love. Since, this world is a parallel version of that world, that also means that it also retains Gu Yangjin's painful memories. Gu Yangjin's family environment was notoriously toxic, full of parasitic relatives and constant emotional neglect. Since childhood, she'd grown up in a home without love.
This time, it was her stepsister who was always good at pleasing others, who had somehow caught wind yesterday that Gu Yangjin and Qiao Zhi had spent the night out, and of course, she ran to stir up chaos.
These leeches never missed a chance to grab hold of her weaknesses. After all, Qiao Zhi was the most spoiled youngest daughter of the Qiao family, born into privilege and power.
Gu Yangjin, at her core, was soft-hearted. If she hadn't been, she wouldn't have endured so many years of pain for someone like Qiao Zhi.
The predetermined story of this world is just like a novel, but the background of the world is exactly as it was when she first met Gu Yangjin. Except for some differences such as the existence of Ah Xin or the existence of the villain Xu Rongwan and some other things are different from Gu Yangjin's life. The main thing that was totally different was the theme of this world which was ABO but Gu Yangjin's world was only a normal human world with only males and females. It was also different that when she first met Gu Yangjin, she took hold of the body of a dying female A-list celebrity and approached Gu Yangjin as just a co star at first, took great care of her and then they slowly fell in love with each other. Of course, many dramas happened in between, including the drama with Gu Yangjin's toxic family. At that time, she slowly strengthened Gu Yangjin's mentally with gentle love and care and let her cut off ties with her toxic family herself and later when those bastards dared to cause trouble, she put them behind the bars for the rest of their lives. In that world, they objected to her being with her because they were both women but were also greedy for her money and background.
Qiao Zhi felt amused thinking of all those long forgotten memories and looked forwards to what these blood sucking relatives will try to do in this life, though she had a rough idea of what exactly they will do from the predetermined story line.
According to the predetermined story line, Qiao Zhi had gone out to deal with the family and quickly smoothed things over. Nothing much had come of it.
But now…
Qiao Zhi's brows furrowed as her gaze fell on Gu Yangjin. Her lashes were wet with tears, and her head hung low.
Then her eyes caught something that made her heart twist sharply.
A slap mark.
A glaring, red imprint across one side of Gu Yangjin's pale face.
No wonder her happiness value had suddenly dropped. But it shouldn't have fallen that sharply, right?
Wait. Something wasn't right.
Someone dared to hit her?
Qiao Zhi's expression darkened instantly. Her heart clenched with guilt and fury. Everything else vanished from her mind. She stood up abruptly and strode toward the door without thinking.
But Gu Yangjin quickly reached out, grabbing her wrist. Her grip was trembling.
"It's okay," she said hoarsely. "My dad and the others... they're hard to deal with. Don't go. It's not worth it."
Her voice was so small. So resigned.
Then, as if all her strength had drained, she bit her lip, eyes overflowing as tears began to spill freely down her cheeks.
How could anyone remain unmoved by that? Qiao Zhi's heart ached painfully.
She gently squeezed her hand, silently assuring her. Then she turned back toward the door with determination in every step.
Qiao Zhi's heart was blazing with fire of anger, these bastards dared to lay their dirty hands on her princess. She would let them know what death feels like.
As soon as Qiao Zhi opened the door, several tall, imposing Alphas charged in like a pack of wolves, pouncing on her with aggression in their eyes. They must've thought she'd be easy prey, just an Omega too overwhelmed to fight back.
Big mistake.
Qiao Zhi didn't even flinch. She sidestepped the first blow, letting it breeze past her cheek like wind. Then came a crack—her elbow collided with someone's jaw, sending one of them sprawling onto the hotel carpet, groaning.
The rest tried to pile on. One against six? To them, it looked like a sure win. But they'd never thought that the one they are fighting against isn't the spoiled daughter of the Xin family but Qiao Zhi, who can remove these people's entire existence with just a simple thought. Within seconds, the air was thick with the sounds of fists striking flesh, sharp cries, and bones cracking.
Even though these men had numbers, their brawling was chaotic and undisciplined. Qiao Zhi moved like a ghost between them, landing blows where it hurt most—joints, solar plexus, shins. She didn't waste a single motion. One by one, they dropped around her like bowling pins. Two tried to get up again.
She broke their wrists with a twist and a cruel smile.
Xing Jiancai—no, Gu Yangjin's so-called father—had been barking orders from behind his nephews and sons, full of self-righteous fury. "The daughter our Xing family raised has been ruined by you!" he bellowed. "You must marry her with a sky-high bride price, Ms.Xin, or I swear I'll let the entire nation know what kind of beast you are—"
He didn't get to finish.
Qiao Zhi turned her cold gaze to him and stalked forward. "Ruined?" she repeated, her voice like ice. "No. You and your kind ruined her—using her, controlling her, hitting her and abusing her for her entire life!"
Gu Yangjin, dressed in a loose T-shirt and jeans, stood frozen just inside the bedroom. Her eyes were red from crying. A soft bruise had bloomed across her cheek. The sight of it sent something sharp through Qiao Zhi's chest.
Her Gu'er had been slapped.
Her Gu'er had cried alone behind a locked door.
Someone had dared lay a hand on what was hers.
No mercy.
Qiao Zhi grabbed Xing Jiancai by the collar and flung him against the hallway wall. His head cracked against the plaster. Before he could shout, she'd swept his legs out from under him, kicked him in the ribs, and then stepped down—hard—on his hand until she heard bones snap. He howled in pain, curling up, but she only leaned closer and hissed, "You want to talk about bride prices? How about I charge you per bone?"
Behind her, the others whimpered, scrambling to crawl away.
"Oh, no, no," she said silkily. "No one leaves until my love gets justice."
She dragged each of the groaning, sobbing men by their collars into the room. By the time she was done, all seven were on their knees in front of Gu Yangjin, who looked too stunned to speak.
Qiao Zhi crossed her arms and tilted her head. "Now, lick the floor and beg for forgiveness."
The men froze. Xing Jiancai choked. "You're insane—!"
Qiao Zhi took a step forward.
They licked.
Gu Yangjin's hand flew to her mouth in horror as she watched her father and cousins, bloodied and humiliated, grovel like worms at her feet. Her eyes brimmed with tears again, but this time it wasn't from pain. It was disbelief. Shock. Relief.
"Say it," Qiao Zhi ordered coldly.
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