“It’s Christly vengeance,” Neil said smoothly, holding the car door. “Blood shall answer blood.” He handed me the tablet. The screen glowed, displaying a lavish party already underway. “The Sue family hosts a birthday banquet today.” The name burned on my tongue.
Maja—the maid. My shadow for twenty years, only to reveal herself as the snake that poisoned my life. “This crown,” Neil continued, eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror, “belongs to you.” He explained. “They’re crowning Lin Maja as Queen of Jing Hai.
” He scrolled. “Reportedly, the Sue family prepared three gifts for your release. Care to guess?” I leaned back against the plush leather. Alien comfort after five years on a stone cot. “Nothing good, I bet.” “First,” he said, “a razor. To shave your head and force you into a monastic life.
Five years of penance for a crime you didn’t commit.” I traced the phoenix pin on my chest. “Go on.” “Second, a ten-thousand-word confession. They expect you to memorize it and recite it flawlessly on stage tonight, proving your ‘virtue’ and ‘rehabilitation.
’” “And the third?” I asked quietly, dangerously. “Lastly, a contract for Star Manner. The sole property you left for your biological daughter, Zyu. They want you to sign it over to Maja.” “They dare steal it,” I whispered. Rage was a cold, precise weapon inside me.
That villa was all I had protected for Zyu, my only child of blood. “What a pack of ungrateful wolves,” Neil mused. “So,” I said, eyeing the glittering building ahead, “my arrival is just that woman’s spectacle.” “Well then,” I straightened my crimson dress.
“If they prepared three gifts, I’ll return three surprises. Let’s go greet my arranged husband.” As we pulled up, I saw them: my daughter, Zyu, and her husband, Xi Hong, arguing with a security guard. “Excuse me!” Zyu’s voice was strained. “An inmate named Yinglan was released today.
Where is she?” “She’s already left,” the guard said dismissively. “Gone?” Zyu’s face crumpled. “Xi Hong, do you think something happened to Mom? She’s been in prison for five years. She never wanted to see me.” My heart ached. I had refused her visits.
I couldn’t let her see me broken and gray. “It’s okay,” Xi Hong said, pulling her close. “She probably felt guilty. That’s why she avoided you. Today’s the Sue family’s birthday banquet. She must be there. Damn the Sue family… they made my mother suffer for five years.
” “Honey,” Zyu wept, “you must get justice for us.” “Don’t worry,” he promised her. “A minor family like the Sues is nothing to me.” I stayed in the shadows, letting them go inside first. My fight wasn’t theirs—yet. I entered alone. Whispers erupted immediately.
“Today’s a big day for the Sue family.” “Their matriarch has become Queen of Jing Hai. Impressive.” I moved like a ghost in blood-red silk, wearing the custom gown meant for her coronation. Perfectly fitted. I walked to the center of the room. My husband, Su Hayan, fawning over Lin Maja.
“Who is that woman?” someone muttered. “Why is she wearing the matriarch’s gown?” Maja saw me first. Her face went white. Her two eldest daughters, Hansang and Jene—the girls I had raised—gasped. “Who let you wear this?” Hansang shrieked.
I smiled. “What’s wrong? Does my outfit offend your eyes?” Su Hayan finally turned, adjusting Maja’s earring as if nothing was amiss. “Darling,” Maja simpered, “look at my new gown.” A woman near them tsked. “Sir, this gown must be expensive.
The matriarch does not control the finances now. Dressing lavishly seems… inappropriate at your age.” “Take it off,” Hayan hissed at me. “It looks better on you,” Maja said, oblivious. “There are people around.” “It’s fine,” he murmured, kissing her cheek.
“Naughty. Annoying,” she replied. “Yinglan!” Jene snapped. “Stop being shameless! Today’s Maja’s birthday banquet. Must you steal the spotlight?” I turned to the crowd. “Everyone, don’t you wonder who I really am?” “Master Sue,” an old business partner asked, “is she your secret mistress?” I laughed.
“I’m Yu Shingan,” I announced, my voice carrying over stunned silence. “Lawfully married to Su Hayan. The rightful matriarch of the Sue family.” “What?” “The one enshrined…?” I jerked my chin at Maja. “She’s just the housemaid.” A collective gasp swept the room.
“Good heavens! She’s the Sue family’s maid!” “Yinglan!” Maja screamed, her face purple with rage. “Are you humiliating me on purpose?” “Humiliating you?” I stepped closer. “You throw grand parties for a maid but can’t face reality. Our family is atoning for your sins.
” “Stain, understand?” Jene yelled. The room whispered. “When the news broke, we only heard someone from the Sues was jailed. Never imagined it was their matriarch.” Hayan’s face darkened. “Now everyone knows the Sues have a convicted criminal.
Utter humiliation.” Maja sneered. “My pride matters more than my life. It’s insignificant.” “Just serving time,” I shrugged. “Not even a death sentence. Stop being dramatic.” “Enough!” Hayan shouted. “I see her little scheme—throwing tantrums to get attention,
wanting us to give her a chance to fit in,” he nodded to Maja. She smiled triumphantly. “I’ve prepared three gifts for you, Yinglan,” Maja said, dripping with false sympathy. “Coincidentally,” I said, “I have three surprises ready for you too.
” Maja ignored me. “The first,” she said, as a servant brought a microphone and a stack of papers, “a ten-thousand-word apology. Recite it. At full volume. Atonement for past crimes.” The crowd murmured. “Reciting 10,000 words? That’s ruthless.
Five years in prison wasn’t enough?” “Second gift!” A servant presented an electric razor. “Shave your head bald,” Maja commanded. “Become a nun. Atonement. Rehabilitate yourself.” “Public confession. Shaved head,” someone muttered. “The third,” Maja continued, eyes glittering with victory.
“Give your villa, Star Manner, to me. Only then will we forgive you.” That villa was all I had left for Zyu. I remembered signing it over to her, years before the frame-up. “These three ‘gifts’ aren’t gifts. They’re daggers aimed at my heart,” I murmured.
“All three of you never cease to amaze,” I said, coldly. “Too bad. I’ll do none of these.” “Defying me?” Hayan roared. “I get 100,000 monthly, and you refuse these tasks for Maja’s birthday? Ungrateful!” “100,000?” I laughed sharply. “I get a hundred bucks a month.
What did you say?” The room went silent. “Impossible!” he sputtered. “I promised three surprises,” I said, pointing to Maja. “Ask her what my real monthly allowance is.” Maja paled, fumbling a single 100-yuan note at my feet. “The matriarch lives like this?” I sneered.
“The Sue family is worth billions, yet their matriarch lives on a hundred yuan a month?” The crowd gasped. “Doesn’t anyone think this maid is overstepping?” “Even if true, it doesn’t excuse hitting someone with a car! Your jealousy and resentment drove you!” “If I hit someone,
” I said, turning to Hayan’s brother-in-law, “I gave you the surveillance footage years ago. Who cut the brake lines? You knew perfectly well.” Hayan whispered, “Suji, is this true?” “Hayan, leave me alone! Don’t punish the children!” Maja suddenly cried, throwing herself to the ground.
I sneered. “Living in a mansion? Luxurious feasts? When have I ever had that? Take back your dirty money. I won’t touch it.” Zyu, Haпsaпg, and Jene stared, stunned. “Twenty years of raising your daughters… all lies?” I whispered, holding the family emblem and our torn marriage certificate.
“Take them back. I want nothing of you.” The room froze. Zyu stepped forward. Tears streaked her face. “One kowtow for birth, one for introducing me to marriage, one for teaching me morality. I only recognize you as my mother.” The crowd erupted.
“You raised us selflessly,” she shouted. “Twenty years, and they sent you to prison. Who would endure that? Who would not fight back?” Hayan finally intervened. “We did neglect her feelings. Since Shingan married into the Sue family, she’s worked hard. In our hearts, she’s always been family.
What could we do?” Zyu’s glare was icy. “She never caused trouble,” she said. “She endured everything so her daughter could be famous. Five years in prison, and she accepted it. Do you call that trouble?” The room was silent. My vengeance, long planned, had arrived—not with violence, but with truth.
