---
The afternoon sun hung lazily over Su Private Hospital, its golden rays filtered by the tall glass windows. The air was cool inside, but the tension in the roomcould be cut with a knife.
Old man Su sat on the bed, his posture stiff, his aged face carved in stubborn lines.
His hand clenched the blanket tightly, knuckles pale, though he tried to mask the faint tremor of weakness.
Across from him, Old Master Liang's sharp eyes glinted with irritation and concern.
His lips thinned into a hard line as he glared at his longtime friend. "You're not fit to leave yet. At least two more days of rest—your condition is far from stable."
"I said I'm leaving today." Old man Su's voice was low, cold, final.
"You—!" He stopped himself, exhaling heavily through his nose.
He knew that expression.
Stubbornness.
—
Su Zhenghao stood quietly near the window, watching the exchange.
His father's shoulders were tense, his eyes unfocused, as though haunted by something unseen.
Su Zhenghao's chest tightened.
What is it? What are you hiding from us now?
His father had always been a pillar, unshakable, but today something was different.
Something was wrong.
But he couldn't ask. Not here. Not in front of Old Master Liang.
They were waiting for Li Yan, who had gone to complete the discharge paperwork.
Old man Su's mind, however, was far from the hospital room.
— —
That night, sleep had come to him in the cruelest of forms.
It began with silence. The kind of silence so deep it suffocated.
Then came the smell.
Acrid, metallic. Blood.
The world unfolded in fragments—walls dripping red, shadows shifting unnaturally, a floor littered with fragments of flesh and bone.
A sound broke the stillness.
Soft. Familiar. A laugh.
Meilin.
At first, it was her light, girlish laughter, the kind that always brought warmth to his old bones. But then it warped, stretched into a twisted, horrifying echo.
Screams followed—piercing, heart-wrenching, the kind that clung to the soul, shattering him.
He saw Meilin. His Meilin.
Her delicate body torn apart, piece by piece, her limbs discarded like broken dolls by faceless figures cloaked in shadows.
Their teeth glinted like fangs, their movements precise and merciless.
The Obsidian Fangs.
"Grandpa! Save me!"
Her voice pierced him like a blade.
He tried to move, tried to scream, but he had no body.
He was nothing but a prisoner of the vision, forced to watch as the people he loved were slaughtered.
Su Zhenghao's voice echoed next, desperate, strained, shouting his daughter's name.
"Meilin!!! Meilin!!!!"
But it ended abruptly, silenced by the sickening crack of bones, his body crumpling lifelessly to the ground, eyes wide in eternal horror.
Li Yan's cries filled the air, muffled by rough hands, dragged away into darkness.
Chains clinked. Doors slammed.
And then—a cruel, mocking voice: "Sold to the West… she'll make a fine toy."
The words carved themselves into his bones.
—
And through it all, whispers seeped into his ears, low and poisonous:
"Useless…"
"Too late…"
"Coward…"
He jerked awake with a strangled gasp, drenched in cold sweat.
The dream clung to him like tar, suffocating, unshakable.
Every scream still echoed in his skull.
It wasn't a dream. It was a warning.
The Obsidian Fangs—he'd seen them buried in the explosion with his own eyes.
Yet here they were, alive in his mind, their cruelty sharper than ever.
His chest tightened with hatred.
For himself. For his weakness. For being a pawn, for being too blind, too late.
He had failed himself once.
However, never again.
Never again.
That night, as the hospital lights glowed dimly in the corridors, Old man Su swore silently: the first explosion hadn't killed them. But the second—he would make sure it did.
— —
Back in the hospital room, Su Zhenghao studied his father quietly.
The older man's jaw was set, his eyes distant, yet flickering with something he couldn't name.
"Father…" Su Zhenghao wanted to ask.
What troubled him? Why the urgency?
But with Old Master Liang standing nearby, it was impossible.
He swallowed his words and complied.
---
Meanwhile, at the Su family mansion, Su Meilin prepared to leave.
She sat comfortably in the backseat as the driver navigated out of the gates.
She absentmindedly scrolled her phone until her eyes caught sight of a figure at the estate's corner.
Her brows furrowed. The girl standing there was familiar.
Out of place.
Jenny.
The nurse from Su Private Hospital.
Her brows furrowed. What is she doing here? A nurse… in this neighborhood?
"Stop the car," she instructed.
The driver complied, slowing to a halt beside the woman.
—
Jenny had been waiting.
She'd stood there long enough for her legs to ache, but she hadn't cared.
She knew this was the day Old man Su would be discharged from her sources at the hospital.
She knew Meilin would leave for the hospital after a little spying.
Her anger simmered beneath her calm façade.
Li Yan's slap still burned on her cheek, a humiliation etched into her bones.
She would never forget. She would never forgive.
And now, she was here, exactly as her brother had arranged.
A mansion in this estate had been bought in their name, close to the Su family, a perfect vantage point.
To Jenny, it was more than strategy. It was personal.
The sight of Su Meilin only intensified her hatred.
The young woman was elegant, composed, the kind of beauty people adored.
To Jenny, she was filth.
The daughter of that bitch Li Yan.
A target waiting to be toyed with.
—
The sight of the Su family's luxury car confirmed what she had been waiting for.
She quickly slipped on her headphones, pretending to walk casually, as though she were simply enjoying music.
When the honk came beside her, she flinched and turned with a confused expression.
The window rolled down.
"Hey," Su Meilin called, her voice calm.
Jenny blinked, feigning surprise. "Yes, Young Miss?" she asked after pulling off her headphones.
"You're the nurse from Su Private Hospital, right? What was your name again? Jen—Jenny?" Meilin tilted her head, her tone curious and confused.
"Yes," Jenny nodded quickly.
"What are you doing here?"
Jenny forced a soft smile. "I live here. With my brother and cousin. They're not home today, and I wasn't feeling well, so I didn't go to work."
Su Meilin's brows drew together.
Live here? In this estate?
The thought was absurd.
A nurse, even from a reputable hospital, could hardly afford such a home.
Yet Jenny's eyes carried no hesitation.
"Really?" she asked skeptically.
Jenny nodded again, her voice calm. "Yes."
Su Meilin studied her for a moment longer.
Maybe Jenny wasn't as simple as she appeared. Perhaps she came from a wealthy family, or maybe she wasn't ordinary at all.
Curiosity tugged at her, but she didn't press further.
She studied her foreign features, her honeyed skin, her big eyes. "Well… you look foreign. Where are you from?"
Jenny hesitated.
For a second, too long. She bit her lip, eyes darting.
Su Meilin noticed, tilting her head. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She offered a small smile, waving her hand. "Anyway, I'm going to the hospital. Catch you later."
The window slid up, and the car moved forward.
—
Jenny stood still, watching the sleek vehicle disappear around the corner.
The smile vanished from her face, replaced by pure venom.
She spat on the ground.
"Stupid! What Young Miss… rubbish." Her voice was low, seething.
Even though she sometimes wondered if avenging the past was worth it, the sight of Su Meilin made her blood boil.
The girl was innocent, untouched by her grandfather's sins, yet Jenny wanted her destroyed.
Sometimes hatred didn't need logic.
—
Her lips curled into a smile—dark, cruel, eager.
"It's going to be so much fun to toy with you, little princess."
But her eyes gleamed with a sharper light. "First, your mother. Let's see if Li Yan can survive my gift today."
"I hope she doesn't die too quickly… a heart attack would be too merciful."
A low, menacing laugh slipped past her lips.
She slipped her headphones back on and walked slowly toward the gates of her mansion, her shadow stretching unnaturally long behind her in the fading afternoon light.
---