The envelope's edges trembled slightly in Feng Yuxi's hands. She had read the line over and over, but it didn't change.
"The fire didn't kill your brother. We did."
Who was "we"?
Her brother — Feng Yu'an — had been the heart of her childhood. Gentle, bright-eyed, fiercely protective. His death in that fire had shattered her world. But this… this wasn't just a revelation.
It was a declaration of war.
She reached into her nightstand drawer and pulled out a velvet box. Hidden beneath an old diary was a SIM card — a backup of encrypted files from six years ago. She had buried it when she went underground. Now, the time had come to dig it back up.
Li Zeyan's Private Office – 3:00 AM
Meanwhile, Li Zeyan sat in his study, eyes narrowed as he scanned his surveillance logs. Yuxi's face flickered across one of the screens — her expression unreadable as she returned to her room earlier.
He leaned back.
Her words from the balcony earlier rang in his head:
"My family didn't just fall… They were hunted."
Zeyan was not a man easily shaken, but there was something about the way she said "hunted" — as if every second of her life had been spent running from something that still breathed behind her.
His phone vibrated.
It was Xu Wei, his head of intelligence.
Xu Wei: "Sir, the results are in. Feng Yuxi's biological history… matches partially with the late Feng patriarch's bloodwork. She's his daughter, but her file was wiped."
Zeyan's gaze darkened.
Wiped?
By who?
Morning – Feng Yuxi's Secret Apartment
Hours later, Feng Yuxi stood in a minimalist studio flat she had kept hidden — a place untouched by Li Zeyan's reach.
Here, she wasn't Mrs. Li.
She was the ghost of the phoenix.
She powered on a secure laptop, inserted the SIM, and opened the folder labeled "Feng Project: Alpha."
Photos appeared first.
Her father's car, twisted in metal — timestamped ten minutes after the official report.
Then documents: corporate audits, hush money trails, files with initials "C.S."
And finally… a partial letter.
"Yu'an was asking questions again. The boy's smart — too smart. We had no choice."
Her hands tightened.
So it had been them. Whoever "C.S." was — they had orchestrated not just her exile, but her brother's death.
A knock sounded at the door.
She immediately reached for the blade under her sleeve.
"Who is it?"
No answer.
Another knock. Two short taps… then three.
Her code signal.
She opened the door.
A woman with short silver hair stepped in — lean, lethal, and beautiful.
"Xue Lan," Yuxi exhaled. "You're late."
Xue Lan grinned. "Traffic. Also, I may have stabbed a Gu informant."
Yuxi didn't smile. "They're getting closer. The envelope was delivered to Zeyan's house."
Xue Lan's eyes sharpened. "He could be compromised."
"I don't think so," Yuxi said softly. "Not yet. But he's starting to dig."
"Then he'll find what they want hidden."
Yuxi looked at the screen.
"Exactly."
Scene Shift: Li Zeyan's Investigation Begins
Li Zeyan stood before the Feng family's sealed archive — a restricted section of national records. Few had access. He was one of them.
He held the authorization file.
Behind him stood Xu Wei.
"Sir," Xu said, "are you sure you want to see this?"
"I need to know who she really is," Zeyan replied. "Everything. From the beginning."
They stepped inside.
The room was cold — rows of forgotten legacy.
A folder was pulled. Feng Yuxi – Death Certificate.
He opened it.
Blank.
Only one word stamped in red at the top:
"CLASSIFIED – AUTHORIZED DELETION BY C.S."
C.S.
He remembered something.
That was the signature on the military trade scandal he had investigated two years ago. Hidden under layers of encryption. Even then, he hadn't been able to trace the identity.
Whoever "C.S." was — they were high-level. Deep state. Untouchable.
But not to him.
Back at the Apartment
Yuxi stared at the photos from her brother's autopsy again.
Inconsistencies.
The fire hadn't reached his lungs — no soot inhalation. Cause of death? Blunt force trauma. Before the fire.
He'd been murdered.
She stood abruptly.
"Lan, I need surveillance footage from the night of the fire. The unedited version. The one we never released."
Xue Lan frowned. "You think there's something in it?"
"I think…" Yuxi's voice trembled, "I think someone was there that night. Someone who watched him die."
Final Scene: A Meeting in the Shadows
In a hidden bunker beneath the city, a cloaked figure knelt before a wall of screens.
One displayed Yuxi. Another, Zeyan. A third showed a child hacking into a terminal — the boy's resemblance to Zeyan was uncanny.
"They're waking up," the figure murmured.
A voice behind him replied, "Do we neutralize?"
"No," the figure said with a cold smile. "Let the phoenix rise. We'll strike when the flames burn brightest."
Then he turned to a photo — one torn at the edges, showing a younger Feng Yuxi… and her twin brother.
But this time, the boy wasn't dead.