Xu Meilin stood alone in her old bedroom, the walls shrinking around her like they were trying to press her into nonexistence.
The room hadn't changed. Same cracked wallpaper. Same too-small window with bars outside like a prison. Same creaky single sofa that dipped slightly in the middle. It was the space her parents had allowed her to have after turning eighteen, a temporary box until she could "find somewhere else to be useless."
She dropped her bag beside the bed and slumped onto the couch.
"What was the reason they hated me?" she murmured.
Then she gave herself a bitter smile.
"No… I know. They told me every single day."
Useless. Unwanted. Unfit.
She chuckled quietly, then louder, until it became hysterical.
"I'm going to marry into the Li family household…" Her voice cracked with irony. "And live in torment from Li Zeyan, the heartless beast. Ha. Ha. Ha."
She covered her mouth with both hands. But the laughter wouldn't stop.
---
The Li Family Mansion
Dark walnut walls. Century-old art. A silence that carried generations of power.
Li Zeyan strode into the drawing room with slow, measured steps. His black coat trailed behind him like a storm cloud. His expression was unreadable. His aura, sharp as glass.
"You called for me, Grandmother," he said flatly.
Madam Li, the matriarch of the family, sat on the throne-like settee in the center of the room. Regal. Composed. But even she straightened slightly at the sound of his voice.
"Sit."
"I'll stand. Don't waste my time."
Her lips pursed. She didn't like being spoken to that way. But she also didn't argue. No one ever did when Li Zeyan's tone dropped like that, too calm to be safe.
Madam Li folded her hands.
"The Li family has chosen a bride for you."
Zeyan didn't react at first. Not even a blink. But the silence that followed was dense. Heavy.
"You made arrangements," he said, "without my consent?"
His voice wasn't raised, but the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Even the butler nearby flinched and excused himself without a word.
Zeyan stepped closer.
His eyes were unreadable. Cold. Slow-burning like black ice cracking under pressure.
"I'm not your puppet," he said. "Who gave you the right?"
"You are the heir to this family," Madam Li said, firming her voice. "And you're old enough to marry. We've selected a suitable match. The girl's family has accepted it. She is—"
"I didn't ask for details," he interrupted, voice sharp as a knife. "I asked who gave you the right."
For the first time in years, Madam Li shifted in her seat. The presence of the boy she had raised into a weapon now towered over her like a loaded gun.
"You should be grateful," she said, a little too quickly. "We chose someone obedient. Quiet. She won't get in your way."
"And what exactly do you expect me to do with that?" Zeyan asked.
Madam Li stood, lifting her chin. "Your grandfather and siblings will return next week. The engagement ceremony is by the end of the month. Pick them from the airport yourself."
She turned to leave.
But something made her pause at the door. Something in the air.
She looked back.
Zeyan was still standing in place. But his expression had darkened so deeply, it no longer looked human.
His voice came soft. Deathly.
"If you truly think you can control me with tradition… with guilt… with blood…"
He stepped forward slowly, like a predator stalking something that had forgotten it was prey.
"…then perhaps you've forgotten what I've become."
Madam Li's breath hitched.
"I stayed quiet when you watched my mother wither away in that marriage," he said. "I looked the other way when you buried my father's death behind business deals."
Zeyan's gaze locked onto hers.
"But if you try to chain me like them…" his voice dropped, nearly a whisper, "...I will burn this family down from the inside."
The air in the room turned suffocating.
"I will not marry a stranger to entertain your legacy. I am not your legacy."
Madam Li opened her mouth to speak, but the words caught in her throat.
Li Zeyan stepped back, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt like nothing had happened.
"Tell my grandfather," he said coldly, "if he wants to discuss this further… he can meet me at the cemetery where his son is buried."
Then he turned and left the room without waiting for a reply.
And Madam Li who had ruled over empires of silence, stood frozen, fingers trembling ever so slightly at her side.
---
Meanwhile, back at the Xu estate, Xu Meilin lay curled on her tiny sofa. Her laughter had faded into tears.
She whispered into the dark, as if someone might hear.
"Please… don't hate me, too."
But the man she was being given to didn't just hate her.
He hated the very chain that brought her name to him.
And in a week's time… their storm would begin.