Feng Suyin started sorting out her finances.
Spreadsheets. Bank accounts. Investments she'd made without the Feng family knowing. She needed to stand on her own once they turned their backs on her. And they would. Li Xinlian would throw a fit when she found out about the wedding delay. Feng Yilan would probably throw a party.
Feng Suyin didn't care anymore. Let them be angry. Let her celebrate. She was done.
The computer monitor glowed in the dark. Her desk was a mess—papers everywhere, sticky notes clinging to the edges of the screen, a cold cup of coffee she'd forgotten three hours ago. Her eyes burned from staring at numbers.
The weight of familial expectations that had bound her for so long felt less suffocating now. Her shoulders actually sat lower. Her jaw was less tight. Replaced by something new. Determination.
She hadn't touched her parents' allowance since high school. Every month, the money deposited into her account. Every month, she let it sit there. Untouched.
Instead, she'd found other ways. Freelance medical consulting. Ghostwriting for research papers. Small things. Discreet things. Enough to build a cushion while she played the role of the pampered adopted daughter.
Feng Yilan basked in the attention. Let her. Feng Suyin had stopped competing years ago. Every gift she didn't take. Every party she didn't attend. Every compliment she let slide off her shoulders. She sacrificed her own desires for the sake of family peace. Stopped hoping her parents would look at her the way they looked at their real daughter.
She closed her eyes.
Behind her lids, she saw them. Feng Yilan. Ji Hanjun. The way they looked at her while she died. Slow. Cruel. Like she was nothing.
Her skin prickled. Cold spread down her arms. Up her neck. A fist inside her ribs, squeezing.
She opened her eyes. Breathed.
The numbers on the screen blurred. She blinked them back into focus.
Tomorrow morning. Café. Xia Lingling. Jiang Yunyi. Alex Xia. She had an appointment, and she couldn't be late. Not this time. Her plan needed timing. Commitment. No room for the old Feng Suyin who never showed up.
She saved her work. Shut down the computer. Sat in the dark for a long moment before going to bed.
The café smelled like coffee.
Not the clean, elegant kind. The real kind. Dark. Sharp. It hit Feng Suyin's lungs the moment she walked through the door. Quiet chatter hummed around her. Spoons clinking against ceramic. The hiss of the espresso machine.
She spotted them in the corner. Xia Lingling waved. Her smile was too bright for this early. Jiang Yunyi looked up from her phone. Alex Xia sat across from them, golden-brown hair falling over his forehead, brown eyes watching everything.
Feng Suyin walked over. Sat down.
"I'm surprised you managed to arrive on time." Xia Lingling grinned.
Jiang Yunyi laughed. "Same."
Feng Suyin didn't roll her eyes. She deserved that. Every other time they'd made plans, she'd been late. Or she hadn't shown up at all.
Not this time.
"Have you started without me?" She looked at Jiang Yunyi.
Jiang Yunyi nodded. Her hands were wrapped around her coffee cup. Tight. "I already gave Mr. Xia the details he might need."
She looked uncomfortable. Her shoulders were up around her ears. But her jaw was set. Determination underneath the nerves. Feng Suyin hoped her friend could keep it together. Once the truth came out about her husband's affair, everything would change. Jiang Yunyi would have to face it. Some truths broke people. Feng Suyin knew that better than anyone.
"What about you, Suyin?" Xia Lingling's grin faded. Worry replaced it. "Have you made up your mind?"
Feng Suyin took a breath.
"I need an unrefutable reason why I shouldn't marry Ji Hanjun." She looked at each of them in turn. Lingling. Yunyi. Alex. "At the same time, I want to expose his affair with Yilan."
Jiang Yunyi's eyes went wide. Her whole face paled for just a second. Xia Lingling's mouth pressed into a thin line.
Alex Xia said nothing. Just watched. Silent. Observant. Reading her. Deciding if she was worth the risk.
Feng Suyin's throat tightened. "My parents won't forgive me after this."
Xia Lingling scoffed. Loud enough that the table next to them glanced over. "I suspect they already know. About your boyfriend and your sister. And they're just tolerating it."
Feng Suyin smiled. Her lips stretched. Her eyes didn't follow.
Under the table, her fists clenched. Nails biting into her palms. Knuckles white.
Stay composed. Don't waver. If you waver, you die.
She knew that now. Knew it in her bones. The same end would find her in this lifetime if she didn't move forward. No matter the cost.
"You have to be careful, Alex." Her voice was steady. Low. "If my parents find out I'm digging up dirt on the family, they won't hesitate to remove you from the equation. Permanently."
Alex Xia nodded. Slow. Deliberate. His jaw tightened. Just a fraction.
He understood. Feng Xian was the mayor now. The Feng family's power had spread—into police departments, into city hall, into places where bodies could disappear. Digging into their secrets wasn't just risky. It was dangerous.
But he didn't flinch.
"I'll see what I can do to help you, Miss Feng." His voice was calm. Firm. "But we have to tread carefully. Exposing the truth between Ji Hanjun and your sister will earn the ire of the entire Feng family."
He paused. Held her gaze.
"Are you sure you want to proceed?"
Feng Suyin didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
She knew the risks. The challenges. The consequences.
But she had reached a point of no return. The bridge was already burning behind her.
"I have thought long and hard about this." Her voice didn't shake. "I can't keep living a lie. Pretending everything is fine. I want to live my life on my terms. Not for them."
Xia Lingling reached across the table. Squeezed her hand. Warm. Quick. Firm.
Jiang Yunyi did the same. Her eyes were wet but she blinked the tears back.
They had been friends for years. Watched her pour herself into the Feng family's expectations. Watched her shrink herself down to fit their mold. Watched her sacrifice everything for people who only saw her as a pawn. Everything Feng Suyin did was always for the Feng family, never for herself.
And now?
Now she was taking control. Both of her friends were relieved she'd finally decided to live for herself.
About time, Lingling's eyes seemed to say.
Feng Suyin squeezed back.
Then she turned to Alex.
"When do we start?"