The rain poured mercilessly on the city of Suzhou, turning the skyline into a blur of grey and glass. Lightning slashed across the horizon, illuminating the towering Xinyue Corporation building—its glowing logo reflected in puddles below. Inside the boardroom on the 37th floor, the tension was suffocating, thick like the storm clouds rolling above.
Li Xinyue stood at the end of the long mahogany table, her tailored black suit soaked at the cuffs, not from the rain, but from the champagne that had been poured onto her moments earlier. Her once flawless makeup was smeared, but her eyes—sharp, betrayed, blazing—never wavered.
"Effective immediately, the board has decided to remove Li Xinyue as CEO of Xinyue Corp," Zhao Lili said coldly, her lips curving into a venomous smile. She looked nothing like the best friend who had once held Xinyue's hand through college nights, heartbreaks, and career milestones. Now, she looked like a stranger—an enemy.
"You're... joking." Li Xinyue's voice was low, hollow, unbelieving. "You're removing me from the company my father built?"
"Correction," Qin Yichen chimed in smoothly, adjusting his cufflinks as if the betrayal were simply part of another day's business. "You're being removed from a company you nearly destroyed with your emotional decisions and nepotism. The shareholders deserve better."
Li Xinyue's body went cold. Nepotism? That was his argument?
The man she had loved for seven years—her fiancé—was stabbing her in front of the entire board, using words he had once promised never to use against her.
"You promised me..." she whispered.
Qin Yichen leaned in, his voice dangerously low. "I promised you a future. But I didn't say it would be with you in control."
The room remained silent as the board members, now puppets under Qin Yichen's influence, looked anywhere but at her. Not one of them defended her. Not even her father's old friends.
Li Xinyue staggered back a step. "You're taking everything from me." "You took everything for granted," Zhao Lili said, voice dripping with satisfaction. "You never saw who your enemies were."
Li Xinyue laughed bitterly. "No. I didn't. But now I do." Security entered the room.
It was official.
The guards who once saluted her now stood like jailers, waiting to escort her out. They didn't need to touch her. With a final glance at the traitors in the room, she turned on her heel and walked out with the dignity of a queen—even if she had just lost her throne.
She sat alone in the back of a taxi hours later, her eyes staring at the raindrops racing down the window. Her phone buzzed non-stop—news headlines, shareholder gossip, friends turning their backs, reporters asking for comments.
"Li Xinyue dethroned after scandalous boardroom coup." "CEO Li ousted—engagement with Qin Yichen officially off?" "Zhao Lili rumored to take over interim CEO role."
She threw the phone aside and leaned her head back. They planned it perfectly.
Qin Yichen and Zhao Lili had slowly undermined her authority for the past year, orchestrating deals behind her back, manipulating internal data, turning the board against her. And she had let it happen, too trusting, too blind, too in love.
She thought of her father, long gone, who had left her this empire with the belief that she could lead it with heart and wisdom. Now, that legacy was in the hands of snakes.
The taxi stopped outside her penthouse. She climbed the stairs like a ghost.
Inside, the lights wouldn't turn on. "Power's been cut?" she murmured. She tried the switch again. Nothing.
Then she noticed the red eviction notice taped to her door.
Her own home. Gone.
She sank to her knees, her fingers trembling as she tore the paper from the door. She opened the app on her phone—her bank accounts were frozen. Her credit cards declined. Her name was blacklisted.
A corporate execution.
And it wasn't just business. This was personal. They wanted her erased. Lightning struck again, and for a moment she saw her reflection in the window. Disheveled. Broken. Unrecognizable.
She stumbled into the apartment, flicking on the emergency flashlight. Her footsteps echoed in the emptiness. Even the furniture was being repossessed. She moved to the bedroom, where one last box remained—photos of her and Qin Yichen. Laughing. Embracing. Kissing on snowy mountain peaks.
Lies.
All of it.
Her knees gave out as the first sob escaped her throat. And then came the scream. Raw. Wordless. The kind that could shatter glass. She had loved. She had trusted. She had built.
And they destroyed it all.
It was around 3 a.m. when she climbed to the rooftop of her building.The rain had stopped. The city lights shimmered like stars, but they felt a million miles away.
Li Xinyue stood at the edge, barefoot on the slick surface, her eyes red and swollen, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
There was nothing left. No company. No family. No friends. No love.
She looked down. Would anyone even care?
Then she heard a voice. Not from behind her—but within.
"Are you going to let them win?"
She closed her eyes. "No," she whispered. "But I can't go on like this." Her foot slipped forward slightly. Her breath caught.
But the moment never came. Instead, darkness surrounded her—not from a fall, but from the sudden snap of unconsciousness. Her body collapsed as her knees gave way. A blinding pain pierced her skull.
Then, silence.
******
When Li Xinyue opened her eyes again, it wasn't the rooftop she saw. It was a dorm ceiling. Pink floral stickers. A familiar crack in the plaster. A small plastic fan that squeaked every few rotations.
She shot up in bed, her heart thundering. Her hands flew to her chest—she was wearing her old university pajamas. Her phone lay on the bedside table, buzzing with a text.
She grabbed it and stared.
[March 16th, 2023 – 8:21 AM]
Impossible.
That was two years ago.
Her breath caught.
She looked around. Her side of the room was messy, covered in notes for a business competition. Zhao Lili's side—cheerfully decorated, filled with cosmetics and fashion magazines—was still untouched by malice.
She stumbled to the mirror. The face that stared back at her wasn't the hardened, exhausted CEO. It was her 22-year-old self. Younger. Innocent. But those eyes—they were different now. Sharper. Wiser. Colder.
The door opened suddenly.
"Xinyue! You're awake? We're going to be late for Professor Qian's lecture!" Zhao Lili's familiar chirp echoed in the room as she walked in, holding two coffees. She smiled brightly, completely unaware.
Just like before.
Li Xinyue stared at her, the bile rising in her throat. The betrayal was still fresh. She could almost see the knife in her back. But now... she had the knife too.
"Are you okay?" Zhao Lili asked, tilting her head. "You look like you saw a ghost." "I did," Li Xinyue replied coolly, her voice steady. She took the coffee. Smiled faintly. "But I'm fine now. Better than ever."
Inside, her mind raced. Two years. Two years to stop the betrayal. Two years to rebuild her defenses. Two years to take back her empire—before they could destroy it again.
And this time, she would not forgive.