14 A Change of Heart

Yan Xiaoran peeled off her mask as she hurriedly left the party without looking back. Her heels clicking against concrete until it was drowned out as she reached the garden outside.

Panting, Yan Xiaoran leaned her back against the trunk of a tree in the garden. The fresh air of nature and cold night caressed her body like it was her lover.

'So much for saying I want revenge.' Yan Xiaoran beat herself up for thinking she could finally face her enemies after being released from prison. She promised to wreak havoc and make them pay but it was all her way of comforting herself and hide the useless and naive her.

In the past, she was stupid to fall for their schemes and she was still the same naive little girl that she was when she was younger.

She looked down and saw her hands trembling. She could finally understand what it means to be traumatized. Seeing those people who made her suffer was scary and painful that she could hear her heart breaking into a thousand of pieces again.

She was used to being alone but having everyone accuse her and hate her poisoned her heart.

Her mother left her in the Zhao family to fend for herself and didn't teach her how to fight, how to stand up when people pushed her down to her lowest, her mother just left her alone and didn't even look back when she was sent to prison.

But why was it that even when she said she hated them, she couldn't bring herself to make them pay for what they did to her.

Suddenly, warm tears started to trail down her smooth cheeks. Yan Xiaoran's body slipped down on the floor as she catches her breath.

"Why? Why did this all happen to me?" She beat her chest up with her hand, "I did nothing wrong to deserve this."

"Can't someone take away this pain?" Her question was drowned out in the silence.

The cold breeze swept her hair and like a child, she silently bawled in the garden

After a few minutes, Yan Xiaoran's tears finally stopped. She stood up and brushed off the dirt from her dress to leave the party.

She only came to this party because she was curious about the identity of this 'Alexander Qu', however, after having experienced her trauma hitting her mercilessly, Yan Xiaoran became more resolute to her decision to let go of everything.

Maybe it was for the best for her to forgive and let go of her past for her to feel happy.

Thinking about how many times she was hurt and suffered from the nightmares of her past, Yan Xiaoran wanted nothing but to survive and be free of her traumatic experience.

It will be a harder path than her intended plan to revenge, but if it means she will be able to live a more peaceful life without being reminded of her past and see the faces of enemies, that's something she could look forward to.

…

The next day, Robert Qu was having a headache as he listened to Shen Liu's voice as he read a note in his hand,

"--Dear Mr. Qu. I'm sorry for the sudden decision I made, but I have decided to not accept your offer. I know you helped me a lot and even let me be freed from prison, and I'm grateful for that and I promise to pay it back to you in the future,

I wish I could say this to you personally but I'm short with time. Please, don't look for me and I will be okay."

When they came to visit Yan Xiaoran and ask her about the details of last night's party, and whether she had met his grandson, they found out that the person they came for was gone.

The whole place was still the same and nothing was missing but the person who was supposed to live there.

"What should we do sir?" Shen Liu folded the note and put it on top of the coffee table. He was also shocked at the decision of Yan Xiaoran since it was so sudden and only just a few days ago, she seemed to have been so lively and prepared for any battle.

However, he had not known that Yan Xiaoran was having a battle of her own and against herself. The trauma left her to make a different decision from what they expected her to do.

Robert Qu was also confused. He was sure that Yan Xiaoran was filled with hatred and rage that she wanted to get her revenge once she was outside of prison, but it seems that he was wrong.

He didn't know what was the reason for her sudden change of heart. They tried to call Stephanie and ask her if she knew Yan Xiaoran's whereabouts, however, Stephanie was also clueless and shocked at the news that Yan Xiaoran left without anyone knowing it.

"Did you check the CCTV cameras?" Robert Qu leaned on the soft couch.

"Yes, but it only captured her leaving the lobby and as for the cameras outside, they didn't catch her and seemed to have been tampered with."

"You mean... Someone helped her tamper with the camera so, we can't find her,?"

"Yes, sir."

Sighing, Robert Qu touched the top of his head and ruffled his grey hair, "She didn't want us to look for her and we didn't lose anything aside from getting a bride for my grandson, let's just forget about everything."

Robert Qu was disappointed on how things ended. He badly wanted Yan Xiaoran as his granddaughter and let her have her revenge, but if this was what she really wanted, then, even if Robert Qu were to let his experts track her and get her back, Yan Xiaoran would probably resist and refuse him.