A Perfect Prince Charming (1)

She remembered receiving the lash marks on her back from Si Zhihan when she was 16 years old, simply because she had been hanging out in a nightclub. Most importantly, she had nearly caused Si Hua's death.

Si Zhihan had been merciless when he'd hit her, probably because the possibility of beating her to death had never actually crossed his mind. He would then throw her into her room after the beating, leaving her to fend for herself and never bothering to check on her. In her past life, she had developed a high fever due to this severe punishment and had nearly lost her life. This time? It was likely that she had actually died and had been reborn in exchange.

Si Huang chuckled silently.

Bai Qinglan and Si Hua, who were having breakfast in the hall, had noticed her long ago and couldn't tear their eyes away.

The boy1, who stood on the precipice between youth and manhood, slowly made his way downstairs. His forelock was tousled back in a messy, indolent manner, probably set in place with hairspray. He wouldn't need to worry about his hair flopping down and obstructing his vision. His eyes were half-squinted, and the corners of his lips were curved upward. He looked like someone who had just woken up from an indulgent and cozy snooze as he yawned leisurely. However, he did not seem crude. In fact, he looked naturally graceful, like a favored child of the gods bred by an old noble family…

Si Hua instinctively tightened his fingers around his steel fork, causing friction against his porcelain plate and creating a sharp, screeching noise.

The noise didn't just snap Bai Qinglan back to her senses. It drew Si Huang's attention too, and her pupils sparkled with a flicker of bright light, as if she had seen an object that brought her immense joy.

Si Huang's footsteps progressed to a livelier pace. Her uplifted eyes and brows changed her countenance, making her a naive, beautiful youth arriving at the pair's dinner table and reaching out with his hand…

Crash!

The table cloth was pulled off the table, causing the dishes on top of it to land squarely on both mother and son, who were utterly stupefied.

"Si Huang, what the hell is wrong with you?" Bai Qinglan screamed in shock.

"Ha ha!" Si Huang flashed a mischievous grin. She picked up a red wine bottle, which had landed on the ground, and smashed it against the still dumbfounded Si Hua's head.

"Argh!"

Bai Qinglan stared in shock at Si Huang, who was now holding a shattered wine bottle. "You've lost it! You've completely lost your mind!" 

"What are you all standing around for? Get that lunatic!" She immediately ordered her servants, who were still in shock, when she came back to her senses.

Si Huang poured the residual red liquid in the shattered wine bottle all over Si Hua's face. The sight of the twisted expression on his face and his agonized groans filled her with such joy that her eyes were now the shape of crescent moons. 

"Don't come any closer, or I'll slit his throat."

Si Huang's voice was just like her face: a melodious sound blessed by the gods, so luxurious that it could fill one with indulgence. If she spoke a little slower, it would be akin to a feather caressing one's heart, sending an itching need into their body, and rendering them limp and weak. Si Huang was well aware of this too, so she'd usually taken a great deal of care to speak in a simple and old-fashioned manner in her past life. She had done this to avoid having anyone think that she was trying to seduce them, which would cause unnecessary problems and further humiliation.

However, she did not conceal it this time. Her tone was brisk and gentle. She looked at Si Hua as she spoke, stopping everyone around them in their tracks… After all, they could see that Si Huang was pointing the sharp edge of the glass at Si Hua's neck, and the glass had already pricked a small, bleeding hole into it.

The hall was silent. Maid Zhang, who stood at the top of the stairs, was even more stunned. She had initially planned on ratting Si Huang out until she'd seen this…

No one else could see the look on Si Huang's face, except Si Hua, who was lying on the ground.

The smile on her face was filled with intense delight and spite. The light flickering in her eyes shone and darkened without warning, yet it held the incisiveness of a predator hunting and killing its prey.

Si Hua let a hoarse noise out of his throat. This was his first time experiencing such raw, murderous rage. At this very moment, he knew better than anyone else that Si Huang truly wanted to kill him and had the guts to do it too!

'Oh my god, am I dreaming? I haven't seen Si Huang in three days. What has this "shadow" of mine turned into?'

"Mm…" Si Huang blinked. That tiny action made Si Hua's darkest fears disappear. She focused her beautiful eyes on Si Hua's expression at that very moment and smiled. "Now, that's more like it. Weren't you accusing me of nearly causing your death?"

She stood up again and straightened out her hem, seemingly oblivious to everyone else around her.

Then, she made her way outside with a smile on her face.

The servants watched as she walked away, no one daring to stop her.

"You think you're so great, don't you, Si Huang? Well then, don't ever come back!" Bai Qinglan screeched. One could hear a slight tremor in her tone if one listened closely enough.

Si Huang nodded gently. Obviously, she knew that she would get another beating from Si Zhihan if she ever dared to come back. She'd probably end up crippled or dead.

She gradually quickened her pace as she walked away. Bai Qinglan and the rest would soon recover from their shock and call for the bodyguards to restrain her. She would never be able to escape once that happened.

Although she knew this, Si Huang's speed walk did not seem like an escape. She moved as briskly as a bird flying out of its cage or a beast finally free of its shackles. She might be beaten black and blue, but her sharp fangs never lost their luster as she rushed to freedom with more courage than ever before.

Si Huang did not regret how reckless she had been moments ago. Not even a little bit.

She had turned a blind eye enough, pretended to be a fool enough times, and suffered more than enough in her previous life!

This time, she was going to live for herself, take revenge, make her enemies pay, and do whatever she wanted.

This was a decision that she had made long ago, ever since her return three days ago.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha…"

The smile on Si Huang's face grew wider the moment she stepped out of the metal gates of the Si Family's courtyard. Finally, her smile turned into a huge, carefree grin.

"Are you done venting?"

"This is just the beginning."

"You won't survive for 10 days if you keep this up."

"Don't worry. I've told you, I don't plan on dying."

"Then hurry up and gather Faith! You lazy little…" The calm voice exploded.

…

'Do you want to live?'

Yellow, rotten leaves covered her broken, naked body. Filthy insects crawled through the cracks from time to time. Disgusting maggots would drill holes into her rotting wounds with determination. Si Huang was numb from pain and was waiting for the final darkness of death… until that very voice suddenly echoed in her mind.

What was the use of staying alive? She had never been allowed to even have her own name from the moment she'd been born. She was Si Zhihan's child too, yet she had been forced to live her life with the identity of a dead person, all for the sake of preserving Si Zhihan's reputation. She'd lived as a shadow of her younger half-brother until she'd turned 18. After the age of 18, she'd become a top movie star on the surface. Behind closed doors, she had been a tool for her family to win over support by passing her around various types of people. Finally, when her death had arrived, she hadn't even been given a grave. Her body had been so filthy that even she had been disgusted. 

Why would she want to live in this state?