Chapter 3

The mansion stood before Xaoxi, a haunting memory of her past. She pushed open the heavy oak doors and stepped into the grand yet crumbling entryway. The once-polished marble floors were cracked and dirty, and the air smelled of mildew and abandonment. Her heels clicked sharply as she walked forward, the sound echoing in the hollow space.

Her aunt and uncle waited in the dimly lit parlor. The room, once filled with expensive furniture and elegant decorations, now looked barren and neglected. Her uncle sat in a worn-out chair, his face pale and drawn. Her aunt stood stiffly by the fireplace, her lips pressed into a thin line. Both of them looked smaller than she remembered, their pride and confidence stripped away.

Xaoxi entered with an air of quiet authority. She had imagined this moment many times, but now that it was here, she felt no anger or hatred. Instead, she felt a deep sense of calm and resolve.

"Xaoxi," her uncle began, his voice trembling, "we...we didn’t think you would come back."

"Lu Sheng Fe," she corrected him firmly. Her voice was steady, and her gaze was piercing. "That is who I am now."

Her aunt's face twisted into a sneer, but there was no strength behind it. "You think you're better than us now? After everything we did for you?"

Xaoxi’s expression didn’t change. "What you did for me?" she repeated, her voice soft but cutting. "You mean the years of control, manipulation, and lies? You mean stealing what was rightfully mine and using me as a pawn in your games? No. What I am today is because of what *I* did for myself."

The room fell silent. Her words hung in the air, heavy with truth.

Her uncle shifted uncomfortably. "You don't understand. We did what we had to do to protect the family legacy. It wasn’t personal."

Xaoxi tilted her head slightly, her lips curling into a faint, humorless smile. "Family legacy? Look around you. This is what your ‘legacy’ has become." She gestured to the decaying mansion. "You destroyed yourselves. All I did was step out of your shadow."

Her aunt’s bitterness finally cracked into desperation. "What do you want from us?" she snapped. "Money? Apologies? What will it take for you to leave us alone?"

Xaoxi’s eyes softened, though her voice remained firm. "I don’t want anything from you. I came here for one reason only: to close this chapter of my life. I needed to see for myself that the people who tried to break me no longer have any power over me."

Her aunt opened her mouth to speak, but Xaoxi raised a hand, silencing her. "You don’t need to explain or justify your actions. The courts already heard your lies and saw the truth. And I’ve already moved on."

She turned toward the door, her heels clicking on the marble once more. At the threshold, she paused and looked back. Her aunt and uncle stared at her, their faces etched with regret, fear, and defeat.

"I told you once," Xaoxi said, her voice calm and steady, "you would pay for what you did. And now you have. This is where it ends."

Without waiting for a reply, she walked out of the mansion, leaving the past behind her for good.

As she stepped into the cool evening air, a sense of liberation washed over her. The weight of her old life was gone, replaced by the promise of a future she had built with her own hands.

Xaoxi climbed into her car, the city lights reflecting in the windows. She had no time for bitterness or regrets. She had a company to run, a team to lead, and dreams to pursue.

She was no longer the frightened girl who had once felt trapped in that mansion. She was Lu Sheng Fe, a woman who had reclaimed her life and written her own story. The mansion was nothing more than a memory now, a reminder of how far she had come.

As the car drove away, Xaoxi glanced in the rearview mirror one last time. The crumbling estate grew smaller and smaller, until it disappeared entirely. She smiled to herself, her heart light. The past was behind her, and the future stretched ahead, full of possibility.

This was her story now, and she would make it a legacy worth remembering.

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