The ballroom of Jinghua Hotel sparkled like a scene from a dream.
Golden chandeliers bathed the marble floor in light. A massive ice sculpture of a phoenix towered over the dessert table. Laughter, clinking glasses, and classical music filled the air as the city's most powerful families arrived in glittering dresses and tailored suits.
Cameras flashed at the entrance. Reporters whispered names and snapped photos. Everyone wanted a glimpse of the Feng family… and their once-disgraced daughter.
Feng Xiao Xiao stood at the grand entrance, Feng Yichen beside her in a custom navy-blue suit, clinging to her arm with pride.
She was dressed in a breathtaking blood-red gown—elegant, dramatic, unforgettable. Her makeup was subtle but lethal, her eyes outlined in smoky black. A delicate phoenix hairpin gleamed in her dark hair.
Gasps followed her.
Whispers, too.
"Is that really Feng Xiao Xiao? She's completely transformed!"
"Red? Bold, considering what happened last year…"
"I heard she's backed by someone powerful now…"
Madam Lin, dressed in a shimmering silver gown, smiled tightly from across the room.
Beside her, Feng Qian wore a soft pink dress that made her look innocent and demure.
And Feng Ju stood nearby, eyes flicking between Xiao Xiao and the entrance — waiting.
Xiao Xiao met each of their gazes with calm, unbothered grace.
"You look like fire," Yichen whispered in awe.
"I am fire," she whispered back.
The first wave of guests arrived to greet them, and Xiao Xiao welcomed them like a true heiress — graceful, poised, untouchable.
But then the crowd shifted—
And Li Yan entered.
Dressed in a sleek black tuxedo, eyes like cold steel, he moved like a storm disguised as a man.
Gasps followed him too.
He walked straight to Xiao Xiao. Without hesitation, he offered her his hand.
"Miss Feng," he said smoothly. "May I have this moment?"
And right there, in front of everyone—including her enemies—she placed her hand in his.
The room froze.
Madam Lin's smile slipped. Feng Qian's nails dug into her clutch. Feng Ju's eyes went wide.
But Xiao Xiao?
She simply smiled and walked onto the dance floor with the most dangerous man in the room.
As they danced, her lips barely moved.
"They're watching," she said.
"Let them," he replied. "Tonight, you shine. Tomorrow, we clean up the mess."
—
But upstairs, in one of the hotel's private suites… a different game was being played.
A laptop glowed on a polished table.
A video file loaded.
And in the hallway below, a staff member in uniform slipped a flash drive into the banquet AV system—set to play exactly at the height of the celebration.
Something meant to ruin her.
But someone else had already noticed…