My adoptive mother miscarried.
It was a fully formed male fetus.
I saw the plum-blossom birthmark on his arm—the same one Lu Zhe had in my previous life.
What a pity. He died far too easily.
Lately, my adoptive father's mental state had deteriorated rapidly. His temper grew increasingly volatile, and he tolerated no defiance from anyone—except me.
As for my adoptive mother, after she dared to threaten him over Lu Min, he abandoned her in the hospital and never once came to see her.
The villa fell into an eerie silence. Everyone kept their heads down, minding their own business.
The butler led me to the basement.
The moment the door opened, Lu Min—her limbs bound by chains—lunged forward. When she realized it was me, terror flooded her face and she staggered back.
"What are you here for?" she cried. "To laugh at me?"
"Of course not," I replied sweetly. "I'm here to make you happy."
I smiled innocently and walked to the side, pulling on a rope. One by one, instruments of punishment dropped from the ceiling, clanking softly. Lu Min's face drained of all color.
This basement—I had designed it myself.
In my previous life, I treated her with nothing but kindness. And how did she repay me?
She lashed me with whips soaked in chili water, pressed red-hot irons against my skin, and spat curses at me—calling me a whore, a bastard. She said I had stolen her life, that it was my fault she had been abused by my biological parents.
She blamed every fragment of her misery on me.
Now, I was merely returning to her everything she had done to me—nothing more.
Lu Min's screams and hoarse howls echoed through the basement, while everyone upstairs lowered their heads in silent indifference.
When I was finished venting, I placed the whip into the butler's hands.
"Anywhere but the face," I instructed calmly. "The rest is up to you. This is your chance—don't waste it. Treat her exactly the way she treated your daughter."
Under Lu Min's horrified gaze, the butler replaced the whip with a thicker one and soaked it thoroughly in chili water.
His daughter attended the same school as Lu Min. She was beautiful, gifted, and had a brilliant future—until Lu Min destroyed it out of jealousy.
A young girl who should have soared was instead murdered, her life ending on cold concrete.
Lu Min truly deserved to die.