Bab 1: Hello, Outside World

Yan Xiaoran walked out of the doors of Qinglu prison that leads her to the outside world.

With a bitter smile on her face, she covered her eyes from the blazing sun with her forearm.

She had been locked up inside the prison for 3 years already and was just released after finishing her time in prison.

She looked down at her black Chanel shirt and jeans that she was wearing before she got sent to the prison and the only thing she was able to keep with her. The black color turned grey from being kept in a locker away from everything for a very long time and has a few small holes courtesy to the rats living in the prison ground along with the other convicts.

Yan Xiaoran clenched her hands into a fist as she kept her emotions from showing.

Three years ago, Yan Xiaoran was sent to prison for the crime of attempted murder against her sister, Zhao Shuxin.

Zhao Shuxin was the daughter of the prestigious and wealthy Zhao. From a young age, she was the top of her entire school and with her beautiful face, everyone admired her and would follow her like a lost puppy.

While Yan Xiaoran was the daughter of Yu Jinyan, Mrs. Zhao brought her to the Zhao family and the daughter she gave birth to from her previous marriage.

You'll think that Yan Xiaoran's life will be filled with flower beds and chocolates after being brought to the wealthy Zhao family. You got it right but also wrong.

The first year she entered the Zhao family with her mother, Yu Jinyan. Everyone in the Zhao Family liked her because she was extremely beautiful and innocent, they would shower her with affection, attention, and endless gifts.

However, that didn't last after a year of staying under the Zhao family. Her mother, Yu Jinyan went abroad and left Yan Xiaoran to fend for herself inside a stranger's house.

And that's where everything changed. The Zhao family suddenly didn't treat her as warm as before. They weren't warm nor cold to her but the difference in their treatment was so noticeable that even her younger self was able to tell.

But that didn't stop there. Every day, Yan Xiaoran was accused of doing something she didn't do. The necklace that was stolen, the vase that broke, the rat on the chicken soup made for the guests.

Everything was put on top of her head. She tried to tell them she wasn't the one who did it but no one believed her and every proof that was pulled out was pointing at her as the culprit.

Even the attempted murder against Zhao Shuxin ended up being her responsibility and before she knew it, Yan Xiaoran was thrown behind bars and had to live there for 3 years to repent for a crime she never did.

Do you know what happened while she was in prison? Yan Xiaoran's mother visited her and then she heard her mother say.

"I'm sorry, Ran'er. Mother couldn't be with you."

Of course, this words brought Yan Xiaoran to tears. Yan Xiaran was feeling helpless and felt the urge to hug her and beg her mother to help her. But with the glass separating her from her mother and the outside world, Yan Xiaoran had no other way to touch the person who brought her to life.

Who knew that after saying those motherly lines, Yu Jinyan would suddenly say with a smile, "You know what? It's your fault for being in the same place as that bitch."

At that moment, Yan Xiaoran was puzzled, she didn't understand what her mother was saying until she heard Yu Jinyan continue speaking.

"But thank you for shouldering your mother's burden. At least, I now know you had some use to me."

As if she was struck with lightning, Yan Xiaoran looked at her own mother's smiling face as she opens the door and left Yan Xiaoran sitting alone in the visiting room.

The 'bitch' that her mother was talking about, of course, Yan Xiaoran knew who it was. It was none other than Zhao Shuxin.

So, how can Yan Xiaoran not know what her mother meant when she said it was her fault for being in the same place as Zhao Shuxin.

Yan Xiaoran realized that everything that had happened to her had something to do to her mother. But it was too late.

But that's not the only surprise she will get from everyone.

Zhao Shuxin, the woman who accused her of the attempted murder also visited her a week after her mother's visit who came to abandon her again.

Yan Xiaoran begged Zhao Shuxin to clear her name and release her but Zhao Shuxin just continued to coldly look at her and said, "I am amazed at how shameless you are after everything you did to me and the others. Yan Xiaoran, if I didn't die in the past, I will never know that you are a monster in a human's skin. Thankfully, I lived once again and in this lifetime, sending you behind the bars is my one and last mercy."

With those words, Zhao Shuxin left without looking back at her and didn't even give Yan Xiaoran a chance to explain her side of the story.

For three years, Yan Xiaoran analyzed what Zhao Shuxin meant by her statement but even after spending three years in prison, she was still unable to get the answer.

Back to the present, Yan Xiaoran carried the small black bag that was provided to her to carry her other belongings inside the jail. It didn't contain a lot of things but these things were what accompanied her in her life in prison.

"Hello, outside world." Yan Xiaoran bitterly said as tears started to pool her eyes.

The feeling of being wronged and spending three years in hell was something she will never forget. She was innocent but no one believed the words that came out of her mouth.

But still, she was thankful that with the hell she experienced, Yan Xiaoran didn't need to restrain herself anymore and promised to make everyone pay for what they did to her.

She was labeled as an evil-step sister and a scheming witch. Now that she's been released, she will carry these names with her and prove them they were right!

Those ugly names that were thrown and used to call her as they threw eggs and rotten vegetables at her, she will own it all up and wreak havoc.

And nothing could stop her!