Luo An Hai didn't expect that one day she would witness her own funeral.

The last thing she remembered was being on a plane to England for business negotiations. If she had succeeded then the majority of shareholders would vote her way, and she would become the CEO of Luo's company.

But she didn't expect the plane crash.

Her last thought was that ten years of hard work fell down the drain. She had endured ten years living at the Luo Mansion, and fought to keep the homewrecker and the homewrecker's son, Han Ting Hua taking Luo's company from her hands.

She couldn't accept the moment her dream was within grasp, her life would end in a plane crash.

A second after the plane crash, she was standing in front of her tombstone.

Her father had aged since the last time she saw him.

She froze. Unexpectedly her father was sobbing at her funeral. She hadn't called the aged man her father since their estrangement the day he brought home the homewrecker and Han Ting Hua.

She resented her father for marrying her mother for money. Her mother loved her father deeply. But what did her mother receive? Her mother ended up dying of a lonely heart.

Three months after her mother's death, her father had the audacity to marry the homewrecker. She didn't doubt her father would have divorced her mother if her mother didn't cling onto their loveless marriage.

She didn't want her father to live a happy life with the homewrecker and Han Ting Hua if her mother had to live a miserable life of pain because of them.

Even at the funeral the homewrecker was a good actress, but she wasn't fooled by the homewrecker's fake tears.

She hated the three of them. Her father treated Han Ting Hua as if he was her father's biological son. Living at the Luo Mansion, she was the outsider while the three of them were a happy family. She was her father's biological daughter yet he had wanted to give Luo's company to Han Ting Hua.

She scoffed at the young man's indifference. Han Ting Hua didn't need to attend her funeral if he just wanted to gloat at her downfall.

She fisted her hands. She was powerless to do anything to change her fate. What could she do six feet under?

Instinctively she followed the three of them back to the Luo Mansion. It was their home, not her home. Even if the Luo Mansion wasn't her home, it rightfully belonged to her after her mother's death.

The dark empty spacious room at the Luo Mansion was her bedroom. Suddenly someone stepped into her bedroom.

Why did Han Ting Hua enter her bedroom? He couldn't see her while he was stroking the photo of her on the bedside table. Did he want to tear her bedroom apart and renovate it? She waited for him to make his next move, but he only sat on her bed and stared at the photo of her.

He didn't leave her bedroom until sunrise. She didn't understand his odd behavior. But she expected he was plotting to steal everything that belonged to her, including Luo's company.

She didn't expect he would return to her bedroom after work, and that he would sit solemnly on her bed staring at the photo of her again.

She didn't understand why he didn't break everything in her bedroom. Why did he keep everything in her bedroom at the same spots she left them before her plane crash? How could she get answers if he couldn't hear her? All she could do was watch events unfold in front of her eyes.

A year later, on her birthday, Han Ting Hua brought a birthday cake into her bedroom. He stared at the photo of her until the candles waned.

During that year, her confusion and suspicion turned to curiosity and acceptance. She silently watched Han Ting Hua's odd daily routines.

Years later, her father and the homewrecker died. Han Ting Hua was living alone in the Luo Mansion. Why didn't Han Ting Hua get married? She didn't understand why Han Ting Hua turned down all the hot young women who chased after him because of his good looks and status.

For years, Han Ting Han maintained her bedroom in its original condition, and he stared at the photo of her at night. She was frustrated she couldn't understand Han Ting Hua's odd behavior.

The next year, Han Ting Hua adopted an orphaned boy, and raised the orphaned boy like a biological son.

After Han Ting Hua's adoptive son grew up, Han Ting Hua fainted often. She heard Han Ting Hua's doctor say he had lung cancer. Despite the doctor's advice, he didn't undergo lung cancer treatments and his health rapidly deteriorated.

She didn't understand why Han Ting Hua didn't fear death. It was as if he wanted to die sooner.

Her frustrations grew as Han Ting Han's body withered away. What was wrong with him? Why didn't he undergo lung cancer treatments? Why did he skip meals? Why did he sit in her bedroom and stare at the photo of her after every time he fainted?

Finally she witnessed Han Ting Hua's funeral. She ran to his tombstone, and didn't know why her hand instinctively touched tenderly the photo of him on his tombstone.

She remembered Han Ting Hua's last day. He had held the photo of her, his usual solemn lips actually smiled, he whispered 'An Hai' and he died.

'Idiot,' she said and sobbed.

She clutched her chest. Why did her heart hurt immensely when she was dead?

In the midst of Luo An Hai's continuous sobbing, she heard someone calling her.

'Mistress,' Mrs. Chen called.

Luo An Hai's eyes opened widely, and a blurry face of a younger Mrs. Chen appeared.

'Mrs. Chen?' Luo An Hai asked.

How did Mrs. Chen see her? She remembered Mrs. Chen left the Luo Mansion to live with Mrs. Chen's daughter-in-law and to take care of Mrs. Chen's grandchildren when she was a twelve-year-old.

At her funeral, Mrs. Chen had sobbed as much as her father. She looked at her surroundings. Why wasn't she at the cemetery? What was she doing in her bedroom at the Luo Mansion?

'Mistress, did you dream about your mother?' Mrs. Chen asked, looking worried. 'Your mother was stubborn. What good did stubbornness do for your mother? I can't believe your mother hasn't been gone that long, and yet your father remarried. Your father told the household that he's bringing his new wife and her son here today.'

Mrs. Chen's heart hurt for Luo An Hai. How could Luo An Hai's father be that inconsiderate and bring home a step-mother for Luo An Hai so soon after Luo An Hai's mother's death? What if Luo An Hai's step-mother mistreats Luo An Hai?

While Mrs. Chen worried about Luo An Hai's well-bring, Luo An Hai's heart was full of confusion and suspicion. She didn't understand what Mrs. Chen meant by her father's new wife.

'Mrs. Chen, did my mother pass away three months ago?' Luo An Hai asked.

'Yes mistress,' Mrs. Chen said. 'Your father isn't a man. How can a man marry another woman just three months after your mother's passing?'

Mrs. Chen's reply confirmed Luo An Hai's chaotic suspicion.

'Mrs. Chen, can you go outside?' Luo An Hai asked. 'I want alone time to clear my head.'

'Mistress, you look pale,' Mrs. Chen said. 'Do you want me to call a doctor?'

'I'm fine,' Luo An Hai said, smiling faintly. 'Mrs. Chen, I think I heard someone at the front door. Perhaps they're here. You should go greet them.'

'Mistress, have you forgotten?' Mrs. Chen asked. 'Your father told you he wants you to greet them at the front door.'

Mrs. Chen was angry at Luo An Hai's father. What sort of a father demanded their grieving daughter to welcome a step-mother after losing their mother three months ago? But Mrs. Chen understood a servant like her had no right to lecture Luo An Hai's father.

'Mrs. Chen, I'll come downstairs soon,' Luo An Hai said calmly, but there were goosebumps on her legs. 'I just need to wash my face and brush my hair to look presentable.'

Luo An Hai jumped out of bed after Mrs. Chen left her bedroom. She rushed to the bathroom, and her younger self that was looking back at her made her body tremble.

A familiar wrinkled blue nightgown was baggy on her younger lanky body, her hair was naturally black and sad autumn brown eyes reflected out of the mirror.

Her fourteen-year-old self looked so naive, self-righteous and rebellious. Her heart couldn't believe what her eyes proved. She had heard of wormhole theories and time travel, but they belonged in movies and books. She didn't expect time traveling to the past would happen to her.

For years her soul had roamed around the Luo Mansion after the plane crash. Yet when her soul was reborn, it entered her fourteen-year-old body on the same day her father brought home the homewrecker and Han Ting Hua.

Memories of her resentment toward her father and the homewrecker flooded her mind. She had hated her heartless father who gave everything that belonged to her to the homewrecker and Han Ting Hua. She had caused tension in the Luo Mansion to make their lives miserable. Only her mother's servants were loyal to her, and everyone else had hated her.

But memories of Han Ting Hua living like a foolish monk after her death also flooded her mind. She couldn't forget even on his last day, he had held the photo of her.

'What a foolish man,' Luo An Hai whispered.

She fisted her hands. Even if she had travelled back to the past, she couldn't let go of her resentment. The difference was Han Ting Hua's foolish behavior softened her resentment.

She heard her father's car, and the sounds of footsteps on the pavement. Without hesitation she ran barefoot downstairs, and met them at the front door.

'An Hai,' Luo Cheng Hua called.

Luo Cheng Hai couldn't believe his daughter would greet his new wife wearing a nightgown. But he was happy his daughter listened to him, and came downstairs so he let it slide.

'An Hai, come here and greet your step-mother,' Luo Cheng Hua said.

Luo An Hai took a step closer to them.

'Hello An Hai,' Mai Fang greeted nervously.

Luo An Hai wasn't dazzled by the forty-year-old gentle looking Mai Fang in a conservative dress. She never understood why her father loved a plain woman like Mai Fang compared to her beautiful mother.

No matter how much Mai Fang tried to please her, she had always hated Mai Fang. But after her death, she didn't expect Mai Fang knew her favorite dishes and brought them often to her tombstone.

Mai Fang felt self-conscious having Luo An Hai stare at her so she quickly introduced her son.

'An Hai, this is my ten-year-old son Ting Hua,' Mai Fang said. 'He's your new younger brother. Ting Hua, greet your new big sister.'

Han Ting Hua stared rigidly at Luo An Hai.

'Ting Hua, don't be rude toward your big sister,' Mai Fang chastised.

Han Ting Hua sealed his lips and turned his head away from Luo An Hai.

'Ting Hua!' Mai Fang called.

Mai Fang couldn't believe her son who usually was well-mannered decided to choose the first day meeting Luo An Hai to be rude.

'Mai Fang, go easy on Ting Hua,' Luo Cheng Hua said. 'Ting Hua's still young. He's not used to his new home yet.'

Luo An Hai watched her father pat Han Ting Hua's head and smiling endearingly, but her father's smile disappeared when he looked at her.

'An Hai, starting today you're Ting Hua's big sister,' Luo Cheng Hua said. 'I want you to take good care of Ting Hua.'

Luo An Hai never understood why her father only reserved his affections for Mai Fang and Han Ting Hua, but her father was always cold toward her. Her father rarely made eye contact with her. He only spoke to her out of anger if she provoked him or voice his disappointments toward her. She used to believe her father hated her, and he wouldn't shed a single tear at her funeral. But at her funeral, he had aged tenfold and sobbed like a broken man.

'I will,' Luo An Hai said softly.

Luo Cheng Hua didn't know how to react to his daughter's sudden obedience. He had prepared mentally to expect his daughter's anger. He didn't expect his daughter to behave like a mature adult.

Luo An Hai wasn't surprised by her father's stunned reaction. Her rebellious younger self suddenly being obedient would make anyone stunned. But her death had opened her eyes, and she knew being rebellious led to nowhere. Her father, Mai Cheng and the foolish Han Ting Hua weren't truly her enemies.

'Hey little boy, follow me upstairs,' Luo An Hai said.

She walked upstairs and didn't turn around to check if Han Ting Hua had followed her.

Luo Cheng Hua and Mai Fang on the other hand were shocked Luo An Hai easily accepted Han Ting Hua as a little brother.

'Ting Hua, hurry up and follow your big sister upstairs,' Mai Fang said.

Han Ting Hua was nudged toward the stairs by his mother. He looked up at Luo An Hai's back, and hesitated. He turned around, his mother nodded so he ran upstairs.

Luo An Hai led Han Ting Hua to the third floor of the Luo Mansion. The third floor used to be her domain. Besides her bedroom there was a study room, a music room and a guest room on the third floor. But her father had contractors convert the guest room into Han Ting Hua's bedroom.

Perhaps her father naively thought if she and Han Ting Hua lived together within close quarters then overtime she and Han Ting Hua would bond.

In the past she didn't make an effort to get along with Han Ting Hua. No matter how much she provoked him, he would always act like a stone and not react to provocation, not even one facial flinch. Looking back she regretted how petty she acted toward him, and how much she undermined him to stop him from being CEO of Luo's company while she was alive. If she was in his shoes, she would think it wasn't worth fighting with a hot headed petty person.

The young Han Ting Hua looked like a little school boy who didn't reach her shoulders in his plain white shirt and pants. Back then she didn't look closely at the expression in his eyes. If she had, she would have noticed a subtle vulnerableness in his eyes as if he feared rejection. It was her compulsive nature to capitalize on an opponent's weakness.

'Are you scared of me?' she asked, peering down at him.

He was young, but he understood when someone tried to intimidate him. He took a step back, and put his guard up. If he showed a hint of fear, his opponent would break him down.

His biological father died years ago, it was his adoptive mother who raised him. The uncertainty of his family life at a young age had forced him to mature sooner than children his age.

When a group of boys ganged up on him, he didn't back down. He fought back to protect himself and won. He walked home with pride, cuts and bruises that broke his adoptive mother's heart while his adoptive mother tended to the cuts and bruises on his body.

Later his adoptive mother met uncle Luo. Uncle Luo bought them clothes, sent him to a private school and gave them protection against people like the group of boys who picked on him because he came from a poor single parent family.

He understood uncle Luo was a married man, and it was wrong for uncle Luo and his adoptive mother to have a love affair. His adoptive mother had broken in front of him, she apologized that she was in love with a married man. Uncle Luo's financial support lifted a heavy burden off her shoulders, and secured a good future for him.

Last night his adoptive mother explained to him that Luo An Hai was going to be his new big sister, and no matter how much Luo An Hai was going to mistreat him, he couldn't retaliate because his adoptive mother had hurt Luo An Hai and Luo An Hai's mother deeply.

He listened to his adoptive mother, and let Luo An Hai make the next move.

Luo An Hai didn't get any pleasure tormenting Han Ting Hua who wasn't intimidated by her.

She sat on the sofa and pointed at the tea set on the coffee table.

'This is your bedroom,' she said. 'Pour me a cup of tea.'

He silently poured her a cup of tea.

'What a good boy,' she said and accepted the cup of tea from him. 'Listen, I don't want to play mind games with you. The truth is I hate you.'

He didn't react to her direct cut.

'I hate your mother too,' she said. 'I don't want to play happy siblings with you. Never forget who you are. You're from the Han family, and I'm from the Luo family. We're not siblings. You're lucky I'm going to tolerate your presence in my home. Make sure you stay out of my way, and don't cause trouble for me. The most important thing is that you should hate me too.'

She put down the empty cup of tea on the coffee table and walked out of his bedroom.

'I'll never call you big sister,' he said.

At the door she turned around. He looked directly into her eyes and spoke with an air of a man.

'You'll never be my big sister,' he said.

'You're right,' she said. 'I'll never be your big sister.'

She had flashbacks of her mother's family having no control over her father. Whatever her mother's family invested in her father, he made them richer by tenfold. So her mother's family had to turn a blind eye to her father's affair with Mai Fang. After her mother died, he parted ways with her mother's family who opposed him marrying Mai Fang. Her mother's family were powerless to stop him from marrying Mai Fang because their company relied heavily on Luo's company.

She wasn't close to her mother's family except for her maternal grandfather. After her mother and maternal grandfather died, her father invested her trust fund and gave her full control of her trust fund after she turned twenty-one. So by the time she turned twenty-one, she was rich enough to never worry about money problems. But being rich wasn't enough for her. She had wanted to see her father, Mai Fang and Han Ting Hua be miserable and pay for hurting her mother.

Looking back, she was naive in her past life.

Although her resentment toward them lessened, she still couldn't forgive them.

The next morning, she silently ate breakfast at the dining table opposite Han Ting Hua. Her father sat at the head of the dining table, and Mai Fang sat where her mother used to sit next to her father.

'Cheng Hua, you should cut back on coffee,' Mai Fang said.

'Fine, I'll listen to you,' Luo Cheng Hua said, switching a cup of coffee for a glass of milk.

She couldn't stand her lovesick father and lost her appetite. She put down her glass of milk and stood to leave for school.

'An Hai,' Luo Cheng Hua called. 'Wait for Ting Hua to finish his breakfast. His school is near your school.'

Han Ting Hua quickly finish off his breakfast.

'Xiao Hua, this is your lunch box and pocket money,' Mai Fang said. 'An Hai, I made you a lunch box too. Do you want to take it to school?'

Luo An Hai looked at the three tier lunch box Mai Fang always prepared for her. She used to knock it out of Mai Fang's hands. Her father would be angry at her, but Mai Fang always asked her father to calm down. Back then she couldn't stand Mai Fang's presence, and said she didn't want to eat lunch made by a **. Her father raised his hand to slap her face, but Mai Fang protected her. She had looked contemptuously at them, called her father blind old man and walked to the car.

She didn't want to repeat a foolish past so she accepted the lunch box from Mai Fang and walked to the car.

Luo Cheng Hua and Mai Fang were surprised at how calmly Luo An Hai accepted the lunch box.

'Xiao Hua, listen to your big sister,' Mai Fang said.

Han Ting Hua nodded, and followed Luo An Hai to the car.

In the car, she looked out the window and ignored Han Ting Hua. He wasn't bothered and read a book.

'Hey, are you a dummy who only knows how to obey your mother and big sister?' she asked, turning her head to face him.

He put the book on his lap and made eye contact with her.

'My mother asked me to get along with you,' he said. 'Besides, didn't we agree yesterday that you're not my big sister?'

Luo An Hai looked out the window again. It wasn't fun picking on a smart-*** little boy.

Luo An Hai used to be obsessed with opposing her father and Mai Fang that she didn't care about having a school social life. In her first lifetime she didn't have close school friends. But she lived a healthy life, no drugs, alcohol, clubbing and she wasn't in a gang.

She was always ranked first academically at school, because she thrived competition.

Although she inherited her mother's beauty, boys were intimidated by her and they didn't pursue her.

At school she didn't have friends, but being her father's daughter meant students feared offending her. She was a snob toward fake students who tried to befriend her because their families wanted business connections with Luo's company.

Being a thirty-year-old woman trapped in her fourteen-year-old body was tedious during school lessons.

At lunch time she considered going home, but Han Ting Hua appeared and he plonked his lunch box on her desk.

'Why are you here?' she asked.

The last time she checked, he wasn't a student at her school. Who let him into her school? It looked like he came to eat lunch with her.

'It's a half-day at my school,' he said. 'My mother asked me to eat lunch with you, and I'll be driven home after lunch.'

Half-day? She didn't remember anything about his school having half-days. But back then she used to knock lunch boxes out of Mai Fang's hands so Mai Fang wouldn't ask him to eat lunch with her in case she mistreated him.

Her accepting Mai Fang's lunch box in the morning must have changed the sequence of life events.

'Why won't you this obedient in the car this morning?' she asked.

She didn't know why the sight of him put her in a talkative mood.

He opened his lunch box. On the top tier were fruit slices, the middle tier were ribs with vegetables and the bottom tier were rice and omelette.

She salivated watching him eat the omelette.

On the other hand, he had no choice when his mother asked uncle Luo's driver to take him directly to Luo An Hai's classroom for him to eat lunch with Luo An Hai.

The sight of him eating made her hungry. She picked up the lunch box Mai Fang prepared for her and opened it. Her lunch box had fruit slices, a small milk carton, scrambled eggs with tofu vegetables and combination noodles. How did Mai Fang know her favorite dishes?

'Last night my mother asked Mrs. Chen what are your favorite dishes,' he said.

His adoptive mother ignored Mrs. Chen's cold treatment, and pestered Mrs. Chen until Mrs. Chen divulged all of Luo An Hai's favorite dishes. His adoptive mother even bought a new blue lunch box for Luo An Hai because blue was Luo An Hai's favorite color.

She stared at her opened lunch box and knew Mrs. Chen must have given Mai Fang a hard time, but she wasn't moved by Mai Fang's gesture.

'Does your mother think she can buy my approval with a lunch box?' she asked, chewing the combination noodles. 'Tell your mother to keep dreaming.'

Regardless how delicious Mai Fang's food was, she would always resent Mai Fang.

He silently ate because whatever he said would only fuel her.

Even though no one at school dared to pick on her, they naively saw him as easy prey.

'Am I seeing things?' Ly asked. 'Luo An Hai, are you eating a homemade packed lunch? And who is this little boy? I didn't know you had a relative at school.'

She wasn't interested in replying to a teen bimbo. But news travelled fast. Of course everyone in her school knew his mother was her father's new wife. Since the bimbo wanted to provoke her then she'd play along.

'Miss Ly, this is my father's distant relative, Mr. Han,' she said. 'We don't share the same family name.'

The female student backed off after Luo An Hua's warning, and ran away.

'Little boy, what are you looking at?' she asked.

'Looks like you have some classmates who are either scared of you or hates you,' he said.

He wasn't blind. He noticed how her classmates kept their distance from her.

'You're wrong,' she said. 'I have many classmates who hates me.'

'Do you like being a loner?' he asked.

'Yes, I rather be alone than be surrounded by people I hate,' she said. 'I especially hate anyone with a Han family name.'

She wanted no future with him.

'I heard my teacher say there is a thin line between love and hate,' he said. 'Do you think it's true?'

Her face turned red and she lost her appetite. She didn't understand why a thirty-year-old woman couldn't combat a smart-*** little boy.

'Little boy, have you heard of different degrees of hate?' she asked. 'My biggest pet hate is horrible people acting innocent. Especially gold diggers who act innocent to attract a rich prey.'

She didn't understand why he looked so pitiful after she died. He should have forgotten everything about her, including her name and moved on with his life. Why was he such an idiot? She couldn't stand being in the same room as him, and ran outside the classroom.

At the school front gate she heard running footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw him running toward her.

'Why are you following me?' she asked. 'You should go home.'

'I'm sorry if I said anything to upset you,' he apologized.

He didn't know what he did to upset Luo An Hai. But his mother said he had to apologize if he upsets Luo An Hai.

'I don't need your fake apology,' she said.

He didn't know how to comfort upset girls.

'What do you want me to do so you won't be upset anymore?' he asked.

She was surprised by his question, and contemplated what he should do to forget her in the future.

'Never enter my bedroom,' she said.

'Huh?' he asked.

'Even if I'm not in my bedroom, you're not allowed to enter my bedroom,' she said.

'Oh,' he said.

What he wanted to say was he had no interest in her bedroom. But if agreeing with her made her happy then he'd play along.

'And you can't...' she said and noticed a gang of boys from a nearby public school. 'What are you brats looking at?'

'Aren't you the ice beauty Miss Luo?' the gang leader asked. 'Do you want my friends and I to show you a good time?'

Han Ting Hua frowned and stood in front of Luo An Hai to protect her.

The gang members laughed at a shortie like Han Ting Hua standing up to them.

'Little boy, do you want to play the hero?' the gang leader asked. 'Get out of my way now or I'll beat up.'

Han Ting Hua kicked the gang leader's leg.

'Ah! You little punk!' the gang leader said. 'Boys, bash him!'

Han Ting Hua didn't run away. He grabbed one of the gang members' raised arm and he bit the arm.

'Ah! Let go you little punk!' the bitten gang member said and pushed Han Ting Hua to the ground.

'Run!' Han Ting Hua said to Luo An Hai.

Han Ting Hua got up from the ground and charged at the gang leader to buy time for Luo An Hai to escape.

'Little punk, I'll grant your death wish!' the gang leader said and pulled out a pocket knife.

Luo An Hai grabbed the gang leader's arm and twisted his arm until he dropped the knife. She picked up the knife and held the knife against his neck.

She wasn't a damsel that needed saving. She had martial arts training to vent her anger, and knew how to fight with weapons. Dealing with a school yard brat was no sweat for her.

'Little brats, back off or your bratty leader will be dead meat,' she said.

'Boys, stop fighting!' the gang leader panicked.

The boys listened to their gang leader and stopped fighting.

'Little brats, kneel on the ground,' she ordered.

'Miss Luo, please spare me,' the gang leader said. 'I'm sorry.'

'Spare you?' she asked. 'I'll spare you if you break your right arm that you used to take out this knife.'

The gang leader was too scared to reply.

'Hey, the big brat over there,' she said. 'Fetch a rock and break your bratty leader's right arm.'

The gang members were wrong to lust after the scary ice beauty.

'Little hooligans, what are you doing loitering around private property?' a bodyguard asked from the distance.

She dropped the knife on the ground before the bodyguard reached the school front gate.

'Little brat, if you and your bratty friends cause trouble for me again, I'll chop off your arms,' she said. 'Now scram.'

'Yes Miss Luo,' the gang leader said.

The gang members ran away like scared chickens.

Han Ting Hua ignored the painful cuts and bruises on his face. He brushed dirt off his clothes and wiped blood off the corner of his mouth.

'Miss Luo, Mr. Han, are you two hurt?' the bodyguard asked.

The bodyguard was relieved Mr. Luo's daughter didn't have a scratch on her face.'

'Still alive,' she said and walked off with Han Ting Hua. 'Little boy, learn to measure your own strength.'

Later at the Luo Mansion, Luo Cheng Hua lectured his daughter because of Han Ting Hua's injuries. Luo Cheng Hua said it was his daughter's fault for skipping lessons. If she didn't skip lessons then she and Han Ting Hua wouldn't run into hooligans.

Luo An Hai refused to admit she did anything wrong. Her father grounded her in her bedroom and made her fast until she apologized. If she chose to be stubborn, her father would hire a teacher to home school her.

She wasn't fazed by her father's trivial threats. Instead of explaining what happened, she turned on music and had a relaxing bath.

After taking a bath, she dried her hair and got ready to take a nap.

Someone knocked on her bedroom door. The door opened, it was Han Ting Hua holding a platter of apple juice and bowls of herbal soups.

She wasn't moved by the cuts and bruises on his face. It was the herbal scents that tickled her nostrils.

'My mother is stalling uncle Luo,' he said. 'She asked me to secretly bring you dinner.'

'Your mother is good at sucking up to people,' she said. 'What are you doing standing at the door? Why aren't you coming into my bedroom?'

'You said I'm not allowed to enter your bedroom,' he said.

She took a deep breath and exhaled. 'I'm giving you permission to enter my bedroom on this occasion.'

He entered her bedroom and placed the platter on the coffee table.

'How does it feel to be a punching bag?' she asked, sipping apple juice.

'At least you're not injured,' he said.

He didn't care if he was a punching bag because he was a boy. But he didn't want to see anyone hurt a girl.

She gripped the glass of apple juice. 'Little smart-***, I don't need you to play the hero to protect me.'

'I would have done the same thing for a stranger,' he said.

'I see,' she said. 'If you want to act like an idiot, don't be one in front of me. Understand?'

He was confused. He didn't know what he did to upset her again.

'I don't know why you're upset,' he said. 'It's obvious I saved you even though you didn't need help. But I wanted you to run to call for help because I didn't want you to be injured.'

'Han Ting Hua, I don't need you to lecture me!' she said.

She had enough lectures from her father. She didn't need lectures from a little boy.

'I don't want to lecture you,' he said. 'I only want you to be more careful and stay away form dangerous situations in the future.'

'I don't need you to butt into my business,' she said. 'Little boy, do your best to learn to protect yourself. Even if I'm in a dangerous situation, I don't need your help. Look at yourself, if I didn't help you then your injuries would have been more serious. Just don't act like an idiot in the future and stay out of my bedroom.'

He didn't want to reason with an unreasonable person and walked outside her bedroom. At the door he turned around.

'Now I know why many of your classmates hate you and keep their distance from you,' he said and closed the door.

She didn't care about his insult. What appeared in her mind was the scary moment he charged into the gang of boys to protect her. How could he let himself get beaten up? Why didn't he protect himself? Why did he ask her to run? Why must he act like an idiot and deal with the boys double his size on his own? His idiot behavior made her frustrated like how she was powerless to stop him from wasting his life after her death. Why couldn't he hate her? If he hated her then he'd lived a good life, and she wouldn't be frustrated watching him live a good life. What should she do for him to hate her?

A Lamborghini swished along a road like wind passing pedestrians. It stopped in front of a college.

Students admired the hot Luo An Hai stepping out of the Lamborghini in a designer dress and black heels.

The students were envious Luo An Hai had the world in her hands at the age of twenty-one. She used her trust fund inherited from her mother and maternal grandfather to invest in IT startup companies, which grew into multi-million dollar businesses. Two years later, she bought private planes and luxury cruise ships for rich clients to travel the world. Her beauty and success attracted many suitors, but she would always break their hearts after a brief fling.

Luo An Hai's patience was limited to three minutes.

One minute later, the little boy Han Ting Hua who turned into a tall handsome man with a mysterious aura was walking toward the Lamborghini accompanied by a pageant queen beauty, Miss Angel.

At the college it was rumored the aloof Han Ting Hua only reserved his charm and smiles for Angel. Even though the female students were jealous of Angel, they acknowledged Han Ting Hua and Angel made an attractive couple.

The truth was Angel had confessed her love to Han Ting Hua, but he rejected her. She didn't give up hope because she believed he would fall in love with her later down the track.

Han Ting Hua didn't dispel the rumor that he was dating Angel because it stopped his classmates from stalking him.

'Han, isn't that your big sister?' Angel asked, holding onto Han Ting Hua's arm.

The students were curious about the relationship dynamics between Luo An Han and her step-mother's adoptive son, Han Ting Hua. Were they step-sibling rivals or did they have a close bond?

Angel was pleasantly surprised when Han Ting Hua draped his arm around her shoulder for the first time, which made her blush.

'She's not my big sister,' Han Ting Hua said.

Han Ting Hua let go of Angel, and he walked to the Lamborghini without a backward glance at Angel.

Luo An Hai sped off the moment Han Ting Hua sat in her car. She glanced at Angel standing at the gate in the rear-view mirror, and knew Angel's pageant beauty wasn't enough to capture Han Ting Hua's attention.

Han Ting Hua was disappointed Luo An Hai didn't react after seeing him standing close with Angel.

At a red light Han Ting Hua frowned when Luo An Hai picked up a box of cigarettes.

'Little boy, your little girlfriend has a hot body,' Luo An Hai said, smiling coldly. 'Don't play with fire. I don't want the media to report a homewrecker's son knocked up an heiress. But if you want to follow in your mother's footsteps, go ahead and dig for gold.'

He grabbed her box of cigarettes and put it back in the center console glove box.

'Uncle Luo won't be happy if he smells smoke on your clothes,' he said.

He dismissed her insults. Years of living with her made him realize if she couldn't get a rise out of someone she provoked then she would be the one who ended up frustrated. For years she never hid her hatred toward him and his adoptive mother.

She was frustrated he didn't react to her insult.

'Stay out of my business,' she said, picking up the box of cigarettes again. 'You only need to worry about acting like a good person in front of my father.'

'Today is uncle Luo's birthday,' he said. 'Do you want to upset uncle Luo on his birthday?'

Her father's birthday was the reason she agreed to have dinner with her father, Mai Fang and Han Ting Hua at the hotel restaurant she owned.

Over the years her relationship with her father had been tolerable. She bit her tongue whenever she disagreed with her father because the image of her father sobbing uncontrollably after her death haunted her.

She grudgingly put the packet of cigarettes down, and glanced at Han Ting Hua's indifferent smug face.

'Every time you open your mouth, uncle Luo is on the tip of your tongue,' she said. 'Too bad you were born a male. If you're a woman then you can jump into my father's bed, and the world will be your oyster. It'll make your mother proud that you followed her shining example.'

'Green light,' he said, leaning back on his chair and closing his eyes.

His calmness only fuelled her frustrations. She feared he would still turn into the frustrating man who held the photo of her on his last day.

'What's wrong?' he asked.

He opened his eyes because she didn't kick him like usual whenever she couldn't get a rise out of him. He was surprised there was a look of anxiety in her usually calm eyes. Anxiety? The Luo An Hai he knew was strong and independent, there was no room for anxiety in her life. He must have imagined the look of anxiety in her eyes.

Later at the Luo's five star hotel, Luo An Hai and Han Ting Hua walked toward the VIP room in the hotel restaurant.

Luo An Hai had designed the hotel and restaurant. It was her holistic research, attention to detail, and marketing strategies that made Luo's hotel a famous luxury hotel internationally. But her hard work wasn't acknowledged by her father. In her father's eyes she couldn't hold a candle to Han Ting Hua.

In her second lifetime she didn't fight to be CEO of Luo's company. Instead she chose to live her own life because she knew how tiring it was to fight for everything that was her birthright. She remembered in her first lifetime at the age of twenty-four she had developed a chain of hotels around the world for Luo's company, but her father gave the twenty-year-old Han Ting Hua a higher position than hers at Luo's company. Even if she no longer fought for the CEO position in her second lifetime, she wanted to see how Han Ting Hua was going to get the board members and shareholders on his side.

Han Ting Hua was in a sour mood like Luo An Hai. He remembered the magazine covers his classmates showed him. On the covers were photos of Luo An Hai smiling seductively in the arms of a rich heir, Mr. Hunter. Whereas the only smiles he received from Luo An Hai were smiles of contempt and condescending smiles.

'Why are you staring at me?' she asked.

He was too absorbed about the countless magazines he threw in the college bins that he didn't realize he was staring at Luo An Hai.

'How do you know I'm staring at you if you're not staring at me?' he asked.

A waiter interrupted the tension between Luo An Hai and Han Ting Hua.

'Miss Luo, Mr. Han, welcome,' the waiter greeted. 'Mr. and Mrs. Luo are waiting at the table Miss Luo reserved.'

Luo Cheng Hua was happy to see his daughter, but his daughter's long face dampened his happy mood.

'An Hai-' Luo Cheng Hua said but Mai Fang pulled his shirt sleeve.

Luo Cheng Hua held back his lecture.

'Mr. Luo, do you want me to bring out the main course?' the waiter asked.

Luo Cheng Hua nodded, and the waiter walked to the kitchen.

Luo An Hai and Han Ting Hua sat on the two empty seats while Mai Fang served the entrée.

'An Hai, you should eat the herbal soup to line your stomach,' Mai Fang said.

Luo An Hai calmly accepted the bowl of herbal soup from Mai Fang.

'An Hai, where are your manners?' Luo Cheng Hua asked. 'Will it kill you to say thank you?'

Luo An Hai silently ate the bowl of herbal soup because she didn't want to fight with her father over something trivial.

'Cheng Hua, it's fine,' Mai Fang said. 'We're family.

Xiao Hua, you should eat the herbal soup too.'

'Mother, don't worry about me, I can serve myself,' Han Ting Hua said, passing a gift to Luo Cheng Hua. 'Happy birthday uncle Luo. It's something small to add to uncle Luo's collection.'

'You shouldn't have,' Luo Cheng Hua said, opening the chest. 'It's a beautiful pair of jade bracelets.'

'Uncle Luo, the bracelets suit you and mother,' Han Ting Hua said.

'Xiao Hua, where did you get the money to buy an extravagant gift?' Mai Fang asked.

'Work,' Han Ting Hua said evasively.

Han Ting Hua knew his adoptive mother wouldn't approve of him trading shares.

'Work?' Mai Fang asked. 'Where are you working? You should focus on your studies.'

'Mai Fang, let Xiao Hua be,' Luo Cheng Hua said. 'He's a smart lad. Let him live his own life.'

Luo Cheng Hua approved of the listed companies Han Ting Hua bought shares from.

'Let me put the bracelets on you,' Luo Cheng Hua said.

'Cheng Hua, you only know how to encourage Xiao Hua's antics,' Mai Fang said.

Luo Cheng Hua and Han Ting Hua's smiles mirrored each other.

Luo An Hai felt like the fourth wheel. She wanted to quickly eat dinner and leave.

'An Hai, try the delicious steak,' Mai Fang said.

Luo An Hai put back the pieces of cut steak Mai Fang put into her bowl, and she noticed her father's disapproving frown. Then she picked up steamed vegetables.

'Aren't I allowed to eat vegetables?' Luo An Hai asked.

Mai Fang held onto the Luo Cheng Hua's arm.

'An Hai, you should eat more,' Mai Fang said. 'You lost too much weight.'

Luo Cheng Hua regretted he was busy setting up Luo's company that he didn't make time to spend with his daughter when she was younger. He hated the distance between him and his mature daughter, but he didn't know what to do to build a close relationship with his daughter. Although his daughter's disrespect toward Mai Fang and Han Ting Hua upset him, he was proud of his daughter's achievements, and boasted about his daughter to his friends and clients.

'An Hai, I heard you're dating Hunter,' Luo Cheng Hua said.

Luo An Hai was surprised at her father's interest in her private life.

'Today I received a phone call from Hunter's father,' Luo Cheng Hua said. 'He said Hunter wants to marry you. Do you want me to prepare an engagement banquet for you and Hunter?'

'Engagement?' Mai Fang asked. 'An Hai is too young to get married. Cheng Hua, how do you know whether Hunter's feelings toward An Hai are genuine?'

'I heard Hunter is head over heels in love with An Hai,' Luo Cheng Hua said. 'An Hai, how do you feel about Hunter?'

Luo An Hai took out her phone and called Hunter. 'It's me. Hunter, let's breakup. You shouldn't have taken our relationship seriously. I thought you understood it was just a fling. Bye.' She put her phone back in her bag, and looked calmly at her father. 'What else are you curious about?'

'An Hai!' Luo Cheng Hua called. 'How many men do you want to toy with? When are you going to start thinking about settling down?'

Luo An Hai shrugged her shoulders. 'Are you suggesting I should get married and have an affair like you?'

Luo An Hai bit her tongue. She regretted saying something to upset her father.

'I should go,' Luo An Hai said, standing up. 'I'll only ruin the atmosphere if I stay.'

Luo An Hai took out a gift box from her bag and passed it to her father. She bought a jade smoking pipe to add to her father's collection.

Her father didn't smoke, but he loved collecting vintage art pieces and took pride in his smoking pipes collection most.

'Happy birthday,' Luo An Hai said and walked out of the VIP room.

Luo Cheng Hua regretted losing his temper. He opened the gift box, and stared with a heavy heart at the jade smoking pipe his daughter gave him.

'Cheng Hua, don't be upset with An Hai,' Mai Fang said. 'Look at the beautiful jade smoking pipe she gave you to add to your favorite smoking pipe collection.'

Han Ting Hua looked at Luo An Hai's fading back. He turned back to the table, his adoptive mother nodded and he quickly chased after Luo An Hai.