CHAPTER 3 – Shattered Dreams

[ Li Xin’s POV ]

Thursday. My last day.

By noon, the corridors of Vitality Pharmaceuticals had already begun to forget me.My desk drawers sat hollow, cleared of every trace. Even my name tag had been stripped from the door—like I’d never been there at all.

What remained was the faint scent of stale coffee and the echo of conversations that no longer needed me.

I told myself it was just a job. I told myself it didn’t matter.

But when I saw my own reflection in the boardroom glass—blurred, transparent, almost erased—I realised I’d been lying to survive.

❖

The HR manager called me in with the same polite detachment she’d used before. “All paperwork finalised,” she said, sliding a file across the table. “You can clear security by five.”

I signed my name slowly, every stroke a farewell.

When I turned to leave, the door opened and Wang Mei stepped in, perfume sharp as frost. Her smile was the kind that knew victory tasted better when witnessed.

“Oh, Li Xin. I didn’t realise you were still here,” she said sweetly. “Just tying up loose ends?”

“Something like that.”

Her eyes swept over the file. “You’ve done so much for the company. I’m sure your… talents will be appreciated elsewhere.”

The word talents lingered like a blade. She placed a glossy envelope on the table—an invitation card embossed with silver leaves. “Our engagement party is this weekend. Consider this a gesture of goodwill.”

I looked at it, then at her. “I won’t attend.”

Her smile deepened. “You should. After all, you’re part of our story, aren’t you?”

I left the envelope untouched.

❖

The rain began as a hush against the windows, as if the sky itself feared to intrude.

At my cubicle, a crowd had gathered. Someone whispered my name; another laughed too loudly. When I stepped closer, the laughter died. On my computer screen—still unlocked—was an email I hadn’t written.

A forged complaint, addressed to management, accusing me of misconduct with a senior executive.

Wang Mei’s handiwork.

HR had already “received concerns” from an anonymous sender. I saw it in their eyes—the rehearsed politeness, the quiet suspicion.

“I didn’t write this,” I said.

The manager sighed. “Of course not. But for transparency, we’ll need to include it in your file.”

My chest tightened. “You said everything was finalised.”

“It’s just procedure.”

Procedure—another word for burial.

I shut down the computer, removed my ID, and placed it on the desk. “Then consider this the end of the procedure.”

❖

Glass shatters quietly when it’s already cracked.

I walked through the lobby, every step echoing too loudly. Staff turned to watch, pretending not to. The revolving doors loomed ahead—spinning, endless, merciless.

And then, for a heartbeat, the world slowed. Through the rain-streaked glass, I saw a black saloon parked across the street. The same one from before. The same stillness behind tinted windows.

I couldn’t see his face this time, only a flash of silver cuff links catching the streetlight. But I felt it—the weight of being seen, not pitied.

The doors turned. The rain met me like applause.

❖

By the time I reached Rainlight Bay Café, my umbrella had given up. Kyra looked up from the counter, eyes wide, towel still in hand.

“You’re soaked.”

“I’m free,” I said.

She blinked, unsure if it was triumph or surrender she heard in my voice.

I lowered myself into the seat, rainwater gathering beneath like a silent echo, and let out a slow, steady breath.“They forged an email. Said I slept my way up the ladder.”

Kyra swore under her breath. “Wang Mei.”

“I didn’t defend myself,” I admitted. “I just… left.”

Kyra poured tea, hands trembling. “You did right. Some mud isn’t worth scrubbing.”

Steam curled between us, soft and forgiving. I watched it rise, watched it fade. “Funny how something invisible can still burn.”

She leaned forward. “What will you do now?”

“Start again,” I said, though the words felt foreign. “Maybe somewhere they don’t know my name.”

Kyra smiled gently. “Serenity always remembers, but it also forgives.”

❖

The rain outside had turned to threads of silver light.

I walked home after sunset, shoes squelching with each step, the resignation folder clutched tightly to my chest like a final, silent admission. Each streetlamp painted the wet pavement gold, as if the city was trying to apologise.

At the corner, a car engine murmured. The same black saloon drifted from the curb and disappeared into the mist.

I didn’t chase it. I only whispered into the night, “Who are you?”

The question vanished with the rain.

When I reached my flat, I stood by the window and watched the droplets crawl down the glass. In each reflection, I saw fragments of the woman I used to be—ambitious, naive, in love. I reached out, tracing the lines until they blurred into nothing.

“I’ll never beg again,” I said.

The rain answered, steady and sure, as if sealing the vow.

■ Sneak Peek — Chapter 4 : A Journey of Resilience

When everything collapses, silence becomes a beginning.

Two months later, rejections pile higher than dreams—but somewhere between loss and routine, Li Xin finds a reason to breathe again.

“Every storm begins with rain, finds peace in the sky, and returns in the wind.”

— Fiona Sora, Serenity Haven Universe © 2025

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