The opulent uproar was completely shut off behind her.
Shen Qingxu walked swiftly through the empty hotel corridor. The sound of her high heels striking the marble floor echoed sharply in the silence, a lonely yet resolutely decisive rhythm.
She didn't head for the dedicated bridal suite—that place was undoubtedly in chaos by now, waiting to confront her with questions and storms. Instead, she went straight towards a staff access door at the hotel's side entrance, a path she had inadvertently learned about in her previous life.
Pushing open the heavy fire door, the noise and luxury were stripped away instantly. The slightly harsh afternoon sunlight and the city's usual cacophony washed over her. She stood in an inconspicuous alley, the priceless wedding gown on her body forming an absurd, stark contrast with the peeling walls and piled-up debris around her.
A ride-hailing car, precisely booked in advance using her memory the moment she had woken up reborn in the dressing room, was waiting at the alley's mouth.
The driver stared, clearly startled by her appearance, his eyes full of surprise and curiosity.
"Last four digits, 6688," Shen Qingxu pulled the door open and slid smoothly into the back seat, her voice calm as if she were wearing ordinary clothes. "Jinjiang Apartments."
The car merged smoothly into the traffic. Shen Qingxu leaned against the window, watching the cityscape flash past. The city from five years ago, many landmarks yet unbuilt, familiar shops still open, everything held a strange, new freshness.
As her taut nerves relaxed slightly, a wave of immense fatigue and the hollow feeling of having narrowly escaped disaster slowly washed over her. She closed her eyes. The icy despair of her death in her previous life and the earth-shattering rupture of the wedding ceremony moments ago flashed alternately in her mind.
Hatred still coursed through her veins, but an unprecedented sense of lightness also began to take root in her heart.
She had personally smashed that gilded cage.
Jinjiang Apartments was a small studio she had secretly rented before the wedding with her own savings. The location was remote, the facilities simple, but it was hidden and quiet enough. This was the final retreat she had prepared for herself. In her past life, she had never gotten to use it before she died. In this life, it would be the starting point of her path to revenge.
She took off the intricate, heavy wedding gown and dumped it in a corner like a piece of soiled trash. Only after changing into a simple cotton dress did she feel truly alive again.
Her phone had long been turned off and tossed aside. She didn't need to look to imagine the number of missed calls and furious, abusive messages—from her so-called "family," and perhaps, from the Lu family as well.
She needed none of their voices. Right now, she needed absolute quiet to clarify her thoughts and plan her next steps.
She sat on the room's only chair, gazing out the window at the gradually setting sun, her eyes terrifyingly calm.
The fact of her rebirth had been digested. The vow of revenge had been sworn. The break with the past had been made public. Next was the matter of survival, of gathering strength.
The first step was seed funding.
She opened an inconspicuous old suitcase and retrieved a velvet box from a hidden compartment. Inside were several gold pieces, part of the "betrothal gifts" the Lu family had given her. Exquisitely crafted, and not light in weight.
Looking at these glittering objects, she felt not a trace of nostalgia. These were not tokens of love, but the down payment on the tragedy of her past life.
Early the next morning, she went to the largest and most reputable pawnshop in the city.
The elderly master behind the counter took the gold, carefully examining its quality and weight.
"Miss, pawning all of these?" The old master looked up at her, his gaze lingering for a moment on her overly young and calm face.
"Dead pawn." Shen Qingxu uttered the two words, her voice devoid of inflection.
The master asked no more questions, expertly calculating before quoting a price. It was fair, not deliberately lowballed because of her youth.
Shen Qingxu nodded.
When she walked out of the pawnshop, her bag held a thick, heavy stack of cash. It was far less than the actual value of the gold, but it was completely, cleanly, and freely hers—her "first bucket of gold."
Holding this money, she felt a unprecedented sense of solidity. This was the first step in taking control of her own destiny after breaking her chains.
Night fell once more.
Shen Qingxu sat at the small table by the window, a brand new notebook spread open before her. The warm glow of the desk lamp fell upon the page.
She picked up a pen and, on the blank title page, firmly wrote four characters:
星辰传媒 (Xīngchén Chuánméi).
Stellar Media.
This was the embryo of her business empire, the weapon she would use to fight against all injustice in the future, and the stage for realizing her own worth. Armed with the memories of her past life, she knew clearly the explosive growth that the live-streaming and short video industries were about to experience in the coming years. And she would no longer be a bystander or a sacrifice in this era; she would become a trailblazer.
Immersed in planning her future, her eyes were focused and bright, the previous fatigue and vulnerability gone without a trace. She didn't notice, or had no time to concern herself with yet, the hidden dangers lurking in the darkness she couldn't see.
Across the street, at the corner opposite her apartment building, inside an unremarkable black sedan, a man in a suit with a stern face was speaking softly into a headset:
"Target has returned to residence. Location confirmed."
"Initial observation: independent behavior. No current signs of contact with Mr. Lu Yanxiu or other suspicious individuals."
"Request permission to proceed with deeper investigation into her background and the true motive behind calling off the wedding?"
From the other end of the headset came a low, authoritative voice, tinged with a cold flicker of interest:
"Continue observation. I want to know what gave a canary, once so docile, the courage to peck its master."
"Understood."
The man ended the communication, his sharp gaze returning to the lit window. He belonged to a secretive and powerful intelligence organization, employed by a mysterious client who was deeply interested in the day's wedding upheaval.
Shen Qingxu did not know that her earth-shattering act today, like a stone thrown into still water, had created ripples far wider than she could imagine. She was already firmly locked in the sights of eyes watching from the shadows.
Inside, by the window, Shen Qingxu put down her pen and walked softly to the window, looking down at the city's sea of twinkling lights.
Her hand moved unconsciously to rest on her still-flat abdomen. There, a small, growing life—one she had failed to protect, and had never even known existed in her last life—was quietly developing.
Her eyes softened for an instant, only to be replaced by a light even more resolute.
"Lele," she whispered to the air, and to her reborn soul, her voice filled with boundless strength and promise. "Mommy is back."
"In this life, Mommy will build the strongest fortress for you, and for myself. We will carve a bloody path straight to the throne!"
(End of Volume One)
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