Chapter 8 – The Silent Witness
The night was heavy, shadows stretching long across the mansion's marble halls. Qiao Xueran's room was dim, the faint glow of a lamp flickering on the floor.
Her aunt and uncle had forced their way inside.The uncle's cane cracked against her shoulder; the aunt's sharp nails clawed her arm.
"Useless girl!" the aunt hissed, striking her again. "Always bringing trouble!"
"We feed you, clothe you, and this is how you repay us? Acting like a fool to gain his favor?" the uncle growled, raising his cane again.
Xueran curled on the floor, whimpering softly, her face buried in her arms. She played the fool perfectly — a trembling, broken doll. But inside, her mind was counting every strike. Every scar was another name etched onto her revenge.
The cane lifted again.
And then it froze in midair.
A voice cut through the silence.Low. Icy. Dangerous.
"What," Han Zixuan said from the doorway, "do you think you're doing?"
The aunt gasped. The uncle's cane slipped from his shaking hand, clattering to the floor.
Han Zixuan stepped inside, the weight of his presence filling the room like thunder. His eyes locked on the bruises across Xueran's arms, the blood on her lip. His jaw tightened.
He didn't shout. He didn't rage.He simply turned to his men waiting outside.
"Take them."
The guards moved instantly, seizing the aunt and uncle by their arms. Their protests filled the air.
"Boss Han, she's our niece—""We only meant to teach her—"
Zixuan's gaze silenced them. Cold, merciless, the gaze of a man who had buried thousands.
"Your niece," he said quietly, "is mine."
The words rang in the air, heavier than any shout.
As they were dragged screaming from the room, Xueran slowly lifted her head. Her lips trembled, her eyes wide, as if she barely understood what had happened.
But when Han Zixuan crouched beside her, his coat brushing the floor, and gently touched her bloodied cheek, she leaned into his palm.
"Fool," he murmured, almost to himself.
Her eyes glistened. She whispered one word, broken and childish:
"Hug."
Something in him cracked again. Without hesitation, he pulled her into his arms.
And in the shadows beyond the door, Xun Lanyue stood watching, her nails biting into her palms, her smile brittle as glass.