Xiu Mei woke up gasping for breath.

  Was that just a dream? No, that’s more like a nightmare. How could she suddenly dream of Ying Yue and Wan Wan?

  Why did she suddenly dream that Wan Wan was the person who gave her the bloodstained rose? Dammit, maybe because Wan Wan was appearing too much before her these days that’s why her mind was suddenly putting some strange ideas on her head?

  Her chest heaved up and down as she tried to catch her breath. But then she realized something wrong.

  Why was it so dark? No. It wasn’t dark.

  It was her eyes. She was blindfolded.

  Panic suddenly set in. Her mind was thrown into chaos. She panicked even more when she realized that her arms and feet were also bound by something.

  Xiu Mei felt that she couldn’t breathe. Her panic attack was setting in as she realized more of her situation.

  Her memory from ten years ago was overlapping with her current situation. Her mind went into haywire.

  Was she still dreaming? A nightmare?

  Or did she just suddenly went back in the past just like those novels she read in her past time?

  Thinking like that, Xiu Mei almost blurted out Ying Yue’s name. Then she sneered pitifully at herself in her mind.

  What was she thinking? How could that even be possible?

  Ying Yue was long dead. And the reality is that she was being kidnapped again.

  Realizing her predicament, Xiu Mei counted slowly in her head again. She wasn’t sure whether her panic attack would settle down, but at least she should prevent herself from breaking down right now. Lu Chen’s not here to calm her down nor help her if she continued like this. No one would help her if her emotions completely crumble like this.

  As she tried to take a grip on her emotions again, she tried to feel out where she was. Her senses became even more sensitive to the little sounds with her eyesight blocked.

  Xiu Mei examined her surroundings. Xiu Mei could smell the scent of earth. She wondered if it was because of the rain?

  Touching the ground, it was cold but it wasn’t wet. She thought it was some kind of solid floor, but definitely not a marble floor. Maybe it was cold because the land was just recently wet?

  Xiu Mei pushed herself up. Thank god for the abs crunches.

  Xiu Mei slowly backed up, hoping to hit some wall or something. After a couple more small steps backward, her back finally hit something. As soon as she hit her back on it, it made a sound. It was the sound of wood. It wasn’t as cold as the floor but the wood was definitely cool.

  Xiu Mei could clearly determine that she was in some place where it just recently rained.

  When she checked her phone this morning, it wasn’t supposed to rain at City S. Was she somewhere outside the city?

  Wait, wasn’t the nearby province in City S that was half is composed of a remote area? It was one of the places she went with the Vice-Chairman these previous days because they were sourcing some of the raw materials there.

  The topography was…… surrounded by mountains and rivers.

  Since she finally has an idea of where she was, Xiu Mei shifted to the next step. The place she was in was quite silent. She could only hear her shaky and deep breaths echoing within the room.

  At least she was alone.

  Recalling what her eldest brother taught her before, Xiu Mei untied herself from the ropes bounding her wrists and ankles.

  Because of her kidnapping before, even though she didn’t want to, Xiu Mei was forced into learning this stuff in addition to her extensive self-defense classes.

  After shuffling for five minutes, Xiu Mei was finally freed. Hastily removing the cloth blocking her sight, Xiu Mei opened her eyes. Due to her vision being blocked by quite some time and the place was also a bit dark, it took a few more seconds before her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

  She roamed her eyes around the room. She took a sharp breath at the almost similar room from when she and Ying Yue was also locked in a room back then.

  It was similar yet different.

  Her breathing never returned to normal, but her panic attack at least settled down for quite a bit. She paused for a little longer to compose herself.

  Lu Chen. She was pretty sure that Lu Chen was looking for her right now.

  Then she remembered something. Her tracker!

  Didn’t Lu Chen give her a tra—


  Xiu Mei looked at her wrist. Gone. The bracelet was gone.

  Her panic returned. Did they throw it away? Where?

  Xiu Mei desperately wished that they dumped the bracelet somewhere nearby.

  Dammit.

  Then she remembered something again.

  The watch!

  Xiu Mei recalled the watch that Lu Qiang gave her. There’s also a tracker in it. She always kept it with her inside her purse. Maybe that’s still in her purse?

  But what if they discarded her purse somewhere far too?

  Ugh. Useless.

  To think that she has two trackers close in her body yet not even one was left with her. At this rate, would Lu Chen be able to find her soon?

  Xiu Mei’s eyes darted towards the window. It was the only place keeping the room lit with a bit of moonlight. The window was covered with some nailed scrap woods, probably to prevent her from escaping through the window. But there is still some small space enough for her hand to pass through.

  Xiu Mei walked over the window and tried pulling on the wood. Maybe it was poorly done, the wood eventually loosened from being nailed down and she was able to pull the wood away.

  She groaned in pain when she got wood splinters on both her hand. But she tried to ignore the pain and continued on pulled the other woods to open up more space for the window.

  After pushing herself a few more times, there was finally enough space for her body to squeeze in. Without hesitation, she smashed a piece of wood on the window to shatter the glass. She didn’t bother checking whether if someone had heard her, she immediately squeezed herself past the window. Ignoring the scratches she got after getting caught on the sharp edges of the shattered window.

  She landed with a thud one the moist ground. Xiu Mei propped herself up from the muddy ground as she scanned the surroundings outside. Her movements paused as her eyes landed on the area in front of her.

  Irises.

  A bunch of planted Irises was in front of her.

  Seeing the familiar flower, all she could think about was Ying Yue. Her bestfriend’s face flashed before her eyes, as she remembered how they both liked this flower back then.

  And now this same flower crumbled her rational thoughts in an instant.

  W-Why……Why is that here?

  Xiu Mei clutched her chest as her breathing turned for the worst. She couldn’t breathe. She felt like her airways were being tightened and obstructed as she continued to take rapid shallow breaths. Her vision turning blurry by the second as she completely lost her balance again, her body slumping down on the moist ground.

  Her body curled up subconsciously while she was having a panic attack. Then she could faintly hear the sounds of footsteps approaching her direction.

  Xiu Mei was filled with desperation and urgency.

  Ignoring her troubled breathing, she remembered the most important thing.

  She needs to run away from this place. She needs to get away.

  Xiu Mei tried to balance herself again yet utterly failed. Her body wasn’t listening to her anymore. No matter how much she wanted to run, her body was giving up on her.

  A few seconds later, the footsteps stopped behind her.

  "Sister Meimei, do you need some help?"

  A familiar voice resounded in her ears. Her eyes widened as she took another sharp breath.

  Even though she already had faint suspicions about her, Xiu Mei couldn’t help but look at disbelief at the figure in front of her.

  "W-Wan Wan……" She murmured with much difficulty as she looked at the woman towering in front of her curled up figure. She couldn’t make out her face because her consciousness was slipping away by the second but her voice was enough for her to recognize Wan Wan.

  She heard Wan Wan scoff.

  "Oh, did Sister Meimei finally remember me? So you won’t call me Ms.Ying anymore?" Wan Wan spat as she looked at Xiu Mei’s figure with immense hatred.

  Wan Wan thought, look at this woman right now. Before when she was clinging onto her so persistently, she never recognized her even though she clearly knew who she was. But look, this same woman who looked so pitiful groveling at her feet right now suddenly decides to recognize her by calling her with her name.

  Such hypocrisy.