At 10 PM, a young woman, Lâm Kiều, wandered alone on the streets, persistently calling her father, but no one ever picked up.
Tiredly, she sat by the bus stop, gazing at the dim streetlights, with not a single car passing by.
Only then did she understand why her classmates had been constantly approaching her these past few days; it turned out they had discovered Lâm Kiều was the eldest daughter of the Lâm family.
As she thought, she gave a bitter laugh. She bore the name of the eldest daughter of the Lâm family, yet she was so poor she couldn't afford tuition.
For the past month, she had been struggling to find work, and once she found it, she toiled without a single day off.
What if she no longer existed in this world? Lâm Hai had never valued her; he only cared about his own interests. So when Liu Hua suggested she move out and fend for herself...
He immediately kicked her out of the house, even telling her she needed to toughen herself up.
But what about Lâm Na? Why wasn't she kicked out? It must be because they were afraid Lâm Kiều would expose the scandalous secrets of Liu Hua and her daughter.
Because she worked too late, there were no more bus services, and she didn't have enough money for a taxi.
So Lâm Kiều took a chance and called her father, hoping to beg him to send someone to pick her up and take her part of the way to her rented room. Unfortunately, such good fortune was not hers.
With a soft sigh, she had no other choice. She stood up from the bench and began walking towards her rented room.
Lâm Kiều had a beautiful figure and a lovely face; at school, male classmates always paid attention to her because of this.
But her beautiful face also brought her countless troubles; she was often harassed by unsavory characters.
Now, walking alone on the main road, she was very scared. She didn't possess any fighting skills for self-defense.
As she thought, she felt her whole body tremble. Lately, several disappearance cases in the city had always occurred at night.
She didn't want such misfortunes to befall her, and silently prayed.
20 kilometers away, at the Lâm family residence.
A spacious bedroom, beautifully decorated. One could tell at a glance that it was a girl's room.
Indeed, this was Lâm Na's bedroom. She had been living in this room ever since Lâm Kiều was kicked out of the house.
Originally, Lâm Kiều was the owner of this room, but now Lâm Na was its occupant.
Liu Hua held a comb, brushing her daughter's hair, her eyes, filled with malice, gazing into the mirror. By birth, Lâm Na wasn't as beautiful as Lâm Kiều, but she had beautiful hair.
That's why Liu Hua was extremely pleased with it and cherished it.
"Mom, please don't look at the mirror with such a terrifying gaze, okay? Just thinking of you looking at me with those eyes, I get truly terrified." Lâm Na said, looking into the mirror, where her mother's reflection stared back.
"I'm sorry for scaring my dear daughter," Liu Hua said. "I was just thinking about how pitiful that girl must be, wandering alone on the streets right now." Her voice was low enough for only the two of them to hear. Lâm Na's forehead broke out in a sweat; she didn't know what her mother was planning now.
"You mean Lâm Kiều is still out on the streets right now?" she asked to confirm.
"That's right. I saw her working part-time with my own eyes. What's more, she called your father for help earlier, but I deleted the call log."
Hearing her mother's words, a ripple of excitement stirred within Lâm Na. *That's right, this is my chance.*
While Liu Hua and her daughter were plotting their schemes, Lâm Kiều had already walked a considerable distance, her legs weak and aching.
Only 1 kilometer remained until she reached her rented room. She had to try and walk faster.
Although this was a city, this stretch of road was quite deserted, with only her and the flickering streetlights remaining, the shops nearby having all turned off their lights.
The night fog was thicker now than before, and it was a bit cold. If she wasn't dressed warmly enough, she'd catch a cold and find it hard to get out of bed the next day.
Lin Qiao was aware of her current situation; she absolutely couldn't afford to get sick. If she just worked enough extra days, next month she'd have enough money for tuition and rent.
Even as she walked and thought, she didn't allow herself to slow her pace. Her numb and aching knees still had to keep moving.
Her train of thought was interrupted by the distant roar of a motorcycle, its dazzling headlights causing Lin Qiao to stumble and fall to the side of the road.
The engine noise grew closer and closer.
Lin Qiao sensed something bad was about to happen; she quickly stood up and continued to run. She wanted to quickly reach the houses on the other side of the road and knock on doors for help.
No matter who they were, she was alone right now and couldn't possibly resist if they wanted to take her.
Despair enveloped Lin Qiao. On the motorcycles were several tall, vicious-looking men.
Were they local gang members, or perhaps hired thugs? Lin Qiao felt a complete lack of hope as the motorcycles successively stopped in front of her, leaving her no way out.
"Clack!" The tall man leading them lowered his kickstand and dismounted, followed by the others behind him.
Lin Qiao's face was pale, her hands clasped tightly together. She couldn't run; she was too weak.
What should she do now?
The leader pulled a knife from his waist, the reflected light from its blade dazzling.
The five men looked at Lin Qiao as if she were a mouse about to be devoured by a cat, utterly pathetic.
"Who are you people? Get away from me, or I'll call the police!"
"Call the police? Who's going to believe you, hahaha." A man in a black shirt laughed as he flicked open a lighter and lit a cigarette.
"We heard the eldest daughter of the Lin family ran away from home and met with an accident on the road."
"And there are no cameras here, no witnesses." This was the scenario they had concocted; if they just hit her and killed her, any police investigation would be useless.
Lin Qiao suddenly understood; this must be a plot by the Liu mother and daughter. But how could she escape now?
The five men rushed forward to grab her as Lin Qiao ran into the grounds of an abandoned pub. A struggle ensued.
Exhausted, Lin Qiao was about to be caught when she suddenly heard the wail of police sirens from the road outside.
"You bitch, next time we'll kill you instantly. You won't be so lucky as today."
The men panicked, ran out, jumped onto their bikes, and disappeared. By the time the police car arrived, Lin Qiao was already slumped by the roadside.