"Tong Anxia, look at me!"

Song Shiyu grabbed Tong Anxia’s hair, heaved her up from the ground, forcing her to look at herself.

Tong Anxia was as thin as a skeleton, her face gaunt. In the heart of winter, she only wore a thin, filthy, and worn-out uniform for mental patients, all skin and bones. She casted no reaction towards Song Shiyu's actions.

Song Shiyu was clearly dissatisfied.

She planned for six years and finally trampled Tong Anxia into dust; how could she be content without seeing her despair?

"You're about to die, don't you want to see your grandfather?" Song Shiyu sneered maliciously.

Hearing about her grandfather, Tong Anxia finally reacted.

Song Shiyu’s face was filled with excitement and satisfaction. Gripping Tong Anxia’s hair, she dragged her over to a curtain like a lifeless dog and flung it open.

Beyond the curtain, there lay an old man who was hooked up to countless tubes, looking frail and emaciated.

He looked conscious but couldn't speak or move. Gazing at the haggard and unrecognizable Tong Anxia, his eyes flooded with tears.

"Grandpa…" Tong Anxia stared at the old man in shock, her hands shaking uncontrollably.

Three years ago, she fell out with her grandfather over her unwanted marriage to Lu Shaoming. She hadn't expected that Lu Shaoming and her cousin Song Shiyu were already in a relationship, and his marriage to her was merely to attain the shares she held in Tong Fan Corporation.

On their wedding night, as soon as Lu Shaoming tricked her into signing the share transfer agreement, he turned on her and locked her in a mental hospital.

Since then, she turned into a venting tool for Song Shiyu's emotions, enduring brutal torture for three years.

Her grandfather was always healthy and astute — Tong Anxia had been certain no one would be able to harm him.

"What have you done to my grandfather?" Tong Anxia's heart was wracked with pain, tears cascading down her face.

"We haven't done much, just injected him with some chronic poison on a regular basis. That old man sure cares about you. Even though he knows it's a poison, he still let us manipulate him, all for your safety," Song Shiyu burst into a malicious laugh.

As expected...

Tong Anxia felt as though she was burning up inside.

"Song Shiyu, you stole my husband, stole everything I had, and tormented me incessantly for three years. Isn't it enough? My grandfather raised you single-handedly out of kindness! How could you do this to him!" Tong Anxia's shout was full of rage. She raised her hand to strike Song Shiyu, only to be knocked aside by her, for Tong Anxia was far too weak in comparison.

"And you accuse me of being ungrateful? If it weren't for the old man refusing to lend my dad money all those years ago, would he have been beaten to death by loan sharks? Would my family have fallen apart and I ended up an orphan?" Song Shiyu retorted menacingly.

"Your family fell apart because your dad was addicted to gambling! My grandfather even helped clear his debts several times..."

"Shut up!" Song Shiyu shrilly cut off Tong Anxia with a slap.

"Ah!!!!" Seeing his granddaughter being bullied, the old man struggled in both urgency and anger.

Seeing this, Song Shiyu once again seized Tong Anxia by the hair, forced her towards the old man, and sneered, "Old man, you feel sorry now? What if I tell you that, six years ago, Tong Anxia wasn't subjected to those horrid acts, and those disgraceful photos were staged by people I hired. Would you regret your actions? After all, no matter how much Tong Anxia pleaded, you never believed her. You pushed Tong Anxia towards Lu Shaoming and me! The situation she is in today is all thanks to you!"

The old man's eyes widened.

It was as if a blade was pierced right through his heart.

Tong Anxia, too, was astounded. She turned back to look at Song Shiyu: "Song Shiyu, what did you just say?"

"You idiot, you still don't understand? The incident six years ago - I planned it all from the beginning!" Song Shiyu's voice was full of scorn and arrogance. "Including Shaoming, he never loved you. His arrival, all his warmth and tenderness towards you, were all a part of my plan. From beginning to end, all he ever felt for you was disgust."

"That's impossible! It's impossible! You're lying!"

Tong Anxia always thought that Lu Shaoming fell out of love later on, but at least his heart was sincere when he initially accompanied her through her lowest times.

How could this possibly be part of a conspiracy!!!

Song Shiyu finally achieved her goal.

Her laughter grew crazier: "Tong Anxia, Madam Zhou, that old hag warned you, but who asked you to trust me so much? Do you know, the last words the old hag said before death were begging me to spare you!"

Tong Anxia widened her eyes. "What did you say? Madam Zhou… has Madam Zhou died?"

Madam Zhou was the housekeeper of Tong Family, who looked after Tong Anxia since her childhood.

"Otherwise? She wanted to tell the old man, how could I let her live? Only the dead keep their mouths shut."

"Song Shiyu!!!" Tong Anxia wailed in despair.

In the past, Madam Zhou had warned her many times to stay away from Song Shiyu for her cunning.

But she never believed her, always arguing with Madam Zhou because of these warnings.

Later, Madame Zhou disappeared. Song Shiyu told her that Madam Zhou had gone back to her hometown, and Tong Anxia believed her.

Never would she have imagined... that Madam Zhou was actually killed by Song Shiyu!

"And your ill-fated parents!" Song Shiyu continued, without pausing. She simply loved seeing Tong Anxia, once an elegant swan riding high, now under her merciless feet, suffering in agony, "Did you really think their car accident was just a mere misfortune?"

Tong Anxia's sobs suddenly halted.

The question from Song Shiyu struck like a bolt from the blue!

Half a month after the news about her assault spread, her parents tragically died in a traffic accident.

Song Shiyu started laughing hysterically, "Your parents were as stupid as you! They found out about the issue related to Luo Zhao and my involvement, but they didn't report it to the police immediately. Instead, they called to confront me! I cried a little on the phone, made up an excuse about someone threatening me into doing it, said I would turn myself in, and they actually believed me. After hanging up, I immediately tampered with their car..."

"Song Shiyu! You inhuman beast!" Tong Anxia roared in uncontrollable fury, her blood-stained, scarred hand clutching tightly onto Song Shiyu's arm.

Hatred surged wildly in her eyes!

In the three years of torment in the mental hospital, she thought Song Shiyu's cruelty had reached its peak!

But she was shocked to realize that was just the tip of the iceberg!

At this moment, she wished she could tear Song Shiyu apart and devour her alive.

But she was too weak...

"Tong Anxia, after all, whether it's Zhou's mother or your parents, they are all killed because of you!" Song Shiyu violently kicked at Tong Anxia's thin, bony arm, which immediately snapped with a crisp sound.

"Ah!" A wave of intense pain hit. Tong Anxia cried out in agony.

Song Shiyu took a step back, disgustedly cleaning her arm, which Tong Anxia had grasped, with a tissue, "If you had trusted Aunt Zhou from the start, or say, hadn't acted so weak and vulnerable, your parents might not have kept my deeds from you. Moreover, even if you had listened to the old man and refused to marry Shaoming, my plan wouldn't have succeeded!"

At this moment, the monitor beside the hospital bed started sounding an alarm.

Tong Anxia, panic-stricken and disregarding her broken arm, stumbled towards the bed.

Having heard so many cruel truths, the elderly man laid on the bed, convulsing violently. Tong Anxia cried out in pain, "Grandfather... hold on, I will call the doctor immediately!”

Then she wanted to turn back to beg Song Shiyu.

She had lost her dignity a long time ago and her grandfather was the only family she had left in this world.

As long as he could be saved, Tong Anxia would comply with whatever Song Shiyu demanded!

However, before she could react, she felt a cold, sticky liquid poured upon her.

Was… Was this gasoline?

Tong Anxia felt a sudden shock – it seemed that Song Shiyu planned to burn her alive...

She wasn't afraid of death. After being tortured for three years, death was more of a release for her.

But…

She didn't want her grandfather to die a horrible death because of her!

Trembling from fear, Tong Anxia pleaded, "Shiyu, you can do anything you want with me, please spare my grandfather!"

Song Shiyu calmly walked out of the ward, turning back with an ironical smile. "Tong Anxia, are you still living in a dream? My sole intention is to see you ruined, even in death, you will find no peace! Tomorrow, you'll be the front-page news - 'Heiress running amok for love, escaping from the insane asylum in the dead of night, burning her wealthy grandfather alive.' Doesn't that sound like a great headline?"

Tong Anxia felt sheer despair sinking in.

So this was why Song Shiyu brought her here from the mental hospital!!!

To make her the murderer of her own grandfather!

"Oh right, Han Muxiu is already downstairs. I didn't expect that such a cold-blooded and aloof fellow would actually fall for a lowly woman like you. For your sake, he nearly gave away half of his family fortune to me and Shaoming... However, you may die, but his living is too dangerous for us. Since he loves you so much, I might as well oblige him and let him die with you."

Han Muxiu?

Tong Anxia froze.

This man, strictly speaking, was a stranger to her. Due to his previous attempt to forcibly acquire the Tongfan Group, she harbored no good feelings towards him.

Why would he…

"Tong Anxia, don't be so foolish in your next life."

Song Shiyu did not appear to feel the need to elaborate further. With a flick, she ignited her lighter. Staring at the flaring spark, she let out a thrill-filled laugh before tossing the lighter into the room.

There was a loud blast as the room, doused in gasoline, instantly transformed into a hellish inferno.

The flames licked at Tong Anxia's skin, the pain searing deep into her bones. The old man on the hospital bed was rapidly consumed by the fiery blaze. Her heart ached to the point of breaking as she was forced to watch him suffer amidst the crackling fire.

"Song Shiyu! I'll return as a vengeful ghost for your life. Neither you nor Lu Shaoming will die a good death!"

Her shrill scream shattered the silent night ambiance of the hospital.

Moments later, someone rushed in from outside the door, frantically screaming her name, and tightly embraced her as she struggled in agony.

Tong Anxia was burning up from the inside out.

"Run, you'll die!"

She cried out for help, silently.

She didn't want anyone else to die because of her…

Please, just go…

But the person never let go.

Before she completely lost consciousness, she faintly heard a soft voice whisper, "I will never leave you alone again."