The prison gates creaked open, and Luna Chen slowly stepped out into the world.
Her once clear eyes had turned dull and weathered, and in the scorching June heat, she was dressed in thick, long sleeves, looking utterly out of place.
“Bang!”
The heavy prison doors closed behind her, shutting away Lunas five-year nightmare and her identity as the Chen familys eldest daughter, now branded a murderer.
Luna walked like a puppet to the bus stop, where a large poster on the signboard pierced her eyes, sending a pang of pain through her numb heart.
The man on the poster, even after five years, was etched into Lunas mind and flowed through her veins.
He was the man she had loved for ten years, the one who had personally sent her to prison—Damon Tang.
He was holding her half-sister—Vivian Chen.
They were engaged to be married.
Luna let out a bitter smile, pushing back the sourness on the tip of her nose; she no longer had the right to cry for him.
She used her last change to take the bus to the Chen Mansion.
Luna gritted her teeth and rang the doorbell; she could forgo everything else, but she had to retrieve the necklace her mother left her.
Looking at the luxurious scene inside, this was the place she had lived for twenty years, and now she had to return like a dog waiting for its masters call.
“M…Miss, how can you be here?” The butler, Uncle Bob, looked shocked to see Luna at the door. The Chen family had used their connections to reduce her sentence to five years and had also severed her father-daughter relationship.
Afraid that Uncle Bob would refuse, Luna urgently pleaded, “Uncle Bob, I won’t make things difficult for you. I just want to get back what my mother left for me.”
“Well… then Miss, please hurry.” Uncle Bob wanted to refuse, but remembering the kindness the late Mrs. Chen had shown him, he stepped aside and let Luna in.
Even at the entrance to the living room, she could hear the happy laughter, and Luna took a deep breath to muster the courage to walk in.
Seeing Luna appear, Victor Chens face darkened instantly, pointing at her and scolding, “You are no longer part of the Chen family. What are you doing here? Get out.”
“Such bad luck,” Susan Han said coldly, her eyes full of disdain.
Luna didn’t speak but saw Damon Tang among the crowd.
She gazed at him in a daze, knowing they would meet sooner or later, but not expecting it to be so soon.
Their eyes met, and he was as cold and handsome as ever, his gaze as emotionless as it had been five years ago, mixed with disgust.
“Sister, you’re out of prison? I’m sorry we forgot to pick you up. Damon and I are getting engaged. You must come, okay?”
Vivian stood up, blocking the line of sight between them. She approached Luna with a gesture of intimacy, trying to hold her hand, but Luna subtly avoided it.
Even though she had seen the poster, hearing the word "engaged" from Vivian’s mouth, Luna’s heart still couldn’t help but ache fiercely.
“I’ve just come to get what my mom left for me, and then I’ll leave,” Luna tried to ignore Vivian’s mention of the engagement, looking at Victor and pleading.
Now, she didn’t expect anything, just wanting to survive with all her might.
But to her surprise, Susan disdainfully threw her mother’s cherished necklace on the floor.
“Pick it up while you’re kneeling,” Susan said with a malicious smile.
Luna was taken aback by the words, looking at the necklace on the floor, and after an internal struggle, she let out a bitter smile.
She had endured so much humiliation and embarrassment in prison over the past five years; this moment was nothing.
Clamping her fists, Luna knelt down, her knees touching the cold floor, sending a chill through her body.
She bit her lips tightly, trying hard not to let the tears fall.
Luna picked up the necklace and turned to leave, not wanting to stay a moment longer.
Damon’s complicated gaze fell on Luna’s back, the once carefree Chen family’s eldest daughter, willing to be humiliated in front of others.
He sneered and said, “Luna Chen, you’ve really become lowly to the core now.”