Time: 5:07 PM.

---

*Xin Lei*

Come on, Xin Lei...you can do this…

For the last hour, I was trying to get my right wrist out of the ropes, but contrary to my expectations, it proved to be a little tricky.

Not that it was impossible, but it took more time than usual and oof the guards! They were coming in every ten-fifteen minutes to check on me.

But now, I could finally see the light. I felt my wrist was half-dead with all that shaking and moving, but the ropes were starting to loosen up.

Yes! Ah, it finally came out!

I sobbed. I stretched and circled my wrist that had turned so red.

Damn that Zhang Ning!

Now that my one hand was free, the job was easy!

I quickly untied my left wrist and feet and exhaled a deep sigh. I did it!

Without making any sound, I silently stepped near the window and moved the curtain just a bit to see what was going outside.

The sun was still out but was going to set soon.

It must be around 5-5.30 PM.

I saw the entrance of Imperial High School and then a broad pathway that leads to the actual building here. There was an old playground on the right side.

As expected, there were guards in front of the school\'s entrance and hovering inside the pathway, taking rounds.

Wait. What floor am I on?

I couldn\'t fully peek outside, or I would expose myself, but judging from the height, it seemed around the fourth floor.

Was this the topmost floor? And where were Chu Jie and Cocoa kept?

I bit my lip and then smiled.

Well, somebody can help me~~

With quiet steps, I walked towards the door through all the desks and tables and stood at the back of it. I looked around and found a piece of chalk lying on the floor.

I picked it up and threw it on the far side.

As expected, I heard the guards immediately talking.

"Hey. What was the sound inside?"

"I heard that too. Wait. I will check."

The door opened. The guard slowly stepped inside, and I pressed myself aligned to the door to hide.

He walked in farther and gasped, looking towards the empty chair. Naturally, he seemed shocked.

"That woman...she is not here…"

He was about to call out his buddy outside, but I dashed out of my hiding, crept up behind his back, and landed a crisp karate chop on the side of his neck.

Ah, how this is my favorite move. The side of the neck has a carotid artery that supplies blood to the brain, and a hit at that artery momentarily stops the blood flow to the brain, making that person unconscious. Plus, the neck is an important part of the body that supports the head and very sensitive to impact because it isn\'t protected by any bones. So, getting hit on the neck is quite painful to bear.

"Ah…"

The guard clutched his neck and stumbled. His eyes were rolling back, and he collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

One down.

I waited at the back of the door again.

"Hey, what happened?"

The second guard came in, trying to look for his buddy. But this time, I didn\'t knock him out. I needed answers, and somebody had to stay conscious to give me those.

I hopped on his backside and jabbed my knee on the back of his knee.

"Ahh…"

He tripped and stumbled on his other knee. Grabbing this chance, I quickly clutched his hand that was holding the gun and raised it upwards. I knocked the gun out of his hand and aimed it at his temple.

He seemed to freeze and look at me in shock. Then he looked at the other unconscious guard and seemed even more aghast.

"Y-you…you were tied to the chair! How could you get out! What did you do to him?"

I quickly took out his phone and typed. "Shut it," I narrowed my eyes and dug the gun deeper on his flesh, "Where are Chu Jie and Cocoa kept?"

"What?"

I typed. "Idiot. The teenager and the dog. There must be another woman, too, who you kidnapped."

"I don\'t know."

I typed. "Tsk. So, you are not of any use to me. I will finish you right here then."

I pressed my finger on the trigger.

"No, No!" His eyes popped out, "Don\'t press the trigger!"

I typed. "If you don\'t have answers to my questions, then you serve no purpose. Better off dead."

"No, I have! T-they are on the fifth floor."

I typed. "That is the topmost floor?"

"Yes…They are kept in one room at the end of the corridor."

I typed. "How many guards are there?"

"T-two guarding that room, and two of them guarding the torture room."

I squinted my eyes.

Torture room. The name said for itself.

I typed. "All those men who hurt the people, are they here too? Right now?"

"Some of them...not all."

"What about the cameras?"

He gulped, and I pushed his head, pressing the gun.

"T-they are placed on all corridors for monitoring. There is one camera in each corridor that covers the place."

I nodded.

"I gave all your answers now! Now you will let me go, right?" He seemed afraid and hopeful at the same time.

I smiled and typed. "No."

And I knocked him out, hitting his head with the back of the gun\'s handle. He fell unconscious too.

As for the cameras on the corridor…

I couldn\'t get out of this room without being spotted by the shiny glass lenses.

I looked down at the guards and stared at them.

I chuckled.

Not if I am one of them.

I undressed the uniform from one of the guards and wore it on top of my dress. I pressed my chest to make it look flat.

Then it was all heavy work now to put them on the chair. I tied the guards on the chairs with the ropes used on me and some lying around in the classroom, seemingly as part of art and craft. That was enough for them. I also found some tape and covered their mouths with it.

This was all sorted out.

I took the gun and let out a deep breath.

Now, Xin Lei. Time to get our friends out of this hell.

---

***

Zhang Chao felt as if his soul flew out of his body as he realized who was in front of him in the driver\'s disguise.

"X-Xiulan…" he took a sharp gasp, "You…"

"Surprise, surprise!" Zhang Xiulan giggled, "How did you find the surprise visit from your daughter…\'Daddy~~~\'? Long time huh? Six years…"

He straightened up and started to sweat. "How are you here? What are you doing disguising as a driver!?"

Zhang Xiulan shook her head. "Come on, \'Dad.\' Is this how you greet your daughter who came back after six years?" She pouted.

"Shut up! You are not my daughter! A crazy woman like you is not my daughter!" He panicked and burst out in anger.

"Come on. What are you so afraid of? Only we two are here. At least, now you can admit it as to who is really crazy between my dear sister and I…" she chuckled, "Nobody is listening to us. Who is crazy, who did all the bullying, and who killed Mom?" Her voice turned cold.

Zhang Chao was startled by her intense and cold gaze. She looked so different to him than when she left for Scotland.

She looked stronger, fiercer, sharper, and colder. Her body that had turned so weak by the drugs and shock treatment looked so toned and fit now.

She wasn\'t a weakling Xiulan anymore who had to bear their torture in the past and only cry and scream that fell on deaf ears.

This was a completely different Zhang Xiulan that came back to finally have her revenge, and he felt it in his very bones.

It made him shudder, and he felt goosebumps crawl on his skin as he saw that her gaze held no feelings for him as a family.

Now, without his guards\' protection and stranded alone on this deserted place with his daughter who wanted him dead, he got scared out of his wits.

Zhang Chao took a deep breath and spoke, but his smile faltered. "Xiulan, I know that you are angry with Dad for making you go through all that, but i-it was for your own good, dear. I am your father. How can I want anything bad happen to you? The t-treatment and everything...you needed that to recover…it was all to make you better!"

Zhang Xiulan raised her brow and laughed. "But didn\'t my dear sister kill Mom? Then why was I treated? We are not twin sisters to get you confused~"

He gulped. "Xiulan..how can Ning kill her?"

"She was sleeping with her that night, and she hated her. I love Mom. You see the difference in feelings? But oops! What do you know anything about feelings?" She clicked her tongue, "You are not the man with whom people can talk about their feelings nor who understands them."