**TEN YEARS LATER**
The sound of glass breaking echoed in the room, followed by the furious voice of a girl.
"Why? Why does she have to appear now?"
Shen Wanwan stood in the middle of her room, chest heaving, face flushed with anger. Her beautiful face was twisted badly, completely different from the soft and gentle image she usually showed. Her hand reached for the small crystal lamp on her dresser and smashed it against the floor. The bedroom that normally looked elegant and beautiful was a complete mess right now.
The maids in the room instantly lowered their heads. None of them dared to speak. They stepped back toward the walls, trying their best to become invisible, afraid they would accidentally become the next thing she threw.
Even though their young miss was a rare beauty and was known among the socialites for being elegant, sweet, and kind-hearted, those who had lived under the same roof as her knew very clearly what kind of person she truly was.
Shen Wanwan was proud, selfish, and extremely controlling. She could never tolerate anything going against her.
She lifted her head and looked straight at her personal maid. Her eyes had that wild, almost crazed look that made the other maids shiver.
"Tell me. Where is that bitch right now?"
Xiao Cao had grown up alongside Shen Wanwan. She wasn't as scared as the others. Among all the servants in the Shen family, she was the one Shen Wanwan trusted the most.
Xiao Cao lowered her voice and said, "According to the news article, Shen Yelan has been living in an orphanage located in a small village. Master already sent people to bring her back. They should arrive tomorrow."
"An orphanage?" Shen Wanwan blinked.
Earlier, she had only heard someone mention that Shen Yelan was still alive. The moment she heard the name, anger exploded in her head and she completely lost control. She had not even bothered asking about Shen Yelan's current situation.
Now, hearing Xiao Cao's explanation, the rage on her face slowly eased a little.
"Show me that article." She told Xiao Cao, who immediately handed her the tablet.
The website it was published on was from one of the biggest news websites in the country.
The Girl in the Wheelchair: The Missing Eldest Daughter of the Shen Family Found After a Decade
Below the headline was a picture of a girl sitting in a wheelchair in an old courtyard. The photo had been taken from pretty far away, so her face wasn't clear. You could only see a blurry side profile.
Shen Wanwan read the article.
According to the story, Shen Yelan had been kidnapped when she was seven years old. She had been missing for ten whole years. She had been living in this orphanage in a remote village for most of that time. The only reason the Shen family never found her was because the small village was isolated with limited communication and transportation. Plus, Shen Yelan herself had lost her memory. She didn't remember anything about her family or where she came from. The only thing she still knew was her own name.
The article later talked about her life in the orphanage. Because she couldn't walk and her health wasn't good, she barely finished primary school before she had to drop out. Now she spent most of her days just sitting in that old courtyard. The article included a quote from one of the orphanage workers, something about her being a quiet girl, not much trouble, keeps to herself mostly.
Shen Wanwan read the part about the wheelchair and her declining health again. Then she burst out laughing.
The maids around stared at her as if she had lost her mind. One moment, she was trashing her room in anger, and the next, she was laughing.
"A trash…a crippled waste…" she muttered to herself, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
Then she set the tablet down, took a deep breath, and straightened her dress. The crazy look in her eyes had faded and was replaced with her usual sweet innocent look.
"Go. Make preparations to welcome the eldest young miss."
.
.
Far away, in an orphanage located in a small village in the middle of nowhere.
The afternoon sun hung lazily in the sky, casting soft golden light over the old courtyard. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of a large tree in the old courtyard. A bunch of children were running around the tree, chasing each other. Three little boys were huddled at a corner, playing with the ants. The smallest boy poked one with a stick and yelped when it crawled onto his finger.
"Don't squish it!"
"I'm not squishing it!" the little boy said, shaking his hand frantically.
Two little girls sat on the ground nearby, braiding each other's hair. Another girl was trying to draw them in her sketchbook. A few other kids were scattered around the courtyard doing their own things.
And right in the middle of it all, under the shade of that old tree, sat a young girl in a wheelchair.
She wore a simple cotton dress. The dress hung loosely on her frame, revealing thin arms as pale as milk. One hand propped up her chin, fingers curled lazily against her cheek. The other was holding a book in her hand. The book was old, and the cover was faded, so no one could tell what she was reading.
Her face was breathtakingly beautiful with high cheekbones, a perfect nose, and a sharp jaw that came together to give her face an almost heart-like shape. Her red lips lips were naturally curved at the corners, reveling a hint of set of dimples. Long black hair spilled over her shoulder, half-pinned back with a plain wooden hairpin. A single lock had escaped, dancing across her cheek with each breath of wind. Her bewitching fox-like eyes were slightly lowered, the gray irises catching the dappled sunlight filtering through the branches above, making them glow like frost.
The scene was serene, like a brushstroke from an ancient painting. No one would ever imagine that this same girl had once crawled out of a dark alley covered in blood and bruises.
Not far away, an older woman quietly watched her.
Grandma Wen was the director of this small orphanage. Her mother had been the director before her, so Grandma Wen had grown up in this very place. Later, she left this village and went to the big city for her studies. She only returned when her mother's health had deteriorated and took over her position to take care of this place. In her life, she never married. Instead, she poured all her love into this orphanage and treated every child here as her own. She sometimes even joked that Shen Yelan was her eldest daughter.
She was looking at Shen Yelan with a distant look in her eyes, as though she were remembering something from many years ago.
Shen Yelan noticed her gaze and looked up. "What are you thinking about, Grandma Wen?"
Grandma Wen blinked before smiling helplessly.
"Just thinking about how fast time flies by," she said and sat down on the rattan chair next to Shen Yelan. "It feels like last week that you showed up here. Now you're leaving."
Shen Yelan closed the book and set it in her lap.
She let her gaze drift out across the courtyard. She was thinking about the sequence of events that had led to this moment. After returning to this country, she had chosen this place on purpose. This small orphanage was located in a remote village. No one could find her unless she let them find her. It gave her enough time to heal and prepare herself properly before returning to South City.
Now, it was time for her to return. Why else would her identity be suddenly exposed by a news article?
The thought of going to the Shen family caused a small smile to appear on her lips.
Grandma Wen thought she was smiling because she was excited to finally go home.
"I heard your family is pretty well-known in South City," Grandma Wen said, reaching over to take Shen Yelan's hand.
"Once you go back, everyone's going to be watching you. Some of them might even look down on you because of your legs, or because you grew up here. Don't let those people get to you, you hear me?" She squeezed Shen Yelan's hand. "And if anyone tries to make things hard for you, you tell your parents right away. I'm sure they'll stand up for you."
'Stand up for me?' Shen Yelan mentally sneered at the thought of that couple taking a stand for her. She'd be lucky if they didn't torment her themselves. But she didn't let any of that show on her face. Instead, she tilted her head and gave Grandma Wen a smile, reveling a deep set of dimples.
"Don't worry, Grandma. Do you really think I would let anyone mess with me? Have you forgotten what kind of person I am?" Shen Yelan raised an eyebrow.
Grandpa Wen paused.
How can she forget? She still remembered that one time some boys from the village cornered her because she was a cripple sitting in a wheelchair. Later that afternoon, those same boys showed up at the orphanage with their parents. They were covered in bruises. One had even lost a tooth. After that day, nobody messed with her again.
Grandma Wen chuckled, shaking her head at the memory. She herself had been a bit of a rebellious child back in the day. So instead of scolding Shen Yelan for beating up those boys, she had applauded her. In this world, the only way to protect yourself was to be strong. Shen Yelan was already stuck in a wheelchair. Her health wasn't good either. If she had let those boys bully her even once, they would have just kept coming back again and again.
"Alright, alright. I'll spare you the lecture. You're a smart girl. You know how to take care of yourself." She pushed herself up from the rattan chair. She looked at Shen Yelan for a moment, the humor in her gaze was now replaced with something complicated.
Even though Shen Yelan had lived with her for almost a decade, she still did not know everything about her. There were times when she would leave the orphanage. Sometimes, she would be gone for weeks, sometimes for months. The longest she had left for was eight months last year. She did not know where Shen Yelan went or what she did, but she knew that Shen Yelan was not just a crippled girl sitting in a wheelchair. But even knowing this, she could not calm the worry in her heart.
"I'm going to start on dinner."
Shen Yelan watched her go, her smile fading slowly.
Then she picked up her book and continued reading from where she had left.