C4 Rebirth

Dark, heavy clouds hung low, like a massive black blanket draped over the city. Though it was daytime, the sky was as gloomy as night. Thunder roared, and rain poured relentlessly. The streets were deserted, making the city feel like a ghost town. Yet, on the highway leading to the docks, a black Maybach was driving against traffic.

The windshield wipers struggled to keep up, but the rain kept splashing down, layer after layer, reducing visibility to almost nothing. The young driver didn't see the white BMW approaching until it was nearly too late.

"Screech—" The tires screeched loudly against the pavement, followed by the terrifying sound of metal crashing into metal. "Bang, bang," the Maybach flipped several times before landing upside down. The front of the white BMW was completely wrecked. After the violent collision, both cars lay still.

For a long moment, there was silence—then the rain stopped.

"Cough, cough."

A fit of coughing came from the back seat of the white BMW, waking a young girl overwhelmed by the strong smell of gasoline. Her eyes, which had been tightly shut, slowly opened. Beneath her long, curled lashes were eyes as dark as the blackest night, cold and devoid of any warmth or life. Such a gaze was chilling.

She couldn't believe it... she was alive? After being pushed down the stairs, suffering from postpartum hemorrhage, and having her life support removed, how could she have survived? The doctor had said only one could live. Would those heartless people really let her live?

Her heart should have been numb from pain long ago, yet it still felt like it was being cut to pieces, then pieced back together only to be torn apart again.

...

"Miss, you need to leave!"

"Get out of here!"

"Hurry, miss!"

An urgent, familiar voice broke through the fog in Ye Zhenzhen's mind. She looked around, bewildered, and realized she was inside a car. Lying in the backseat, her body ached all over. The voice came from the driver's seat.

Where was she? How did she end up here?

Ye Zhenzhen sat up, her face a mask of confusion. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the middle-aged man, his face bloodied, trapped between the airbags. "Mr. Hsu?!" she exclaimed.

This was the man who had watched her grow up, the one who had driven her to and from school since kindergarten. But hadn’t he died ten years ago, on the way to Azure Vine Academy, in the accident that had nearly changed her life forever?

How was she reliving this moment?

"Miss, get out of here! The gas tank is leaking. The car's going to explode!" Mr. Hsu shouted, his voice strained as he struggled against the airbags.

There was no time to ponder the situation. The smell of gasoline, the shattered windshield, the mangled car door—everything was dangerously real.

Mr. Hsu was right. The car would explode.

Ten years ago, she had obeyed and run from the car, believing Mr. Hsu would follow. But the car, with its ruptured gas tank, had exploded with a deafening roar.

Mr. Hsu had never made it out. She had lost hearing in her left ear and had to wear a hearing aid ever since. The trauma had forced her to take a year off school, and she had slowly recovered, becoming more withdrawn and self-conscious.

Sometimes, Su Tiantian seemed more like the true heiress of the Ye family. After changing her name to Ye Tiantian, no one doubted her status as a socialite.

Though she didn’t understand what was happening now, Ye Zhenzhen refused to make the same choice as before. She looked at Mr. Hsu with determination. "No, we leave together!"

Even if this is just a dream, she won't let things slip by like she did ten years ago. If they have to leave, they'll leave together!

"My hand's numb, I can't move it. I can't get out!" Mr. Hsu's voice was weak, as if he'd exhausted all his strength. Blood streamed relentlessly down from his head, a sight that was truly alarming.

"Who says we can't get out?" Ye Zhenzhen flung open the back door and rushed out, heading to the driver's side. But the front of the car was completely wrecked, and the front door was so badly deformed that it wouldn't budge!

"Miss, those women from the Su family are no good. You must stay away from them!" Mr. Hsu, his face covered in blood, looked at Ye Zhenzhen outside the door, hoping she could help him open it. He shouted his warning like a final testament, his eyes filled with concern.

"If we're going, we go together. Otherwise, we stay together!" Ye Zhenzhen said with fierce determination, feeling as if a part of her heart had been ripped away.

Mr. Hsu had no family, yet he always cared for her with kindness. He was a man of few words, so when he spoke, it was always sincere. But in the past, she hadn't heeded his warnings.

After everything that happened, she now understood the depth of Mr. Hsu's concerns. Starting with Mr. Hsu, then Mrs. Qiao, and her father, they all left her one after another. Now, given a second chance, she would never let history repeat itself.