Fan Xiao Yao didn''t want to disturb the kids that was why she pressed on the volume button to silence the ringtone. After she did so, she checked on the caller ID and found out that it was a call from an unknown number and yet, it was a number she recognized.

    She left the living room in a hurry and went inside her room, locking it in the process. She answered the call soon after, pressing the phone against her ear.

    "You shouldn''t be calling me right now." She scolded in a whispering tone. "Mello''s here. What if he caught us?"

    "Ah... I''m sorry for troubling you, Xiao Yao. I just want to check on my sons." A woman''s smooth and calm voice was heard from the other line.

    "We can''t have a video call right now. What if Mello suddenly comes out of nowhere?" Before the woman on the other line could say something, Fan Xiao Yao continued, "You know what? I love that idea. I hope he catches us so that he''ll stop worrying about you. If you want to have time for yourself then at least let him know about it. Don''t stress him out this way, Xiao Xi."

    The person Fan Xiao Yao was talking with, Shi Enxi, became quiet at her words.

    "I should tell him right now that you''re alive and is in Thailand!" She was mad. She was already on the verge of telling the truth to Lu Mello. The guilt sat not on her c.h.e.s.t but inside her brain and this gave her sleepless for nights.

    "Xiao Yao..."

    "This is too much, Xiao Xi, even for me. I tried to keep quiet for months but this is torturing me too especially when I saw how Mello is. This is just too much! I can''t do this anymore!" She yelled out of frustration. "Mello is also my friend and seeing him being in pain because of you hurts me too. You''re being selfish like this, Xiao Xi." Fan Xiao Yao lectured. "You know what? What you''re doing right now is only making me hate you."

    ...

    Five months ago...

    (Recap)

    Shi Enxi entered the room and there she saw Shi Anhao, sleeping soundly on her bed.

    At that moment, Shi Enxi was filled with deep rage. The need for revenge was like a rat gnawing at her soul, relentless, unceasing, it could only be stopped by the cold steel of a rat trap, a trap she would devise herself. Her need for revenge was like an abscess on the skin of the soul that could only be cured by the cruel sharp steel point of revenge. Festering like a septic wound, and the only effective antibiotic is cold hard revenge. Savage. Spiteful.

    As she slowly and quietly approached the sleeping woman who caused her nightmares, the woman who was filled with pure evil, she balled her fists tight for a second before she took the knife out and raised it in the air, ready to stab the woman in bed.

    As her grip around the handle tightened, for some reason, her hand began shaking. It was trembling by itself as if it had a mind of its own.

    Shi Enxi, what are you doing? Stab her already! She scolded herself.

    But no matter how much force she put, the knife remained raised in the air, trembling. Her eyes began dripping tears for no known reason.

    Get done with it already!

    Shi Anhao was the woman who ruined her life, who destroyed it. She hated the woman to the core so... Why was she hesitating now? This was the moment that she has always been waiting for! She has been always dreaming of this day! This should be one of the greatest moments in her life but... Why was her body trembling? Why was she crying?

    She felt her c.h.e.s.t tighten, suffocating her as she remembered all the bad things Shi Anhao did. She hated her so much. She wanted her dead but... Her body just won''t listen to her.

    It was her tears that kept her soul alive in the furnace of this pain. It was what saved her from becoming a monster, a person indifferent to suffering and sorrow.

    In this life, she hasn''t killed anyone yet. Not her brother, not Huang Li, or not even the enemies that came after her and that was all because of Lu Mello who changed her mind and heart. In this life, she never took a life.

    The sound of a metal clang was heard in the quiet room. She finally released the knife which hit the ground and despite that sound, Shi Anhao remained sleeping.

    Shi Enxi came into realization and that was... She couldn''t kill the evil woman despite the hate inside her. She couldn''t bring herself to kill her.

    She looked at her trembling hands, the same hands that carried her son earlier. Was it because of him?

    When she thought about carrying him again, hugging him again, she couldn''t bring herself to do it with dirty hands. Just imagining it was a torture to her. If she held this revenge in one hand and her son on the other, she would rather choose him. Killing Shi Anhao wasn''t going to be a nightmare for her, it was the thought of having her hands dirty, covered with blood.

    No matter how much she hated Shi Anhao, she was not a killer. No, she was not going to allow Shi Anhao to turn her into a killer. She was not going to allow her to influence her decisions and life.

    For her son, for the family she has, for the friends she gained, Shi Enxi was not going to allow Shi Anhao to take over her mind anymore. She was not going to allow anyone to control her mind, her decisions, and even her heart... She was going to free her from the shackles that chained her down. She was not going to allow anyone to tie her down, including her husband, Lu Mello.