CHAPTER 124: CHAPTER 124; SCANDALS (A)

"Drive," she said, her voice flat and distant. "Just drive."

He obeyed without another word, pulling away from the curb as protesters surged against the police barriers, their signs and shouting faces blurring past the tinted windows like ghosts.

For a long moment, Shuyin just sat there, breathing.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Each breath was a little steadier than the last.

Then, like a dam breaking inside her chest, the first laugh broke free.

Soft at first.

Then louder.

Genuine.

It bubbled up from somewhere deep inside, not the broken laugh of someone unraveling, but the pure, delighted laugh of someone who’d just pulled off the impossible.

Her hand flew to her mouth, but the sound escaped anyway, a bright, incredulous laugh that transformed her entire face.

Then another came, sharper this time, almost giddy. Her shoulders shook with the force of it.

And then another.

Finally, she threw her head back against the seat, laughing freely now, the sound filling the car with something pure, unfiltered joy.

Not hysteria.

Not a breakdown.

Victory.

Absolute, devastating, glorious victory.

"Oh my goodness," she gasped between laughs, wiping at her eyes where tears of mirth had started to gather. "Oh my goodness, I actually did it. I actually did it!"

This was her first time standing in front of the cameras, and then, yes, she had planned to have a commotion but hadn’t thought it would be like this! This was huge, this was a fanfare.....

Her hands were trembling, but not with fear or shock. With excitement. With the kind of adrenaline that came from winning a game she’d been playing perfectly from the very beginning.

She fumbled for her phone in her clutch, nearly dropping it in her eagerness, and pulled it out with shaking fingers.

Bank app first.

She opened it, held her breath, and hit refresh.

The number that appeared made her laugh again, loud and delighted.

¥1,000,000,000

Transaction completed. Funds cleared and available.

One billion yuan.

Cleared. Confirmed. Irreversible.

In her account. Under her name. Hers.

"Yes!" She actually pumped her fist in the air like a child who’d just won a game. "Yes, yes, YES!"

Ting Fei’s eyes widened in the rearview mirror, clearly startled by the sudden shift from composed to exuberant, but Shuyin didn’t care.

She was done pretending to be the fragile human woman who’d loved Lu Zeyan.

Done playing the role of the wronged fiancé seeking justice and closure.

Because that woman, the real Lin Shuyin who’d died in that prison, whose body now housed a soul that had nothing to do with human emotions or human attachments, she’d gotten her first revenge.

And Kailani the mermaid who’d taken her place, who’d walked on painful human legs and played human games and worn human masks for just hours, was finally, finally earning something.

"Humans are so stupid," she murmured to herself, scrolling through her banking app with a grin that would have looked manic on anyone else. "So ridiculously, predictably stupid."

She navigated to her email next, pulling up the property transfer documents with the kind of glee usually reserved for opening birthday presents.

Property Transfer.....

APPROVED

New Owner: Lin Shuyin

Property: Villa #8, Jade Gardens Estate

"A villa!" She actually giggled, the sound bright and carefree. "A billion yuan AND a villa! Oh, departed Shuyin, I hope wherever you are, you’re watching this and laughing too."

Because that’s what this had always been about, hadn’t it? Not love. Not heartbreak. Not the complicated mess of human relationships that humans seemed to drown themselves in.

Revenge.

Pure, simple, beautiful revenge for a woman who’d died knowing the man she loved had betrayed her. Who’d gone to her watery grave thinking she’d wasted the best years of her life on someone who’d discarded her like trash.

And now that revenge was just in the first stage.

Lu Zeyan had signed over a fortune. Had transferred property. Had stood on that stage and humiliated himself in front of the entire country. Had watched his carefully constructed redemption arc crumble in real-time.

And Shuyin, the mermaid wearing a dead woman’s face, got to walk away with everything.

"What even is love?" she asked the empty car, still grinning as she pulled up the leaked video that was already going viral. "Humans talk about it like it’s the most precious thing. A treasure that’s worth sacrificing everything for. But look what it gets you."

She watched the video play, Lu Zeyan and Lin Yueling in that hospital corridor, smiling at each other like conspirators.

"Prison. Betrayal. Heartbreak. Wasted years." She shook her head, still smiling. "You gave this man your best years. Your youth... Your trust. Your whole heart. And what did you get? Framed for a crime you didn’t commit. Locked in a cage. You are really a fool."

The car was moving slowly from the parking lot, carrying her away from the chaos.

"But me?" Shuyin looked down at her phone, at the billion yuan sitting in her account, at the property deed with her name on it. "I gave him nothing. Just a performance. Just a role I played for a few hours. And I get everything."

She pulled up the leaked clip again, watching it with the detached amusement of someone watching a play they’d already seen the ending to.

"The timing was perfect," she murmured, though her tone was light, playful. "Whoever leaked this, thank you. You made my exit so much cleaner than it would have been otherwise."

She’d been prepared to do it herself, of course. Had the evidence ready. Had the contacts lined up. But having someone else detonate the bomb meant her hands stayed clean, her image stayed sympathetic, and her victim status stayed intact.

Perfect.

"Oh, Zeyan," she said to his image on the screen, her voice full of mock affection. "You really should have been more careful about who you made enemies with. But I suppose that’s the problem with powerful men, you all think you’re untouchable. That your money and influence can control any narrative."