Gong Ning was forcibly awakened by a strong stinging sensation on her wrist. Before she could fully open her eyes, the smell of the vast, damp seawater quickly filled her nostrils, and the sound of the powerful, surging waves seemed to be right next to her.

He suddenly opened his eyes and found himself with his hands tied above his head, hanging on the edge of a cliff like a dried salted fish.

Suspended like this, her entire weight was concentrated on the thin rope binding her hands.

Her wrists were being squeezed so tightly that they hurt terribly, and the sharp pain made her tremble involuntarily all over.

In addition, it is located on the edge of a steep cliff, with a terrifying sight of waves crashing against the shore below. The surging waves hit the rock walls one after another, creating foam on the surface of the water.

It's no exaggeration to say that if she fell in, she would be instantly knocked unconscious by the powerful waves and slammed against the hard rock face...

To put it bluntly, it could even lead to death.

The strong, swift sea breeze filled my nostrils, making it even harder to breathe.

The sound of the waves was amplified several times over, and she couldn't even calmly think or sort out her emotions. Her mind was a mess, like a tangled mess of countless worries...

To be honest, it was the first time she had ever seen her mother smile so gently and naturally in the long flower corridor.

In front of her, her mother's smile always carried an unconscious hint of bitterness and guilt, but more so, a cautiousness born from years of estrangement.

Gong Ning blinked, then suddenly gave up her struggle to survive, resting her disheveled head softly between her outstretched arms, her eyes glistening with tears.

Even now, she doesn't know if her deep-seated hatred for the entire Gong family in her previous life was meaningful at all.

The hatred that lasted for more than ten years only made her more timid and evasive, alienated from her family, and ultimately led to her being plotted against and destroying the palace clan. It seems that nothing else happened.

She was like a debt collector who tormented the Gong family at all times.

What exactly are they hating?

Now, with the memories and experiences of three lifetimes, she still can't understand what she hates.

I don't even know if I still hate them now...

Gong Ning suddenly gave a low, bitter laugh. Her voice was very soft, but it instantly brought the person sitting on the edge of the cliff back from their wandering thoughts.

The man sat with his knees drawn up on a relatively flat rock, turning his head slightly to cast his somewhat wooden gaze onto the azure sea. From afar, the sea appeared calm, but up close, the powerful sound of the waves never ceased.

"You're awake?"

Gong Ning was taken aback. She tilted her head back and could vaguely see a few strands of hair fluttering in the sea breeze.

Although she couldn't see anyone, judging from the voice, Gong Ning lowered her eyes slightly, "Shouldn't you be in prison? Your vitality is so strong..."

Luo Shuang's eyes flickered slightly, and she curled her lips into a slight smile. "Luo Yangfan took the blame for all my crimes, and after just a few days, it felt like I had experienced a prison cell before... I was released without charge!"

"oh!"

Gong Ning gave a nonchalant reply and suddenly lowered her eyes.

She recalled the warm smile she had given to that stranger in the long flower corridor.

Luo Shuang didn't seem to expect her to answer anything, and spoke up on her own, "But I find it hilarious, even ironic, that it almost makes me stop breathing! Because... from the age of seven, I hated Shen Yuchen for seventeen years, but now I suddenly realize how ignorant and ironic that hatred was!"

Gong Ning's curled eyelashes trembled suddenly, but she didn't say anything.

"I always thought I was just a tool for Luo Yangfan in his business dealings, so I tried my best to become excellent and have value to him, so that my father wouldn't give up on me. But now I realize that he never intended to... give up on me!"

Luo Shuang chuckled to herself, "Don't you think what I'm saying is nonsensical? But how could someone with a story not understand these feelings?"

Luo Shuang's last few words made Gong Ning instantly relax her breathing, and she even gradually ignored the stinging pain in her wrist.

After a few breaths, a few drops of red appeared in her clear black and white eyes, and she spoke softly, "Why do I hate?"

Luo Shuang seemed to have lost all her pain points; no matter what words she heard, they were like a calm, cold pool, unable to stir up even a ripple.

“My mother died in childbirth... and my father never remarried, raising me alone. When I was six, I contracted a strange illness. It seemed to have no symptoms, but in reality, as time went by, all the functions in my body would gradually fail. After a year of treatment, there was no improvement whatsoever…”

Luo Shuang chuckled softly, "Even so, I think that was the happiest time of my life, because half a month later, a beautiful aunt with excellent medical skills cured my illness, and then moved into my house with her one-year-old daughter, becoming my stepmother!"

Later… the affection that my father once doted on me gradually shifted to Shen Yuchen. She stole my father's love like a robber. Thankfully, this didn't last long; Shen Yuchen quickly became as disliked as a stray dog. Because a few years later, Shen Yuchen's mother died, and the murderer was me, it was me…”

Luo Shuang's brows furrowed, and a crimson glint appeared in her eyes.

Gradually, all that remained in their ears was the sound of the sea breeze and waves, a mixture of their breaths.

Luo Shuang's voice trembled slightly as she spoke again, "But when Dad took the blame for all the crimes for me, when I saw the flawless fabricated evidence he presented to the police... it turns out... he knew everything I had done all these years. He was protecting me in a way that could almost be called spoiling me, just to make up for the debt he owed me for the promise he made with my stepmother!"

"But... Shen Rongzhi has no marital relationship with my father at all. She just saved my life in exchange for a promise, a promise that Shen Yuchen could have a father figure in her life, and a promise that I could have a temporary mother in my world. She just wanted to leave some complete childhood memories for me and Shen Yuchen!"

That promise, in essence, was just to save my life, nothing more than to save my life. Shen Rongzhi painstakingly pulled me back from the brink of death, but I gradually succumbed to my own descent into hell.

I've hated it like a joke for so many years, only to realize in the end that I've thought of everything in such a dirty way!

Gong Ning seemed to freeze for a moment, "But now that everything has been discovered and everything has been realized, it's too late!"

Luo Shuang glanced down at the thin rope binding Gong Ning, leaving marks on the moss-covered rock, then suddenly turned her gaze to the exceptionally clear sky. "So what if it's late? Are you going to torture yourself with endless guilt? Gong Ning, from the first moment I saw you, I saw a story in your eyes, until Zhou Zijing gave me your file..."

"...Being thrown off a plane must feel awful, right?"

Gong Ning's face stiffened, and her blood seemed to freeze.