"I do."
Zi Xi's eyes glistened with tears of happiness, her voice gentle yet firm.
"Now, please have the newlyweds exchange rings."
Gu Yanqing took the unique diamond ring from Uncle Chen and carefully and solemnly slipped it onto the ring finger of Zi Xi's left hand.
Zi Xi smiled and put the same men's ring on his finger.
"Now, the groom may kiss his bride."
Gu Yanqing paused slightly, and then, amidst everyone's blessing gazes, he leaned down and gently placed a kiss on Zi Xi's lips.
The Western-style wedding banquet in the evening was more like a grand party, warm and romantic.
Gu Yanqing and Zi Xi danced their first dance. Although his steps were a little awkward, he coordinated well with Zi Xi's guidance.
Cutting the cake, tossing the bouquet—every step was filled with laughter and joy.
The Gu family and all the guests were immersed in this hard-won happiness and joy.
*
Just as Gu Yanqing and Zi Xi's wedding was being widely reported by major media outlets, using sensational headlines like "A real-life fairy tale of a prince and Cinderella,"...
On the other side of the city, in the activity room of the women's prison, Yang Ruxuan and a group of fellow inmates were watching a grand wedding broadcast on television.
On the screen, Zi Xi wore a phoenix coronet and wedding gown, her smile as beautiful as a flower, while Gu Yanqing, dressed in red with ink-black hair, was incomparably handsome.
The scene shifts again, and once more, she is draped in white gauze, her vows eternal.
The two shared a passionate kiss amidst the blessings of the crowd.
Yang Ruxuan stared intently at the screen, her fingernails digging deep into her palms, leaving crescent-shaped blood marks.
Her face was expressionless, devoid of any emotion, only an extreme stillness.
She seemed oblivious to the envious or mocking remarks of her fellow inmates around her.
Yang Ruxuan saw the smile on Gu Yanqing's face, a smile she had never shown to her before.
Back in the cold, damp cell, all the other inmates were already asleep.
Yang Ruxuan stared blankly at the small patch of darkness outside the iron window.
The images of the daytime wedding kept replaying in her mind.
She curled up on the cold bed, her body trembling slightly, uttering almost muffled whispers, broken and frantic:
"It's mine...it should have been mine..."
"If I had another chance...if I could be reborn..."
"I definitely won't be that stupid! I won't let anyone else have this opportunity..."
"I must live a wealthy life."
"Gu Yanqing, I want to hold on to him tightly, hold on to him forever."
"I won't make the same mistake again... I will absolutely not repeat it..."
"They're mine, they should all be mine..."
Her voice grew softer and softer, her gaze more and more unfocused, and a terrible thought took shape in her mind.
In the dead of night, when supervision is lax.
Using a piece of plastic that she had secretly hidden, Yang Ruxuan resolutely cut her wrist.
Blood gushed out, staining her prison uniform and the sheets, bringing a sharp pain, but a strange smile appeared on her face.
"Rebirth, it will let me be reborn... If I'm reborn again, I must enter... the Gu family..."
In the moment before her consciousness completely faded, her last thought was still that deep-seated obsession.
However, this time, there will be no next time.
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