Back to the Beginning
1233 Words
She summoned all her strength to push him away and dashed toward the gates of the manor, only to find she was too late—the heavy iron doors had already been shut by the servants. Burning with rage, she didn’t hesitate. She veered off toward the narrow path beside the villa, heading straight for the back entrance.
“Ruoruo, come back! There’s a cliff behind!”
His footsteps followed swiftly, the usually calm timbre of his voice laced with panic.
But fury had blinded her reason. She didn’t care. She wanted nothing more than to escape this domineering man, to flee the prison-like mansion. She flung open the rear gate and ran.
Without warning, a biting wind swept against her. Before her loomed the edge of a sheer cliff. Under the dimming light of dusk, the abyss below appeared even more chilling, like an endless void ready to swallow everything.
Her slender figure swayed precariously in the wind as she stood at the cliff’s edge. Just then, he caught up and pulled her back with a sudden force, wrapping her tightly in his arms. His low, magnetic voice trembled as he murmured into her ear, pleading,
“Ruoruo, don’t hide from me… don’t leave me, please.”
That almost desperate tone—it stirred something deep within her. It was familiar. As if from yesterday…
Suddenly, a sharp jolt surged through her chest. A strange stillness took hold of her. Images flashed before her eyes like fragments of a forgotten dream. She squinted, shielding herself from the gusts that swept in from the cliff, as if something long buried had been awakened.
She remembered.
The last time she’d fallen, it had been from this very cliff. That same sense of teetering on the edge. A chill crept up her spine, her skin prickled, and an eerie coldness crawled up her back like a slow-moving insect.
Memories flooded her mind like a flickering reel—
She remembered everything.
She remembered how she had lost her memory.
She remembered the man holding her now, and how merciless he had once been.
He had watched her, indifferent, as she was engulfed in a plagiarism scandal, her name dragged through the mud, her career in jewelry design ruined beyond repair.
He had witnessed her draft that groundbreaking design that once shocked the entire industry. He had known she was framed. And yet, he had refused to lift a finger, unwilling to risk his imminent ascent to power.
“Let go!”
She tore his hand away from her waist and spun around. Her eyes, sharp as blades, pierced through him.
“You have no right to touch me.”
As her arm slipped from his strong grasp, his lips pressed into a thin line. His once-clear gaze darkened like the depths of the sea. He understood in that moment—
Three months of effort had all been in vain.
Everything had returned to where it began.
—One year earlier—
During her lunch break, Wen Ruoxian was hunched over her desk, sketching a rough design that had just taken shape in her mind when the sharp clatter of high heels against the floor startled her.
Shu Jinglan burst into the office like a rocket, flushed and breathless, before collapsing into a chair.
“Oh my God! I’m going to faint—I swear I’m going to faint!”
Amused by her dramatic entrance, Wen Ruoxian set down her pencil and teased lightly,
“What is it this time, Jinglan? Found some money on the street? Or did you bump into a heartthrob while having lunch?”
“Bingo!”
Shu Jinglan snapped her fingers and jumped up, eyes sparkling.
“You won’t believe it—I ran into my Mr. Right in the elevator after lunch. Perfect face, perfect vibe, totally my type! Young, successful, and definitely a big boss.”
So that was it. Wen Ruoxian chuckled, picked up her pencil again, and glanced at the time on her computer screen before returning to her drawing.
“Did you two talk? What’s his name? Which company does he work for in this building?”
“I forgot.”
Shu Jinglan bit her vividly red lips, eyes wide with embarrassment.
“I was too focused on admiring the whole package. The elevator reached our floor before I could even say hi.”
“You’re kidding me, right? You’ve been swooning this whole time and didn’t even get his name?”
Wen Ruoxian didn’t look up, her pencil dancing steadily over the paper as she refined the lines of her design.
Jinglan was a well-known beauty in the design department—gorgeous and confident. Ever since Wen Ruoxian had met her, she had declared she’d marry rich and live a life of luxury. So her dramatic declarations never surprised Ruoxian anymore.
“It’s okay. I did sneak a look at the floor button he pressed—52nd.”
Shu Jinglan wracked her brain for any clues she might have picked up.
“Fifty-second floor?”
Wen Ruoxian paused, mentally scanning the layout of the building.
“If I remember correctly… that should be Winnie Jewelry.”
“Seriously? We're in the same industry!”
Jinglan’s eyes lit up with excitement, already imagining a whirlwind romance.
“It must be fate! I bet we’ll run into each other again—falling in love with an executive from Winnie Jewelry… just imagine how romantic that would be. I’ll make those snobby designers in our department eat their words!”
Wen Ruoxian could only shake her head with a sigh.
Winnie Jewelry was a titan in the industry. Every time they released a collection, it was eagerly snatched up by the elite.
In contrast, their own company was a mid-sized firm focused on silver designs. Though their collections were well-received, they were barely known outside a niche circle. Compared to Winnie, the difference was night and day.
As the break neared its end, colleagues began trickling back into the office. Wen Ruoxian glanced at the time again.
“Snap out of it. Five minutes left. How’s that batch of blueprints Ms. Ye asked for? She said there’s a meeting in an hour.”
Her words jolted Shu Jinglan to life. She lunged for the towering stack of drafts on her desk.
“Oh no! I’m only halfway through sorting them, and I still need to print and bind everything. I’m doomed!”
She was always like this. Wen Ruoxian shook her head with a smile and quickly tucked her half-finished sketch into the drawer, lest their supervisor, Miss Li, catch her and throw her a scornful look.
She and Jinglan were both assistant designers at Hantia Silverworks. Their position didn’t allow them to participate in the main design projects each quarter. Most of their work involved support tasks assigned by the senior designers.
She had worked at Hantia for a full year. Even before joining the company, she had been interested in accessory design. That interest had only grown over time.
So when she had a quiet moment, she liked to sketch her ideas during lunch. Once, Miss Li happened to spot one of her drawings. Though she said nothing, the disdain in her eyes spoke volumes.
People like them—untrained, uncredentialed—would never design anything worthy of admiration, let alone something fit for the grand stage.
- Writer
