"Revoke the original judgment and acquit the defendant."
"Song Qingyi, you are free."
"This is your certificate of acquittal. If you need psychological counseling or legal aid, our staff can provide the relevant information."
"Thank you."
Song Qingyi bowed to the judge and left the courtroom accompanied by a bailiff.
The courtroom doors slowly opened.
The heavy snow that had fallen continuously in City C for a month had finally stopped, and the dazzling sunlight shone on Song Qingyi's emaciated, sallow face, dazing her for a moment.
Finally out—
Three years ago, the Song family, an energy conglomerate in City C, found Song Qingyi at an orphanage.
With a single paternity test result, Song Qingyi transformed overnight from an orphan into a wealthy heiress.
Yet only three months after returning to the Song family, she was framed by her stepmother's daughter, Song Yueyue, at the wedding of her half-brother, Song Julan.
She was framed as the murderer of her sister-in-law, Xie Wan.
At that time, Song Qingyi had just turned eighteen and was a month away from the college entrance exams, but no matter how she explained, her brother and father refused to believe her.
Even her boyfriend, Xia Beiji, knowing full well that she had been framed by Song Yueyue, gave false testimony to cement her guilt.
And now, though she had no idea why Song Julan had ordered a retrial to fish her out.
At least at this moment, she was free.
"Song Qingyi."
A black Porsche stopped in front of her, and a man in a custom-tailored suit stepped out and stood before Song Qingyi.
Looking at the stern and profound man before her, Song Qingyi's heart sank uncontrollably, her chest feeling as though something was blocking it, making it hard to breathe.
It was Song Julan.
Three years ago, it was he who brought her from the orphanage back to the Song family.
Back then, Song Qingyi deeply admired Song Julan.
He was accomplished at a young age, becoming the head of the Song family at just twenty-seven.
Yet this brother she admired had, when Xie Wan met with disaster, simply taken Song Yueyue's word for it and judged her the killer.
The memory of the time Song Julan grabbed her hair and forced her to kneel before Xie Wan's corpse was still vivid in her mind.
Bitterness surged from the bottom of her heart; Song Qingyi lowered her gaze and bowed her head, trying to dodge him.
"Did you not hear me calling you?"
Song Julan grabbed Song Qingyi's wrist and jerked her hard.
Song Qingyi's foot hit the snow, and, losing her balance, she fell heavily to the ground.
She instinctively tried to prop herself up with her hands, but she overestimated her physical state; the bone in her pinky finger snapped, and a dense, piercing pain radiated through it.
Song Qingyi's face turned pale. Forced by the pain, involuntary tears slipped from her eyes before she could even make a sound.
"Faking it again? It was just a fall. Compared to when you pushed Wanwan down the stairs back then, what is a little pain like this?" Displeased, Song Julan shook off her hand and ruthlessly stepped on Song Qingyi's already fractured finger.
"Hiss..."
The pain forced Song Qingyi to gasp sharply.
She couldn't hear what Song Julan was saying at all.
During her three years in prison, because she was the youngest, Song Qingyi was frequently bullied by her cellmates.
Her ears had been permanently damaged from beatings in prison; her eardrums were ruptured, and her hearing was impaired.
Seeing that she still said nothing, a nameless fire surged from the bottom of Song Julan's heart.
Song Julan reached out, grabbed the collar of Song Qingyi's shirt, and jerked her backward with force, choking her neck.
She was forced to lift her head and meet Song Julan's gaze.
"Song Qingyi, how much longer are you going to play the weak victim?" Looking into those blank, lifeless, gray eyes, Song Julan froze for a fraction of a second.
Perhaps three years ago, those eyes had still been bright and sparkling.
Back then, Song Qingyi had just been brought back from the orphanage by him.
The young girl had been timid and shy, finding everything in the Song family mansion full of wonder on her first day there.She would blink her large eyes and peek at him, hastily shifting her gaze whenever he looked her way. She would become so nervous while speaking to him that she would bite her tongue, and she would stand at a loss for what to do when handing him a birthday gift.
As the daughter lost by the Song family for eighteen years—his own biological sister—Song Julan had truly liked her back then.
But everything changed the moment she pushed his fiancée from the fifth floor and framed Song Yueyue for the deed.
Song Julan could not fathom why a girl with such a simple mind would push Xie Wan.
Just as now, he could not fathom how Song Qingyi had withered into this listless, hollow shell of a person.
Gazing at her gray, fearful face, Song Julan’s mind was filled with the image of how spirited she had been the first time he brought her home. For reasons unknown, a surge of anger quietly sprouted from the depths of his heart.
"Don't think that just because Mom and Dad asked me to file an appeal to get you out, it means you're innocent."
"Song Qingyi, Xie Wan is dead. You owe her for the rest of your life."
After saying this, Song Julan let go of her and stepped back, looking down at her from his height.
"Get in the car. We're going home. You still owe Song Yueyue an apology."
Lin Qingyi cautiously raised a hand with slightly twisted knuckles and slowly pulled herself up from the ground.
Song Julan still hated her.
Song Qingyi understood the words on Song Julan’s lips.
She could not comprehend why he hated her so much, yet insisted on a retrial to bring her out.
She had already done as they expected; she had gone to prison and served her punishment.
Her life was already ruined, her body was crippled—did he feel these punishments were still far from enough?
"Song Qingyi! Don't force me to send you back in!"
Seeing Song Qingyi’s half-dead demeanor, Song Julan’s last shred of patience evaporated.
He raised his hand, stopping his palm just an instant before it could land.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a refined and elegant figure walking toward them.
"Qingyi."
Upon hearing this voice, Song Qingyi’s heart jolted violently, and a dense, creeping agony spread through every limb and bone.
Her heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly, aching with an unbearable soreness.
It was Xia Beiji—the boyfriend who had provided false testimony to convict her back then.
He was also the childhood companion who had protected her when they were in the orphanage.
"Qingyi, you didn't take your things. I brought them out for you."
Xia Beiji handed over the personal items Song Qingyi had surrendered before entering prison.
There was very little: a phone that had long been disconnected and a student ID card—all of it easily contained within a small bag.
Looking at these items, many memories of Xia Beiji flashed through Song Qingyi’s mind.
When she was five, she was bullied by other children in the orphanage, and it was Xia Beiji who stood up to protect her.
He taught her how to fight back so she wouldn't be wronged, and taught her what to do to be adopted by a family.
Even when a wealthy couple prepared to adopt him, he took her by the hand and stood up, saying he wanted to take her with him when he left the orphanage.
They were companions in childhood, and lovers in their youth.
But later...
After Song Qingyi was found by the Song family, he distanced himself from her again and again, growing weary of her.
Even when he saw with his own eyes that Song Yueyue had pushed Xie Wan off the building, he was able to say without a hint of psychological burden that it was she who had pushed Xie Wan.
Back then, Song Qingyi did not know why Xia Beiji had committed perjury.
But after hearing of Xia Beiji and Song Yueyue’s engagement a year into her imprisonment, she understood.
In fact, the signs had been there all along; she had only herself to blame for being too foolish and naive.
She had mistaken the impulses of youth for a love that would last forever, believing that love could remain unchanged for all time.
"..."
A silence fell.