Rebirth of the Genius Bride – Chapter 2: Shadows of the Past

 

🌸 Rebirth of the Genius Bride 🌸

Chapter 2: Shadows of the Past

The applause still echoed faintly in her ears. The chalkboard, the stunned faces of her classmates, the trembling voice of her teacher declaring her a “genius”—all of it replayed in her mind like fragments of a dream.

But that night, when the lights went out and silence pressed in, the shadows returned.

Lianhua sat on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest. The cool night breeze drifted through the half-open window, but it did nothing to soothe her restless heart.

Because when she closed her eyes… she saw it again.

The fire.
The betrayal.
The last cruel smirk of the man she once called her husband.

Why… why didn’t you save me?

Her hands clenched into fists. Even now, the memory was sharp enough to slice her from the inside out. She remembered the smell of her own burning flesh, the laughter of those who had mocked her helplessness, the suffocating agony as life slipped away.

She opened her eyes with a start, sweat beading on her forehead. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her breaths uneven.

“Never again,” she whispered into the darkness.

Her gaze hardened. She was no longer the naive girl who thought love could conquer cruelty. No. That girl was dead—burned to ashes with her old life.

This Lianhua was different.

As the moonlight spilled across her face, her eyes gleamed with something cold, something dangerous.

I’ll repay every humiliation. Every betrayal. Every sneer and every wound. One by one… they’ll all pay.

Her mind drifted back, unbidden, to the man at the center of it all—Xuan Hao. Tall. Ruthless. A husband only in name, but never in heart.

She had once believed his silence was strength. That his coldness hid a tenderness he simply didn’t know how to show.

But in the end, his silence had been consent. Consent to her suffering. Consent to her death.

Her chest tightened, rage and sorrow twisting together.

Xuan Hao. If it weren’t for you, I would never have died so miserably. In this life, I’ll make you kneel. I’ll make you choke on the same despair I once felt.

The night passed slowly, haunted by her vow.

—

The next morning, the school corridors buzzed with gossip. Students clustered in corners, whispering her name.

“Did you see her yesterday?”
“She solved the impossible problem like it was nothing.”
“Do you think she cheated?”
“No way. Even the teacher admitted it was flawless.”
“Maybe she was hiding her genius all along…”

Lianhua walked through their stares without flinching. Their awe, their suspicion—it didn’t matter. Let them talk. Every rumor was another stone in the foundation of her new self.

But as she turned the corner, her footsteps faltered.

Because standing there, framed by the morning sun, was a figure she knew all too well.

Her heart gave a painful lurch.

It was him.

The man she had once called her husband.

Xuan Hao.

Not yet the cold CEO who ruled empires with a glance—but still dangerous, even in youth. His eyes swept over her with sharp calculation, and for the briefest moment, their gazes locked.

Lianhua’s breath caught in her throat. Memories of fire, betrayal, and death surged through her veins.

Her body trembled—but she forced herself to stand tall, to meet his stare without flinching.

No. Not this time. I won’t be the weak girl you left to die. This time, I’ll be the one holding the blade.

Their eyes met, past and present colliding in a single moment heavy with fate.

Neither spoke. But something unspoken crackled in the air—an awareness, a warning, a promise.

And then he looked away, his expression unreadable, before disappearing into the crowd.

Lianhua’s fists tightened at her sides.

The past had found her again.

And the shadows of that past were only growing darker.

---

✨ End of Chapter 2
📖 Tomorrow: Chapter 3 – The Cold CEO

💌 Don’t miss the next twist in Rebirth of the Genius Bride!
👉 Subscribe & Follow SDC World

✨ Continue reading The Cold CEO Rebirth of Genius Bride — Chapter 2 (Cold CEO)