My three-year undercover mission was finally over. Uncle Zhang gently wrapped me in a blanket and lifted me, filthy from head to toe. “Tiaotiao, it’s all right now, Tiaotiao.” He was so careful not to touch my wounds, but the bruises covering my body reminded everyone of what I had been through. When my identity came under suspicion, they locked me in this dark cell. The fact that they hadn’t cut off my hands and feet was already the best outcome I could have hoped for. “Uncle Zhang, I want to… go home…” But I didn’t yet know what awaited me there. The Gu family’s young master, who had promised to love me forever, had already become engaged to my younger sister.
