The Legend of Cinderella's Counterattack

A quick knock on the door interrupted the tenderness between Lawrence Lu and me. The housekeeper hurried in with a serious expression, "Miss, Mr. Lu, someone is looking for you downstairs. They say...they say it's the two people who framed you before..."

My heart tightened. Needless to say, I knew who it was. Ever since the agreement was signed that day, they had fallen from the clouds to the mire, losing all their glory.

"No." Lu Yuxuan's voice was cold.

"Wait." I held his hand, "Let them in."

A moment later, the stepmother and stepsister appeared at the door of the living room. Their exquisite makeup was gone, replaced by haggard and tired faces, and their clothes looked much cheaper.

"Lolo..." The stepmother opened her mouth, her voice hoarse, "We...we are desperate, can you help us?"

I looked at them coldly, without saying a word. They looked now, with no trace of their former arrogance.

"Lolo, I know we have done a lot of things to hurt you in the past, but we really know we were wrong. Please help us for... for the sake of our dead father!" the stepsister begged while crying.

"Help you?" I sneered. "When you framed me, how could you not have imagined this day would come? How could you not have considered how Dad would feel if he were still alive?"

"We...we were also blinded by love and confused for a moment!" My stepmother cried and tried to hold my hand, but I dodged her.

At this time, the housekeeper hurried in again, his face even uglier, "Miss, outside... outside..."

"What's going on outside? Tell me clearly!" I had a bad feeling in my heart.

"Outside... is Mr. Li. He, his company went bankrupt, and now... now..." The butler hesitated, as if he found it difficult to speak.

"What's wrong with him now?" I asked.

"He's now... kneeling outside the door, asking you to lend him a hand, considering our long-term partnership..."

As soon as the housekeeper finished speaking, I heard a heart-wrenching cry from outside the door: "Boss Lin! Boss Lu! Please, for the sake of our years of cooperation, give me a hand! I was wrong! I really know I was wrong!"

I took a deep breath and signaled the housekeeper to open the door. Soon, the once-arrogant Mr. Li was kneeling before us like a stray dog. His once-slick hair was now a mess, a complete mess, a complete loss of his former glory.

"Lolo, I beg you, please help me! As long as you are willing to help me, I will agree to whatever you want!" Mr. Li begged bitterly with tears in his eyes.

Looking at these three people who were once so arrogant, but are now struggling like drowned dogs, I don’t feel as happy as I imagined, but instead feel a bit bitter.

"You keep saying that you are wrong, but have you ever thought about where you are wrong?" I looked at them coldly, my tone frighteningly calm.

The three of them were stunned and looked at each other, as if they were trying to organize their words and want to defend themselves.

"Your mistake lies in being blinded by jealousy and greed, and losing your moral composure!" My tone suddenly became stern. "For your own benefit, you're willing to resort to all sorts of despicable means, even at the cost of hurting others!"

My words were like a sharp sword, piercing their hearts. My stepmother and stepsister lowered their heads, tears streaming down their cheeks like beads from a broken string. Mr. Li's face was pale, his lips trembling, but he couldn't utter a word.

“I admit that I was jealous of you before.” My stepsister choked and said, “I was jealous of everything you had, jealous that you were doted on by your father, and jealous that you found a good man like Lawrence Lu. I was blinded by jealousy, so I did those stupid things…”

"Me too." The stepmother also cried and said, "I always felt that you didn't belong to this family, that you took away things that belonged to me and your sister. Now that I think about it, I was so stupid..."

Mr. Li also looked up, his eyes filled with regret and self-blame: "I was too greedy, always trying to take shortcuts, but ended up pushing myself into a dead end. I swear, if I can make a comeback, I will keep my feet on the ground and compete using legitimate means!"

Their tears and expressions of regret left Yuxuan and me speechless. Seeing their destitute state, I felt a mixture of emotions. It would be a lie to say I didn't feel a tinge of relief, but more than that, I felt a deep sense of regret about the good and evil of human nature.

"Don't you think it's too late for you to say this now?" Yuxuan's voice was cold, without a trace of warmth.

I understand how he feels. What they did in the past has caused us real harm that cannot be compensated by a few apologies.

"I know that nothing we say now can make up for the mistakes we made." Mr. Li closed his eyes in pain. "I just hope you can give us a chance to make amends."

"Opportunities aren't given by others; they're earned by oneself." I took a deep breath and said slowly, "You say you regret your mistakes and want to change for the better, but words are nothing. How can anyone tell if you're just acting?"

My words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the last glimmer of hope in their hearts. My stepmother and stepsister turned even paler, and Mr. Li collapsed to the ground, seemingly having aged ten years in an instant.

"Lolo, you..." My stepsister wanted to say something, but I interrupted her by raising my hand.

"I don't want to hear any more explanations or assurances. I only want to see your actions." I looked at them coldly. "If you truly realize your mistakes, prove it to us with concrete actions. Otherwise, all this is just empty talk."

After that, I ignored them and turned to pull Yuxuan away. I knew my words were cruel, but I didn't want to give them any false hope. Some pains can't be healed with just an apology; only time and action can tell.

After we left, I could clearly sense that Yuxuan was in a very heavy mood. I took his arm and whispered, "Don't think too much about it. It's all in the past."

He shook his head, a hint of fatigue in his tone: "I just didn't expect that human hearts could be twisted to this extent."

I understand how he feels. After all, the family and friends he once trusted so much have hurt him time and time again. This kind of betrayal is not a pleasant feeling.

As time went by, my stepmother and stepsister didn't come to the office to harass us, as I'd imagined, nor did they call or text us again. I had assumed, given their personalities, that they would continue to try to salvage the relationship, or even intensify their revenge. But to my surprise, they simply vanished from our lives, as if they had vanished from the face of the earth.

Until one day, I received a call from a stranger.

"Hello, is this Miss Lin Luoluo? I'm Mr. Li's lawyer. He wants to meet with you. He has something he wants to clarify in person."

Mr. Li? Wasn't he already bankrupt? Did he still want me to help him pay off his debts? My heart suddenly started to ring with alarm bells, and my tone turned cold. "Is there anything else to talk about between us?"

"Ms. Lin, please don't rush to refuse. Mr. Li came here with sincerity this time. He just wants to sincerely apologize to you and Mr. Lu for what he did before."

The lawyer sounded sincere, but I didn't believe him. After all, after going through so much, it was hard for me to trust anyone, especially someone who had hurt me.

"Sorry, I don't want to see him or hear anything about him anymore." I refused without hesitation and hung up the phone.

However, the story didn't end there. The next day, upon arriving at the office, I saw a group of reporters gathered downstairs, cameras pointed at the entrance. I immediately had a bad feeling, and before I could react, I heard a burst of exclamations from the crowd.

I looked up and saw Mr. Li, wearing a washed-out suit, hobbling towards me with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He looked much more haggard, his once energetic face now stained with weariness and fatigue.

"Lolo, I'm sorry, I was wrong! Please forgive me!" Mr. Li walked in front of me, suddenly bent his knees and knelt on the ground.