The Legend of Cinderella's Counterattack

"Master! Master!" I stumbled into the study, the housekeeper frantically following behind me. The room was a mess, documents scattered across the desk, a cup of tea spilled on the floor, and blood spread across the precious carpet. My father lay in a pool of blood, his eyes wide open, as if he had died with his eyes open.

"Who is it?! Who did it?!" Lu Yuxuan supported me as I almost collapsed on the ground, and roared at the housekeeper.

The housekeeper turned pale with fear and trembled as he said, "I... I don't know either! I heard some noise in the study and rushed over and saw..."

The police arrived quickly and cordoned off the scene. Lu Yuxuan and I were taken to the police station to take statements.

"We suspect this is a case of home invasion, robbery, and murder," the officer said seriously. "Based on the analysis of the scene, the murderer likely climbed over the wall to enter the villa. His method of committing the crime is sophisticated, and we can't rule out the possibility that he's a repeat offender."

A home invasion? My intuition tells me that this is definitely not that simple! My father has always been a cautious and low-key person, and there is not much cash or valuables in the house. How could he be the target of a home invasion?

Coming back from the police station, I was feeling incredibly heavy-hearted. Ever since that mysterious man showed up, our lives felt like they'd plummeted into a bottomless abyss, with strange things happening one after another. Was all this really just a coincidence?

"It must have been that man who did it!" Lawrence Lu slammed his fist on the table and said through gritted teeth, "He must know something!"

We tried to recall every detail of our encounter with that man, but each time it was like grasping at a fog, nothing clear. Who was he? Why did he do this to us?

"Ding Dong—" The doorbell rang suddenly, and my heart trembled. Could it be... I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, slowly walked to the door, and looked out through the peephole. A courier stood outside, holding a package. I took the package and closed the door, and an inexplicable unease washed over me.

"What's wrong?" Lu Yuxuan noticed that something was wrong with me and came over to ask.

"It's nothing, just a courier." I shook my head and opened the package. Inside was an unsigned letter.

"Be careful!" Lawrence Lu looked at me nervously.

I unfolded the letter, and the beautiful handwriting caught my eye. My heart sank. The letter was very simple, just a few words:

"I know your secret and the cause of your father's death. If you don't want more people to be hurt, stop investigating, otherwise..."

Below the letter was a photo, and the person in the photo was—Chenxi!

My hands began to tremble, and the photo slipped from my fingers. Lawrence Lu picked up the photo, and his expression became extremely ugly.

"How could it be her?" he murmured to himself, his tone full of worry.

Just then, my cell phone rang. It was Chenxi calling.

"Hey, Chenxi, what's wrong?" I tried hard to suppress my inner anxiety and make my tone sound calm.

"Sister, something happened! I was falsely accused of plagiarism, and now people are scolding me everywhere on the Internet..." Chenxi's anxious voice came from the other end of the phone, mixed with a faint cry.

I suddenly realized that all of this was directed at us! That mysterious man wanted to destroy us, destroy everything we had!

"Don't worry, we will help you." I clenched my fists and said firmly.

After hanging up the phone, I took a deep breath and looked at Lawrence Lu. "We can't just sit there and wait for death. We have to take the initiative!" "We have to find out if this mysterious person is actually involved in the Chenxi plagiarism incident!" I said firmly. Lawrence Lu nodded and immediately began investigating the shipping address on the courier slip. However, the address was fake, and the sender's information was completely fabricated. The clues stopped there.

"Don't lose heart, we still have other clues." Lawrence Lu comforted me. He pointed at the letter and said, "The paper of this letter is very special. It is custom-made by hand and is rarely seen on the market."

We searched the city's stationery stores and printing houses before finally finding one that could customize this paper. The owner, an elderly man with an amazing memory, clearly remembered a man who had ordered this paper before, and who was generous and had an extraordinary temperament.

"He also asked me to add a special spice to the paper, saying it was for a loved one," the shop owner recalled. "The smell of that spice was very unique. In all my years of doing business, I've only seen it that once."

Special spices? A picture suddenly flashed through my mind. It was in the old house of the Lu family. I accidentally discovered that a similar fragrance was emanating from the study of Lawrence Lu’s father! Could it be that this mysterious person is related to Lawrence Lu’s family?

Before I could think about it, my cell phone suddenly rang. It was the editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine.

"Ms. Lin, something terrible has happened! Someone is spreading rumors online, saying that Chenxi's plagiarism incident was deliberately hyped by our magazine. Now many people have begun to boycott our magazine!" The editor-in-chief's voice was extremely anxious.

I immediately understood that this was that mysterious person behind all this! He was not only going to destroy Chenxi, but also all those who helped us!

“Don’t worry, we will find out.” I tried to keep myself calm. After hanging up the phone, I looked at Lawrence Lu with worry in my eyes. “What should we do now?”

Lawrence Lu's expression was also extremely solemn. He pondered for a moment and said firmly, "It seems that we must speed up the investigation. Since this mysterious man is related to my family, I will start investigating from within the family!"

Lu Yuxuan began investigating the family, poring over reams of family records and interviewing many of the elders, trying to find clues leading to that special spice. Meanwhile, I began addressing the magazine's crisis, contacting the PR team and gathering evidence, hoping to quickly clear Chen Qingxi's name.

However, just as we were all rushing about, thinking we were about to uncover the truth, that mysterious person vanished completely, as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth. The frequent harassing phone calls, threatening letters, and mysterious couriers all stopped abruptly, as if they had never appeared.

This sudden calm did not make us feel relieved, but rather more uneasy, like the calm before the storm, so oppressive that it made us breathless.

"What on earth does he want to do?" I muttered to myself, pacing back and forth anxiously.

Lawrence Lu sat on the sofa, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, his brows furrowed, as if he was thinking about something. After a long time, he raised his head, a gleam in his eyes: "Perhaps, he has achieved his goal."

"Purpose?" I looked at him puzzled.

"He's made us lose our composure, running around in circles, and having no time to think about anything else." Lu Yuxuan's tone was chilling. "He knows us well and knows we'll do our utmost to investigate, so he's simply hiding, leaving us running around like headless flies."

It suddenly dawned on me. Yes, for all this time, we had been led by the mysterious man, completely caught up in his rhythm. And now, his sudden disappearance had made us lose our target and become even more passive.

"Then what should we do now?" I looked at Lawrence Lu, feeling powerless.

Lawrence Lu stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the bustling city outside. A hint of determination flashed in his eyes: "Since he has set a trap for us, then we will play along. Doesn't he want us to investigate? Then let's investigate thoroughly. I want to see what he is hiding!"

At this moment, Lawrence Lu’s cell phone suddenly rang. He answered the call and his expression instantly became solemn.

“What did you say? Are you sure?” Lawrence Lu’s voice was low and rapid. After hanging up the phone, he turned around abruptly, his eyes full of shock and disbelief, “We found the source of the spice, but…”

He paused, then spoke word by word, "The source is... a fire twenty years ago that burned down... the Lu family's old house!"