The Feng family villa was unusually quiet as Madam Lin sat at the tea table, dressed in a pastel qipao, porcelain cup in hand. Her fingers were manicured, her posture elegant—but her eyes held sharpness.
Feng Xiao Xiao entered the room like a calm storm—head high, dressed in tailored black with a silver hairpin glinting in her bun.
"Xiao Xiao, you've grown more graceful lately," Madam Lin said with a smile that didn't touch her eyes. "But grace must come with obedience, don't you think?"
Xiao Xiao took the opposite seat without bowing. "And poison must come with sweetness, isn't that your specialty?"
The smile cracked slightly.
"You've always had such a sharp tongue," Madam Lin said. "No wonder your father can't tolerate you."
"I don't exist for tolerance anymore," Xiao Xiao replied softly, pouring her tea. "I exist to cleanse this house of rot."
Madam Lin's gaze darkened. "Is that how you speak to your elders now? No wonder Qian Qian—"
"Qian Qian?" Xiao Xiao interrupted. "The one who cried when she didn't get the jade heirloom Mother left me? The same jade she planned to sell in secret until I caught her?"
Madam Lin's teacup rattled against the saucer.
"Lies," she hissed.
"Truth," Xiao Xiao said with a smile. "But we can ask the servant who saw her. Oh wait—you had her transferred, didn't you?"
Madam Lin stood abruptly. "You're getting too bold, girl."
"And you're forgetting your place," Xiao Xiao said, rising slowly. "You are not the madam of this house. My mother was the only true wife of the Feng family. You are a guest… clinging to a man's guilt like a leech."
"Why you—"
"If you raise your hand or voice again," Xiao Xiao said quietly, "you won't be dealing with me. You'll be answering to the Old Master, who just gave me control over the house accounts."
Madam Lin paled. "That's impossible."
"Is it?" Xiao Xiao leaned in, smiling so sweetly it stung. "Why don't you go ask him… while you still live here?"
And with that, she turned and walked away—leaving Madam Lin trembling behind her silk façade.
For the first time, the viper didn't strike.
Because the prey had grown fangs.