Hanging by a Thread

Everyone is busy.

And that includes the one who brought pandemonium to her room.

Sarah glances once more at her room. Her meager clothes were all scattered on the floor. Her laptop smashed and her books wrinkled, and some were torn into pieces.

"My goodness! What happened here?!" The first thing her eyes searched is a photo frame with her Mama Daisy.

She cries, her hands pressed tightly against her mouth, stifling the sobs that threatens to break free.

The fear and nervousness coursing through her are almost too much to bear. Who wouldn't feel this way?

Her fingers tremble as she picks up the shattered photo, the frame barely intact. The picture inside—a moment of happiness now lost with a shard of broken glass that rans across it. Her room is her only sanctuary is now a scene of chaos. Obliterated beyond recognition.

Who could have done this to her? The injustice she feels is overwhelming.

This is supposed to be her home, where she would feel safe and cared for. But now, it was a total opposite. The one who came in her room, is evidently looking for something, which she has no idea.

She realizes now that she had made a wise decision when she was barely 12 years old—to entrust Mira with the photo albums, mementos, and precious jewelry that only she and Mama Daisy knew about. At the time, it had seemed like a small act of trust, but now, with everything that had happened, she understood the significance.

Unbeknownst to her aunt and uncle, Mama Daisy had given her a wooden box filled with precious jewelry and other keepsakes—a hidden treasure that held memories of a time before everything had changed.

"I know you're still young, my dear," Mama Daisy had uttered softly, her voice filled with warmth. "But keep this, for when the right day comes, we will open it together."

Those words, spoken with such care, had stayed with her all these years. The box had been carefully tucked away in the childhood closet when she was just six, a secret only they shared.

And then there was the life-sized painting of her and her adoptive mother. Mira had saved it from the flames when her wicked aunt had tried to destroy it, taking it to her cottage in Fujian where it would remain safe—a reminder of love and family that no one could take from her.

While cleaning her room, someone knocked at her door, but she was hesitant to open it. With what happened to her at the church earlier and to her just now, she feels paranoid and on guard.

She took a pair of scissors from the drawer and let out a deep sigh as she looks directly at the door with fiery in her eyes.

And the knocks were incessant. Then she heard her foster father's voice calling at her.

"Sarah..."

"Sarah..."

"Sarah, are you there?"

"Uncle, I'm here." She finally had the courage to utter words. Her throat was dry from nervousness.

She opened the door. Her uncle looks at her room and was shocked.

'Oh, my God! What happened here!?" Alfred exclaims.

She got over her emotions and with let out a sigh of relief. Her uncle hugs her and she weeps. "Uncle, I guess, I shall leave earlier than I planned."

"No, Sarah. You have nowhere to go." Alfred holds his niece shoulders. Feeling guilty and remorseful with the hardships and of her sister's beloved adopted daughter.

"Come here. I bought a dress and shoes, which you will use tonight." He hands her two signature paper bags.

"I must go now. I'll call the guards about this, and Peter will come and help you here. Promise me you take care. I'll explain things, when this party is over."

She wipes her tears away and couldn't help but feel sad not only for herself but also for his uncle. She looks at the paper bag and saw a pair of pumps and a beautiful pale-yellow dress. And there is still something there. Something heavy.

She gasps when she realizes what it is, "Mama Daisy's tiara!" She was surprised. It was the tiara she wore in one of her life size paintings.

But wait a sec...

"Why is this tiara with her uncle?"

A week before her Mama Daisy passed on mysteriously, Mira told her, the tiara went missing. It can't be...

Oh, no it can't be!

Her mind is about to explode, things are slowly unfolding before her very eyes.

She has to leave now. Looking through the rummage, she spotted her bag pack and place there just few important things, then just as she picks her photo with her mama and removed the shattered frame, she saw something beneath it.

An envelope, which perhaps before it was white, but now it looks rather dirty and with dark creases from being old.

She opened it, and much to her surprise, there is a document and a key with initials DL and at the other side VF...

"Think, Sarah... Think..." Then she remembered something. She took a ring from her pocket. "There must be something here." She looked at the initials inscribed inside her Mama Daisy's ring "VF"...

If "DL" is DAISY LUI, then who is "VF?"

She recalls the man in the church who wears the same ring. He was the man who saved her.

And she remembers him saying in the car...

"I'm Vincent Feng. My child, do you know the men following you?"

"VF is VINCENT FENG!!!" She figures out surprisingly.

She is my mother's fiancé!!!

Then, there was a sudden flashback...

A six-year-old girl being carried by a handsome man, she calls her "uncle"

The man kissed her rosy cheeks. My child, you are growing so fast.

"Of course, I always take care of her. She is now our daughter, my love."

"Be patient my dear, soon we will be married. Wait for me in few years’ times." He kisses her lips while the six years old girl claps her hand.

"Yippie, I will have an uncle papa!"

The words of her young self-echoed in her heart, reminding her of the excitement and joy that had filled her soul at the thought of having a family.

"Oh, my dearest daughter, call him 'Papa Vincent,'" the sweet loving voice of her beautiful Mama Daisy brought warmth and nostalgia. It was a gentle and loving request, a proof to once family. they had. Sarah cherished those memories, for they represented a time when life seemed simpler, and love felt pure.

Mira is serving them dinner that time. And Mira eats with them as well. Though her mother was an actress and a businesswoman, she takes her most of the time wherever she goes, with Mira with them.

Her subconscious mind has kept all the memories and because of the shock and maltreatment she had been through, she was forced to forget her once charmed life. Tears stream down her cheeks.

Back to reality...

Now she is carefully opening the sealed document. Alas! It's her mother's last will and testament. It's handwritten by her mother with three specimen signatures and a finger mark in all the pages.

Sarah starts reading...

I, Daisy Zang Lui, born in the province of Fujian, being of sound mind and disposing memory, do hereby declare this to be my last will and testament. I revoke all prior wills and codicils made by me.

Article I. Personal Representative

I appoint my daughter, Sarah Zang Lui, as the executor of this will...

Then Sarah proceeds reading...

Article III. Bequests

I give, devise, and bequeath all my remaining estate and property, both real and personal, of whatever nature and wherever situated, to my beloved daughter, Sarah Zang Lui, to be her sole and absolute property. She will be under the guidance of Atty. Richard Wane, my lawyer and to be taken care of my brother Alfred Zang Lui until she reaches the legal age of 18.

And there was a follow up for her uncle, Alfred Zang Lui...

Article IV: Specific Bequests to My Only Brother

In addition to the bequest mentioned in Article III, I hereby give, devise, and bequeath the following specific items to my only blood brother, Alfred Zang Lui:

our family house in Fujian;

my two bank accounts in Shanghai International Bank:

4605873 and 47632560 with 50 million yuan, respectively

200 acres of farmland in Fujian, for which I know at this point he wishes to own ever since we were young.

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Sarah was almost at lost. She is still stunned and trying to process everything.

“Oh my God,” She just couldn’t believe it. She is the sole heiress to her adoptive mother's estate. She imagines what she could do with her mother's fortune, that is to give scholarship to farmers' children.

At the end of the documents were the signatures of her mother and her lawyer Mr. Richard Wane.

She places it in her bag including her mother's tiara. There is another realization she made just as now.

Last night, Mr. Wane had told her, with undeniable authority, that she was the rightful owner of everything, and that she would not be leaving the mansion. But now, it seems that all attention had shifted to the news of Adelle’s alleged pregnancy.

It is becoming painfully clear who is behind all of this, orchestrating the chaos she has been enduring. They have gone as far as physically threatening her and inflicting harm.

She feels a sudden heat rise to her face, her neck flushes with the telltale signs of rising blood pressure. Her heartbeat quickens, thudding in her chest as her body reacts to the intensity of everything that had unfolded.

Panick, she rushed to the bathroom, splashing cold water on her face, trying to clear the dizziness that clouded her mind. Afterward, she gargled and wiped her face with a hand towel, trying to regain control.

As she is dabbing the towel against her skin, the sound of heavy footsteps reverberates through the hallway, then followed by urgent knocks on the door. Her stomach drops cold.

"Who could that be?" she mutters under her breath, trying to make sense of it. She thought of the guards her uncle had mentioned, but their steps would never be so forceful, so deliberate.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she grabs her bag from the bed, her mind racing as she quickly rifles through the paper bags of the shoes and gown given by her uncle. She needed to be ready, so she took a flashlight and a scissor for protection.

The knocking grows louder, more insistent, as if someone was trying to break the door down. It wasn’t Peter, she realizes, her heart pounding harder in her chest. Whoever was on the other side had no intention of leaving her physically whole.

Peter is supposed to help her out fix her things but obviously he didn't come, so someone else did. Peter is like a real uncle to her and has known him for so long she could remember, so she's familiar how he walks and moves.

The knocking stops abruptly. She strains her ears, her heart pounding in her chest. Looking out of her window, she saw only shadows moving in the darkness outside.

"God, help me," she whispers, her voice barely audible as panic sets in.

Then, a desperate idea flashed into her mind. Without wasting a moment, she darted back into the bathroom.

Quickly, she opens the small window of the bathroom and slips out, carefully making her way onto the thick branches of the oak tree. The leaves rustles around her as she moves from one branch to another, offering just enough cover to conceal her presence as she positioned herself in front of her room so she could peer back into her room through the window.

Minutes later, she hears the unmistakable sound of the door unlocking, followed by the sharp creak of the window opening. Her breath caught in her throat as masked men begins to enter her room.

Her hands tremble, and she clasped them together, praying fervently.

"Please, God," she whispers, feeling the danger of her situation. In the quietness of her mind, she calls out for Mama Daisy to be sent by God as her angel—her only hope.

She couldn't deny that if there was one thing she owes from her wicked aunt. It is the constant errands that have kept her active. Walking for miles every day, carrying heavy loads, and performing menial tasks have built her strength, sharpened her reflexes. Her muscles were more defined than most, and her agility has never been more important than in this moment.

Sweat begins to pour down her back, and she grits her teeth as ants crawl over her arms and legs. She couldn’t afford to move, not now.

Checking her wristwatch, she saw it was 6:00 PM—everyone should be ready now for the celebration, completely unaware of what was happening to her. She could faintly hear music from the distance, laughter, and chatter, the sounds of merriment…

The celebration of her cousin's event seems like a distant, unattainable world now since her room is at the back most of the mansion, as she clings to the oak tree, the weight of her body pulling her further down.

It feels like hanging by a thread—no, worse. She is hanging by an oak tree infested with ants, every inch of her body on fire with discomfort.

Peering through the leaves, she sees the men rummaging through her room. Chaos has taken over—the drawers pulled out, papers scattered, the once orderly space now in disarray.

And now, she knows exactly what they were looking for.

It is the Last Will and Testament of her Ms. Daisy Zang Lui—her mother, the only true family she had ever known. She isn't foolish enough to ignore the truth. The people behind this—the people who orchestrated this attack—has one goal: to find the will and claim whatever is rightfully hers.

Sarah’s grip tightens on the tree branch as she holds her position on the branch, her mind figuring out her next move.