lived this book
Omg! Ang galing po ng pagkakasulat! Must read! Keep writing poo!
This is a very good book! Kept wanting to speed read ahead but I couldn't. So much focusing on all of the crazy friendships & love battles I only thought about the necklace a few times. Totally shock about Roy, Kath maybe but not Roy! im going to the CHASE HER right now. Congrats to the Author!
lovely story
Interesting story. I love all the emotions in this story
Great story
Good book, hope to see more from this author.
I'm in love with the storyline! It's been a wonderful read so far??
Beautiful cover too!
love it great read
nice plot.
I need a minute. I genuinely need a minute because this chapter just wrecked me and I don't know how the author does this - how they take something so devastating and make you keep reading anyway. The moment that destroyed me was when eleven-year-old Zhengqi was crying behind his mother's back, saying "Third Brother, it's my fault! Beat me to death! Beat me to death, and then you won't be sad anymore." Zhengting couldn't hear him - he was already going deaf from the beating - but he somehow UNDERSTOOD. He understood the meaning behind those tears. And in that moment, this kid who had just been beaten nearly to death by his own mother was still protecting his little brother from guilt. That is the most heartbreaking thing I have ever read in my entire life. And then there's the part where Zhengting stands on the brink of madness. He's eleven years old. He's been told for his entire life that he's a monster. His mother beat him until he lost his hearing, and she called it punishment for being vicious. His siblings' futures were ruined and she blamed him. And in his head, this thought kept coming: he wanted to kill her. Kill them all. His little sister too, even though she was just a toddler who had done nothing wrong. But he didn't. He held onto this one sliver of reason - if he killed someone, he would TRULY become a monster. Not just in his mother's eyes, but in the eyes of everyone who mattered. The village. His uncles and aunts. The people who cared about him. He's not a monster. I read that line three times. He's eleven years old and his entire identity is being crushed under the weight of someone else's delusion, and his only anchor is the fact that he refuses to become what they say he is. The author writes about love and family in such a brutal way here. There's no warm family scenes, no comforting moments. Just this kid trying to survive his own mother's hatred while also protecting the siblings who were used as weapons against him. And when he finally escapes with Instructor Zheng, he doesn't feel relief - he feels SEVERED. Completely cut off from everything he's ever known. "He understood that opportunities were rare and fought fiercely for them." That line hit me like a truck. This kid who had nothing but abuse his entire life learned to seize every opportunity because he knew what it meant to have nothing. And now look at him - deaf, in a wheelchair, but still fighting, still trying to be useful, still trying to prove he's not a monster. I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes and I don't even know why. This book just owns me emotionally and I hate it and love it at the same time.
The way Xue Ji speaks is absolutely distinctive. Every line from him has this calculated cruelty wrapped in false concern, like honey poured over broken glass. 'That utterly lost expression… It doesn't suit the decisive Qinglan I know.' He's mocking her, but he's also studying her, analyzing her like a specimen. And then he shifts into this almost paternal disappointment—'How many times have I told you? Your heart… will never be hard enough.' The pauses, the deliberate pacing, the way he builds each accusation like a house of cards ready to topple. Compare that to Shen Yi's voice—'These Qinglong bastards are slipperier than eels'—casual, pragmatic, with that dry wit of someone who's seen enough wars to be cynical but hasn't lost his humanity. And Xiao Yu's dialogue is minimal but loaded. 'I don't care. A-Li doesn't have time to wait.' Three words, no elaboration, just pure urgency. The author gives each character a completely distinct verbal fingerprint. Even the fake prince's dialogue is different from the real Xiao Yu's—shorter sentences, sharper edges, less emotional control. You can literally hear the difference when Shen Yi gets snapped at. The dialogue carries so much subtext here. Every conversation is a power struggle, every exchange reveals something about the speaker's true nature.