Rain fell softly against the windows of the apartment where Selena was temporarily staying. Inside the dimly lit room, she sat at the edge of the bed, dressed in gray satin pajamas. In her hand, an old, fading photograph.

She stared at it in silence.

The photo was taken twenty years ago. A little girl in a white dress stood in front of a grand house beside a woman who looked like her mother. But there was no warmth in that embrace. The girl smiled, but her eyes were empty.

And that little girl… was Selena.

---

Twenty Years Ago

The Zhang family estate stood proudly in one of the...