That was the second time the nurse had come to check on her in a matter of minutes and such painstakingly intense dedication to duty was going to be a pain to work around.

She waited a few seconds just in case and opened her eyes with a snap, a look around confirmed what she knew, she was alone in the richly appointed room and finally relaxed.

The room looked beautiful, airy without being overcome with light, just the sort of room a convalescent patient needed to rest and find a new vigor for life, too bad she wasn’t sick at all.

Keeping up appearance sapped more of her strength than she believed possible, keeping up a cheerful mien had been particularly taxing but she had needed to improvise and adjust carefully.

She hadn’t planned this but all in all, it was a better plan than what she had in mind. With one final look around her, she released the glamour around her, her body grew pink with health until it seemed as if a touch would stain a person’s fingers. The nondescript skin took on a life of its own until it seemed as if it was studded with living shimmers that traveled all over her body and made the body more luminous and sinuous.

Her height almost doubled, her eyes gained a dark red tint, her ears disappeared under a tangle of blood-red hair that moved in an airless wave forming a dark halo around her. Even her voice didn’t remain untouched, it gained a huskier tint until it was a seductive rasp as she got out of the bed, headed for the mirror perched in front of her.

She admired herself briefly before she spoke the words, waiting patiently until the mirror in front of her rippled and smoothed out to show a reflection not her own.

The scene that played out in the mirror was indescribable, a wild montage of red, black, and sickly yellow was the dominant color but in the middle was a single figure fast asleep. The figure shone with a strange light, it wasn’t white but it wasn’t black either, but it was a distinct shade of light, not pure but more that completely encapsulated the sleeping figure, blurring everything but the outer edges of his form from view.

The rays flowed and ebbed in a mesmerizing display around the seemingly dead body, but even with the barrier between them, she knew who it was and was aware that the power was more than she could ever wield.

But that didn’t stop her greed for it, Yue Yan reached until her hand hit the cold impenetrable surface of the mirror before stepping away from the vision, behind her the mirror regained its silver state.

Her plans were moving along beautifully, all possible sources of hindrance were otherwise occupied and the entire world was her chessboard to play with.

Already, she could envision how she would move people like pawns and the immense satisfaction she would get from it. Humans were so predictable with their over-the-top reactions and she thoroughly enjoyed moving them to the extremes of emotions.

She had been so believable, and they had been so eager to believe that things were going even better than she thought. She loved this game, she was going to enjoy playing this game and when she was done playing, the board would be liberally streaked with years and blood, a perfect picture.

Then she smiled, a macabre show of dagger-sharp white teeth as she walked back to bed, with every step the startling beauty of her true self disappeared until only the confused and exhausted invalid remained, only that smile that hinted of perverse pleasures and dangers remained.

If she was careful, she would not have to reveal herself until the last minute, the idea of being an amnesiac was a good one, it afforded her a lot of loopholes and generated a constant source of pity she could put to good use.

There was love between the two of them but it didn’t matter, it would make her victory all the sweeter for breaking them. Even now, jealousy surged through her making her want to lash out madly.

When she had heard the news in the hospital and seen the look of bliss on his face, a sudden surge of rage had descended on her, her ironclad control was the only reason she had not flipped the tray and howled at the injustice of it all.

Yan Mei didn’t deserve to happy. She didn’t deserve such a good husband.The thought lit another flicker of rage in her mind but she quickly quelled it. There was no need for her to be hasty about her revenge, she would take it slow until she had an undeniable victory.

The victory was the point of it all, the only outcome that was acceptable to her.

Happy now she crawled back into bed and allowed herself to finally rest, tomorrow was going to be a big day, and she couldn’t wait for it to start already.

**********

”I didn’t take you for the type to marry a wife you would have to coddle so much,” she said coddle, she meant weak and the disdain with which she spat the word would have alerted anyone to the fact that something was amiss.

Anyone except Lei Zhao who just chuckled, a hearty laugh before replying, “Yan Mei is quite strong, she had survived things that would bring anyone else to their knees”

”Anyone can survive anything, given time” she spat with uncharacteristic vitriol. Yue Yan knew better than to openly antagonize his wife but something about the blind adoration where she was concerned set her on a dangerous edge. “I thought you were this shrewd businessman. Cutthroat and savvy, I actually thought you would find a person who could easily match you”