One of her suitcases had fallen open in the hallway.
Mo Yuxin stood over it, staring at the clothes spilling across the floor. A silk blouse had caught beneath a wheel, its sleeve twisted under the weight of the case. Beside it lay a small jewellery box, the lid hanging loose and several earrings scattered near the skirting board.
They had packed her things as though they were clearing out a room for someone else.
Her teeth ground together.
She crouched and tugged the blouse free. A dark mark ran across the pale fabric where the wheel had pressed it into the floor. She rubbed at it with her thumb, making no difference, then flung it onto the suitcase.
"Useless."
The word sounded unusually loud in the empty house.
No maid hurried over to apologise. No butler appeared to ask what had upset her. The men who had delivered her belongings were already gone, leaving several cases, a stack of boxes, and a set of keys on the entrance table.
Mo Yuxin looked around.
