Chapter 8
881words
Ella stood in the center of the living room, barefoot, feeling the coolness from the floor.
She wore simple white cotton loungewear, like a priestess about to perform a sacred ritual. Her gaze calmly swept over each smart device—the central speaker that had played the melodies of betrayal, the security camera that had recorded the invading images, the temperature control panel that had responded to another woman's commands.
It was time.
She picked up her tablet and opened the administrator interface of the "Home Guardian" App. Without hesitation, her fingertip precisely located that option hidden deep within the settings: [Factory Reset].
The system displayed a cold prompt: "This operation will erase all data, settings and user information, including voice prints, scenes and log records. This operation is irreversible. Continue?"
Ella's fingertip hovered over the [Confirm] button, lingering for a full three seconds.
In these three seconds, what flashed before her eyes was not pain, but those contaminated data streams, stolen private spaces, and trampled trust. Then, she firmly pressed down.
"Resetting in progress... 1%..."
The indicator light on the central speaker changed from blue to red and began to slowly blink. One by one, the smart devices in the room emitted subtle notification sounds, as if performing a silent farewell. The lights gently flickered once, then completely went out. The thermostat's screen darkened. All memories, all habits, all traces of betrayal were being thoroughly erased bit by bit.
This process continued for nearly ten minutes. Ella just stood there silently, watching it all, as if observing a silent funeral for her past life. There was no sadness, only a complete emptiness and relief.
When the indicator lights on all devices lit up again, emitting a pure white glow that signaled waiting for initialization, Ella took a deep breath, as if truly breathing the air of her own home for the first time.
She picked up her phone, dialed Sophia's number, and pressed the speakerphone button.
"Is the ritual complete?" Sophia's voice came through, with crisp keyboard typing sounds in the background.
"Yes. Just reset everything." There was a hint of fatigue in Ella's voice, but more relief. "How about your end?"
"The cease and desist letter has been officially delivered to Miss Chloe Lee's studio and all her partnering platforms." Sophia's tone was professional and cool. "The evidence is conclusive. Multiple 'soundscape design concepts' she published on social media show over 90% overlap with the early development documents of our 'Nebula Project' that we provided to third-party agencies, constituting serious commercial infringement. Additionally, she used her improper relationship with your husband to induce him to leak trade secrets and engage in inappropriate financing. This evidence has also been handed over to the economic investigation department."
Ella listened quietly, her gaze falling on the view outside the window. A bird was gracefully flying across the azure sky.
"How did she react?"
"She fell apart," Sophia's voice held no sympathy, only the calmness of stating facts. "She tried to contact David, but obviously, he can barely save himself now. Her carefully cultivated 'high-end designer' persona collapsed overnight, all collaborations terminated, facing enormous compensation claims. Most importantly, she finally understood that her so-called 'charm' and 'tactics' were no match when confronted with real capability and rules."
Sophia paused, then added: "I think she'll learn one thing from now on: true value can only come from within oneself, not from stealing others' work or depending on relationships with others."
Ella didn't speak, but a faint curve appeared at the corner of her lips. This wasn't a smile of victory, but rather a knowing compassion.
After hanging up the phone, she began to manually reset each device. She no longer used her old passwords, no longer followed her past setup habits. She created entirely new administrator accounts, set up much more complex encryption protocols, and tightened permissions layer by layer, as if building a brand new, impenetrable fortress for herself.
With each device she configured, she softly spoke a new wake command:
"Xiao Zhi, good morning."
"Xiao Zhi, I'm home."
"Xiao Zhi, play my music."
That gentle male voice sounded again, responding to each of her commands, clean and pure, as if newly born.
When the final device was set up, the entire home seemed renewed. Sunlight flowed in unhindered, illuminating every corner. The air was no longer filled with invisible data ghosts, only peace and tranquility remained.
Ella walked to the center of the living room, sat cross-legged on the cool floor, and closed her eyes. She no longer needed to be alert for any unusual sounds, no longer needed to analyze any suspicious data. This space, from the physical to the digital level, was thoroughly and completely hers alone now.
The purification of the system was never just about erasing traces of an unfaithful husband and an intruder. It was about defending her professional dignity, showing zero tolerance for contaminated data, a necessary ritual to reclaim control of her life.
The past had been reset to zero.
New instructions were beginning.
