Before Monday’s classes, Liang Jin was still mulling over Shen Keye’s words about “no betrayal.” Their bet was set for the twenty-third at the Equipment Room on the Hong Kong University campus. He had suggested it quite amiably—no skirting the edges of the law.
Just pure chess. Five games, three wins. The winner of each game got to make the loser fulfill one request, and the overall loser had to “obey.”
It sounded like poison wrapped in candy.
Liang Jin stepped outside the bathroom to take a call. Liang Wei had spiked a sudden fever on Sunday, burning so high she was delirious.
It had been too long since she’d heard Liang Wenbin’s voice, and the sound triggered a visceral disgust.
Her biological father launched into a heartfelt lecture. “Liang Jin, I’m not saying this to be mean, but leaving your sick mother and underage sister back in Jiangnan while you selfishly chase some celebrity dream in the Hong Kong District? You won’t even come home! How can you be so heartless? You’re barely human! Your mom’s on death’s door! If the hospital hadn’t called me yesterday, your sister might not have made it!”
Liang Wei still hadn’t woken up. Liang Jin was desperate for news about her sister and forced down her revulsion to ask, “What did the doctors say?”
Liang Wenbin knew her personality all too well. He snorted coldly. “What did they say? What’s this? Do you even care about your sister anymore?”
Liang Jin couldn’t hold back. “Liang Wenbin, she’s your daughter too!”
“Liang Jin, is that how you talk to your father?”
The argument escalated, swords drawn and tempers flaring.
Liang Wenbin had seen his share of storms in the business world. He snapped, “Zeng Zhi found out about that crappy movie of yours in the Hong Kong District voting. Last night, she called up all her old classmates and friends, begging them one by one to vote for you. And what have you done?”
The citywide voting had been underway for nearly two days now. Jiang Manyu was dominating, her votes more than the rest of the Hong Kong girls combined. Liang Jin held second place.
Something stirred in Liang Jin’s heart, but to Liang Wenbin, she just let out a mocking scoff. “No need to put on that ‘caring for family’ act in front of me, Liang Wenbin. I don’t buy it. Just tell me what you want.”
Liang Wenbin was in the hospital lobby. A nurse told him Zeng Zhi wanted to see him, but he turned her down.
He clutched Liang Wei’s medical report, glanced at it, then stuffed it into a folder. “Remember that person I wanted you to meet before?”
A month or two before gaokao, he and Zeng Zhi had been in the thick of their divorce battle. He’d wanted to take Liang Jin with him, but Zeng Zhi had fought it tooth and nail.
That’s when he’d first wanted Liang Jin to meet this friend of his.
“Your mom’s too stupid and inflexible. That guy’s taken a liking to you.”
The cold words dripped with false piety and smug satisfaction.
Liang Jin froze in place, a dull ache piercing through her body like she’d been run through. In an instant, nausea roiled up from her gut like an avalanche. She choked it back and heard Liang Wenbin continue.
“I’ve got the full report right here—the only copy. Jiayi will bring it to the Hong Kong District for you on the twenty-second. Liang Jin, if you want it, go get it from him.”
She didn’t even know when the call dropped. Liang Jin lit a cigarette. With all the attention from the high-profile voting and the recent rumors swirling, people were watching her more closely than ever.
She sat in the stall, her slender pale fingers suspending a thin Xuanhemen cig trailing wisps of blue smoke.
Sweet, but bitterly so.
Outside the stall, the gossip was even uglier than Song Youhuai’s rumors.
“Liang Jin’s no good at all. She sold herself to Song Youhuai before, and now she’s sleeping with… whoever. You didn’t hear? Song Youhuai got ruined because Liang Jin latched onto some crown prince.”
“Real talk? That woman’s evil.”
“Song Youhuai posted it himself yesterday!”
“Damn, and Liang Jin’s still in second? She’s got no shame. If I were her, I’d be so humiliated I’d dive headfirst into the Pearl River.”
Someone jostled and whispered to shut up—Liang Jin might hear.
That person glanced at the stall door and cursed boldly, “If she dares do it, why not own up?”
Liang Jin had just messaged Shen Keye asking if he wanted company today. He sent back a location pin—some villa neighborhood near Stubbs Road. It looked like his place.
Liang Jin replied.
【Not going.】
Ye: 【See you in a couple days then.】
She knew exactly what Shen Keye was up to.
A good hunter was endlessly patient, drawing out the prey’s fear. True to his style, Shen Keye would save the matter of Jiang Manyu’s votes for the final day of their bet. He’d grind her down until she was mentally exhausted. And just as he’d predicted, she was on the verge of cracking.
Ye: 【How about the twenty-second? I’ll come to you.】
A chill swept through Liang Jin’s body. Thinking of Liang Wenbin’s actions made her tremble with disgust. Back when she was sixteen, he’d already been ready to sell her off.
The girl’s face was deathly pale as she stood, one hand clutching her forehead while the other held the cigarette. Her throat burned sour, and she couldn’t stop the dry heaves.
【No time on the twenty-second.】
Once she’d calmed down, Liang Jin messaged Shen Keye back.
Her fingers hesitated in mid-air. Liang Jin forced down the wave of nausea surging up again, her eyes red-rimmed as she explained.
【Gotta go to work.】
~~~
On the 22nd, rain fell over the Hong Kong District.
She had arranged to meet Deng Jiayi at the school gate.
This Mr. Deng was twelve years older than her. His parents’ generation had been Liang Wenbin’s benefactors. He practiced medicine in the coastal region and was one of the most renowned orthopedic specialists in the Pearl River Delta.
Liang Jin didn’t dislike him, but she certainly didn’t like him.
“I’m heading to see an old employer of mine. I’ll take you along shortly.”
Under the phoenix tree, Liang Jin climbed into Deng Jiayi’s car. A few days earlier, she had called him, but he had only fallen silent, refusing to tell her about Liang Wei’s condition.
Liang Jin settled into the passenger seat and asked, “What exactly is wrong with Liang Wei?”
“Let’s have dinner together tonight. It’s been ages since we caught up.”
Liang Jin emphasized, “Liang Wenbin said you’d hand over the report the moment we met.”
Deng Jiayi took excellent care of himself and looked fresh out of university. He smiled gently, but his tone left no room for argument. “Jinjin, is that any way to speak to your elder?”
He asked, “Do you still want your sister’s report?”
“…”
Liang Jin opened her mouth, then fell silent as she fastened her seatbelt.
Deng Jiayi instructed, “Don’t mess things up later. Be a good girl.”
Liang Jin said nothing. She scrolled through her phone; Shen Keye still hadn’t replied to the message she’d sent that day.
She suspected Shen Keye had seen through her deception, but she couldn’t be bothered to dwell on it. Whether she lived or died had nothing to do with him.
Deng Jiayi’s car pulled up outside the villa.
The four-story European-style building evoked Victorian England.
The old butler from the villa came over to help open the door. The pattering rain blurred everything, but the instant Liang Jin glimpsed his features under the umbrella, her heart stuttered.
Deng Jiayi introduced her. “Mr. Shen, this is the fiancée my family set me up with…”
The old butler seemed skeptical of the “fiancée” label. He arched a brow and greeted her with warm politeness. “Miss Liang, long time no see.”
It hadn’t been that long, really.
Liang Jin slowly furrowed her brow, managed a faint smile, and said, “Hello.”
This was Shen Keye’s former driver.
Liang Jin glanced up instinctively. Through the curtain of rain, she made out a figure leaning against the wrought-iron filigree on the windowsill.
The young man stood tall and straight, his posture casually relaxed as he toyed with a metal dart, its fine feathers dangling. He watched her impassively through the downpour.
His pitch-black gaze carried real weight as it settled on her, as if it could whip up a raging black storm at any moment.
Deng Jiayi was taken aback by the complexity in Liang Jin’s eyes. Spotting Shen Keye on the second floor, he asked in confusion, “Jinjin, you know the Shen family? Why didn’t you mention it?”
He reached out to touch her. Liang Jin flinched in shock and tried to pull away, but he clamped down on her hand. “Did you forget the promise you made for after dinner tonight?”
A tense undercurrent rippled beneath the umbrella.
Liang Jin stopped struggling.
Her palms were slick with sweat, nausea churning in her gut. The girl looked away and murmured, “We’re not that close.”
Deng Jiayi wore his predictable genteel expression and said warmly, “Mr. Shen, in any event, thank you for remembering our family’s Jinjin.”
He squeezed her hand tightly.
Liang Jin knew Shen Keye had been staring at her the entire time.
Deng Jiayi was summoned upstairs to examine Shen Junbang’s leg.
Liang Jin grew visibly restless and on edge.
At least Deng Jiayi finally released her hand.
She yanked free from his grasp, only for him to jerk her back with sudden force, sending her stumbling lightly. He flashed a victorious smile, pulled her into a hug, and said, “What’s the hurry? I’ll be right back.”
The old butler invited her to the living room for tea, but Liang Jin declined.
The rain poured harder, threatening to swallow the sprawling Hong Kong District whole.
Shen Keye didn’t come down. From the second-floor windowsill, he scrolled through his phone, flicking darts one-handed in idle rhythm.
Slanting rain soaked the feathers on the dart tails.
He hardly glanced at the target, yet over a dozen darts clustered tightly in the red heart of the narrow board.
Time lost all meaning as dizziness clouded Liang Jin’s mind. With numb, icy fingertips, she sent him a message.
Jin: 【I just lost my balance.】
Jin: 【I didn’t want him touching me.】
Tomorrow’s bet between them would decide once and for all whether she stayed or left Hong Kong District.
The girl, dressed in a gray skirt suit, tilted her head back to gaze upward.
Emotions roiled within Liang Jin. Anxiously, she typed back: 【He’s connected to my dad, not a fiancé. I don’t have one of those.】
Up on the second floor, the young man cocked his head, eyes coldly lowered. He seemed pleased with the reply and shifted his gaze from the phone screen to her touched right hand and the small of her back.
Liang Jin stood there, chilled to her core.
Her phone buzzed in her palm with a new message from him.
【Come up.】