As the lights of the city flickered on, a torrential downpour raged outside. A Rolls-Royce Phantom glided steadily through the gaps between the towering skyscrapers.
Lin Xu leaned her head against the leather seat, gazing out the car window where rainwater gathered into beaded streams sliding down from the top.
She said nothing, her eyes drifting over the endless stream of people hurrying under umbrellas, her face reflecting the fractured neon glow.
“Lin Xu, my family is urging us to get married next year. What did you tell Old Lady Lin?”
Gu Huaiyuan poured herself a glass of red wine and swirled it casually, the liquid mirroring her striking makeup.
She wore a custom-made emerald velvet mermaid gown that complemented Lin Xu’s outfit for the evening perfectly.
The banquet’s obligatory pleasantries had finally come to an end.
Before the cocktail party even wrapped up, Gu Huaiyuan had eagerly found an excuse to slip away. The two avoided each other like the plague—one in each seat, neither interfering with the other.
Lin Xu turned back wearily. On Gu Huaiyuan’s left middle finger gleamed an exorbitantly flashy diamond ring, a couple’s matching set with hers.
The air was filled with the distinctive scent of grapefruit perfume, crisp like summer bursting into a frozen wasteland.
Lazily, she retrieved an empty wine glass from the mobile bar and poured herself a bit of martini. “Me? I didn’t refuse.”
Gu Huaiyuan was stunned by Lin Xu’s response, a mix of surprise and displeasure at being deceived.
“Then what was all that bullshit before? You said you’d find a chance to make it clear we’re not right for each other, stir up a fuss, and swore up and down that Old Lady Lin dotes on you enough to let you choose your own marriage partner.”
“I’ve changed my mind. Got a problem with that?”
Gu Huaiyuan felt like a clown. What the hell was this? Why did Lin Xu get to call all the shots?
“Are you nuts? Treating me like a toy monkey. No one pampers you, no one loves you, so you force me to marry you and stare at your ice-block face every day—who are you trying to freeze to death?”
Lin Xu shrugged, taking the barb in stride.
“Anyway, it won’t freeze you.”
The two could be considered childhood friends, having grown up playing together. Gu Huaiyuan knew Lin Xu’s temperament had always been arrogant and overbearing, and after her mother’s death, when she was forced to take over the family business, she’d become even more aloof.
“With that rotten temper of yours, anyone who puts up with it is ninety-nine percent after your money.”
Lin Xu lifted her eyelids languidly, too disdainful to trade barbs with Gu Huaiyuan. A graceful figure flashed through her mind, and she scoffed.
Suddenly, Gu Huaiyuan remembered the Omega Lin Xu was keeping, and teased, “When are you going to introduce me to your little canary? Or do you really plan to hide her away until the end of time?”
Lin Xu dodged Gu Huaiyuan’s prodding elbow. “Mind your own business.”
Gu Huaiyuan touched the diamond ring, feeling rather bored. So Lin Xu wasn’t that hung up on her little lover after all. She let go of her curiosity.
“Fine, then. So what are you planning for our marriage?”
“We’ll just draft a prenup.”
Lin Xu hadn’t come up with a delaying tactic yet. She couldn’t go against Old Lady Lin’s wishes—for Lin Xu, Old Lady Lin was first and foremost a businesswoman, and only secondarily her grandmother.
Old Lady Lin had built an empire single-handedly. She demanded every investment be sharp as a knife’s edge—only upward growth was allowed. If there was a dip, it had to be justified with solid reasoning and hard data.
Of course, she knew all about Lin Xu’s private indiscretions outside.
She had told Lin Xu that the marriage alliance was a fair trade, praising Lin Xu’s exceptional qualities while expressing heartbroken grief over her eldest daughter’s car accident.
That very morning, Lin Xu had woken from a hangover when the housekeeper waited at her door, ringing the bell to summon her to see Old Lady Lin.
A bad premonition rose in Lin Xu, shattering her morning mood.
Entering the vast room, she saw the elderly woman, her face etched with wrinkles, lying in bed with an IV needle buried in the back of her hand, the drip falling slowly.
Calmly, Old Lady Lin outlined the progression of her illness, warned of the inevitable boardroom upheaval, and pointed out which shareholder relatives harbored grudges against Lin Xu.
At this critical juncture, power and responsibility needed to be handed over to Lin Xu swiftly.
Old Lady Lin promised Lin Xu that the Lin Corporation would one day be her world. She would select a wife from a prominent family for a marriage alliance—someone mediocre, an Omega from a vastly inferior background, could never see the light of day.
Lin Xu said nothing.
She only felt as if a worm had crawled into her mouth—first discomfort, then the wriggling creature lodged in her throat, its mournful cry vibrating her eardrums until they swelled.
She forced down the nausea.
In an instant, her body plunged into raging deep waters, liquid flooding her nostrils and scouring her brain. She bubbled up a string of bubbles.
No discomfort—her body felt refreshingly cool. Flecks of vibrant color filtered through the water from above, blurring her vision. Lin Xu closed her eyes.
The guest room curtains were drawn tight. Lin Xu rolled over, groggily thinking she shouldn’t have taken that pill last night. She’d had a very long dream, one featuring Sister Shu; the rest was unclear.
She clutched the blanket tight, intending to burrow back into the warm nest. It felt so good. But she hadn’t indulged for long when a knock—thud thud—roused her.
Lin Xu frowned. Who the hell was knocking so early?
She shoved her head under the pillow, pretending not to hear.
The knocking hesitated and stopped. After a few seconds, she heard footsteps retreating.
She wasn’t the type to fall back asleep after being woken; she needed time to adjust—in short, she had morning grumpiness.
Ten minutes or so later, she stretched lazily, letting out a soft whimper. Her peach-blossom eyes, half-lidded with teary tails, knelt on the bed as she drew back the curtains. The sunlight stabbed, and she reflexively raised a hand to shield her eyes.
It took a while to adjust to the bright room. Rubbing her eyes, she realized the guest room backed onto the courtyard.
Tree shadows swayed, golden ginkgo leaves drifting in the air, landing on the shoulders and hair of the person below.
She wore an open black coat. From Lin Xu’s angle, she could only make out Shu Qingyou’s long boots.
Her waist-length hair whipped in the wind, a bright red ember glowing at her fingertips, white smoke curling lazily from her form.
Lin Xu twisted open the metal window latch and pushed it outward.
Suddenly, a merciless gust poured in, chilling her thin nightgown. She shivered.
Shu Qingyou stood tall like a snow-capped cypress, crisp and unyielding. Her fingers holding the cigarette were slender and moist; faintly visible on her wrist was a loop of red rope. Something odd flickered in Lin Xu’s eyes—this red rope looked familiar.
The scent of burning tobacco still lingered at her nose. Ducking her head, she wrapped the blanket around herself, bundling into a big rice dumpling with only her head poking out.
Like a caterpillar, she inched forward until her chin rested just on the windowsill.
In a crisp voice, she called out, “Sister Shu, good morning!”
