The police had reviewed all the evidence and issued their final verdict.
During the interrogation, Hong Shuo confessed to every misdeed, including how he’d obtained a stranger’s phone number to send Lu Huan that enticing text and lure her over. He answered every question without hesitation.
It was as smooth as if he’d rehearsed it all beforehand.
In the end, Hong Shuo received ten days of detention and a fine for attempted theft, while his accomplices were sentenced for intentionally causing serious injury.
Hong Shuo meekly accepted his punishment.
Two days into his detention, a guard informed him that someone wanted to see him.
Harboring suspicions, he made his way there, expecting that woman—but it was her.
She wore a form-fitting qipao that accentuated her slender waist, topped with a stiff Western-style suit jacket draped over her shoulders. Her black hair was pinned up neatly at the back, with a few loose strands framing her ears.
Qin Dian.
Hong Shuo gritted his teeth, a flicker of intimidation stirring inside him despite himself. Still, he sat down and hesitantly picked up the phone receiver.
Even through the thick glass partition, her dignified aura remained as imposing as ever. Her half-lidded eyes carried a regal intimidation.
Her opening words jolted him to the core.
“Old Hong, long time no see.”
Hong Shuo swallowed hard before managing to find his voice. “…Tch, yeah, it’s been a while. What are you doing here now? Come to laugh at me?”
Qin Dian arched a brow. “Laugh? Not quite. Something amusing in the sunshine might be a joke, but a rat putting on a farce in the gutter? Hardly.”
“You!”
Hong Shuo itched to smash through the glass and deck her. His eyes bulged as agitation flared, drawing the immediate attention of the guards standing nearby. He had no choice but to rein himself in and behave.
Leaning close to the glass, he whispered through gritted teeth, “I knew it. You’ve had it in for me for ages, you Poison Woman.”
“Ever since Old Lu was around, you never could stand me—always scheming to push me out. And this time, you must’ve tagged along with that brat to gloat!”
Qin Dian seemed to find something amusing. She lowered her gaze, her shoulders trembling faintly as if suppressing a laugh.
“You know as well as I do that Huanhuan has a much milder temper than me.” Her words came slowly, laced with a disdainful smile at the corners of her lips. “If I’d been the one to handle this, you wouldn’t have had the chance to turn around and bite back.”
Every word dripped with humiliation, leaving Hong Shuo’s face flushed with fury.
“Qin Dian!”
The low growl carried a threat, his molars nearly grinding to dust. In the end, though, all he could do was rage impotently from across the glass.
Qin Dian regarded him calmly before adding, “Old Hong, your lines were well-memorized.”
Hong Shuo went rigid. Surprise—and fear, mingled with guilt—flashed across his eyes before he schooled his expression into wary caution.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You do.” Qin Dian brushed an imaginary speck of dust from her shoulder with a mocking air, her tone utterly casual. “To cling to those divorce assets, you really went all out.”
The phrase “divorce assets” hit Hong Shuo like a thunderbolt. He stared at the woman in stunned disbelief.
She knew… everything?!
Suppressing his trembling hands, he forced a veneer of normalcy, though terror shone plainly in his eyes. “Poison Woman! What the hell do you want?”
Qin Dian appeared utterly serene. “Nothing much. I just came to confirm one thing.”
Their gazes locked.
“Brown trench coat,” she said slowly. “Red lips. Curly hair.”
The words coalesced into a vivid image in his mind, matching a face all too well. Hong Shuo’s lips pressed together.
“You know her?”
It really was her.
Qin Dian needed no further confirmation; his reaction spoke volumes. The true mastermind pulling his strings was her.
Bai Shan, Bai Shan. Had she returned after all this time for those old scores?
Qin Dian lowered her eyes, tuning out Hong Shuo’s frantic barrage of questions.
Her goal was accomplished.
“Poison Woman, say something, damn it!”
“Very well. I can’t say what comes next for you, but it certainly won’t go the way you hope.”
“And as for ‘Poison Woman.'” She met his gaze again, her stare sharp and defiant. “I don’t see it as any kind of insult.”
“Poison can strike, can defend. It can harbor deadly venom or be venom itself. How is that not a good thing?”
“As for ‘woman’—”
She smiled. “I am a woman, after all.”
What was wrong with stating the plain truth?
Two decades ago, everyone in Jinning City had called her the Jinning Poison Woman, and she’d never taken it as a slur. Poison could manifest as a serpent or a python, as an invisible killer—or even as a person.
Hong Shuo’s eyes bulged wide. “You—you!”
Qin Dian wasted no more words on him. She rose to her feet and spoke her final words into the receiver.
“Wish you well.”
She enunciated each syllable clearly.
The four words detonated in Hong Shuo’s mind like thunder.
Back then, everyone knew what that phrase signified—
Realization dawned in an instant. He pounded on the glass, bellowing at her retreating back. “Wait! Qin Dian, come back! I still have things to say—come back!”
But by then, Qin Dian had already turned away, vanishing without a backward glance.
He didn’t get to shout for long before the guards pinned him down.
“Thanks for your trouble.”
Outside, Qin Dian completed the required registration and nodded her thanks to the staff.
As she stepped out of the station, her waiting assistant ushered her into the car.
Settling into the cool interior, Qin Dian relaxed her furrowed brow and closed her eyes to rest.
The car glided smoothly along. Midway through the drive, she opened her eyes and noticed the woman in the driver’s seat had changed.
“New hire?”
The driver nodded. “Yes, President Qin.”
When their eyes met in the rearview mirror, the driver’s gaze lingered a moment too long on the object in Qin Dian’s hand.
Noticing it, Qin Dian let out a soft chuckle. “Do you know why I always wear this prayer bead bracelet?”
“No, I don’t,” the driver replied honestly.
Qin Dian turned her gaze to the window, her fingers idly turning the beads.
“When people do wrong, they must atone.”
—
In the hospital room, the doctor was examining Bai Jin’s injuries and rebandaging them.
The case had reached its conclusion, and Hong Shuo had received the punishment he deserved. But the victim’s wounds were healing far more slowly than his glib confession.
Over these past days, Lu Huan had brought most of her work to the hospital room. She sat at one side handling it all, while Bai Jin quietly read a book from her spot on the bed.
On the day the verdict came down, Lu Huan had told her, “He’s received the maximum punishment allowed, and I’ve already put his resume on a blacklist. Even after he gets out, it’ll be tough for him to make a living.”
“The one who actually hit you got the same treatment.”
Lu Huan had hoped sharing the revenge would bring her some satisfaction, but Bai Jin showed no reaction at all.
It was as if she couldn’t care less.
“When can I get out of here?”
“You’re hurt this badly, and after just a few days of rest, you’re already itching to leave?” Lu Huan peeled an apple, her eyes downcast as she spoke gently. “Just stay put and recover a bit more.”
Her fingers were elegantly long and bony, transforming even a simple task into an act of sculpting fine art. It was mesmerizing.
The pink apple skin curled away from the blade in flawless strips, her movements deliberate and precise.
Once the fruit was fully peeled in one intact piece, Lu Huan sliced it into bite-sized chunks. She speared one on a toothpick and held it to Bai Jin’s lips.
Bai Jin hesitated, parting her lips to accept it—when a knock sounded at the door.
“I’ll get that.”
Lu Huan set the apple down and went to open the door.
A bouquet of flowers appeared first, followed by the beaming face of a young woman.
“Ta-da! We’re here to see you!”
Ren Ningning held the flowers out, hoping for a surprised reaction from whoever answered. Instead, she froze mid-sentence and blinked—taking in the sight before her.
“P-President Lu!”
Lu Huan’s expression remained even as she stepped aside. “She’s inside.”
“Oh—right!” Ren Ningning snapped back to herself and craned her neck in, spotting Bai Jin propped up in bed, still in her hospital gown.
Xiao Yang and Xiao Lü trailed behind, each carrying bags of fruit as they filed in.
Xiao Yang seemed the most reserved, clutching her bag of fruit with one hand while holding the other demurely in front.
Her gaze swept over the bedside table: the plate of neatly cut apple slices, the pulled-up chairs, the laptop screen still glowing with open work documents.
So President Lu hadn’t been at the company these days… She’d been here, keeping her company.
Xiao Yang couldn’t help but recall that scene she’d witnessed in the parking lot.
“I’ll step out so you can chat.”
Lu Huan grabbed her jacket from the back of the chair, closed the laptop, and left the room, pulling the door shut behind her to give them privacy.
Xiao Lü called after her, “Okay, President Lu!”
Bai Jin watched her go, then popped the abandoned apple piece into her mouth.
“Look how pretty! We picked them out together!” Ren Ningning proudly displayed the bouquet. When Bai Jin started to sit up straighter, she waved her down. “Hey, don’t get up if you’re not feeling well. Just stay put.”
Bai Jin relented. “Thank you.”
“I’ll set it here, then.” Ren Ningning arranged the flowers and stepped back to admire them. “Doesn’t it look great?”
The three of them settled in beside her bed, peppering her with questions about her injuries. They breathed a collective sigh of relief upon hearing there’d be no lasting problems.
“That’s such a relief. I was worried sick when I heard. How come you’re always the one getting hurt lately? …Don’t worry—your streak of bad luck has to end soon, and then it’ll all turn around!”
“I heard about what happened. It was terrifying! How brazen was that guy, sneaking into the upper offices to steal during the team-building event when no one was around…”
“He’d been with Qining for so many years, raking in all those benefits. Even if he’d lost all loyalty to the company, he shouldn’t have teamed up with rivals just to turn around and bite the hand that fed him.”
“Yeah, desperation really makes people do anything—”
…
They’d come on the weekend when they had time off, just to check on Bai Jin’s recovery. They chatted about company gossip and the fun team-building moments she’d missed. Before they knew it, the sun was dipping toward the horizon. Not wanting to overstay, they set down their gifts and prepared to leave.
“Bye-bye! Get better soon!”
“We’ll head out now—speedy recovery!”
Bai Jin nodded and saw them off.
It wasn’t long before Lu Huan returned.
Bai Jin watched her enter.
After a moment of quiet in the room, Lu Huan glanced at her. “How’d you explain it to them?”
Bai Jin blinked. “Explain what?”
Lu Huan helped her organize and put away the delivered items. “Didn’t they ask anything?”
She knew exactly what Bai Jin meant by that question and why she had shown up here.
“No,” Bai Jin replied, shaking her head. “Are you that afraid of them asking?”
Lu Huan laughed at the words. “Afraid of what? Weren’t you the one hiding away at first?”
The way Bai Jin had quickly released her hand when the elevator doors opened. The deliberate strangeness and distance whenever outsiders were around.
And that day in the office, when she had reminded her that people were outside.
It was clear who had been afraid of getting caught.
Bai Jin looked away, and Lu Huan didn’t press the matter further.
“Let’s have dinner.”
She ordered takeout on her phone, selecting only light dishes in line with the doctor’s instructions.
After dinner that evening, Lu Huan took several calls by the outer window before returning to tap away at her spreadsheets. By the time she wrapped up her work, night had fallen.
These past few days, Lu Huan usually waited until around nine at night for Bai Jin to fall asleep before driving home to wash up and rest.
Glancing at the time, Lu Huan gently took the book from Bai Jin’s hands. “It’s getting late. Time for bed.”
“The doctor said it’s fine to wipe down now. I’ll get some hot water ready for you.”
“Mm.” Bai Jin watched her retreating back.
All of a sudden, she thought that getting injured wasn’t so bad after all.
It had brought Lu Huan here to take care of her.
Lu Huan went into the bathroom and filled a basin with warm water. She laid out a towel and some clean clothes, then remembered Bai Jin’s leg injury would make it hard for her to stand for long, so she dragged in a chair as well.
Once everything was prepared, Lu Huan returned to help Bai Jin inside.
“Be careful while you’re wiping down. Watch out for slipping, and don’t bump your leg injury. If anything happens, just call me—I’ll be right outside the door.”
“Got it.”
The door clicked shut.
Lu Huan leaned back against the wall beside the door, listening closely in case of any mishaps inside.
About twenty minutes later, she heard Bai Jin call her name from within.
Lu Huan turned her head toward the door. “What is it?”
“The clothes I changed into got wet,” Bai Jin said.
Wet…
Lu Huan fell silent for a moment. “Then I’ll bring you some new ones.”
“Mm.”
She rummaged for a couple of fresh outfits and walked back to the bathroom door, where she knocked lightly.
“The door isn’t locked,” came Bai Jin’s voice from inside.
Did that mean she wanted her to bring them in?
Lu Huan’s hand rested on the doorknob, as if she were wrestling with some inner conflict.
In the end, she pushed the door open and stepped inside.
What met her eyes was a vision of pale, luminous skin like flawless jade, the gentle curves of her back softened by slightly curled locks of hair that cascaded down. They veiled just enough to tease, only heightening the allure.
Bai Jin stood with her back to her.
And she wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing.
Lu Huan’s eyelashes fluttered as she quickly reined in her thoughts and stepped closer. She set the clothes down on the counter beside Bai Jin’s hand.
“I’ve put the clothes right here beside…” Before she could finish or pull away, her wrist was caught in a firm grip.
Lu Huan froze, her eyes widening slightly.
“Lu Huan.”
Her heart pounded wildly beneath her ribs.
Heat surged through her veins.
The woman before her turned slowly, a soft, boneless hand brushing against Lu Huan’s cheek. Those usually cool, piercing eyes now shimmered with a captivating depth, as if they could draw a person right in.
“What are you afraid of?”
