No use panicking now. She lit another cigarette and leaned against a banyan tree near the dock.
Her heart still hammered against her ribs.
She checked the time again—nearly midnight.
Midnight was a magical hour.
Cinderella’s carriage turned back into a pumpkin, but left behind a glass slipper. Little Ida’s garden flowers sprang to life, dancing through the night. Peter Pan and Wendy flew off to Neverland, where no one ever grew up.
She used to seek out Wen Zenian at midnight too.
So as midnight struck again, would a miracle happen?
She didn’t even believe in gods or Buddhas, so how could she put any stock in such things? Yet whenever anything involved Gwyneth, it took on a dreamlike, almost magical quality.
For instance, right at that moment, a Bentley truly glided slowly toward the dock.
It drew closer and closer.
Meng Ning stubbed out the cigarette between her fingers and straightened her posture.
A familiar face appeared in the car window.
Alexis stepped down from the Bentley. The person accompanying her wore the uniform of a high-end mall and carried an assortment of luxury shopping bags and gift boxes.
Spotting Meng Ning, she blinked as if she thought she had seen wrong. “Cara?”
“Hi, Alexis.” Meng Ning stepped out from the shadows of the trees. “I’m off duty today. I suddenly remembered something I forgot to take care of, so I had to come back to the island.”
“Are there still speedboats running at this hour?”
“No, I just came to try my luck.”
“Well, you’re in luck.” Alexis winked at her. “I chartered a speedboat. You can hitch a ride with me.”
Before long, the speedboat eased up to the shore.
The two of them boarded. As they settled in, Alexis chatted idly with her. “Gwyneth left—are you all relieved? I have to say, when she’s working,” Alexis stuck out her tongue, “she can be pretty cold.”
“It’s not so bad.” Meng Ning smiled. “We’re just frontline staff. We don’t interact with her much.”
Alexis asked, “Is it something really important you need to handle? Waiting here so late?”
“Yes.” Meng Ning nodded.
“What if my boat hadn’t come along?” Alexis teased her. “Were you going to wait until dawn?”
Meng Ning pursed her lips in a faint smile. “Maybe.”
“Good thing I showed up.” Alexis’s smile really did call to mind morning dew—clear and sparkling. She nodded toward the luxury bags beside her. “I’m leaving tomorrow. Shopping took longer than expected, and then I met up with a friend, so here we are, this late.”
Meng Ning thought she was the kind of girl raised in a glass jar.
She never once considered that casually snapping up armloads of luxury goods, frittering away time, and chartering a speedboat to head to the island might stir envy in ordinary folks.
Her manner toward Meng Ning was just like it was with her friends—open and radiant, with no curves or corners, leaving no room for resentment.
Unable to hold back, Meng Ning asked, “Are you going to Paris too?”
“No.” Alexis shook her head. “My gap year is over. Time to head back to school.”
She went on to gripe about stuffy professors and rigid courses. For all her complaints, she smiled the whole time, her nose scrunching up as she spoke.
Meng Ning thought: Maybe I should just drop it.
No matter what, the girls who ought to surround Gwyneth these days were ones like Alexis.
But then she wondered: Drop what?
She hadn’t even figured out what she would say to Gwyneth.
All she had done was think, with a pang of sadness while watching a movie projected on the wall: This parting might mean she would never again see Gwyneth wearing an autumn sweater.
That had been her closest brush with giving up on her own journey. She simply wanted to see what Gwyneth looked like in a sweater.
C Sea Island knew only eternal summer. Yet because of one person, autumn carried anticipation, and time gained purpose.
She had no idea what she would say to Gwyneth in this fit of impulsiveness.
Perhaps, in the end, it would be like last time—when she had asked if Paris was beautiful. Maybe she would simply say, “Will you wear a sweater this autumn?”
Gwyneth was bound to find it baffling.
Alexis sat across from her, chattering away. Meng Ning listened with half an ear as C Sea Island loomed closer.
Shimmering lights danced on the sea’s surface. Without warning, an impulse welled up in her. Perhaps what she wanted to ask Gwyneth went beyond just a sweater.
Gazing at Alexis’s bright smile, she felt a deep twinge of guilt.
She was riding this woman’s speedboat to the island—only to go find Gwyneth.
But she couldn’t say a word about it just then. She reached into her pocket. All she found was the candy Qi Xiao had slipped her.
The most ordinary sort of fruit candy, its surface etched with spiral ridges.
Would handing this to a pampered young heiress seem utterly random?
Even so, Meng Ning pulled it out. She hesitated a moment, then held it out to Alexis. “Here, for you.”
Alexis looked mildly surprised but soon broke into a smile. “Candy? Perfect—I’m a little hungry.” She crinkled open the plastic wrapper. “Thanks, Cara.”
“I should be thanking you.”
With the candy rolling on her tongue, Alexis shook her head happily.
The speedboat docked. Meng Ning and Alexis stepped ashore together. The housekeeper arrived to fetch Alexis.
Meng Ning hung back until Alexis’s figure disappeared, then made her way to the main building.
By now it was the dead of night. The staff elevator stood empty.
Meng Ning watched the red digits flicker upward. With a ding, the doors slid open.
Orchids filled the elevator car. Vintage floral patterns adorned the plush carpet. Teak trim and dark gold plaques combined in a tastefully restrained elegance.
Her heartbeat quickened. Her vision crowded with insignificant details until her feet had carried her to the door of Gwyneth’s room.
She knocked. No response.
Had Gwyneth gone to sleep? It was possible.
Perhaps she ought to wait until morning.
But it was the same impulse that had sent her rushing to the dock—she couldn’t bear to wait even a second more.
She knocked again. Still nothing.
She took out her phone.
How absurd. She had never saved Gwyneth’s number. She only ever fixated on those last two digits, 89—and even those she couldn’t quite recall.
Perhaps waiting until morning was her only option.
Lingering there, she risked being spotted by someone else on the floor.
She rode the staff elevator down first.
In no mood to return to the dorm, she headed to the beach instead. She watched the night sky shift from inky dark blue to hints of purple.
The hues of early dawn were always so magnificent—like the color of Gwyneth’s eyes in certain lights.
Afraid the hotel would soon stir with activity, she seized the last veil of night for cover and rode the staff elevator up once more.
Gwyneth had a habit of rising early. With time for makeup besides, she should surely be awake by now.
Meng Ning knocked again. Still no answer.
Was Gwyneth not in her room? Where could she be?
With no choice, Meng Ning went back downstairs. She killed some time before heading to the staff cafeteria.
Gwyneth was always at the center of every conversation. Perhaps she could pick up some scrap of news.
Ju Mengya looked surprised to see her. “Meng Ning? Aren’t you and Qi Xiao off today?”
“Yes, something came up.” Meng Ning sat down across from her with her tray.
They exchanged some small talk. Then, as if offhand, Meng Ning asked, “I hear Gwyneth left the island today?”
“I think so.” Ju Mengya nodded.
Just then, Alexis walked into the cafeteria.
Ever since the management and staff dining areas had merged, Gwyneth spent most breakfasts deep in work discussions. Alexis couldn’t join her at the table, but with her outgoing personality, she never lacked for company.
She and Ju Mengya had once played beach volleyball together, for one thing. Now Alexis smiled and pulled up a chair, greeting them before turning to Meng Ning. “All sorted with your errand?”
“Not yet.”
Mid-conversation, Alexis’s phone rang.
It must have been her mother or some close elder. Alexis recounted her previous day’s plans, her tone laced with a touch of coquettish reproach. “No clue why Gwyneth was so swamped. She switched her schedule and left a day early—didn’t even come shopping with me.”
Meng Ning kept her eyes on her plate, her fork scraping away the cream atop her waffle.
When Alexis ended the call, Meng Ning glanced across at Ju Mengya. She showed no signs of prying for gossip.
Meng Ning parted her lips, then closed them again.
In the end, she still asked, “Gwyneth left yesterday?” She could hear the laughter in her own voice.
“Yes.” Alexis retained a hint of petulance. “She had a ticket for today, but she said there was some emergency yesterday. Ended up taking a private jet out.”
“Yesterday,” Meng Ning pressed on, her voice still light with amusement, “what time?”
She was prying too much.
Meng Ning wasn’t the type to gossip. Ju Mengya had to sense something was off.
Alexis replied, “Morning. She left bright and early.”
“Cara?”
A front desk colleague approached.
Meng Ning’s mind felt foggy just then. She looked up, her smile hanging on by reflex—like a mask she couldn’t peel away.
“Aren’t you off today?” the colleague asked. “How’d you make it back to the island?”
“Had to handle something.” Meng Ning heard her own voice reply with that same smile.
“Gwyneth left something for you. To thank you for all your cooperation lately.”
In that instant, both Ju Mengya and Alexis turned to her.
Meng Ning thought: Should she come up with some excuse to make this sound normal?
But her thoughts were a jumble, her mind refusing to work properly. Alexis laughed. “Who knew she had more warmth than I gave her credit for.”
Of course. Meng Ning didn’t need to make excuses for Gwyneth. Everyone else would do it for her.
Meng Ning tilted her face into a smile. “She’s too kind.”
It was as if her soul had floated up into the air, letting her see her own features clearly: the slight arch of her brows, the upward curve of her lips, even the perfectly measured wrinkle gathering at the bridge of her nose.
“I’ve got the morning shift,” the colleague said. “Swing by the desk when you’re free.” With that, she turned and left.
Meng Ning smiled at Alexis and Ju Mengya. Breakfast resumed as if nothing had happened.
Afterward, she slipped into the restroom and used some mouthwash before slowly making her way to the main hotel building.
At the front desk, she found the colleague, who handed her an envelope with a smile.
Meng Ning waited until she had left the desk to open it. Inside was a room card—the very one she had left on the low table in Gwyneth’s room.
She took the staff elevator upstairs.
It felt strangely off-putting. For the first time, she walked this corridor beneath the full light of dawn. And yet it always stayed dim, the long-pile carpet and carved wall sconces casting intimate shadows—like an eternal twilight, the setting for the most exquisite dream.
Meng Ning touched the room card to the electronic lock. Beep. The door slid open.
She stepped inside.
