1.
The metal gate of the Liverpool police station screeched open as Kai Williams strode out of custody with the same elegance he wore to charity galas. His camel-colored trench coat flared in the wind, and his blonde hair was perfectly slicked back. The gray-blue eyes that once charmed the media now shimmered with something sharper under the sun—like ice cracking beneath a thin surface.
A lawyer hurried after him, holding out a pair of sunglasses. "The bail's been processed, Mr. Williams. The court orders you to remain at least 500 meters away from Mr. Ryan Li and Ms. Emily Chen."
"Naturally. I'm always a law-abiding citizen," Kai replied lazily, slipping on the sunglasses. His gaze, however, was fixed across the street—on a black car idling by the curb, its window cracked just enough to reveal Lucas Li's stone-carved profile.
Kai raised his hand in a mock gun gesture, mouthing silently, Bang.
The engine roared. The black car peeled out, tires screeching, disappearing around the corner.
Kai's smirk deepened.
From his pocket, he retrieved his phone and opened a folder of candid snapshots. His finger hovered over one photo—Emily Chen, walking alone, unaware of the lens that had framed her.
"The game's just begun, my dear Emily.
2.
Emily folded the last shirt into her suitcase, the soft Oxford morning light scattering in delicate patterns across the wooden floor. The moment between them three days ago—so close, so unfinished—lingered like a dream. After Lucas had barged in with that "urgent situation," no one had brought it up again. Ryan grew more restrained, yet the longing in his gaze only burned deeper.
Her phone buzzed. An email from the department head:"For your safety, we advise against returning to campus. Since Williams made bail, suspicious individuals have been spotted near the gates."
Her grip tightened around the phone, knuckles whitening. Kai's shadow trailed her like smoke—tainting even the sanctity of academia.
A knock at the doorway. Ryan leaned against the frame, dressed in a dark gray turtleneck that accentuated the sharp angles of his face. The cast was gone now, replaced by a sleek black brace on his wrist.
"Lucas arranged a private flight," he said, voice low. "We can head straight to Kuala Lumpur. Once you're safe—"
"I'm not leaving," Emily cut in, snapping her suitcase shut. "I can't run forever."
Ryan stepped closer, his scent—faint cedarwood—wrapping around her like fog. "At least let's change locations. I've got a place in Scotland—"
"Ryan." She turned to face him. The dark circles under his eyes stood out starkly. "What are you so afraid of?"
His throat bobbed. His fingers drifted absently to his brace. "Kai isn't just some deranged ex. If his father can pull strings for bail, he can bury evidence too." Shadows flickered in his amber eyes. "After Lin Yue died, he once…"
A knock cut him off. The butler appeared, holding a cream envelope sealed with golden wax—the Williams family crest. Ryan stiffened instantly, predator-sharp.
"Don't open it," he said quickly, reaching out.
But Emily had already broken the seal. A single photograph slid into her hand—Lin Yue's broken body in a pool of blood, Ryan on his knees, cradling her lifeless form.
On the back, scrawled in blood-red ink:"Ask him about the truth. Ask about those ten minutes. I'll be waiting where it all began—your dear cousin."
The air turned to glass. Ryan lunged for the photo, knocking over a crystal vase. It shattered against the hardwood like the sound of a soul splintering.
"It's fake!" he choked. "I wasn't even—"
"Enough." Emily tore the photo to shreds. "I'm not falling for Kai's bait. But I do care that you keep hiding things from me."
She grabbed her coat and headed for the door.
Ryan caught her wrist, grip like steel. "You can't go out alone!"
"Let go!" she snapped, jerking back—and in the struggle, her elbow struck the hall mirror. The glass shattered, their reflections splintering into warped, jagged fragments.
Suddenly, Ryan pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. "I'm sorry… but I can't risk it." His breath was hot against her ear. "Kai's waiting at the Liverpool docks. That's where he first met Lin Yue. The man's unhinged—"
Emily froze. "How do you know?"
Silence. Ryan's jaw tensed.
"…He messaged me," he admitted at last, voice hollow. "Said if I let you go, he'd tell me where the missing surveillance footage is."
A chill crawled up her spine. It wasn't just manipulation—it was a game of psychological warfare. Kai was testing Ryan's limits. Using Lin Yue as a scalpel to cut them both open.
"I'm not going," she said quietly. "But you need to tell me—what happened in those ten minutes?"
Before he could answer, Ryan's phone blared with an alarm. The security system's alert popped up: "Perimeter breach detected: Zone B."The surveillance screen blinked—there he was.
A blonde figure, walking casually through the garden.
3.
Kai's fingers brushed across the grand piano in the dining room, letting random notes fall in disarray. He hummed Für Elise, his gray-blue eyes scanning the wall adorned with photographs—wedding shots of Ryan and Emily, snapshots from Oxford, honeymoon moments in Venice... Finally, he stopped before the fireplace, nudging half-burnt scraps of paper with the tip of his shoe.
"Burned the diary? What a shame," he murmured, picking up a charred fragment and holding it to the light. "Those tortured words were beautiful, like the way she fell—graceful, almost poetic."
"Get out."
Ryan's voice thundered from the doorway, low and dangerous.
Kai turned slowly, flashing a brilliant smile. "Long time no see, darling ex." His gaze flicked over Ryan's shoulder to Emily, and he winked. "You look especially lovely today, cousin."
Emily froze. Her blood turned to ice. He knew. He knew everything—about the jade bracelet, Qingxi Town, the aunt she had never met.
Ryan lunged at Kai, landing a brutal punch that sent him crashing into the piano. The keys exploded with discordant noise as Kai's lip split, blood smearing his teeth—yet he laughed, delighted.
"Violence won't fix anything, sweetheart," Kai licked the blood from his lip. "Especially when you're the real culprit."
Ryan's second punch hovered midair.
"Ah, she hasn't told you?" Kai turned to Emily, eyes gleaming with cruelty. "About your dear little secret—how Lin Yue was your cousin? How your poor aunt, Lin Yue's mother, lost her mind after the tragedy and now rots away in a mental institution in Qingxi?"
Emily staggered back, gripping the doorframe for support, nails digging into the wood. The aunt her mother had never spoken of—unfolding now like a nightmare.
Ryan looked as if he'd been hit again, harder this time. "Emily… is that true?"
Kai seized the moment to straighten himself, brushing his collar. "Let me guess—Ryan told you he 'arrived ten minutes late'? Then you should see this." He pulled out his phone and played a grainy video: security footage of someone resembling Ryan hurrying out the back stairs just before Lin Yue's fall. "What a coincidence. Ten minutes—just enough time to slip away."
"It's fake!" Ryan shouted, but the tremble in his voice betrayed him.
Kai strolled up to Emily, his breath warm and menacing. "Want the full truth? Tomorrow. 3 p.m. At the docks. Bring the jade bracelet—it belonged to Lin Yue."
A flash of silver. Ryan had grabbed the iron poker from the fireplace, jamming it against Kai's throat. "Take one more step near her, and your daddy's power won't be enough to save your corpse."
Unfazed, Kai calmly took a photo of the moment. "Such a headline—'Heir to the Li Empire Threatens with Weapon.'" He leaned in, whispering just loud enough for them both to hear. "You know what's funniest? The girl you're protecting so desperately… she shares Lin Yue's blood. Every time you kiss her, do you wonder—"
Clang. The iron poker hit the ground.
Ryan's fists trembled at his sides, but he didn't swing again.
Kai laughed, sauntering toward the door, his trench coat trailing behind him. As he passed Emily, he brushed her leg with the hem. "Think carefully, cousin. Trust the man who hides the truth—or come uncover your sister's death for yourself."
4.
Dusk draped itself over the study. Emily stood by the window, clutching the jade bracelet in her hand. Behind her, Ryan sat motionless, his eyes bloodshot from watching the same grainy video on loop—Kai's poisonous gift.
"That wasn't me," he finally rasped, his voice hollow. "But I... I did lie."
Emily turned around. He looked sunken into the shadows, like a statue on the verge of collapse.
"That day, I arrived earlier than I told you. I ran into Lin Yue's roommate downstairs, and we got to talking. I was delayed a few minutes." He closed his eyes in pain. "If I had just gone up… if I hadn't wasted those minutes…"
Emily stepped forward and placed the jade bracelet gently on the desk, in front of the screen.
"I believe you."
Ryan's head jerked up, his eyes storming with disbelief.
"But not because of evidence," Emily continued. She cupped his face, forcing him to meet her gaze. "I believe you because of who I've come to know over the past two months. Ryan Li—the man who waited six hours in the rain for a stray cat—couldn't have stood by while someone fell."
Her thumb brushed a tear from the corner of his eye. "You're flawed, stubborn, secretive... but you're not cruel."
Ryan's breathing hitched. He covered her hands with his own, burning with warmth. "You don't understand… Kai might still have other—"
"Then we face it together." She cut him off firmly. "We're going to the docks tomorrow. But not for his threats."
From her bag, she pulled out a small recording device.
"For closure."
The fire in the hearth crackled, casting flickering shadows across the walls. Their silhouettes merged on the old wallpaper—tangled, inseparable.
Ryan pulled her into his arms, holding her like something precious on the verge of breaking. He pressed a trembling kiss to her hairline.
"I swear… I won't let anyone hurt you again."
Outside, the waves of Liverpool's port battered the coastline, savage and unrelenting. But inside, in that fractured but warm embrace, Emily felt something stronger than fear—not the defiance of standing alone, but the quiet bravery of standing together.
Tomorrow would bring the storm.
But tonight, they chose each other.