The café's golden light had no right to feel this magical.
Luong had chosen the dress carefully—soft ivory silk that caught the sun like a whisper, hair loose for the first time in years. She looked like the artist she'd once dreamed of being, not the CEO she'd become.
And when Yin walked in, his sharp inhale was the only compliment she needed.
**"Did you arrive early?"** He slid into the seat opposite her, eyes tracing the way sunlight gilded her collarbone.
**"Just now,"** she lied. *(She'd been here for thirty-seven minutes, rehearsing how to breathe normally.)*
**The Almost-Accident**
For two hours, they talked—really talked. No corporate masks. No power plays. Just Yin's laugh rumbling low when she teased him, the way his thumb absently stroked the rim of his coffee cup.
Then, the unthinkable.
Crossing the street, Luong barely registered the screech of tires. But Yin did.
**"LUONG!"**
His body slammed into hers, wrenching her backward as a black sedan barreled past, missing them by inches. The world tilted—her knees hit concrete, Yin's arms locked around her—and suddenly she was nine years old again, watching her mother's car flip end-over-end in the rain—
**The Hospital Revelation**
White walls. Beeping machines. The scent of antiseptic.
**"Classic PTSD episode,"** the doctor murmured to Yin outside her room. **"Her mother's accident left psychological scars. This triggered them."**
Inside, Luong stared at her trembling hands. She hadn't lost control like that in a decade.
Then the door creaked open.
Yin stood there, his usual composure shattered. **"Who the hell is Chen Ying?"** he demanded, holding up her phone—where Li Shiyi's text glared on-screen:
**>> It was Chen Ying. The 'accident' was a warning. We strike back tonight.**
Luong's blood turned to ice.
Chen Ying—her father's rival, the man who'd tried to sabotage Trade Sprint for years. The man who'd *just proven he'd kill to finish the job.*
She opened her mouth to lie, to deflect—
But Yin stepped closer, his voice a blade.
**"Tell me the truth. Or I walk away forever."**