Over the following days, I wove a web of flirtation with Lin Xuyan on WeChat like the most patient hunter. His claim that he'd completely severed ties with Zhou Yuqing? Not a word of it rang true. He was undoubtedly still in contact with her. Yet a person's energy is finite. With Lin Xuyan now pouring all his fervor into me, his neglect of Zhou Yuqing must be painfully obvious. I waited patiently for that viper to finally lose control and bare her fangs.
Today, I met him at a secluded private restaurant. He'd dressed deliberately well, his gaze lingering greasily on my face. Suppressing the churning in my stomach, I offered a sweet, charming smile, playing the part of a woman moved by his "deep remorse"—one with a touch of pettiness yet easily softened.
We were chatting happily when suddenly, his phone screen lit up. He unlocked it swiftly for a glance. That single glance drained the color from his face. His knuckles turned white where he gripped his chopsticks, and raw panic flooded his eyes before he could mask it.
My heart lurched, but I painted on a look of perfect concern. "Xuyan? What's wrong? You look awful." I reached out, as if casually, to touch the back of his hand.
He jerked away as if scalded, the sudden movement nearly overturning the soup bowl before him. "N-nothing!" His voice held a barely perceptible tremor, his eyes darting away in panic. "Work… an emergency at work! Nan Zhi, I'm so sorry, I have to go right now!"
He didn't even bother wiping any possible grease from his mouth. Snatching his suit jacket from the chair back, he practically bolted out, leaving without a proper goodbye, only a frantic, receding silhouette.
Soft music flowed through the restaurant. The exquisite dishes on the table still steamed. I picked up my teacup and took a slow, deliberate sip.
An emergency? Hah.
I set the cup down. Beneath the table, my fingertips lightly traced the edge of my phone. Lin Xuyan, who do you think your panic fools?
He never knew. When he'd been so eager to carry my bag, that seemingly accidental "bump" had planted a button-sized listening device, firmly adhered to an inconspicuous corner inside his briefcase.
Back in my car, I took a deep breath. From the hidden compartment of my makeup bag, I retrieved a matchbox-sized receiver and a pair of tiny in-ear headphones.
Connect. Tune. Static hissed in my ears, followed by the roar of a car engine and tires screeching on pavement. Lin Xuyan was driving, his breathing ragged, clearly in extreme distress.
Soon, the car stopped. Sounds of doors opening and slamming shut. Hurried footsteps. The scrape of a key in a lock, then the violent wrenching open of a door.
BANG! A crash echoed—the door slammed shut with brutal force.
Then, a shrill female voice, laced with hysterical fury, pierced through the headphones, stabbing into my eardrums:
"Lin Xuyan! Can't keep your eyes off the other woman while you're eating from this bowl, huh? Lost your damn mind over that bitch Nan Zhi?!"
Zhou Yuqing! So it was her message that had terrified him. But what on earth had it said?
Lin Xuyan's voice was tight with suppressed rage and a thread of unmistakable fear: "Zhou Yuqing! Have you gone fucking crazy?! What do you want?!"
What do I want?" Zhou Yuqing let out a sharp, grating laugh, like nails on glass. "Lin Xuyan, did you really think I, Zhou Yuqing, was a fool for you to play with, someone you could summon and dismiss at will?! Using that idiot Su Xiaoran to cheat her out of her money to pave the way for your career, and later designing that 'accident' to shut her up for good and take her fortune—did you honestly believe that scheme was flawless?!"
My heart stopped dead in my chest.
Designed that "accident"?
An icy chill shot from my feet, freezing my blood solid. That car crash in my past life… the one that took my child, ruined my face, and ultimately ended my life… it wasn't an accident?!
Zhou Yuqing's voice, like a venom-dipped dagger, carved into me. "Lin Xuyan, I know exactly what kind of trash you are! You climbed up using women, you got rich using women! Now you think you can just shake me off? Not a chance!"
Scuffling sounds and the crash of objects came through the headphones, mixed with Lin Xuyan's furious roar: "Zhou Yuqing! You lunatic! So you've been secretly investigating me all along? I truly misjudged you, thinking you actually loved me. How could you do this to me?!"
Zhou Yuqing's voice was twisted, deranged. "Lin Xuyan! Either crawl back to me obediently and get rid of Nan Zhi for good! Or… I'll leak everything! Those photos, the bank records, all the evidence of your collusion with those Huaxin parasites! I'll have you on the front page! I'll see you behind bars! Let's see if that Nan Zhi still wants her 'devoted' murderer then!"
A shock ran through me. So Zhou Yuqing held evidence that crucial? If I could get my hands on it… Lin Xuyan would be utterly destroyed.