Lu Zeyan's Office – Earlier That Morning
Lin Shuyin took a small step closer, and damn, she was good at this.
Her jade eyes went all misty with tears that caught the sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows just right, making her look like some tragic heroine straight out of a period drama. The kind of character audiences fell in love with, the kind they'd defend to their dying breath.
When she spoke, her voice was soft and broken, like glass that had shattered and someone had carefully glued the pieces back together, but you could still see all the cracks, still feel the fragility of it.
"They took everything from me, Zeyan." The words trembled out of her, each syllable carrying the weight of a few weeks' worth of suffering. "My name, my reputation, my freedom... my future."
She paused, letting that sink in, letting the silence stretch just long enough to be meaningful.
