Su Nian's phone buzzed just after dinner.
Unknown number.
She stared at it for a second, already knowing.
The Su family never called her unless they wanted something.
She answered. "Yes?"
A familiar voice purred through the line—sweet, light, and full of poison.
"Big sister."
Su Wan.
Su Nian closed her eyes briefly. "What do you want?"
"Must you always sound like I'm ruining your day?" Su Wan sighed theatrically. "You're so sensitive."
Su Nian didn't respond.
Su Wan continued, "Father heard you didn't come home."
Su Nian waited.
"And then," Su Wan added with a giggle, "he heard you went to the Duan family."
Su Nian's fingers tightened around the phone. The Duan estate felt sealed off from the city, protected by walls and influence, but information always seeped through the cracks. Especially in elite circles where gossip was currency.
"How did you hear?" Su Nian asked.
Su Wan's laugh was bright. "Oh, sister, you underestimate how much people enjoy talking about you. The Su family's unlucky daughter suddenly becomes the Duan heir's personal doctor? It's adorable. Like a stray cat wandering into a tiger's den."
Su Nian exhaled slowly. "If you're calling to mock me, stop wasting my time."
"I'm calling," Su Wan said, voice sweetening further, "to help you."
Su Nian almost laughed. "You don't help people."
There was a pause—so brief it might've been imagined—before Su Wan replied, still cheerful. "Of course I do. I help myself, and sometimes other people benefit by accident."
At least she was honest.
Su Nian walked toward the window, staring out at the Duan estate's garden lights glowing softly in the dark.
"What do you want?" she repeated.
Su Wan sighed as if the world burdened her. "Father says you should come home."
"No."
Su Wan's voice sharpened slightly. "Sister. Don't be childish."
Su Nian's calm cracked just a fraction. "Childish? You threw my school awards away because you said they attracted envy. You told servants to lock the pantry so I'd 'learn humility.' You watched Father sign papers disowning me and smiled. Don't call me childish."
Silence. Then Su Wan chuckled softly. "You remember everything."
"I remember enough."
Su Wan's tone turned light again, but colder underneath. "Then you remember what happens when you don't obey. Father will be angry."
Su Nian's mouth tightened. "Father's anger never mattered when he aimed it at me."
Su Wan sighed again—performative. "Fine. Then let me be clear. You're not wanted in the Duan family. You will embarrass them. And when you fall, you'll drag the Su family down with you."
Su Nian laughed once, quiet. "You're worried about the Su family's reputation now?"
Su Wan's voice turned syrupy. "Always. We have standards."
"And I'm not part of them," Su Nian said. "So my fall won't touch you."
"Oh, sister," Su Wan murmured, almost affectionate. "You still don't understand. Your existence touches us whether we like it or not."
A chill crawled up Su Nian's spine.
"What did you do?" she asked.
Su Wan giggled. "Nothing. Yet."
Then she added, "By the way, I heard the Duan heir's leg moved today."
Su Nian's grip tightened. "Who told you that?"
"The same people who tell us everything," Su Wan sang. "Rich people love talking, sister. It's their hobby. Money, power, and other people's tragedies."
Su Nian's gaze sharpened. "Why are you interested in his leg?"
Su Wan hummed. "Because if he recovers, certain people will be unhappy. And when powerful people are unhappy, accidents happen."
Su Nian's breath slowed. "Are you threatening him?"
Su Wan laughed, amused. "Me? Threaten the Duan family? Sister, don't be ridiculous."
Then she softened her voice, almost kind. "I'm warning you. Leave before you get involved. Come home. Father might forgive you. If you behave."
The old trap—return to the cage and call it mercy.
Su Nian looked out at the estate again.
The Duan family was dangerous.
But at least they didn't pretend their danger was love.
"I'm not coming back," she said.
Su Wan's sweetness finally slipped, revealing something sharp. "Then don't blame us when you regret it."
The line went dead.
Su Nian stared at her phone for a moment longer than necessary, listening to the silence.
Then she turned—only to find Dr. Fang standing in the hallway, holding a glass of water like a peace offering and looking like he'd accidentally walked into a battlefield.
"Oh," he said awkwardly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to— I was just— your room is this way and I got lost."
Su Nian raised an eyebrow. "In your own employer's house?"
Dr. Fang looked offended. "This place has hallways with opinions."
Su Nian blinked. Then, despite herself, she let out a small laugh.
Dr. Fang brightened, as if he'd just been rewarded with survival. "That laugh—good. You should do it more. It makes you look less like you're about to poison someone."
Su Nian's smile faded slightly. "I'm not going to poison anyone."
Dr. Fang nodded solemnly. "Right. You'll just remove black qi with needles and doom all of us to existential questions."
Su Nian looked at him. "Why are you here, Dr. Fang?"
His face sobered. "Young Master asked me to keep an eye on the estate tonight."
She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
Dr. Fang hesitated, then whispered, "Because the security system glitched earlier. And because… some of the staff reported seeing someone they didn't recognize."
Su Nian's pulse quickened.
The black qi wasn't just in Yichen.
It was moving through the estate.
Dr. Fang swallowed. "Also, he told me to give you this."
He handed her a small card.
On it was a single sentence in Duan Yichen's handwriting:
If your family bites, I bite back. Tell me everything.
Su Nian stared at the card.
Then, for the first time, she wondered if trusting him might be more dangerous than fearing him.