Chapter 14
The square grid of Minesweeper appeared on the screen. Unable to find a safe spot, Lin Qianqian randomly clicked on a tile.
Boom. Game over.
Lin Qianqian sighed. Less than ten minutes had passed.
Hearing a noise at the door, she looked up. “Sister!”
Realizing it wasn’t Lu Yin, she quickly closed Minesweeper and sat up straight.
“You’re Lu Yin’s sister,” Yu Miao observed, studying her.
Lin Qianqian nodded, trying to appear innocent.
The woman before her was well-preserved. Old enough to be called “Auntie,” but Lin Qianqian felt inclined to call her “Sister.”
“I know you,” Yu Miao said with certainty.
“Really?” Lin Qianqian replied politely.
“Of course. I was a good friend of Lu Sui’s,” Yu Miao smiled.
Lin Qianqian’s smile vanished. She shifted uncomfortably, her expression stiffening.
Lu Sui. Lu Yin’s deceased mother.
“Why are you so nervous?” Yu Miao chuckled. “I just mentioned someone you might know, trying to make conversation.”
Lin Qianqian didn’t believe her. She sensed a coldness in Yu Miao’s eyes.
She and Lin Yun had arrived after Lu Sui’s death. Although they had never met, they were family, and the circumstances of Lu Sui’s death were known to everyone.
Lin Qianqian didn’t want to revisit those painful memories, especially not with someone who might use them against her and Lu Yin—
Even though Lu Sui’s death had nothing to do with them.
She discreetly reached for her phone, wanting to ask Lu Yin when she would be back.
“Xiao Lu is in a meeting, discussing the filming,” Yu Miao said, seeing right through her.
Lin Qianqian hadn’t expected to fool her. She stubbornly typed a message to Lu Yin.
Before she could finish, Lu Yin entered.
“Yu Jie, they’re waiting for you.”
“I’ll be right there,” Yu Miao replied with a smile.
“Lin Qian is my sister. I’ll take care of her,” Lu Yin said, addressing Yu Miao’s retreating figure.
Yu Miao stopped, turned around, shrugged dismissively, and left.
Lu Yin glanced at Lin Qianqian’s expression and guessed what Yu Miao had said.
She pulled up a chair and sat beside her, resting her arm on the desk. “It’s almost ten.”
Lin Qianqian didn’t reply, turning her head away.
“Did you play Minesweeper?” Lu Yin asked.
She clicked on the “Recently Opened” menu. “Did you win?”
Seeing the game history, Lu Yin raised an eyebrow. “It doesn’t look like you enjoyed yourself.”
Lin Qianqian said stubbornly, “I don’t want to stay here. I don’t want to come back.”
Lu Yin sighed, checking the time. Twenty-five minutes until ten. “Can you wait a little longer?”
“No,” Lin Qianqian stood up. “I’m taking the subway home. You can finish your duty.”
“I’ll let them know and then we’ll go home together,” Lu Yin said, walking towards her. “Surely you can wait two minutes?”
Lin Qianqian didn’t reply, leaning against the wall outside the office, staring at her feet.
She watched Lu Yin’s shadow lengthen and disappear before looking up in the direction Lu Yin had gone.
Lu Yin was being unusually patient tonight, but Lin Qianqian wondered how long it would last.
Lu Yin’s moods seemed unpredictable. She had been cold and distant during the filming, and now she was being kind and considerate.
Lu Yin returned quickly. Lin Qianqian’s mood improved slightly as they drove home.
Still wearing Lu Yin’s jacket, she snuggled into the seat, adjusting to a comfortable position.
Lu Yin glanced at her. “We can have cold noodles when we get back.”
“I’m not hungry,” Lin Qianqian pulled a blanket over herself, turning her head towards the window.
She was still upset, but not because of Lu Yin.
She didn’t know what to do. She would take things one step at a time. If Lu Yin didn’t explicitly reject her, she would stay.
But hearing that name in the office, so unexpectedly, had brought back unpleasant memories.
She didn’t even want to remember their arguments, let alone anything else.
Her mind was a mess. She pushed the thoughts away.
The drive home was long. She decided to take a nap.
Silence filled the car. Their conversations were always brief and awkward.
Lu Yin drove with a neutral expression. She knew herself too well.
She could have continued to be cold and distant towards Lin Qianqian, sticking to her plan.
But seeing Lin Qianqian talking to her boss, even knowing it was purely professional, had filled her with a possessive rage.
She took another pill, the kind Zhong Shiwu had forbidden her to take.
It was a tranquilizer, the kind Zhong Shiwu had forced her to take when they first met, when she couldn’t control her emotions.
She had improved since then. The tranquilizers were too strong, and Zhong Shiwu had taken her off them, prescribing only sleeping pills.
Even with her improved mental state, she could still feel the familiar pull of those dark impulses.
She wanted to take Lin Qianqian home and turn her into a specimen, mounted on the half-undressed painting.
That way, she could keep her forever, just like in her countless nightmares, touching her skin, silencing her screams, controlling her breath, until she lost consciousness.
Losing her humanity didn’t matter.
She didn’t have much left anyway.
As long as Lin Qianqian existed only in her fantasies, she could maintain a semblance of hope, however impossible.
But seeing her again, the stench of the past had returned, clinging to her like a shroud.
She wanted to taint her, drag her down into the darkness with her.
She had the means to keep Lin Qianqian captive, to prevent her from working, from interacting with other women, even for polite conversation, even for a polite smile.
Lu Yin stared at the red light, its brightness searing her eyes.
She glanced at the sleeping girl in the passenger seat, curled up in a small ball, her appearance peaceful and innocent.
Like a pure and naive deer, unaware of the danger lurking nearby.
Or perhaps, she felt safe because she was with someone she trusted.
The light turned green. Lu Yin started driving again.
If she couldn’t have her, she would destroy her.
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