Page 15

June

I opened my mouth, then closed it again. I repeated the motion a few times, feeling like a sore loser—a wreck, a coward.

Dannie stood there, arms crossed over his chest, waiting for an answer. His gaze pinned me in place, patient but expectant.

What was I really here for?

The simple answer was for a fake document—something, anything that would allow me to enter to China. That’s what I thought, at least until I saw his scar. Now, I wanted to know more.

His sleeves were rolled up, exposing the length of the jagged scar. A large, rough line stretched vertically down his arm—an ugly, raised caterpillar. The stitches were clumsy, and uneven. Someone inexperienced had done it—and they’d done it in a hurry.

I shouldn’t have cared. But when he held me up earlier, I felt an irrational urge to fall into his arms—to sink into the familiar warmth of his embrace. The scent of him, clean and sharp with a hint of spice, was intoxicating. It called to me like a siren’s song.

“I really do need those travel documents,” I said, trying to steady my voice.

He laughed, low and bitter, shaking his head. Not a single strand of his perfectly styled hair moved.

“You know it’s illegal, right?”

“Yes, so?” The good girl inside me flinched at the thought of doing something criminal—but what choice did I have? “Are you going to help me or not?”

His jaw tightened.

“Who is he? The guy you’re so desperate to see?” He turned back to the oven, brushing off the question like it didn’t matter—but I knew it did.

“He’s a friend,” I said, though even to my own ears, it didn’t sound convincing.

The moment he opened the oven door, the rich, buttery scent of cookies flooded the room. My stomach growled in response—either the cookies were incredible, or I was hungrier than I realized.

“Don’t lie to me.” He dropped the baking tray onto the counter with a loud clang. “I know Kai Li is rich, but he wouldn’t go above and beyond to impress a girl at a gala. What did he pay for a handful of dates?”

“How did you know that?”

“My guy, remember?”

I nodded. Of course. Ever since Kai entered my life, I’d been exposed to all kinds of surveillance and stalking. Privacy? That was a distant memory.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Well,” he drawled, his voice tight and dry.

“If only I knew you could be bought with money…” He cleared his throat with a rough cough before continuing, “I could’ve easily paid you that ten years ago.”

His words struck like a slap. I picked up my phone, staring blankly at the screen, willing myself to come up with a venomous comeback. But nothing came. A few messages from Link flashed across the display, but now wasn’t the time to deal with him.

“The money was for charity,” I said, hating the defensiveness in my tone.

“How noble of you.” His sarcasm cut deep. “You must really care about that charity of yours. So much so that you fucked him right there as a token of appreciation, huh?”

His face flushed an angry shade of tomato red, and the vein at his temple budged with tension.

“How could you spy on me like that?”

He let out a bitter laugh. “Why do it in public if you didn’t want anyone to see?”

I paced back and forth across his kitchen, my heartbeat thudding in my ears.

“I think I even have a video,” he added, pulling his phone from his pocket and waving it at me. A triumphant, twisted smile spread across his face.

“You’re disgusting,” I spat, my stomach in knots.

“Who is disgusting? Me?” He raised a brow, his tone mockingly innocent.

Tears blurred my vision and spilled down my cheeks before I could stop them. I didn’t know what hurt more—the fact that he had spied on me, or that he owned a copy of what I had done. Maybe they were the same thing.

I did like him. And judging by the ache in my chest, I still did—at least, part of me. But it burned knowing that he had witnessed the wildest, rawest side of me. I wasn’t the perfect, innocent girl he had once dated.

“Hey, hey, hey…” He closed the space between us. Before I could react, I was wrapped in his arms again. “You want a cookie? They’re really nice.”

“They do smell lovely.”

Just like that, I was no longer in his arms. Instead, I found myself sitting at his sleek new marble table, a plate of cookies placed in front of me as if nothing had happened. Classic Dannie—disarming me with a small gestures while keeping his true intentions hidden.

“Listen, June, I didn’t mean to do all that to you.”

“Oh yeah?” Without hesitation, I grabbed a cookie and took a big bite. For all I knew, they could be poisoned—but that didn’t seem like his style.

No, Dannie liked to be up close. He preferred to feel the life drain from his enemies, to watch them struggle for air and choke on their own saliva. The memory of him explaining why it was more “honorable” than poison sent a shiver down my spine.

“Lavender?” I asked, trying to identify the delicate floral note lingering on my tongue.

“Yes,” he confirmed, leaning back casually. “What else can you taste?”

I chewed slowly, trying to place the underlying sweetness. “Hmm… dates?”

The flavor was rich and complex, nothing like the artificial sugar rush of store-bought cookies. “Did you use some kind of sweetener?”

“No sugar. Just monk fruit.”

“Right.” I nodded, more to myself. “I’ve heard of monk fruit sweetener before, but I didn’t know you could bake with it.”

And just like that, we fell into an easy rhythm—chit-chatting as if the last ten seconds of anger, of accusations, had never happened. That was the thing about Dannie. He always knew how to smooth over the rough edges, how to make me forget my troubles—even when he was one of them.

“When you left…” he slid his hand over mine, warm and steady. With his other hand, he offered me another cookie. “I was worried. Then I was angry. Not at you—at myself. I kept wondering what I did wrong.”

“You weren’t mad at me?” I asked, my words softer than I intended.

“Not at first.” His lips curled into a crooked smile—the kind that always made me weak in the knees.

“It was understandable if you were angry. I was angry at myself for a long time.” For getting into a marriage that became more real than I ever intended. For leaving him behind without a word.

And suddenly, I understood—when Kai left me, it wasn’t just him I was mad at. I was angry at myself. Karma really did come full circle.

“Everywhere I went, people kept asking where my wife was,” he said. “At first, I made up lies. Then I just… stopped talking about you altogether.”

“And you never saw anyone after that?” I asked, trying to sound casual, though my pulse quickened.

“I did. I had to.”

“You had to?” I raised a brow. “Someone holding a gun to your head?”

He smirked but didn’t laugh.

“One—to stop people from asking about my wife, thanks to you. Two—to shut down the rumors that I was gay. And,” his voice dipped lower, rougher, “I have needs.”

I cleared my throat, willing my expression to stay neutral. “At least you’re honest.”

He leaned back against the chair, studying me like he was trying to figure out how much of this I could take. “What kind of lies did you tell people about me?”

He shook his head. “Nothing bad.”

“I don’t believe you.” I pulled my hand from under his and started dismantling the cookie he gave me, breaking it apart piece by piece. “What did you tell them? And what did they say about… us?”

His lips curved into a smile—gentle, unguarded. The kind only a few people ever got to see. And once, I’d been one of those people.

“I would never talk bad about you. Ever.” There was something else beneath his words. “But… I did tell a few harmless silly lies. Really silly ones.”

“Tell me.” I nudged, curiosity winning over pride.

He watched me for a beat longer before giving in. “At first, I told people you were in Paris on a shopping trip.”

I laughed softly, shaking my head. “Not the worst excuse. I wouldn’t mind a romantic getaway to Paris.”

“Yeah, well, that backfired fast,” he admitted, running a hand through his hair. “Everyone wanted to know why I wasn’t with you. Paris is a honeymoon destination, after all. According to them, I was a terrible husband for not tagging along.”

“They had a point.” I popped a piece of a cookie in my mouth, savoring the sweetness. “So…what did you say to that?”

“Business, of course. No one dares ask another questions when a triad boss says he has business to deal handle.” He air-quoted the second ‘business’ with a smirk.

It would be foolish to think people hadn’t gossiped about us.

People gossip. In Hong Kong, entire magazines were dedicated to exposing every scandal.

Who was dating who? Who was screwing who?

Who was climbing the social ladder—by any means necessary?

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know what they said about me. People could be cruel.

“S’pose,” I murmured, my fingers tracing the edge of the cookies. “Where else did I go?”

Though I’d earned enough as a doctor to retire early, I had never really traveled. Work trips, yes—but never leisure. Not since Hong Kong.

“Singapore. China. Back to the US to finish your studies. Then… I stopped talking about you…” His voice dipped at the end, like the words carried a weight even he hadn’t fully let go of.

“Funny you mentioned China—I didn’t actually have a visa to go there.”

“About that,” he said easily. “I know someone in the embassy. They could fast-track your visa if you wanted.”

“Really?” The half-eaten cookie slipped from my fingers, landing on the table. “Oh my God, I can’t believe this!”

Without thinking, I lunged at him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

His chest rumbled with a quiet laughter as his arms closed around me. For a moment, nothing else mattered.

“Hello.”

The voice sliced through the warmth like a blade.

Before I could process it, Dannie had pulled a gun from the back of his waistband. In a single, fluid movement, he twisted me onto his lap and aimed the weapon at Wendy.

“Fuck,” I screamed.