Page 37

Kai

T he police weren’t happy with my answers.

I didn’t blame them. I wouldn’t be either if I were in their shoes. They had the footage of Mario and me at the gate—aggressively breaking it down. They hadn’t said it outright, but from what I gathered, I was their main suspect.

I had no idea why they kept repeating the same questions over and over, hoping I’d suddenly change my story. For a brief moment, I considered making something up just to mess with them. Ms. Zhang, my lawyer, shut that idea down fast. One wrong word, she warned, and I could ruin my life forever.

She also told me that Chen was still alive—barely. He was in the ICU, kept alive by machines, his life hanging by a thread. Jenny, however, wasn’t able to cooperate with the police. When I pressed Zhang for details, she refused to answer while we were still at the station.

“Can you tell me what happened to my cousin now? Why are they letting me out? I haven’t told them anything.”

I sat inside Zhang’s Volvo as her driver pulled away from the station.

The car was far from luxurious, especially for someone like Zhang.

She practically lived in the backseat, shuffling between meetings, yet the space barely fits her paperwork.

When I’d asked for a ride, her driver had to relocate two bulky boxes from my seat to the trunk.

She hesitated. “I know you and Mrs. Chen. were close…”

That wasn’t a good sign. If the news was minor, she would’ve told me by now.

“Just say it,” I pressed. “Whatever you’re hiding, it won’t shock me.”

Zhang sat up straighter, then cleared her throat. “She confessed—before they admitted her to the facility.”

I froze.

“Wait.” My voice rose as disbelief floored me. “What? What did she confess to?”

Zhang exhaled, barely audible. “She claimed she had been planning to kill her husband for a long time… and that you tried to stop her. But by the time you got there, it was too late.”

“No.” I shook my head, rejecting the words outright.

That wasn’t true.

She loved that man.

She would never hurt him. Not on purpose.

“It was an accident,” I insisted. “Why didn’t you tell me this before? Is that why they let me out so fast?”

“Yes. The good news is—you’re in the clear.”

I swallowed hard, my chest tightening.

“I…” I struggled for breath, my mind spinning.

My poor cousin.

“What facility is she in?” My fingers instinctively tugged at my already loosened tie. It felt like my lungs couldn’t find enough air.

“The psychiatric hospital in Shanghai,” Zhang answered. “When they found her, she couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move. It was as if she had completely shut down. Like…”

“Like what?” My voice was barely a whisper.

“Like a sack of rice,” she said flatly. “Floppy. Just lying there, unable to do anything.”

It didn’t make sense.

If she was really unresponsive when they found her—how the hell did she confess?

Something wasn’t adding up.

“Is it possible someone made that up? That she never actually confessed?”

Zhang studied me. “What makes you say that?”

“Because—,” I paused, dark memories flooded back, thick with guilt. “She was quite out of it when I left her.”

The hours in that tiny interrogation room had been a slow, grinding torture. The officers took turns hammering me with the same questions, over and over, hoping exhaustion would break me.

If I’d heard about Jenny’s so-called confession then—if I’d known she had relapsed and been locked up—I might have cracked. I might have confessed to something myself. Lied. Said whatever they wanted to hear.

Just to save her.

“Is she any better now?”

Zhang exhaled. “No one really knows. The only reason I even found out was because I went to the house and spoke with the housekeeper. She wouldn’t say anything at first, but when she realized I represented you, she finally told me.”

I nodded, appreciating the housekeeper’s loyalty to Jenny. She had always looked out for her, stepping in whenever things got bad. There were times she had even called me, pleading for help—begging me to come and get Jenny or at least do something to ease the situation.

“Is she one of yours?” Zhang asked, frowning before shooting me a pointed look.

“No. She’s just a kind woman.” The words didn’t sound convincing, even to me.

Truth was, I had never considered planting someone at Chen’s house.

If I had, things wouldn’t have spiraled out of control the way they did.

I wouldn’t have been left scrambling to pick up the pieces after it was too late.

“Believe it or not, I never even met her—until that day.” The realization unsettled me. I couldn’t believe I had never made the effort to meet or even acquaint myself with the woman who had been quietly helping Jenny all this time.

“Anyway,” Zhang said, shifting the subject, “try not to leave the country in the meantime.”

I rolled my eyes at the way she said try . She hadn’t asked me a single question about what really happened that day. Not once. It was clear—whether I was involved or not, she didn’t care.

My life was now deeply entangled with Chen’s fate. If he died, the case would almost certainly be ruled as murder.

If he lived, we would be at his mercy. He could dismiss everything, call it an accident, a suicide attempt, whatever we eventually settled on. Or he could press charges for attempted murder.

“Thanks for everything,” I said politely, signaling for the driver to drop me off by the roadside.

I waved as Zhang’s car drove away.

Two seconds later, I slipped into one of my black SUVs, following right behind Zhang’s car.

“Tell me everything you know.”

I didn’t bother greeting Clare.

“Yes boss,” she said, which was about as warm a welcome as I was going to get today. She dove straight into the details, recounting everything she had uncovered.

I was irritated to find that she hadn’t gathered much more than what my lawyer had already told me.

“Mario is in hiding.”

Finally. I nodded slightly, satisfied. When the time comes, he could be a key witness. For now, I was just relieved he was staying out of the spotlight—Mario and authority figures didn’t mix well.

“And there’s news about Dave.”

My chest tightened. “Where is he? Is he okay?”

Clare nodded.

That was the best news I’d heard all day. If I could, I’d go find him myself. Dave had practically raised me—he was the one who looked after me when my parents couldn’t. Ever since the kidnapping, he hadn’t left my side. Until now.

Clare’s eyes shimmered with emotion. “He’s okay. He’s in private care, under Dr. Bennet’s medical team.”

“Dr. Bennet? How?”

“Oh— not Dr. June Bennet.” She tapped her lips like she could erase the slip. “I meant her brother, Liam Bennet. Our team found Dave abandoned in a rental car registered to Mack just outside of New York. Mr. Young had him sent to his brother for treatment.”

“Good man,” I muttered.

That was Lincoln—always there when I needed him.

“Yes, Mr. Young had been a great help. His source got us the information we needed to find Dave.”

“Wait, Mack isn’t that stupid—he wouldn’t just leave Dave in a car registered to his name. He knew we were looking for Dave. He left us a trail on purpose.”

Clare frowned. “Huh. I hadn’t thought of that. I figured we just got lucky.”

Maybe. It would’ve been nice to believe that luck was on our side. But Mack had been working for Dannie for years. Dannie was no fool—he wouldn’t keep an idiot around for nothing.

“What did Liam say?”

Her expression darkened. “It’s bad. They beat him up. He took a gunshot to the thigh, lost a lot of blood—nearly died. Luckily, Mr. Young’s team found him. If they hadn’t, the police might have gotten involved.”

My nerves rattled at the mention of the word gun.

I closed my eyes.

Deep breath one.

Deep breath two.

Deep breath three.

“Is his life still in danger?”

“No.”

“That’s all I need to know for now.”

If Liam wasn’t the one looking after Dave, I would have personally sent in a team of medical experts no matter the cost.

I hated feeling helpless when it came to protecting the people I cared about.

“Okay,” I muttered to myself. We had found Dave, and he was alive. That was one massive weight off my shoulders.

Chen being alive, that was a miracle. The image of him covered in blood was still fresh in my mind, like it had happened just minutes ago. I had been convinced he wasn’t breathing. And as much of an asshole as he was, I could never wish death upon anyone. Not even him.

Jenny.

There wasn’t much I could do for her right now. She had been in a facility before when things got bad. At least for now, no one could harm her.

“I want to be the first to hear about cousin Jenny. See what you can do.”

“Noted, boss. I know someone.” Clare offered a faint smile, her confidence seeming to recover.

“June? She has to be here by now.”

Unless Dannie had found some dumb excuse to keep her. Or chained her down and forced her to have his baby. A sudden heat surged through my spine at the thought.

“Dr. Bennet, Ms. Gupta and Mr. Smith are all here. Andy said she’d look after them.”

“Where are they now?”

“They should be at the penthouse.”

“Take me there.” I demanded.

“Actually, are you sure you don’t want to go home first?”

I didn’t like Clare’s tone. This was exactly what irritated me about her.

Now that her confidence was back, she thought she could boss me around.

And it was my fault—I had let her get away with this behavior for far too long.

Her demanding nature had been amusing at first, but I should have put an end to it the moment it started to annoy me.

“I’m going home.”

“No, I mean to Mrs. Li.”