remember t

essed so hard against her ribs that it left a mark. By the time she reached the green

open before s

ing

at her mouth. For a heartbeat she only stared. Then she seized Qingyue by the shoulders an

e gone, and I thought... I thought..." Her fingers dug into Qin

way. She collapsed against her aunt, clinging to her coat, and wept the way she had not wept since she was a little girl. "I just wanted

o tightly it almost hurt. Her hand shook

e was She

n her hair

ce, her aunt's expression was a mask of tender, frightened concern. "Sh

aved m

elt to tug off her ruined shoes. "The Shen family was ruined by the Lins, Qing'er. Years ago. That boy

my grandfather's handwriting. But the key lay warm and secret against h

me nothing

then smiled gently and reached into

torn at one edge, but unmistakable, the

essed it against her face, breathing in rain and mud and the last f

by the lamppost," Meirong murmured, stroking

broken, to wonder why a caretak

, the city had de

ographs of her face with red crosses slashed through them. A talk show host called her the daughter of the devil. A video of

rn

face. Bl

pe sh

a small, sharp blade, and she pressed them into herself

ounced a formal indictment w

levision. The sudden silen

aunt said quietly. "You know that. Not the fam

t husk. "I keep thinking that if I just exp

took both her hands. Her eyes were wet. "I have thought and thoug

the small room like

If the heiress is gone, no one will hunt her. And you, you can live. You can come back someday as s

red at her.

Ye

-" Her throat closed. "Aunt Mei, if I leave, they'

out gentle and terrible. "I would rather lo

mouth. For a long, long time the only sound in the room was the

grandfather's hand s

Yifan saying D

orty million peop

she wh

ck and enormous un

plain black scarf. Below them, on the long dark span of the Qin River Bridge, a lone sedan idled at the edge of the railin

at lay her handbag,

questions. He rolled the car forward without a driver's foot on the pedal, a final slow nu

a heartbeat at the e

ht, spreading and collapsing. The headlights flared underwater, two ghostly green eyes

ed both hands

her had whispered it over her cradle. Her grandfather had said it with such

eaned into it, shaking, and for a moment she was only a g

n down her cold cheeks and fell into the dark. "G

s broke

N RIVER CRASH WHILE

Qin River. The doors were open. The current

in a faraway suburb. Her hair had been cut to her shoulders. Her fingernails were bare. On the tab

aid softly, setting down a cup of tea.

th one finger. It felt like

ith a solemn, hollowed face. "My cousin made terrible choices," he said, and his voice c

Yifan inclined his head in silent condolence

p place she had not known was there. It climbed through the grief and the

ides, her nails biting crescents into her palms. Wh

he did not blink. "I will take it all back. Every single piece. I will

t is the strength I want to see in you, my girl." Her voice tr

She did not see

d finally cried herself to sleep, Lin Meirong sat alo

he softness had drained from it, leaving something cold and exact. "The

ice murmured o

ing. But a living one, hungry, grieving, carrying a hatred that burns, she will tear down ever

oke again, lo

phone. "The old man's key? No. She

with one hand curled against her ribs, over the small, he

toward the sleeping girl, and for t

softness vanished. "And when she is ready, she will

he phone, and sat alone in the