Chapter 35
“Mr. Duan,” I said, voice soft and remote, “Wendy died long ago.
Those three years you kept watch-
you were guarding a grave.”
His heart lurched. “Why be so cruel?”
“Cruel?” I echoed, low.
“Who signed that surgical consent without looking?
Who sent me to sea for a deal before my body had healed?
Who announced an engagement the moment I disappeared?
Rory-do you deserve to say cruel?”
I didn’t raise my voice; each word cut clean.
“I never got engaged-that press conference-”
“Fang Qingqing announced it for you,” I said. “I don’t care.”
I leaned in, winter-cold.
“I didn’t come back to settle old accounts.
I came back to make you lose control-
completely.”
He had no answer.
Every word of mine poured into him like midnight seawater, filling his chest inch by
inch.
Later, I left the office.
There was wind, and light, and him.
Rory leaned against the black sedan, eyes dim.
“Wendy,” he said softly, “hate me-fine.
But don’t destroy yourself.”
I stopped, without turning.
“Destroy?” I said lightly. “This is the first time I’ve called living living.”
“You think I didn’t try to let you go?”
His voice frayed.
“For three years I couldn’t bear another woman’s smile, couldn’t swallow a breath of sea air.
11:45 Sat Oct 18
Every time 1 dreamed you, I wished I’d gone over that cliff that day too.”
My fingers trembled, but I kept my back to him.
“Too late.”
“I’m not afraid of late,” he rasped, taking a step.
“As long as you’re anywhere in the world, I’ll chase you-from hell to wherever the wind comes home.”
I turned at last.
In that instant he saw it-
not hatred in my eyes,
but a calm so complete it could break a heart.
“Then chase,” I said, the corner of my mouth lifting.
“But remember-this time, the wind won’t stop for you.”
I got in.
Tail lights cut the night.
He stood where he was.
Wind grazed his cheek-
from the direction I’d gone.
He laughed suddenly, almost in despair.
“The wind came back,” he murmured.
“But I… won’t look back.”
Under the night sky, I leaned against the window and closed my eyes.
In my ears: the wind.
I knew-the hunt had only begun.
Deep night, Financial District by the sea.
One by one the office lights went out, leaving only the top floor bright.
Rory didn’t sleep.
On the table, a stack of Thalia’s dossiers-
a wall too high to climb.
Every investment, every move, every path I’d chosen-
precise enough to dismantle him completely.
That was no accident.
That was design.
Chapter 25
2/3
39.0%
11:46 Sat, Oct 18 …
He reeled through the transfer again and again-
the elegant signature at the end: Thalia.
But he knew that hand.
Three years ago, on the divorce papers-
the same stroke.
He closed his eyes slowly and a bitter smile touched his mouth.
“Wendy,” he breathed, “you fooled me to the hilt.”
At dawn, I stepped out of my building and opened my car.
The black sedan was there.
ས
He leaned against it in a dark gray shirt, collar loosened, a stillness between his brows
as if he’d never left in the night.
“President Shen,” he said evenly, “can we talk?”
I glanced once, unruffled.
“If it’s business, make an appointment.”
“I only want to talk about-” He paused. “Wendy.”
My hand stilled.
“You’ve got the wrong woman,” I said.
