chapter 1

Chapter 1

Xiao Min is dead.

On the night of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, she leapt from the rooftop of the twentieth floor.

At that moment, I had just finished a gathering and was heading home, only to be met head-on by the most familiar person falling from the sky, leaving behind a blurred, bloody mess on the ground.

In an instant, I lost my mind and my voice, collapsing to the ground, struggling to scream, but nothing came out.

That scene will haunt me as a nightmare for the rest of my life.

Even as I watched her body being covered with a white sheet and signed the death certificate, I still thought it was all an illusion, a nightmare.

I simply couldn’t understand it. Just the night before, I had heard Xiao Min talking on the balcony on the phone.

She said she was unwilling to accept it, said this wasn’t over, said she would go find Chen Suiyuan after the New Year. She wanted to see with her own eyes what kind of woman Chen Suiyuan had brought home as his wife.

But now, she can’t go anymore. Only I can go to Chen Suiyuan.

I want to see for myself what kind of man Xu Min had to die for.

“I heard about your sister. I’m very sorry, and I regret it.”

Just as I expected, refined, handsome, wealthy, and calm-Chen Suiyuan is the kind of man who could easily make an innocent young girl’s heart flutter.

A perfectly tailored suit, gentle and cultured speech, the composure of a thirty-year-old man-everything was obvious at a glance.

But for some reason, I always felt that behind all this, there was a kind of oppression, a kind of sensuality, a primitive allure that was closest to desire itself-that was what truly took Xiao Min’s life.

And now, I still can’t say exactly what that is.

Chen Suiyuan offered his condolences politely, then, like a businessman, tried to resolve the issue through a transaction: “It’s true that I had a brief relationship with Xiao Min, though we broke up long ago. I don’t deny my responsibility for this tragedy. Miss Xu, name your price, or tell me what kind of compensation you want.”

I hated his meticulousness and precision. The more rational one is about matters of emotion and life and death, the more shameless it is.

“This isn’t a problem that can be solved with material compensation.” I struggled to control my emotions, avoided his roundabout way, and got straight to the point. “I came today just to find out what exactly happened between you and my sister.”

“An adult man with social resources, and an innocent, naive young girl,” Chen Suiyuan made no attempt to hide his confidence in his own wealth and abilities, “Miss Xu, what do you think would happen?”

I hated him even more. Besides being meticulous and precise, he was also slick and insincere.

In fact, I had already known the general outline of Xiao Min’s story for a while.

Just as Chen Suiyuan said, it was a cliché story.

Xiao Min started her internship in her senior year, inexperienced in the world, fell for company shareholder Chen Suiyuan, and willingly became his lover for a time.

And Chen Suiyuan, after his passion faded, simply discarded her as a fleeting amusement and got engaged to a socialite of equal status.

Seeing that I said nothing, my eyes burning into him, Chen Suiyuan added:

“Miss Xu, I’m not trying to absolve myself, but I must tell you, from the moment I first met Xiao Min, I repeatedly told her that there would be no future between us, and she needed to be prepared to end things at any time. That was the greatest responsibility I could give her.”

“Well, I’m truly sorry then. It seems the problem is mine, that as her elder sister, I failed to teach her how to be a caged bird or a loyal dog, how to always be ready to be discarded by a master as lofty as you.”

I forced a smile through gritted teeth. “It’s a shame she had to trouble you with her sincerity, Chen Zong.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Compared to me, Chen Suiyuan smiled with much more ease and composure. “Miss Xu, please believe me, I’m very sad too.”

I’m sorry, but I really can’t believe that.

At this moment, I felt that if I sat here for even one more minute, I would be so disgusted I’d vomit my guts out.

Afraid I couldn’t maintain a dignified conversation, I raised a hand to stop him:

“I’m not here to seek your sympathy. What’s done is done. I just came to see you one last time for Xiao Min. I used to think that such a living, breathing body, falling and perishing for you, was truly not worth it. Now that I’ve met you in person,” I nodded, “it really isn’t worth it.”

With that, I hurriedly left.

As I reached the door, Chen Suiyuan stood up as well: “Miss Xu, I need to correct you on one thing. Believe it or not, this won’t be the last time we meet.”

He paused, then said, “And, we’ve met before, Miss Xu. Don’t you remember me?”

I glanced at him, then at the nameplate outside the door, and turned to leave.

Chen Suiyuan was right. We would indeed meet again, whether I wanted to or not.