For a mont, neither of them moved.
Then she took a step forward, then another, almost running before stopping short, as if rembering where they were. Her hands hovered awkwardly at her sides.
Lin Fang's brows drew together. "What are you doing here?" he asked, voice low but sharp. "Did Feng Xiu recruit you for the rift, too?"
She froze.
"No," she said quickly, shaking her head. "I didn't co for that. I ca for you."
That answer hit harder than he expected.
Lin Fang glanced around. He could already feel eyes on them. Curious. Assessing. Whispering.
He turned to Ethan. "I need privacy with my sister."
Ethan didn't hesitate. He replied calmly, "Your room is ready. You can talk there."
Lin Fang nodded once, then looked back at her. "Co with ."
She nodded imdiately, relief flooding her expression.
The elevator doors slid open on the second floor with a muted chi, revealing a quiet corridor lined with warm lights and thick carpet that swallowed their footsteps. Lin Fang followed the attendant's gesture and pushed the door open.
The room was spacious, far more than he had expected.
Two wide beds stood apart, neatly made, with a low table between them.
Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out toward the endless ocean, moonlight glimring faintly across the waves.
A private bathroom sat to the side, its glass panels fogged from recent cleaning, and the air-conditioning humd softly, maintaining a perfect, artificial calm.
Lin Fang glanced around once, then lost interest. He dropped onto one of the beds, elbows resting on his knees, fingers interlaced. "Jiejie, Sit," he said, gesturing to the other bed.
His sister hesitated, then perched on the edge, hands clasped together as if afraid they might tremble if she let go.
Ethan lingered near the door for a mont, clearly reading the room. "I'll take my leave," he said politely. "If you need anything, the crew is on standby."
Lin Fang nodded. The door closed behind him with a soft click.
Nebula, who had been standing near the window like a silent sentinel, finally spoke. Her voice was calm, almost neutral. "Should I step outside?" She tilted her head slightly. "Or should I stay, Master?"
Lin Fang shook his head. "Stay. You can read my mories anyway. Why bother?"
His sister stiffened. "Eh?" Her eyes darted to Nebula. "mories?"
Lin Fang leaned back slightly. "Nebula isn't a human. She's my monster companion in her human transformation."
Her mouth parted. "A dragon?"
Nebula clicked her tongue softly. "No."
Lin Fang sighed. "She's not a dragon. Different species. Long story." He waved it off. "Anyway… let's talk, Jie Jie."
The room fell quiet again.
Lin i inhaled slowly, as if bracing herself against an old wound. "Master Feng told everything he told you," she said, her voice steady but restrained. "I figured… by now, your head must be full of questions."
Lin Fang's brows knitted together. "So he was telling the truth?"
She nodded once. "Yes."
The answer ca too quickly. Lin Fang leaned back against the bedfra, arms crossing over his chest. "And how am I supposed to know you're not lying to right now?"
The question landed heavily between them.
Lin i's eyes widened, hurt flickering through them before she masked it. "You don't trust ?"
Lin Fang let out a humorless breath. "You left. You chased your future and never looked back. Eight years, Jie Jie. Not a call. Not a ssage. Everything about you is different now. Your hair, your clothes, the way you talk." His gaze hardened. "What makes you think I should just believe you?"
For a mont, Lin i had no words. She forced a small, awkward smile, the kind people wear when cornered by truth. Then she reached into her storage ring.
A thin, tallic-blue folder appeared in her hands.
"I figured you'd say that," she said quietly. "So I ca prepared. You might not trust … but you should at least trust official docunts."
She held the file out toward him.
Lin Fang hesitated, then took it. "What is this?"
"A set of confidentiality agreents," Lin i replied. "One signed by my mother and the other signed by with the Southern Sky Group."
Lin Fang's fingers paused on the edge of the folder. His frown deepened. "Southern Sky Group?"
"Yes," she said. "One of the largest cross-continental conglorates. They majorly sell magical technology but hold an enormous influence in the continent..." She swallowed. "It's a 100 trillion credit company. Compared to them, we are just so dirt. We have no chance of resisting their demands."
Lin Fang opened the file.
His jaw tightened as he skimd faster, reading the conditions.
Lin i continued to speak. "It's true that we aren't your blood-related family, Fang-di."
The words hit harder than he expected, even though he had braced himself for them.
"But it's not true," she continued, voice trembling now, "that we abandoned you for selfish reasons."
Lin Fang looked up sharply.
"My mother loved you," Lin i said, eyes glistening. "More than anything. She loved you so much that she sent away from her. Her own daughter. So that you wouldn't grow..."
"Wait. Wait—wait," Lin Fang cut in, his breath hitching as his chest tightened. He raised a hand, not in anger, but in reflex, like he needed to stop the world from moving any further without him. "I don't understand any of this. Please." His voice dropped, rougher now. "Start from the beginning. Clearly. Don't skip anything."
Lin i watched him for a second, then nodded. She rose from the couch and paced slowly toward the window, and began. "I was four years old when my father died." Her voice was calm, but there was an old, brittle edge beneath it. "He didn't leave us anything good behind. Just debts. A lot of them. Mother had no job, no skills that mattered to the world she suddenly found herself in. No backing family either."
She stopped walking, fingers resting lightly on the glass. "That was when Southern Sky ca into our lives."
Lin Fang's fingers curled unconsciously.
Lin i continued. "They ca with a contract. They told my mother that if she married Lin Weiying and legally beca his wife, all our debts would disappear instantly." She turned back to him. "In exchange, she would beco the mother of a baby who had just lost his mother."
Lin Fang's breath grew shallow.
"After that, we moved to Shen City, Eastern Han's capital," Lin i said, "A mansion so big I used to get lost inside it." A faint, sad smile crossed her face. "That's where I t your father."
She exhaled slowly. "I was still young then. I didn't understand much at first, why this man entered into our lives, why my mother had to share her love with you, why I was attending a school filled with rich people, and why I was living in a house that's ten-twenty tis bigger than our previous ho. But as I grew older, things beca… clearer for ." Her gaze lowered. "Your biological parents were already divorced. Southern Sky didn't want you moving with your biological mother, so they forced you to stay. You were important to them after all. The heir to the 100 trillion credit empire."
Lin Fang clenched his jaw.
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