2: 2

The dinner was set at the most lavish private club in the city.

The private room dripped with gold, and the crystal chandelier was bright enough to make your head swim.

Judy wore a couture gown Giles had bought her, preening like a peacock.

I sat in the far corner with nothing in front of me but a glass of plain water.

The mentor was a gray-haired old man in gold-rimmed glasses.

He looked over the translation Judy handed him, nodding again and again.

"This ancient text is dense and hard to read, and you've translated it so precisely. That's rare."

He pushed his glasses up his nose.

"No surprise, coming from someone Giles recommended."

Judy covered her mouth and gave a coy little laugh. "You flatter me. I pulled several all-nighters digging through references to get it right."

She claimed my work as her own without so much as a flicker in her face.

As she spoke, she even rubbed her eyes for effect, drawing a wave of tender sympathy from Giles.

"My Judy is just so hardworking. She lost weight over this translation."

Giles chimed in from beside her, his eyes full of doting.

The mentor smiled, satisfied, then suddenly pointed at a spot on the manuscript and asked:

"But this word has three meanings in classical Chinese. Why did you pick the most obscure one?"

The room went quiet all at once.

The smile froze on Judy's face, and she looked to Giles for help.

Under the table, Giles kicked me, hard.

The pain made me suck in a sharp breath. I lifted my head and met his warning glare.

Judy grabbed at me like a drowning woman clutching a straw and instantly tossed the ball into my court.

"Sis! Didn't you say you'd read this text too? Go on, tell the mentor what you think!"

Every eye in the room turned to me.

I stood up, expressionless. My voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone clearly.

"Because of the context. The previous line mentions a rite of worship."

"Here the word functions as a verb, referring to a specific ritual act during the sacrifice, so I chose the most obscure meaning."

The moment I finished, the mentor's eyes lit up. He slapped his thigh, elated.

"Well said! Excellent! Young lady, your fundamentals are more solid than the doctoral students I supervise. What's your name?"

Judy went white in an instant. She rushed to cut in, her voice jumping an octave.

"Yes, yes! That's exactly what I was thinking!"

"I just... I just got nervous a moment ago and didn't put it clearly."

She hooked her arm through mine, intimate as anything, smiling with utter sincerity.

"Sis is my assistant, after all. She helps me sort through materials all the time. We discuss things together a lot."

One weightless sentence, and I dropped from the one who'd saved her to her assistant.

Giles lifted his glass at once, blocking the mentor's probing gaze, smoothing it over with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Mentor, this toast is for you. Judy's thesis will need a great deal of your care going forward."

The two of them traded toasts, and the room warmed up again.

No one spared me another glance.

Just then the phone in my pocket buzzed like a mad thing.

Two words flashed on the screen: the hospital.

My heart clenched hard, and I answered.

A nurse's rushed voice came through. "Family, come quick! The patient's failing! Her heart's stopped!"

Boom.

I shot to my feet, the chair screeching across the floor.

Everyone in the room froze and stared at me, startled.

"What is it?" Giles's face darkened.

"My grandmother's dying. I have to go now."

I snatched up my bag and spun to bolt for the door.

Giles seized my wrist, his grip shockingly strong.

"Are you insane?" he hissed through gritted teeth.

"Can't you see the mentor's still here? You walk out now, you're humiliating me in front of everyone!"

I fought against him, my eyes going red in an instant, my voice shaking.

"Let go! That's my grandmother's life!"

"I already told you, the hospital has specialists!" Giles held me fast, refusing to let go.

"Your grandmother's nearly ninety. This is a blessed passing! Can't you use some sense?"

Judy came over, playing the peacemaker with false concern.

"Sis, don't be rash. Giles is thinking of the big picture. Making a scene like this will leave the mentor with nowhere to turn."

I looked at that face of hers, so full of kindness and innocence, and listened to every word coming out of her mouth.

Eight years of pressure, a volcano buried in me, erupted in that moment.

I swung my hand back and, with every ounce of strength I had, slapped Judy across the face.

"Smack!"

The crisp sound rang through the room.

Judy clutched her cheek, staring at me in disbelief, tears welling up at once.

"What are you doing!" Giles roared, and shoved me away hard.

I had no defense. My lower back slammed into the sharp corner of the table behind me, and a piercing pain shot through me.

It hurt so much I could barely stay on my feet.

The mentor stood up, frowning. "What is going on here? This is outrageous!"

"Mentor, please don't be angry. Something happened at her home. She's not in a stable state of mind."

Giles hurried to smile it away, then turned and glared at me viciously. "Get out, now!"

I pressed a hand to my throbbing back and watched him gingerly cradle Judy, murmuring soft comfort.

In that moment, I couldn't even feel the heartbreak anymore.

Only numbness was left.

3: 3

By the time I reached the hospital, the corridor was dead quiet.

The light over the emergency room had already gone dark.

A doctor came out, pulled down his mask, and shook his head at me, worn thin.

"I'm sorry. We did everything we could."

"The patient passed half an hour ago. It was peaceful."

My legs gave out and I sank to my knees on the cold tile.

No tears, no crying out, only a suffocation that scooped the soul clean out of me.

I crawled to the bed and lifted the white sheet.

Grandma's face was pale, drained of all color, the wrinkles cut deep, and she just lay there, still.

She would never smile and call me her little girl again, never again press a warm baked potato into my hands.

The only family I had was gone.

Quick footsteps came pounding down the corridor.

Giles arrived with his arm around Judy, whose eyes were swollen red from crying.

He saw Grandma on the bed, froze for a second, then his brows drew together.

"The dead don't come back. Are you done making a scene?"

Giles looked down at me, every word laced with reproach.

"Do you have any idea that slap you gave earlier nearly wrecked my whole future?"

I didn't answer him. I just kept straightening Grandma's clothes, mechanically.

Judy hid behind Giles, cupping her swollen cheek, her voice thick with tears.

"Dawn, I know you're grieving."

"But you can't take it out on me."

"Giles poured so much into your grandmother's situation. How can you be so childish?"

I stopped what I was doing and slowly turned my head.

"Poured so much into it?" I looked at Giles, a cold smile tugging at my mouth.

"Your version of pouring so much into it was using my grandmother's life to force me into being a stepping stone for your little mistress?"

Giles's face changed, and he glanced around on instinct.

Seeing no strangers nearby, he lowered his voice and snapped at me, agitated.

"What garbage are you spouting!" His voice dropped, sharp and impatient.

"Everything I did was for the bigger picture! Once I make the promotion, don't our lives get better?"

"Our lives?" I got to my feet and closed in on him, step by step.

"You mean yours and Judy's."

"You are completely unreasonable!"

Humiliation curdled into rage, and Giles shoved me hard.

"I came here out of the goodness of my heart, and this is how you treat me? Fine. Sit here and cool off as long as you like!"

He grabbed Judy and turned to go.

At the doorway he stopped, and without looking back he said,

"I'll wire the funeral costs to your card. Consider that me being more than fair."

"When you've thought it through and know where you went wrong, come back and apologize to me."

Apologize?

I watched his back recede, my eyes gone cold to the bottom.

Over the next three days, I handled Grandma's funeral alone.

Giles never showed up again. Not one call, not one message.

He only sent his assistant to deliver a wreath with DEEPEST CONDOLENCES written across it.

The assistant stood off to the side, rubbing his hands awkwardly.

"Miss, Giles said he's been swamped lately. He genuinely couldn't get away."

"He told me to pass this on: don't be so stubborn. When it's time to bow your head, you bow it."

I looked at this fawning assistant with a cold smile.

"Busy with what? Busy helping Judy pick out jewelry, or busy prepping his promotion party?"

The assistant choked, had nothing to say, and slunk off.

I held Grandma's urn against my chest and murmured,

"Grandma, I'm sorry. I was blind. I read him all wrong."

"Don't worry. This debt, I'll collect it back with interest."

My phone screen lit up.

It was a post from Judy on social media.

The photo showed an expensive diamond necklace, with the caption:

"Thank you, Giles, for making it up to me. Love you."

The location tag was the most expensive fine-dining restaurant in the city.

I opened the photo and zoomed in. The necklace was the exact style I'd seen in a magazine last month, the one I'd said was really pretty.

What had Giles said back then?

He said, "A cheap little chain, so tacky. Once I get promoted, I'll buy you something better."

So it turned out he wasn't broke, and he didn't think it was tacky either.

He just didn't want to spend it on me.

Expressionless, I saved the screenshot.

Along with all the evidence I'd gathered before, I packaged it up and sent it as a supplement to the investigation team on the disciplinary board.

Soon, they replied.

【Evidence verified. Thank you for your cooperation. The takedown begins tomorrow night.】

I stared at the screen and let out a long, heavy breath.

The phone lit up again. A message from Giles, still as high-handed as ever.

"My promotion party is tomorrow night, at the InterContinental Hotel. You will be there."

"This is your last chance. Give me, and yourself, a way to save face."

I stared at the message, my fingers tapping the screen.

"Fine. I'll be there on time."

4: 4

The next evening, the banquet hall of the InterContinental Hotel.

Giles had thrown his promotion party as loud as money could make it.

He worked the room in a sharp suit, glass in hand, moving between the guests, riding high.

Judy wore a white evening gown and stayed glued to his side, already playing the part of the hostess.

I wore a plain black work suit and picked an out-of-the-way corner to sit down.

Giles spotted me first and came over with his glass.

"Smart of you to show up," he said, looking down at me, his tone all charity.

"As long as you behave from now on and stop throwing tantrums over your grandmother, I'll forgive you."

Watching that small man gloat over his little victory, all I felt was disgust.

"Forgive me?" I lifted the water glass in front of me and took a sip.

"What gives you the right to forgive me?"

Giles's face darkened in an instant.

"Don't push your luck. Today is my big day. I don't want to fight with you."

Judy leaned in and slipped her arm through his.

"Dawnie, Giles put so much thought into this party."

"Even if you're upset inside, don't spoil it for everyone right now."

She leaned hard on the word thought, on purpose.

I glanced at her, my voice low but loud enough for the tables around us to hear.

"He did put a lot into it. Even the money for that necklace came out of embezzled public funds, didn't it?"

Giles's face changed completely. He slammed his glass down on the table.

"What the hell are you talking about!" he hissed, low, teeth clenched.

"Say one more word and see if I don't make sure you can't survive in this city."

I met his eyes and didn't back down. "Go ahead and try."

At the head table, Giles's parents sat surrounded by relatives, grinning ear to ear.

Carrie James clutched Judy's hand, her voice pitched loud enough that no one could miss it.

"Our Giles, he's really made something of himself! Once Judy marries in, she'll be an official's wife, guaranteed!"

The relatives all chimed in, laying the flattery on thick.

No one remembered who had slaved for the James family these past eight years.

Who had used her own paycheck to cover Giles's expenses.

Looking at that crowd of two-faced smiles, I felt nothing but how absurd it all was.

Eight o'clock, exactly.

The lights in the banquet hall dimmed all at once.

An emcee walked onstage with a microphone, his voice booming.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we celebrate Mr. Giles James's promotion to deputy director."

"Let's give him a warm round of applause and welcome Mr. Giles James to the stage to say a few words!"

Thunderous applause filled the room.

Giles straightened his tie, shot me a vicious glare, then turned and strode up to the stage, glowing with triumph.

He stood under the spotlight, flushed and beaming.

"Going forward, I'll continue to uphold the principles of fairness and integrity, and serve the people!"

He shouted the slogan without so much as a flicker of shame.

"Finally, there's one person I especially want to thank."

Giles raised his glass and gazed down at Judy with soft, tender eyes.

"She's the one who kept encouraging me and stayed by my side through my hardest times."

"Judy, thank you. This drink is for you."

Judy covered her mouth, eyes brimming with emotion, while the crowd below started egging them on.

"Kiss! Kiss!"

I sat in my corner, watching the ridiculous farce with cold eyes, and glanced down at my watch.

Eight-oh-five.

Time was up.

Just as Giles lifted the glass to drink his celebratory toast, the doors of the banquet hall were shoved open.

The heavy wooden doors crashed against the wall with a tremendous bang.

Several men in black jackets, faces grim, strode inside.

They ignored the security guards trying to stop them, walked straight up to the stage, and flashed their credentials.

"Giles James, we're from the disciplinary board."

"You're suspected of using your position to trade power for sex, as well as embezzlement and bribery. You'll need to come with us."

The whole room erupted.

The banquet hall, so loud a moment ago, fell dead silent.

The glass in Giles's hand crashed to the floor, water splashing everywhere.