One

Night descended, and the sky was studded with stars. When Mo Mo Zhang stepped out of her office, the clock already pointed to nine in the evening. She settled into her car, stretching her neck, which had grown stiff after a day of sitting. Out of habit, she turned the rearview mirror to examine her own reflection.

Thin—far too thin.

The rosy, fair complexion of the past was gone without a trace. Now, her face was almost colorless, drained of all vibrancy, with nothing left but a pair of large, luminous eyes that still held a glimmer of light as they shifted. Seeing this, the woman in the mirror gave a satisfied smile, as if she approved of her own sickly appearance. She twisted the key and started the car.

In a way, she really should thank those clients for their high standards and unyielding demands. If they hadn’t insisted on changing design concepts repeatedly, forcing her to revise an advertisement again and again before it could be delivered, how else could she have maintained such an unchanged face for months on end? And of course, the newly hired designer Dong Fei was also a major contributor. The young woman, fresh out of university, seemed interested in everything except her actual job. As a result, Mo Mo Zhang, now the boss, had to personally handle the work—working overtime had become routine.

At this thought, the corners of her lips lifted in a helpless smile. Clearly, such a designer shouldn’t have even passed her probation period, but for reasons unknown, seeing the girl always reminded her of herself a year ago—fresh out of college, carefree and oblivious to hardship. Envy and jealousy had made her indulgent.

Suddenly, she recalled her father’s words: “A factory and its workers are like your own children.” He’d said that the year his printing factory introduced digital equipment. He could have laid off many workers, saving on labor costs by adopting advanced technology. Yet that night, facing the long list of layoffs provided by the HR manager, he smoked for hours but couldn’t bring himself to sign his name in agreement.

Mo Mo Zhang’s grip on the steering wheel tightened, her heart aching. For a long moment, she felt utterly powerless. Once, she’d blamed her father for his indecision, but now that she was a boss herself, she finally understood. Never mind that her father’s factory, passed down from her grandfather, employed hundreds of workers—many of whom had been there for decades. Even in her newly opened advertising company, with just five employees, the thought of laying off anyone was unbearable.

The car slowly entered Yongning Community. In a room upstairs, a man stood by the window in the darkness, a cigarette between his fingers flickering faintly. The lights were off, concealing his face, but beneath the canopy of stars, his calm, profound eyes glowed like beacons, illuminating the solitude of the room. Among all the stars in the sky, which could outshine the distant intensity in his gaze?

He leaned against the window, unmoving, watching as the car below pulled to a stop by the roadside. The door opened, and a familiar figure stepped out—she looked painfully thin.

In the dark, he could almost hear his own heart pounding, growing louder as she moved around the car. The cigarette in his hand had half an inch of ash, but when the woman suddenly bent to pick something up from the ground, startled by the dropped item, the ash fell to the floor with a flick of his wrist.

Mo Mo Zhang finally retrieved her missing earring from beside the tire. If not for the stillness of the night, she would never have heard its crisp chime as it fell. Relieved, she stood up too quickly. With her low blood pressure and recent frailty, the sudden movement sent her vision spinning, her breath shallow as her head buzzed and her chest tightened. She braced herself against the car roof for two minutes before her sight cleared, and she made her way home step by step.

As she unlocked her front door, she sensed immediately that something was off—the room was thick with cigarette smoke. Her instinct was to back out, but before she could move, a strong hand gripped her arm painfully and pulled her inside. The door shut with a heavy thud. A tall, commanding figure trapped her in the corner without warning.

Her cry of terror caught in her throat when she saw the man’s face above her. The scream died, but her fear only intensified. She gasped for breath, her heart seeming both to leap from her chest and to stop entirely. Yet in the next moment, she forced a smile, more painful than tears.

“Brother-in-law? How did you get in here?”

“Brother-in-law?” The man’s lips curled into a sensuous arc, but his hands were clenched into fists, the tension in his knuckles sharply defined. He stared at her frail silhouette, his keen eyes instantly turning ice-cold.

“I remember you never used to call me that.”

A ringing sensation filled Mo Mo Zhang’s head, the same dizzy emptiness that her low blood pressure had brought earlier returning with a vengeance. She stared at his cold, striking face—so sharp, so all-seeing. She bit down hard, forcing herself to sever any link between the terror inside and her expression, clinging stubbornly to her smile.

“Brother-in-law, I was in the hospital a few months ago, unconscious the whole time. I never called you anything else…”

Rather than angering him, her words drew a mocking laugh. He raised his right hand, gently brushing her lone earring.

“Lying in the hospital, were you?”

At his touch, she jerked away as if stung, leaving his hand suspended in air, his gaze instantly frosted over. She no longer dared meet his eyes, dropping her head and sidling away.

“Did my sister ask you to come, brother-in-law? Let me get you some water.”

She squeezed through the narrow space, desperate to escape, but before she’d taken two steps, a swift, sharp presence pressed in from behind, pinning her against the wall once more. He was forceful; she was fragile. The sudden impact against the hard surface brought tears to her eyes.

He showed no mercy—his hands seized her arms in a bruising grip, his voice cold and mocking. “So concerned about your sister? She was in a car accident, lost her memory, and you haven’t even visited her in months!”

“I… I trust you’ll take care of her. You’re so happy together—you’ll surely look after her well…”

She lowered her eyes, her illness and thinness making her lashes appear even denser as they trembled, hiding the panic in her brilliant eyes. In that moment, she failed to notice the fleeting softness that crossed the man’s otherwise unyielding features at her words—a momentary warmth that illuminated his stern face, revealing the handsomeness hidden beneath his earlier coldness. Even if it lasted only an instant, it was enough to brighten the dim room with dazzling radiance.

“Happy together?” he murmured, coming close to her ear. The ice in his voice melted into something that seeped into her soul. “Happy, are they? You think so too?”

His lips brushed her ear, his grip easing into a gentle caress. Startled, Mo Mo Zhang was so flustered by the heat at her ear and on her skin that she forgot to wonder at his sudden change of tone, pushing him away in a panic and retreating several steps.

“Brother-in-law!”

The two words, barely above a whisper, crashed through the lingering warmth like a blast of winter, severing all his tenderness in an instant. When he looked up again, his gaze was so dark and oppressive she dared not meet it.

Under his stare, she grew frantic, almost forgetting to breathe. In the long silence that followed, the last traces of gentleness faded from his eyes. At last, he turned, opened the door, and strode out. Only when he left did Mo Mo Zhang squeeze her eyes shut, nearly collapsing to the floor. But from the hallway, the man’s voice came, each word deliberate and icy.

“You should know—some things, once done, demand a price.”