“Miss Wen, when the dance begins later, may I invite you for a dance?”
Song Ye took the initiative to ask.
Wen Yunsheng hesitated for a moment. “I’m not very good at dancing.”
Song Ye smiled. “It’s fine. We can dance together later, and I’ll teach you.”
Wen Yunsheng pressed her lips tightly together, wanting to refuse but unable to find a suitable reason.
Song Ye was the match arranged for her by her uncle and aunt. She couldn’t embarrass him or disappoint their careful arrangements.
They wanted her to get married.
Once she was married, everyone would be at ease.
Wen Yunsheng forced a slight smile. “Alright.”
Just as they were speaking, someone came over to talk to Song Ye, likely an acquaintance for socializing.
Song Ye said to Wen Yunsheng, “I’ll excuse myself for a moment.”
“Alright.”
“Then we’ll meet at the dance later.”
Wen Yunsheng nodded, and only then did Song Ye get up and leave.
Wen Yunsheng remained seated and sent a message to Lin Xi.
[Where are you?]
She waited three minutes before Lin Xi replied.
[Upstairs in a guest room. What terrible luck! Qin Jiawei spilled drinks all over my dress!]
[I suspect she did it on purpose! How sneaky!]
Wen Yunsheng frowned slightly. [Are you hurt?]
Lin Xi: [No, but she ruined my dress and got me all messy. I can’t stand it if I don’t wash it off. I’m definitely going to make her pay for it!]
Wen Yunsheng felt a bit uneasy and stood up to leave, heading upstairs to the guest rooms.
Tonight’s banquet was held at the Qimu Club. The first and second floors were banquet halls, the third to sixth floors were private rooms, and the top floor was guest rooms.
Wen Yunsheng walked out of the banquet hall and pressed the “up” button for the elevator.
At the same time, she typed on her phone: [What’s your room number?]
With a “ding,” the elevator doors opened.
Wen Yunsheng stepped into the elevator and glanced down at her phone. No reply had come yet.
She first pressed the button for the top floor, then tapped back into WeChat, only to find that her earlier message hadn’t been sent and was still circling.
No signal?
Wen Yunsheng tried sending it again, but it still wouldn’t go through.
Was the signal bad in the elevator?
It shouldn’t be. Qimu was a high-end club, and Wen Yunsheng had never encountered a situation in China where there was no signal inside an elevator car.
Just as she was considering whether to wait until she got out of the elevator to call Lin Xi and ask, she suddenly heard a loud “clang.”
The elevator shook and abruptly stopped.
Wen Yunsheng’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately pressed all the elevator buttons, then frantically pressed the door-open button and the emergency fault button.
No response.
The next second, with a “thud,” the elevator car lost power. The interior, which had been bright as day just moments before, was instantly plunged into darkness.
Wen Yunsheng gasped in fright, stumbling backward and pressing herself tightly against the inner wall of the elevator car.
In the narrow, dead-silent space, darkness engulfed her. The cold touch of the inner wall against her back made every hair on her body stand on end.
It was as if she had returned to that pitch-black little room.
Sharp curses, hysterical madness, and painful sobs.
The buzzing in her mind suddenly roared to life. Wen Yunsheng’s entire body began to tremble uncontrollably. She took out her phone, turned on the screen, and tried to call Lin Xi.
But when she dialed her number, she found it couldn’t connect at all.
Only then did she realize there wasn’t a single bar of signal inside the elevator car.
“You bitch! Shameless thing!”
“You deserve to die!”
“I’ll strangle you!”Wen Yunsheng trembled, leaning against the elevator car as her body went limp, sliding down to sit on the floor. Her breathing gradually grew rapid.
“No, no.”
Her phone clattered to the ground.
A familiar sense of suffocation pressed down on her, making it hard to breathe. She covered her neck with both hands, fear spreading wildly in the endless darkness.
Outside the elevator, Qin Jiawei toyed with the control card in her hand, a malicious smile curling at the corner of her lips.
The manager beside her whispered, “Miss, what if someone finds out…”
“Finds out what? If you don’t talk and I don’t talk, who would know? Besides, Wen Yunsheng is just a fake adopted daughter. What is she to make me wary?”
Qin Jiawei sneered.
The Qimu Club was a Qin family business, currently managed by her father.
Controlling a small elevator was naturally easy for her.
“I’m just afraid that President Yanchuan might investigate…” The manager broke out in a cold sweat.
The current head of Xinyu Group, Qin Yanchuan, was Wen Yunsheng’s brother.
Even if they weren’t related by blood, he was still not someone small fry like them could afford to provoke.
“What’s there to fear?! Do you really think Brother Yanchuan would stand up for someone like Wen Yunsheng?”
In the past, Qin Yanchuan had indeed been very protective of Wen Yunsheng, but that was in the past. Ever since Wen Yunsheng shamelessly ran off abroad with a man four years ago, their relationship had cooled considerably.
She had noticed it at the last family banquet—Brother Yanchuan couldn’t even be bothered to speak a word to Wen Yunsheng, clearly finding her an embarrassment!
Besides, Qin Yanchuan wasn’t even here today. The banquet was hosted by Han Zhiying, who was best at smoothing things over.
It was just a small lesson—locking Wen Yunsheng in the elevator. In the end, it would just be an elevator malfunction. They would let her out after the banquet ended. Who could point out where the problem lay?
Qin Jiawei glared viciously at the tightly closed elevator door. Let her steal the spotlight.
“Keep your mouth shut!” Qin Jiawei warned the manager.
The manager quickly bowed his head in agreement. “Yes.”
Qin Jiawei flicked her long hair and turned to leave.
As the banquet hall doors were pulled open, a tall figure strode in with steady steps.
“Yanchuan? I thought you weren’t coming.” Han Zhiying’s eyes instantly lit up as she hurried over to greet him.
Qin Yanchuan’s gaze swept across the dance floor before returning. “Just finished work, thought I’d stop by.”
Han Zhiying said happily, “I thought you didn’t like these kinds of banquets.”
Qin Yanchuan had never liked meaningless banquets like this. Unless it was a necessary business dinner, he never showed his face.
Han Zhiying knew him well—he wasn’t someone who enjoyed crowds.
But he had still come today.
Because this banquet was hosted by her.
Qin Yanchuan’s gaze finally settled on Song Ye, who was socializing with others by the dance floor. His indifferent eyes held a calm scrutiny.
Song Ye seemed to sense it, turning to look over. His eyes also brightened as he walked over proactively, greeting politely, “President Qin, I didn’t expect you to come. It’s an honor.”
Qin Yanchuan gave a slight nod, glancing behind him, but there was no sign of Wen Yunsheng.
“Last time at Mingsheng Company, I actually saw you, President Qin. I was serving as Mingsheng’s legal consultant at the time. You probably don’t remember me.” Song Ye was extremely enthusiastic.
Back then, too many executives had surrounded Qin Yanchuan, and Song Ye hadn’t gotten close enough to speak.
The name Qin Yanchuan carried extraordinary weight in Jing City.
He kept a low profile and rarely appeared in public, but the lifelines of Jing City were firmly in his grasp.Qin Yanchuan: “Song Lv.”
“You know me, Mr. Qin?”
“I heard Aunt Jin mention you.”
Song Ye immediately understood and nodded repeatedly: “So that’s how it is. Aunt Qin introduced me to Miss Wen, and we were just having a pleasant conversation.”
Qin Yanchuan’s eyes darkened slightly, his voice even calmer: “Is that so.”
“We even agreed to dance together once the ball started, she…”
Song Ye suddenly glanced around: “But she disappeared after I stepped away for a moment. I’ve been looking for her but couldn’t find her anywhere.”
Han Zhiying said: “Did she go upstairs to look for Lin Xi? Lin Xi accidentally spilled wine on her dress and went upstairs to change.”
“Then I’ll wait a bit longer,” Song Ye said with a smile.
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Xi hurriedly ran over: “Have any of you seen Yun Sheng?!”
Han Zhiying was taken aback: “Didn’t she go to find you?”
“No, I just sent her a message, and she didn’t reply. I tried calling her, but her phone was unreachable. I don’t know what happened—I searched everywhere but couldn’t find her.”
Wen Yunsheng never ignored calls or messages. Moreover, she had suddenly disappeared in the middle of their conversation. Lin Xi felt something was wrong.
Qin Yanchuan’s gaze sharpened: “When did she disappear?”
“Half an hour ago, she was still messaging me, asking where I was. I thought she was coming to find me, so I sent her the room number and went to take a shower. But even after I finished showering, she hadn’t come. I thought she was downstairs, but I searched everywhere and couldn’t find her. Her phone is still unreachable.”
Han Zhiying tried to reassure her: “Maybe she just didn’t check her phone for a moment, or perhaps she didn’t want to be part of the arranged meeting and left early? Let’s wait until we get back…”
But Qin Yanchuan immediately strode out and instructed his assistant: “Find the hotel manager and check the surveillance footage.”
“Yes.”
Han Zhiying stared at his hurriedly departing figure, completely stunned.
She’s just a sister without blood ties—why is he so concerned?
Qin Yanchuan took out his phone and dialed the number he hadn’t called in four years.
[Wen Yunsheng]
The slow, grating dial tone echoed in the phone, unanswered.
A restless agitation surged in Qin Yanchuan’s eyes as he tugged at his tie.
Wen Yunsheng was never the type to disappear without reason. She wouldn’t even refuse to attend Qin Cisui’s parent-teacher meetings, so how could she possibly walk out in a fit of anger over an arranged meeting?
Something must have happened.
“Mr. Qin, what brings you here?” The club manager hurried over, his eyelids twitching the moment he saw Qin Yanchuan.
“Where is the surveillance room?”
The manager didn’t dare to delay, quickly leading the way: “Right this way, please.”
Once inside the surveillance room, Qin Yanchuan immediately pulled up the footage from the banquet hall half an hour earlier.
He quickly spotted Wen Yunsheng sitting by the floor-to-ceiling window, chatting with Song Ye.
After a while, Song Ye got up and left for something. Wen Yunsheng sent a few messages on her phone, then suddenly stood up and walked out.
Qin Yanchuan switched to the surveillance footage outside the banquet hall and saw Wen Yunsheng enter the elevator.
But she never came out.
Qin Yanchuan’s expression changed abruptly. He turned sharply, his cold, fierce gaze sending chills down everyone’s spine.
“Is the elevator broken?”
The manager broke into a cold sweat, stammering: “I-I don’t know. It might be broken. I-I’ll notify someone to check it immediately.”
As he spoke, the manager urgently shouted: “Quick, someone come here!”Qin Yanchuan turned and headed straight for the elevator, his long legs clad in suit pants moving swiftly, a trace of anxiety flickering in his cold, fierce eyes.
Half an hour—she had been trapped in the elevator for half an hour.
He could hardly bear to imagine how much she must have suffered from that nightmare.
With a soft ding, the elevator finally returned to normal. As the doors slowly parted a crack, Qin Yanchuan’s well-defined fingers pressed against them, pushing them fully open.
The dark elevator car instantly lit up. Wen Yunsheng was huddled in the corner, her luxurious chiffon dress crumpled and wrinkled, the hem spread across the floor. Her eyes were tightly shut, and her pale face was damp with what could have been tears or sweat.
Her slender, fair neck was flushed red, as if from being gripped.
“Yun Sheng!” Qin Yanchuan immediately dropped to one knee, pulling her into his arms.
Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as she opened her eyes, her vision blurry as she looked at him.
She wrapped her arms tightly around him, her voice trembling. “Brother.”