“Dan Qinghuan, Young Master Huo had this water sent over. Drink up to soothe your throat.”
In the dressing room, the young assistant scurried over, holding a cup of warm water with a fawning smile.
Dan Qinghuan reached out.
The moment her fingertips brushed against the ceramic wall of the cup, a wave of bloody red flashed violently across her mind.
This water. This dressing room. Fifteen minutes before the show.
In her past life, it was right here that she had unsuspectingly drunk this very cup of water.
A potent drug had instantly turned her limbs to liquid lead—while her mind remained painfully lucid, her body felt as though every single bone had been ripped out.
Two animals had dragged her into the back alley. She had only managed to escape their clutches by smashing her head against the wall in desperation.
Yet the moment Huo Chengyun returned, he threw photographs of her in disarray right into her face, along with a formal annulment letter, crushing her utterly!
As for what happened after that…
She closed her eyes, not daring to recall any further.
With every passing second those memories were flipped open, she felt herself inching closer and closer to that cold bridge railing.
“Who told you to send this?”
She snapped her hand back, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper, her very fingertips trembling uncontrollably.
The assistant jumped, startled. “It was Young Master Huo’s orderly! He said the young master was worried about your throat—”
Worried?
In her previous life, she had believed those sweet-sounding words!
Believed them right up until the moment Huo Chengyun and his manipulative, green-tea stepsister, Dan Yuwei, danced across her dead body to hold a lavish wedding!
Dan Qinghuan closed her eyes for a brief second.
When she opened them again, those striking, vibrant eyes were as cold as if they had been dipped in ice.
“Pour it out.”
“Tell him I drank it.”
Paralyzed by the terrifying chill in her gaze, the assistant scrambled away in a panic, clutching the cup for dear life.
The door clicked shut, and the room fell silent.
Her pale, ghostly face stared back at her from the mirror.
Dan Qinghuan let out a long, shaky breath.
Her tightly clenched fists slowly loosened.
Her palms were slick with cold sweat.
It’s okay.
In this life, she wouldn’t fall for it again.
She reached for her own thermos, desperately wanting a sip of water to soothe the tip of her tongue, which she had bitten raw. The bottle still retained the faint warmth from when she had filled it before leaving home.
Just as she unscrewed the lid, a surge of blazing heat erupted unannounced from her lower abdomen, scorching a trail straight up her spine and burning away her sanity!
It’s hitting too fast!
Her gaze locked dead onto her own thermos resting on the table.
Such a vicious scheme!
They had actually set up a double insurance policy!
Luckily, she had only ingested a single dose; she hadn’t completely lost her ability to move yet.
Dan Qinghuan bit down hard on the tip of her tongue. A heavy, metallic taste of blood burst in her mouth, acting like a bucket of ice water thrown over her red-hot nerves.
Her lucidity was only temporary.
Digging her nails deep into her palms, the sharp pain from her fingertips helped steady her trembling legs just enough to stand.
I cannot panic.
In her past life, she had panicked, and that was why she had lost so thoroughly.
This time, her mind had to run faster than the poison!
Where to go?
The back door was out of the question—Huo Chengyun would definitely be waiting there to close the net.
The lobby was even worse; the performance was about to start, and if she walked out looking like this, she would practically be handing a knife straight to her enemies!
I have to go deeper inside!
Snatching up her coat, she shoved the door open.
A draft of cold hallway air rushed in. Leaning against the wall for support, every step felt as though she were walking on red-hot razor blades.
At the next corner, the blood in her veins instantly turned to ice.
Not far away, two men in casual clothes were peering around suspiciously, wearing Huo family visitor passes proudly displayed on their chests!
Dan Qinghuan yanked herself back into the shadows, clamping a hand tightly over her mouth.
“Damn it, why is this floor so quiet? Not a ghost in sight.”
“The young master already gave the word, stop whining! Ten minutes—get the target to the empty storage room, finish the job, and get out!”
“But this is the senior officers’ quarters—”
“So what if it’s the officers’ quarters? The guy inside is Huo Chengyun’s own uncle! What are you worrying about? Search!”
Hearing this, Dan Qinghuan trembled with pure rage.
Huo Chengyun must have been certain that his uncle wasn’t around—or foolishly believed his uncle would cover for him—to dare run amok like this in the military district backstage!
Yet she remembered that Huo Yanshen didn’t play favorites with anyone.
In her past life, every time Huo Chengyun mentioned this uncle, his knees would turn to jelly.
The drug surged through her body like a tidal wave, and her vision began to blur into double images.
Her knee slammed hard against the corner of the wall, and she slid down to the floor.
Deep down the hallway, the returning footsteps of the thugs grew closer and closer!
Is this the end?
Was she going to die the exact same way she did in her past life, doomed to repeat the cycle?!
No-
She clenched her back molars until they ached, her fingernails scraping a harsh white mark into the wallpaper. Gathering every last ounce of remaining strength, she shoved herself back up from the floor.
Huo Chengyun dared to gamble, and so would she!
She was betting that his uncle wouldn’t sink to his level!
She spun around and bolted in the opposite direction.
Ahead lay a dead end.
At the very end of the corridor stood a single door.
A door bearing a red five-pointed star emblem.
The Senior Officer’s Lounge.
The absolute off-limits restricted zone of the entire backstage area—a place where even guards rarely dared to approach.
Huo Chengyun had counted on this blind spot of absolute safety to let his wild dogs in to hunt!
Today, even if it meant facing a mountain of blades or a military tribunal, it was a million times better than falling into the hands of those two animals!
Putting her whole weight behind it, she slammed her body against the door, slipping inside and throwing the lock behind her.
Click.
Outside, the footsteps chased right up to the door, and the handle was jangled twice.
“Damn it, it’s locked!”
“There’s a red plaque on the door, this is Division Commander Huo’s room, don’t stir up trouble! Report to the young master and fall back!”
The footsteps faded away.
Dan Qinghuan pressed her back against the door panel, gasping for air, her clothes soaked through with cold sweat.
Before she could even catch her breath, a sharp scent of tobacco mixed with an overwhelming, suffocating pressure washed right over her.
There was someone in the room.
A single desk lamp was lit, carving out the wide, formidable shoulders and straight back of a man sitting on the sofa.
He was dressed in a crisp, immaculate military uniform, his epaulets catching the dim light with a cold, unyielding gleam.
Hearing the commotion, the man turned his head.
That gaze swept across her like a physical weight, driving Dan Qinghuan’s spine hard against the door and pinning her in place.
Huo Yanshen.
The garrison division commander, universally feared as the “Living Hades.”
Huo Chengyun’s… own uncle.
Run!
That was her very first instinct.
Yet her feet stopped dead as a single thought flashed through her mind.
A man who could strike bone-deep terror into Huo Chengyun would never be his accomplice!
This was her only lifeline!
The drug hit her like a detonating magma flow, burning away the very last shred of her restraint.
I’m gambling on it!
Stumbling forward, Dan Qinghuan threw herself blindly toward that tall, imposing figure, her weakened body crashing straight into his chest as her hands clawed desperately at the waist of his military shirt.
Her burning-hot cheek pressed against his cold, hard spine. She parted her lips, all her calculations and terror dissolving into a broken, sobbing plea:
“Commander… save me…”
Huo Yanshen’s fingers, holding his cigarette, stiffened abruptly.
Half an inch of ash fell silently to the floor, a single spark landing on his polished leather boot before instantly winking out.
He whipped around.
His steel-like hand moved on instinct, catching her fragile, impossibly slender waist with absolute precision and pulling her straight up!
The woman in his arms was flushed with fever, her eyes unfocused, the outer corners tinged with a fragile red. Her usually vibrant and proud face was slick with a sheen of cold sweat, and her lower lip had been bitten raw until it bled.
Utterly disheveled.
Yet deep within those unfocused eyes, a single thread of stubborn defiance refused to snap.
Huo Yanshen’s pupils abruptly constricted.
The hand clamped around her waist tightened instinctively, with enough force to nearly crush her bones.
“Who did this?”