Three days until Lin Haoran's party.
Jiang Yue stood at the edge of Riverside Park, counting oak trees.
First oak. Second oak. Third oak.
She knelt beside the third tree, pulling out a small shovel she'd bought from a hardware store that morning. The ground was soft from recent rain, making the digging easier than expected.
Six inches down, her shovel hit something solid.
A metal box, rusted around the edges but still intact.
Inside was a single key with a tag attached: **STORAGE UNIT 247 - GOLDEN DRAGON FACILITY**
Jiang Yue pocketed the key and filled the hole back in.
Step one complete.
---
The Golden Dragon Storage Facility was located in an industrial area on the outskirts of the city—rows of identical metal units stretching into the distance like a maze of secrets.
Unit 247 was at the very back, tucked away in a corner where security cameras didn't quite reach.
Smart girl, Zhao Lianhua. Even in death, she had planned well.
Jiang Yue unlocked the unit and stepped inside.
Dust particles floated in the beam of her flashlight. The unit was small, maybe ten feet by ten feet, filled with cardboard boxes stacked against the walls.
She opened the first box.
Documents. Hundreds of them.
Bank statements showing transfers to offshore accounts. Photos of Lin Haoran meeting with shady-looking men in expensive suits. Screenshots of text messages planning everything from bribery to blackmail.
The second box was even better—a laptop, still functional, containing encrypted files that Zhao Lianhua had carefully organized into folders.
**EMBEZZLEMENT EVIDENCE**
**BRIBERY RECORDS**
**AFFAIR DOCUMENTATION**
**MURDER PLANNING???**
Jiang Yue's heart stopped at the last folder.
She clicked it open.
Inside were audio recordings. She plugged in earbuds and pressed play.
Lin Haoran's voice filled her ears, casual and cold:
*"She's becoming a problem. She found the offshore accounts."*
Xu Meilin's voice responded: *"Can't you just pay her off?"*
*"She doesn't want money. She wants to expose everything. Says she has 'principles.'"* A harsh laugh. *"Principles don't matter when you're dead."*
*"So what do we do?"*
*"You invite her somewhere private. Tell her you want to help her. She trusts you—you were her roommate freshman year, right? Once she's alone, I'll handle the rest."*
A pause. Then Xu Meilin's voice, sweet as poison: *"The old library building. It's closed for renovation. No cameras, no witnesses."*
*"Perfect. Make it happen this week."*
*"What about after? The body?"*
*"I know people. It'll look like suicide. Depressed graduate student, too much pressure, tragic but not suspicious."*
The recording ended.
Jiang Yue sat in the dusty storage unit, her hands trembling with rage.
They had planned it. Every detail. They had discussed murdering an innocent woman like they were planning a dinner party.
And Xu Meilin—sweet, innocent, "we're sisters" Xu Meilin—had lured Zhao Lianhua to her death without hesitation.
For a moment, Jiang Yue wanted to take this evidence straight to the police. Let the law handle it. Watch them get arrested, tried, imprisoned.
But she knew better.
Lin Haoran's family had connections. Powerful connections. The case would be buried, the evidence would "disappear," and somehow she would be the one who ended up looking crazy.
No. She needed to be smarter than that.
She needed to destroy them completely—their reputation, their wealth, their relationships, their future. She needed to tear down everything they had built before she finally took their lives.
The evidence in this storage unit was ammunition. She would use it when the time was right.
For now, she had a party to prepare for.
---
**The night of Lin Haoran's party.**
Jiang Yue examined herself in the mirror.
She had chosen a deep red dress this time—the same color Zhao Lianhua had worn when she died. It hugged her figure perfectly, elegant but striking, impossible to ignore.
Her makeup was subtle but precise. Her hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders. She looked beautiful, refined, and completely harmless.
Exactly what Lin Haoran expected.
Her phone buzzed.
**Feng Yichen:** *Good luck tonight. Try not to kill anyone at the party.*
**Jiang Yue:** *No promises.*
**Feng Yichen:** *I'm serious. We need more intel on his network before we move on him. Play the long game.*
**Jiang Yue:** *I know what I'm doing.*
**Feng Yichen:** *That's what worries me.*
She smiled and put the phone away.
Time to go hunting.
---
Lin Haoran's family mansion was exactly as ostentatious as she remembered.
Three stories of marble and glass, surrounded by manicured gardens and a circular driveway filled with luxury cars. Servants in crisp uniforms greeted guests at the door. Crystal chandeliers cast rainbow light across a ballroom filled with the city's elite.
Money. Power. Corruption.
All dressed up in pretty packaging.
"Yue Yue! Over here!"
Xu Meilin waved from across the entrance hall, wearing a soft pink dress that made her look like a doll. She rushed over and grabbed Jiang Yue's arm.
"You look amazing! That red is so bold—I could never pull it off."
*No*, Jiang Yue thought. *You prefer to wear innocence as your costume.*
"Thanks," she said sweetly. "You look beautiful too. Very... delicate."
Xu Meilin beamed, completely missing the edge in the compliment.
"Come on, Lin Haoran has been asking about you all night. I think he really likes you!"
*Of course he does. I'm his next target.*
They weaved through the crowd toward the main ballroom. Jiang Yue noted every face she recognized—businessmen, politicians, socialites. Many of them had been guests at her wedding in the original timeline. Some had even attended her funeral, shedding fake tears while secretly relieved that the Jiang fortune was now in "better" hands.
Parasites. All of them.
"Miss Jiang!"
Lin Haoran appeared before her, dressed in a perfectly tailored navy suit that probably cost more than most people's monthly salary. His smile was warm, his eyes were attentive, and everything about him screamed "prince charming."
Jiang Yue wanted to vomit.
"Mr. Lin," she replied politely. "Thank you for the invitation. Your home is beautiful."
"Please, call me Haoran. And the home isn't nearly as beautiful as its current guest." He took her hand and pressed a light kiss to her knuckles.
In her previous life, this gesture had made her blush and stammer.
Now it made her skin crawl.
"You're too kind," she said, keeping her voice soft and shy.
"I was hoping we could talk privately later," Lin Haoran continued. "I've heard so much about the Jiang family's pharmaceutical business. I have some investment ideas that might interest you."
*Translation: I want to sink my claws into your family fortune as quickly as possible.*
"I'd like that," Jiang Yue lied smoothly. "I don't know much about business myself—my father handles everything—but I'm always eager to learn."
Lin Haoran's eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
Hook, line, and sinker.
"Perfect. Meet me in the garden in an hour? It's quieter there."
"I'll be there."
He squeezed her hand and disappeared into the crowd, already charming his next victim.
Xu Meilin nudged her excitedly. "See? I told you he likes you! This is so romantic!"
"Mm," Jiang Yue said noncommittally. "I need to use the restroom. I'll be right back."
She slipped away before Xu Meilin could follow.
---
The mansion was exactly as she remembered from her years of marriage—same layout, same hidden passages, same room where Lin Haoran kept his private study.
She had thirty minutes before she needed to meet him in the garden.
Plenty of time for a little reconnaissance.
Jiang Yue moved through the halls like a ghost, avoiding servants and security with practiced ease. She had walked these corridors countless times in her previous life, always as the dutiful wife who never questioned anything.
Now she saw them with new eyes.
The study was on the second floor, behind a door that required a key code.
The same key code Lin Haoran had used for everything: his mother's birthday. 0315.
Too easy.
The door clicked open.
Inside was a mahogany desk, leather chairs, and walls lined with books that had never been read. A computer sat on the desk, and behind it was a safe built into the wall.
She didn't have time to crack the safe, but the computer might have useful information.
Jiang Yue sat down and turned it on.
Password protected. Of course.
She tried his mother's birthday again. Failed.
His own birthday. Failed.
His father's birthday. Failed.
On a whim, she typed in Xu Meilin's birthday.
Access granted.
Jiang Yue's lip curled with disgust. Even now, he was thinking with his lower half.
She plugged in a USB drive that Feng Yichen had given her—a special Bureau device that could copy files at unprecedented speed. While it worked, she browsed through his emails.
Most were boring. Business correspondence, meeting schedules, bland pleasantries.
But one folder caught her eye: **PROJECT LOTUS**
She opened it.
Her blood ran cold.
Project Lotus wasn't a business venture. It was a list of names—all women, all from wealthy families. Each name had notes attached:
**Chen Meihua - Electronics fortune - Approached successfully - Marriage planned Q4**
**Wang Yiling - Real estate heiress - Resistant - Alternative methods required**
**Jiang Yue - Pharmaceutical empire - Primary target - Approach via Xu Meilin**
And next to several names, a single word that made her stomach turn:
**ELIMINATED**
She wasn't his first target. She wasn't even his second or third.
Lin Haoran had been doing this for years. Targeting wealthy women, seducing them, and then... eliminating them when they were no longer useful.
How many had he killed? How many families were left wondering what happened to their daughters?
The USB beeped—copying complete.
Jiang Yue pulled it out and pocketed it just as she heard footsteps in the hallway.
She quickly shut down the computer, slipped out of the chair, and looked for somewhere to hide.
The closet. Now.
She barely made it inside before the study door opened.
Through the slats, she saw Lin Haoran enter with an older man she didn't recognize—bald, heavyset, with the cold eyes of someone who had done terrible things.
"The Jiang girl is here tonight," Lin Haoran said. "She's perfect. Naive, trusting, and her family is worth billions."
"And the friend? The one who helped with the last one?"
"Xu Meilin. She's completely loyal. She'll do whatever I ask."
The older man grunted. "The Zhao situation was messy. The family is still asking questions."
"Let them ask. There's no evidence. We made sure of that."
*Actually*, Jiang Yue thought, *you didn't.*
"What's the timeline on the Jiang girl?"
"Six months to engagement. A year to marriage. Then we start transferring assets." Lin Haoran's voice turned cold. "If she becomes a problem, we handle her like the others."
"Your body count is getting high, Haoran."
"Bodies don't matter if they're never found. The river has kept our secrets before. It'll keep them again."
The river.
He was planning to drown her even back then. The method was already decided before they had even officially met.
Jiang Yue's hands curled into fists, her nails digging into her palms hard enough to draw blood.
The men talked for a few more minutes about logistics and money before finally leaving.
Jiang Yue waited until their footsteps faded completely. Then she slipped out of the closet and out of the study, her mind racing with everything she had learned.
Lin Haoran wasn't just a murderer.
He was a serial killer with a pattern and a network supporting him.
And she was going to burn it all to the ground.
---
The garden was beautiful in the moonlight—roses and jasmine filling the air with sweet fragrance, a marble fountain bubbling softly in the center.
Lin Haoran was already there, waiting with two glasses of champagne.
"I was worried you wouldn't come," he said with that charming smile.
"I got lost," Jiang Yue lied. "Your home is so big."
"I'll have to give you a personal tour sometime." He handed her a glass. "To new beginnings?"
She clinked her glass against his.
"To new beginnings."
She pretended to sip while watching him carefully over the rim of the glass.
This man had killed multiple women. He was planning to kill her. And right now, he thought he was the predator and she was the prey.
Let him think that.
"Tell me about yourself, Jiang Yue," Lin Haoran said, guiding her to a bench. "I want to know everything."
She smiled her sweetest smile.
"There's not much to tell. I'm just a simple girl trying to find her place in the world."
*A simple girl who knows exactly how you're going to die.*
"I don't believe that for a second. You're special. I could tell from the moment I saw you."
His hand covered hers on the bench. Warm. Gentle. So practiced.
Jiang Yue looked into his eyes—those eyes that had watched her drown—and felt nothing but cold determination.
"Maybe you're right," she whispered. "Maybe I am special. I guess you'll just have to wait and see."
Somewhere in the shadows of the garden, she caught a glimpse of a figure in a red dress.
Zhao Lianhua was watching.
Waiting.
Jiang Yue gave an imperceptible nod.
*Soon*, she promised silently. *Very soon.*
---
END OF CHAPTER 3
---
Next Chapter Preview:
Jiang Yue delivers the stolen data to the Bureau, revealing the true scope of Lin Haoran's crimes. But before she can plan her next move, a new supernatural threat emerges—something ancient that has been awakened by her presence. Meanwhile, Feng Yichen shares a secret about his own death, and Jiang Yue must complete her second kill before the Boundary Keeper takes payment in innocent blood.