Chapter 2
The car tears through the city.
Faye sits beside me with her arms crossed, staring out the window like she's personally offended by traffic.
I keep looking at my hands.
Five years of fish scales and cold water have left their mark.
Cracked knuckles.
Scarred palms.
Nails that never stay clean.
I used to think those hands were proof that I was building a life.
Now I realize they were proof that I was carrying someone else's.
Jason wasn't always cruel.
That's what makes it worse.
When we meet, two men corner me behind the fish market.
Jason comes running.
He gets punched in the mouth protecting me.
Then he takes the twenty dollars in his pocket and presses it into my hand.
"Keep it."
"You're broke."
He smiles through the blood.
"Long as I've got food, you won't go hungry."
I remember believing him.
I remember how he used to pull me close after work.
I would smell like fish guts.
He never complained.
"Everyone else thinks you stink."
He'd bury his face in my hair.
"I don't."
That was how he got me.
Not with money.
With kindness.
Or at least what looked like kindness.
After that, every request sounded reasonable.
Rent.
Equipment.
A business opportunity.
One last investment.
Every time, he promised he'd pay me back.
Every time, I believed him.
Because growing up unwanted teaches you something dangerous.
You'll accept almost anything if it feels like love.
The car slows.
Faye glances at me.
"What's that face?"
"What face?"
"The one that says you're blaming yourself."
"I'm not."
"You are."
She looks away.
"Don't."
I almost smile.
"Don't what?"
"Don't start thinking this was your fault."
Her voice is quieter now.
"He's the thief."
Not you.
She doesn't say the last part.
She doesn't have to.
Mr. Zhao's voice comes from the front.
"Miss Faye."
"What?"
"We checked the marriage records."
Faye looks at me.
"There's no marriage."
I stare at her.
"What?"
"No registration."
My stomach drops.
"But we had a ceremony."
"Fake."
One word.
That's all it takes.
Five years vanish.
The apartment.
The ring.
The photographs.
Every time Jason called me his wife.
All of it.
Fake.
I look down.
A faint golden line appears across my vision.
【Some debts are designed to look like love.】
I stare at it.
No numbers.
No prophecy.
No answer.
Just one sentence.
Then it disappears.
For some reason, that scares me more than the warnings.
Faye notices my silence.
"Hey."
I look at her.
"You okay?"
I nod.
She rolls her eyes.
"Terrible liar."
My phone buzzes.
Mr. Zhao has pulled Jason's financial records.
Faye reads them.
Her expression changes.
"He lost your hundred thousand at an underground poker game."
I close my eyes.
"Then he borrowed five hundred thousand from Marcus Wang."
"At forty percent monthly interest."
I open my eyes.
"Forty?"
Faye looks disgusted.
"That's not a loan."
"No."
"It's a trap."
She turns the tablet toward me.
At the bottom of the document is a line that makes my stomach twist.
Collateral: Mia Lin.
My fingers curl.
Jason didn't just steal my savings.
He put me down as security.
He planned to lose.
He planned for Marcus to come after me.
I look out the window.
For five years, I thought Jason was the person who saved me.
Now I understand.
He was just waiting for the right price.
Faye suddenly reaches over and squeezes my wrist.
"Don't think about him."
I look at her hand.
She notices.
Immediately lets go.
"I mean it."
"I'm not."
"Good."
A pause.
Then she mutters, "And stop looking like you're about to cry."
"I'm not crying."
"You were."
"I wasn't."
"Whatever."
Mr. Zhao speaks again.
"We found Jason."
Faye straightens.
"Where?"
"Southside Fish Market."
My lungs stop working.
"Granny."
Faye turns.
"Who?"
"Granny Fang."
I unclip my seat belt.
Faye grabs my sleeve.
"Wait."
"He's there."
"I know."
"No."
I look at her.
My voice breaks.
"He's there."
This time, she sees it.
Not weakness.
Fear.
Real fear.
She releases my sleeve.
"Mr. Zhao."
Her voice goes cold.
"Drive faster."