Day three in the fortress, and Gene was losing his mind.
Mr. Chen's house was beautiful in that cold, museum way—high ceilings, marble floors, art that probably cost more than most people's houses. But it was still a cage. Guards at every exit. No phone calls. No internet. Steven pacing like a trapped animal while his father made calls in Mandarin behind closed doors.
Gene sat in the library, staring at a first edition of something he couldn't read, trying not to think about Diana's face at that lunch. The way she'd talked about Steven. The way she'd died three days later.
The door opened. Mr. Chen walked in holding a folder, his expression grim.
"I have news," he said. "Some good, some very bad."
Steven appeared from wherever he'd been hiding. "Tell us."
"The good news: the people who killed David and Diana don't know you exist. Not yet. Your names weren't in David's files, and Diana kept her board involvement quiet. You're safe for now."
"And the bad news?" Gene asked.
"The bad news is that the operation David was running? It's bigger than we thought. Myanmar minerals, yes, but also connections to Party officials, North Korean intermediaries, Russian buyers. This isn't just smuggling. It's geopolitical." Mr. Chen set the folder on the table. "And the people running it don't leave loose ends."
"So what do we do?" Steven asked.
"Nothing. You do absolutely nothing. You forget David Koh existed. You forget Diana knew him. You destroy every file, every email, every record of your due diligence." Mr. Chen's voice was steel. "And you never, ever touch rare earth deals again."
"We can't just—"
"Yes, you can. And you will." Mr. Chen pulled out his phone, showed them something. A photo of a burned-out car. "This was Diana's vehicle. Professional job. Clean. These people don't miss and they don't warn. You got lucky because you walked away from the deal. Don't test that luck."
Gene felt sick. "So we just pretend none of this happened?"
"You survive. That's what you do." Mr. Chen looked at them both. "You wanted to play at this level. This is what it costs. Sometimes people die. Sometimes you have to forget they existed. That's the game."
Steven's face had gone pale. "What about Diana's family? Don't they deserve to know—"
"What? That their daughter died because she got involved with criminals? That telling the truth would put them in danger too?" Mr. Chen's expression softened slightly. "The best thing you can do for Diana is stay alive and stay quiet. That's how you honor her memory."
After Mr. Chen left, Steven and Gene sat in silence.
"I can't do this," Steven said finally. "I can't just forget she existed."
"We don't have a choice."
"There's always a choice."
"Not one that keeps us alive." Gene stood up, walked to the window. Guards patrolling below. Walls keeping the world out. Or keeping them in. "Your father's right. We got lucky. We need to take the win and walk away."
"That's not who I am."
"Then change who you are. Because the alternative is ending up like David. Like Diana." Gene turned to face him. "Is your pride worth dying for?"
Steven's hands were shaking. "This isn't pride. This is—I brought you into this. I pushed the deal. I ignored the warnings. And Diana died because I was too arrogant to see what I was getting into."
"You didn't kill her. They did."
"I might as well have." Steven's voice broke. "She came to Taipei for me. She met you because of me. And now she's gone and we're supposed to just… what? Forget? Move on? Build our next fund like none of this happened?"
Gene didn't have an answer for that.
His phone buzzed—first time in three days Mr. Chen had let them have them back. Mei.
*Gene where the FUCK are you? Lin Yue is freaking out. Nobody's heard from you in days*
*I'm okay. Can't explain right now*
*Are you in danger?*
Gene looked at Steven, at the folder on the table full of secrets that could get them killed, at the guards outside the window.
*Not anymore*
*That's not reassuring*
*I know. I'll explain when I can. Promise*
*You better. I'm buying the expensive wine for that conversation*
Gene put his phone away. Mei was safe. Lin Yue was safe. His parents in Irvine had no idea how close they'd come to losing their son.
That was something.
"We should go back to Taipei," Gene said. "Staying here makes it look like we're hiding. We need to be normal. Visible. Like nothing happened."
"I don't know if I can do normal right now."
"Then fake it. That's what everyone at this level does anyway." Gene grabbed the folder, walked to the fireplace. "Help me burn these."
They spent the next hour feeding documents into the flames. Financial records, supply chain analysis, everything connecting them to David Koh's operation. Gene watched his work turn to ash and felt something die with it. Not innocence—he'd lost that already. Something else. The belief that success at this level was clean.
That night, Mr. Chen drove them back to Taipei himself. Three hours in a bulletproof car, nobody speaking, just the sound of tires on highway and the occasional crackle of the radio.
They reached the city at 2 AM. Streets empty, the night market closed, even the scooters gone to sleep.
Mr. Chen dropped Steven off first.
"Be smart," he told his son. "Stay visible but quiet. Don't talk about David. Don't talk about Diana. If anyone asks, you were in Hong Kong looking at fintech deals."
"Yes, father."
"And Steven?" Mr. Chen's voice softened. "I'm sorry. About the girl. About all of it."
Steven just nodded and got out.
Gene was next. His apartment building looked exactly the same as when he'd left. Like the world hadn't changed. Like people hadn't died.
"Gene Eu," Mr. Chen said before he could leave. "You're smart. Smarter than my son in some ways. You see the human cost of things. That's valuable. Don't lose it."
"I'll try."
"But also—don't let it paralyze you. People die every day. Most of them for much stupider reasons than Diana. She knew the risks. So did David. They chose to play anyway."
"That doesn't make it okay."
"No. It doesn't. But it makes it survivable." Mr. Chen met his eyes in the rearview mirror. "Go home. Sleep. Tomorrow you go back to your life. And you never speak of this again."
Gene got out, watched the car disappear into Taipei's dark streets, and felt the weight of it settle onto his shoulders.
Diana was dead.
David was dead.
And Gene Eu from Irvine, California, who'd come to Taipei chasing success and meaning and a life that mattered, had just learned what that life actually cost.
He took the elevator up to his apartment, unlocked the door, and stood in his living room staring at nothing.
His phone buzzed. Steven.
*You okay?*
*No. You?*
*No*
*We going to be okay?*
*I don't know*
*Honest answer*
*Only kind I have left*
Gene dropped onto his couch, still wearing his shoes, and stared at the ceiling until the sun came up.
Tomorrow he'd have to be normal. Smile at people. Pretend the world made sense.
Tonight, he just let himself feel the full weight of what he'd survived.
And what he'd lost in the process.