Li Mei felt the shift before she saw it.
The "leash" that connected them, the silken, psychic cord, had always been tense. It was a thing
she maintained. It was her hold on him. When he was "good," she loosened it, rewarding him
with peace. When he was "bad," she tugged it, punishing him with her pain.
Now... it changed.
The tension vanished. The string went slack.
It was not cut. It felt... accepted.
Her eyes snapped open. A new, unfamiliar, real fear prickled in her chest. Had he broken it?
Had she lost him? The slackness of the cord terrified her.
Ren Wei was standing in the doorway, blocking the sun. He wasn't playing a role. He wasn't the
"Head," or the "Victim." He was just... him. And he was looking at her, not with fear, or
calculation, or pity.
He was just looking at her.
"Ren Wei?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
He walked into the room and knelt in front of her. He took her hands—her "Hands."
"Mei," he said, his voice calm, clear, and his own. "I've... I've been lying to you."
The ice slammed back into her veins. He was leaving. He was going to betray her. She had to
PULL—
"No," he said, his grip on her hands tightening, feeling her 'leash' tense. "No. Listen." He met her
eyes.
"I'm not a good person," he said, his voice raw. "I'm not the kind, soft-hearted fool you found. I'm
not a 'treasure.' I... I'm a monster, Mei. Just like you."
She stopped. Her mind went blank. This was not a rejection.
"I manipulated you," he confessed. "I 'handled' you. I 'managed' you. I used your love to protect
myself. I was just as cold and calculating as you."
She stared, stunned. This was a confession.
"I didn't just frame Jin Tao to survive," he whispered. "I did it because it was the smartest move.
I felt nothing but cold satisfaction. I am ruthless. I am a liar. I am a schemer."
He leaned closer, his eyes burning into hers. "I am not your 'pure flower.' I am the other weed in
the crack, Mei. The one that grew thorns.
"I see you," he breathed. "All of you. The killer. The liar. The monster. The terrified girl. All of it.
"And... I'm not leaving."
He closed his eyes. And he did it himself.
The leash. The 'Silken Cage.' He didn't try to break it. He reached into his own mind, found the
cold hook she had set in his soul... and he pushed it deeper.
He accepted it. He made it a part of him.
The punishing agony of her fear vanished. It was replaced by a deep, profound, roaring warmth.
It was no longer a leash.
It was a bond. A Sanguine Vow.
Li Mei gasped. She felt it. She felt him take control of the chain from his end. She felt his
acceptance. His darkness. His love.
He wasn't her prisoner. He was her partner.
She broke.
For the first time in her life, the monster and the mask and the child all shattered. A raw,
agonized, joyful sob tore out of her throat.
She launched herself at him, not in control, not in possession, but in pure, desperate, unfiltered
joy.
"You're... mine," she sobbed into his shoulder. "You're mine! Not by force! By choice! You chose me! You chose me!"
Ren Wei wrapped his arms around her shaking body, holding her tight. He was a monster. She
was a monster.
And they were finally, truly, together.
"I love you, Mei," he whispered into her hair.
And for the first time in his two lives, he meant it.