Taking the Lead

I Know Your Secret

A wave of warmth and sweet scent washed over Xing Yue. Her world suddenly went dark as soft breasts pressed against her, blocking her view and heightening every other sense.

Xing Yue did not struggle for long. Soon she surrendered to the embrace, wrapping her arms around the woman before her and resting there.

"Did you really argue with Madam Bu?" she asked. A little short of breath, she lifted her face, her breathing uneven.

Bu Yao settled onto Xing Yue's lap, her tail curling up beside them on the sofa. "Mm. My mom said you're a poor woman and I'm a rich princess. Without her financial support, I'd realize we weren't right for each other."

"..." Xing Yue idly stroked the snake's tail, tracing the shape of its scales. "Your mother's honest."

Madam Bu was right. Both during their marriage and now, the Bu Family had paid for Bu Yao's clothes, food, and everything else.

If those expenses fell to Xing Yue, or even to the two of them together, the problem was obvious. Ordinary people could not afford a single pair of Bu Yao's heels. Unless she gave up heels for comfortable shoes, she would struggle to find any she could wear without hurting her feet.

Xing Yue asked, "When are you going home?"

Bu Yao held Xing Yue's hand against her tail and looked at her. "Aren't you supposed to say, 'Don't worry, Miss Bu. Stay at my place. I'll take the best care of you I can'?"

Why was she telling her to go home? Bu Yao frowned and demanded that Xing Yue take it back and try again.

Xing Yue was past the age of making promises she could not keep. "But without your family's money, have you thought about whether you could accept a lower standard of living? Your clothes and shoes are made by famous designers. Money alone isn't enough to buy them. Could you stand someone else wearing the same outfit as you? Your jewelry is worth tens of millions. Could you go ten years without buying another piece? I'm an ordinary person now, but even if I were a superstar, I couldn't give you the privileges you have as the Bu Family's young lady."

In the heat of the moment, people could give up anything.

Actually doing it was another matter. Bu Yao was like an eighteen-year-old girl fighting with her parents, determined to leave with someone whose standing was worlds apart from her family's, no matter what they said. Worse, Bu Yao was the only one pursuing this romance.

Xing Yue had never intended to live with Bu Yao. She had only meant to let her stay a few nights. She had not expected Bu Yao to be serious about staying, with no thought of going home.

"Why are you reacting like this?" The tail that had been coiling restlessly went still on the sofa. Bu Yao could not understand. "Anyone else would promise to give me a better life. Why are you trying to talk me out of it? Have you even considered getting back together with me?"

Xing Yue had been evasive all along. Kissing was fine, hugging was fine, and she did not seem to mind going further. But whenever remarriage came up, she said it "didn't feel happy" or "didn't feel like a relationship." Now she was trying to talk Bu Yao out of it and send her home.

"Those are just things people say to win someone over." Xing Yue felt helpless. Bu Yao was twenty-eight and still believed them. "I'm saying this because I have thought about it seriously. Do you think I can give you the life you have now? If you break with your family, things will be hard for you."

All Xing Yue wanted now was to find someone suitable and settle down. She had no energy for anything else. She desperately needed a warm home.

"I'm not afraid!" Bu Yao insisted on staying. "Stop worrying about me. If I can't stand it, I'll go home. Can't you at least give us a try? I like you so much, and you keep pushing me away."

She hated crying. Crying was a sign of weakness and solved nothing. She had never been one to cry, even as a child.

But Xing Yue kept saying such discouraging things. Feeling how Xing Yue regarded her made her angry and hurt.

"You really..." Xing Yue lost her words, unsure how to answer.

She thought of the father she had met only a handful of times. As the eldest son, he had been expected to take over the family's large factory after graduation. Then, at university, he met her mother and fell in love.

But her mother was a girl from the mountains who had needed help from her fellow villagers just to attend school.

The family had fiercely opposed the relationship. Young and headstrong, her parents had eloped anyway.

The good times did not last. After Xing Yingnuan became pregnant, severe symptoms forced her to quit her job and rest at home. The pampered heir was already living a hard life after eloping, and Xing Yingnuan's decision strained their marriage to the breaking point.

When Xing Yue's father could bear it no longer and slipped back home, he found that his younger brother and Paternal Uncles had already divided up the factory. He poured his resentment and hatred onto Xing Yingnuan, blaming her for everything he had lost.

Years of cold cruelty followed. He did not even come home when Xing Yue was born. He wore down his quiet, gentle wife until she became frantic and volatile, then forced a divorce.

Xing Yue's thoughts drifted. Suddenly, she realized how much Bu Yao's choice resembled the one her father had made when he was young...

The woman in her arms was a dazzling, luxurious jewel. Xing Yue was not even worthy of being its setting.

"Will you think about it a little longer?" At Xing Yue's age, she could no longer afford to be fearless.

Her uncertainty and retreat came from the gulf between their backgrounds.

Before she met Bu Yao, Xing Yue had always been confident. She knew she was capable: educated, with a home, a car, and savings. Yet all the achievements she had been proud of were not enough to commission a suitable pair of heels for Bu Yao.

Bu Yao was so angry she could have cried. Her tail arched and kept poking Xing Yue's face. "What's left to think about? Aren't we already trying? How will we know it won't work unless we try? You won't even try with me before you give up."

The more Bu Yao spoke, the angrier she grew. She straightened up to face Xing Yue and lectured her earnestly. "Can't you be like me and have the courage to take a chance?"

"For example?"

"For example, I want to take the lead. Will you be my Pillow Princess, Xing Yue?"

Thunder and lightning split the rainy night, and a cold wind blew.

Inside the car, a woman in a Zen-inspired blouse wore a pearl hairpin. Even on an unplanned trip, she remained elegant and dignified. She was reading the messages on a phone.

[Uncle Li, please check the garbage collection point at Xing Yue's apartment complex. There's a black bag with paper stars and a handmade little house inside.]

[Of course, Miss Bu. Should I keep them and give them to Miss Xing, or...?]

[Put them in the storage room at the estate. Xing Yue threw them away, and I don't know whether she'll want them back. Once the sanitation workers collect them at dawn, they'll be gone. I'll hold on to them for now. Don't tell her yet.]

[Of course, Miss Bu.]

After reading the messages, Ji Wenyan glanced at the black bag on the back seat and returned the phone to Butler Li.

She pressed her lips together. "Yao Yao knows how to care for someone now. That's good."

Bu Yao worried that Xing Yue had thrown those old things away in a moment of anger. What if she wanted them back one day? They held special memories for her.

It would hurt terribly if Xing Yue could not find them again. So almost as soon as she threw them out, Bu Yao had asked Uncle Li to retrieve them.

Housekeeper Li knew Madam Bu was upset. In twenty-eight years of doting on her daughter, this was the first time mother and daughter had fought so bitterly. He tried to comfort her. "Madam, Miss Bu may take after you and sir. She loves deeply. I doubt her feelings will change easily."

The Bu Family was devoted in love. They were wealthy and influential in business and politics, yet despite all that power, they had never been caught in a romantic scandal.

In other prominent families, a few ugly secrets were practically taken for granted.

They were snakes. Though they practiced Monogamy, their nature made infidelity common among them.

People at the pinnacle of wealth and power were usually too arrogant to bother fighting their instincts. That everyone in the Bu Family remained faithful made them a rarity.

The car stopped outside the hotel, directly in front of He Zhiwen.

The window lowered, revealing Ji Wenyan's sharply defined face. They had spoken once three years ago. Even after only one meeting, that rich beauty's face was hard to forget.

"I know your secret," the woman said with a smile.

That single sentence drained the color from He Zhiwen's face. She stumbled two steps back, her eyes wary.

Ji Wenyan's voice was deep and measured. Though she smiled, her eyes held no warmth. "Don't be afraid, child. I won't hurt you. I also know how much your family has suffered over the past thousand years."

She got out of the car.

Housekeeper Li started to follow, but she raised a hand. He understood, returned to the car, and drove away. In the boundless darkness, only the two women remained. Despite the warmth on Ji Wenyan's face, she exuded a frightening presence. He Zhiwen could almost smell blood. Lowering her head, she tried to hurry past.

Ji Wenyan said, "Sometimes the timing is wrong, and talented people never meet anyone willing to give them a chance. With the right opportunity, they might become famous."

He Zhiwen stopped.

Ji Wenyan took out an envelope, clasped He Zhiwen's hand, and placed it firmly in her palm. "Have Miss Great White Shark bring this letter to the in-person selection."

The letter felt impossibly heavy. He Zhiwen knew she should not take it, yet her fingers closed around it and would not let go. Her lips trembled. "Why... are you helping me? What do you want?"

"I offer recommendations when I feel like it. I don't need anything from you, so don't be afraid." Ji Wenyan gave a soft laugh, then added pointedly, "But a chance to compete is far from enough. Miss Great White Shark is very talented. Can you bear to watch her get eliminated? I'd like to make you a deal—"

"Give me six thousand milliliters of blood and three snake scales, and Miss Great White Shark will shine on that stage."

"You don't have to refuse right away. Whether you agree or not, I'll keep your secret. I won't harm you, either. You're free, and you're safe."

The first time Ji Wenyan had come to her, He Zhiwen had believed her completely. She had seen no reason to doubt a promise from someone of Ji Wenyan's standing.

She let out a resentful breath. "Do you remember what you said three years ago? Did you find someone to treat A Yue? I haven't even held it against you for breaking your promise, Madam Bu, and now you want to make a second deal with me?"

Why had she not held it against her? Because Ji Wenyan had given her a chance to catch her breath at just the right time.

He Zhiwen had been torn over her love for Xing Yue. She knew that marrying her might mean caring for someone with impaired mobility for the rest of her life, and she could not make up her mind.

She wanted to leave, but could not bear to let Xing Yue go or to hurt her.

Madam Bu's appearance had been like a push toward a decision. He Zhiwen had left Xing Yue, then eased her guilt by telling herself it was so Xing Yue's snake tail could be healed.

Ji Wenyan found her expression laughable, but held back. "I came back precisely because I remember our agreement from three years ago. I've spent enormous sums and resources since then, but I haven't found another way to heal Xing Yue's snake tail. Except..."

She left the rest unsaid. He Zhiwen's face turned pale, then flushed.

A thousand years of lessons had taught He Zhiwen to fear the possibility of that secret being exposed.

Ji Wenyan raised a hand and patted He Zhiwen's hair as though indulging a child. "Of course, you have another choice. If Xing Yue leaves my daughter, I won't care whether Xing Yue has a disability. Then you won't have to give any blood or scales, and Miss Great White Shark can still have her chance to shine. Wouldn't that work out for everyone?"

He Zhiwen dodged her hand. Her body ran warmer than an ordinary person's, yet she felt chilled. She backed away in a daze. "I... I don't know what to do..."

"You do," the woman said with certainty. She removed the costly pearl hairpin from her own hair and slipped it into the braid He Zhiwen had carefully arranged that night. "You dressed up for someone you want to please. You still have feelings for her, don't you?"