—
Yunjinna had not slept.
Not one minute.
She lay in bed staring at the ceiling until six AM, then gave up, sat up, and looked at herself in the vanity mirror.
Bad idea.
She looked terrible.
Eyes puffy.
Face pale.
Swollen lips.
Battered body.
The kind of appearance that no amount of skincare could fix in one morning because the problem wasn't just outside, it was the volcanic rage sitting in her chest that had been burning since last night and showed absolutely zero signs of cooling down.
She pressed her hands flat on the vanity.
Breathed.
That girl.
That GIRL.
One day.
She had been in this house for barely two days and she had already:
Charmed Chef Zhou — eleven years, ELEVEN YEARS, that man had never voluntarily served anyone and he was making her fresh braised pork at five forty-six in the morning like some kind of devoted uncle.
Made Mengqi and Lulu feel sorry for her at breakfast.
Deflected the juice.
Deflected the bracelet question.
Produced camera footage like she'd been waiting for exactly that moment—She had been waiting for exactly that moment.
Yunjinna picked up her phone.
Her hands were shaking slightly.
She dialed.
It rang twice.
"Jinna?" Chu Jintan's voice was warm and slightly sleepy. "It's seven in the morning—"
"Jintan." Her voice cracked on the first syllable.
A pause.
"Hey." His voice changed immediately. Alert now. Concerned.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
And just like that — the tears came.Real ones this time. Not the performance ones from yesterday's sitting room.Real, hot, furious tears.
"It's that girl," she said.
"The one Father brought home. Jintan she's— I don't know what she is but she's not what she looks like and nobody sees it except me and yesterday she made me look like— in front of everyone, in front of Father and the staff and my friends she—"
"Hey. Hey, slow down." His voice was steady. The voice of someone who knew exactly how to handle her. "I'm coming over."
"You don't have to—"
"Jinna." Firm. Gentle. "I'm coming."
She pressed the phone against her chest after he hung up.
Looked at herself in the mirror.
Puffy eyes.
Pale face.
Shaking hands.
She took a slow breath.
Fixed her hair.
Started her skincare.
By the time Jintan arrived she would look like herself again.
Mostly.
She'd leave just enough of the damage showing.
He always took care of her better when she looked a little broken.
CHU JINTAN arrived at the Yun estate at eight thirty.
Dark blue jacket. Hair perfect. Handsome like a pretty boy. The easy confident stride of a man who was used to walking into places like he belonged there.
He did belong here.
He'd been coming to the Yun estate for two years.
He knew which staff members to nod at and which ones preferred to be ignored.
He knew Ruan Suyin's schedule and Yunting's moods and exactly which rooms he was and wasn't welcome in.
He pressed the gate intercom."Mr. Chu." The maid's voice. "Miss Yunjinna is expecting you. Please come in."The gate opened.
He walked up the drive.
Jinna had sounded genuinely upset on the phone. More than usual. And Jinna, for all her performances, didn't usually cry to him without reason.
Some girl. The orphanage one. Yunting's biological daughter.
He'd heard about it from Jinna last week — the plan, the search, the girl being found and brought back. He'd told her not to worry about it. Some orphanage kid from the countryside wasn't going to be a problem.
He pushed open the front door—And stopped.There was a girl sitting on the bottom step of the staircase.
Small. Young. Long dark hair loose over her shoulders. She was tying her shoelace, bent forward, not looking up.Then she looked up.
Chu Jintan had met a lot of beautiful women.
He was not easily surprised by a face.
He was surprised by this one though, she was way too pretty and petite, with her doe and adorable eyes, inciting one to protect and wrap her around his arms.
She looked at him with large clear eyes and smiled — easy, warm, the smile of someone who had no idea what she was doing to the general atmosphere — and said: "Oh, sorry, am I in the way?"
He realised he'd stopped walking."No," he said. "You're fine."
She finished tying her shoe and stood, smoothing her dress. "You must be Sister's friend. I'm Yun Jiao." She tilted her head. "She's in the sitting room. Third door on the left."
Then she walked past him toward the kitchen, shopping bag over her shoulder, completely unbothered.
He turned and watched her go.
Blinked once.
Looked at the kitchen doorway she'd disappeared through.Then he looked at the sitting room door.
Right.
Jinna was waiting.
He walked to the sitting room.
—
YUN JIAO went straight to the kitchen.
Chef Zhou looked up from his prep when she came in. "You're late."
"I was ambushed in the hallway," she said, hopping onto the counter.
He raised an eyebrow. "By?"
"Yunjinna's boyfriend."
Zhou Baoshi's chopping slowed "Hm," he said.
"Yup," she agreed.
He set a bowl of congee in front of her without being asked.
She picked up the spoon.
In her head she was somewhere else entirely.
Chu Jintan.
She had looked at that face — handsome, easy, completely unbothered by the world — and felt nothing.That was the thing she hadn't been sure about until just now. Whether seeing him in this life would break something loose. Whether the grief or the rage or both would come up and show on her face before she could stop them.
Nothing.
Just — a face she knew the end of a story she'd already read, like looking at a walking corpse.
She ate her congee unbothered.
"Chef Zhou," she said.
"Mm."
"What do you know about Chu Jintan?"
He was quiet for a moment. Chopping. Steady and rhythmic.
"He's been coming here two years," he said finally. "Always through the front door. Never the back." A pause. "Men who comes through the front door in this house are always performing for someone like a clown"
Huh
Yun Jiao looked at him.
She never expected this statement from this unbelieving serious old man, she almost laughed out loud.
He didn't look up from his chopping.
She smiled at her congee.
She really, really liked this man.