They were told they absolutely had to intervene, because a resident in that building was going to do something important that day and couldn't be delayed.
The two guards found it strange and were reluctant to take the money.
The man upped the offer from ten thousand each to thirty thousand each. "Don't worry. Take the money, do the job. Even if the police come, this has nothing to do with you."
The employer had been wearing sunglasses, but a police sketch artist still managed to capture his general appearance.
Shawn and I tracked the sketch to a suspect. He was one of the largest clients of the accounting firm where the BMW owner and the fallen man had worked: Liam Griffin, chairman of Zenith Capital.
By the time we identified the suspect, Shawn and I had been awake for thirty hours straight.
It was six in the morning. Sunlight poured through the precinct windows. Shawn's face showed fatigue, but still looked refined.
According to him, I'd developed dark circles.
"Sophie, get some sleep."
He pushed me onto the sofa and covered me with his coat.
I told him to wait until I woke up so we could figure out the next step together.
He said of course.
Then he flicked my forehead with a finger, turned, and walked away.
His coat was warm.
I fell asleep quickly. In my dream, Shawn and I did many things together. We went to trendy milk tea shops; we played VR and he laughed at my aim; one day I had stomach cramps, and he showed up at my door with honey and ginger saying he'd make me tea, and I said since you're here, let's cook dinner too.
He confessed again. He said, actually, when you first asked me why I was helping you, it wasn't out of a sense of justice.
Then what was it?
Because you're exactly my type. Big eyes, small lips, flat chest.
I said, Shawn, you jerk, you absolute jerk!
He said, it would be nice to always be together, but I can't help it—I have to save you.
"What do you mean?"
He didn't answer, and dissolved into white light.
Then the white light became a blue sky.
Across the entire sky, a single fluorescent blue butterfly flew toward the distance.
I looked down and saw a body lying beside me, covered in blood, eyes hollow, completely lifeless.
It was Shawn.
I bolted awake and immediately called Shawn.
He didn't pick up.
Where had he gone?
He'd gone to find Liam Griffin. Zenith Capital—where was Zenith Capital?
Suddenly, I remembered something.
A detail from the future fragment about my own death—something so distant I'd almost forgotten it.
The detail was a line of text on the billboard that fell.
"Zenith Capital—Your Five-Star Asset Manager."
So was I going to die at the foot of Zenith Capital's building, or was Shawn going to die there?
I couldn't think about that anymore.
I grabbed my sunglasses, put them on, then threw them away.
If I had to die, so be it. Shawn was far more useful to this world than I was.
---
17
In the taxi, the driver had the navigation turned up loud.
"The Financial Complex, right? Is that at the Tianzhao intersection?"
I knew the place. Perhaps it would be where I died. But I had to get there as fast as possible. I couldn't let Shawn die there too.
"Hurry, please."
He kept the window open. A butterfly flew in, landed on my leg, and beat its wings slowly.
The car was close to the destination, but got stuck in the middle of the road—just like in my future fragment.
I knew my death place had arrived.
I rolled down the window and watched the butterfly soar into the sky.
Suddenly, I heard a roar behind me, mixed with sharp, jarring sounds.
I turned around and saw Shawn riding a motorcycle, weaving through the gridlocked traffic, smashing countless side mirrors as he flew past without slowing down even slightly.
What was he doing?
Then I felt a vast shadow bearing down over me.
It was the billboard—dozens of square meters of it.
In an instant, everyone was scattering, but I was so paralyzed by the characters "Zenith Capital" on the sign that I couldn't even draw breath.
It was the crushing weight of death, stealing every ounce of my courage to flee.
"Get out! Sophie!" Shawn was shouting.
The billboard was seconds from crushing us, but Shawn didn't slow down, barreling straight toward me.
I could escape.
I still had Shawn. He could change the future.
I fumbled for the door, and just as I pushed myself out of the car, a tremendous force yanked me into the air.
Then I saw the entire world spinning, with me at the center of the vortex.
How strange.
The image of Shawn turning his head to look at me got the slow-motion treatment again, stretched into a clear, complete sequence.
"We..." he shouted over the wind, "will be fine..."
He sounded like he was pretty scared too.
The next instant, we flew out of the shadow and crashed down.
A deafening boom—the billboard slammed into the ground beside us.
When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in his arms.
We had changed the future once more.
---
18
"Shawn."
"Yeah?"
Lying on the asphalt, I pulled a package from my arms and handed it to him.
"A gift for you."
"Why?"
"Because you did save me, but I'm still not ready to date a younger guy, so..."
"So this is just a gift to stall me?"
"We're on the same wavelength."
"I'll take it."
Still lying on the ground, he started ripping the package open with his teeth and hands.
"What is this?"
"Handcuffs! You left yours in that bus and didn't dare go claim them, so I bought you a new pair online."
"Sophie, these are..."
"What, Shawn, you don't like them?"
"It's not that I don't like them, it's just that they're not very practical."
"Why not?"
"I need duty handcuffs. You bought... novelty handcuffs..."
---
19
The police thoroughly investigated Liam Griffin and discovered that Zenith Capital was indeed involved in massive tax evasion and illegal fundraising.
After liquidating Zenith Capital's assets, the case was essentially closed.
But Shawn and I both knew that the most dangerous person was still at large.
Liam Griffin—the man we believed could see the future—had vanished from the day we started hunting for him.
At the same time, I knew I was his target. He had every reason and sufficient capability to have me killed.
"You don't have to wait until he's caught to say yes to dating me, though."
Shawn said that.
He'd been spending more and more time with me lately, and since his promotion, seemed to have plenty of spare cash for dinners and movies.
I wanted to refuse, but I really couldn't.
After all, I'd fallen for him.
But I still couldn't date him, because I'd seen Shawn's death.
At the hands of Liam Griffin, who still hadn't shown his face.
I saw them fighting in a very confined space. Shawn was smart, but he seemed to genuinely lack combat training.
He was stabbed many times.
There was no time, no location. All I knew was that it was night, and Shawn died.
"Shawn, can you really change the futures I see?"
He laughed. "Obviously. How many have we changed already?"
"Then... I think you're a little thin. Can you eat more and exercise a bit?"
He looked at me, paused, then grinned. "I'm perfectly proportioned as I am."
---
20
Even if he could change the future, I wouldn't let him take the risk.
This time, it was my turn to save him.
---
21
I checked many locations and finally confirmed that the confined space was the Ferris wheel at an amusement park. Then I tried reasoning it out the way Shawn would:
First, the person who posed the biggest threat to Liam Griffin was me, so Liam Griffin's target had to be me. Second, if Liam Griffin wanted to kill Shawn, he'd definitely appear inside that Ferris wheel.
That was as far as I could get.
Next, I could only use the stupidest method: I went and rode that Ferris wheel every single day.
I needed the hidden Liam Griffin to know I was there. I needed to use myself as bait to draw him out.
"Three days."
"What?"
Liam Griffin, who had just sat down across from me, asked.
"This is only my third day riding this Ferris wheel, and you're already here."
"Oh." He smiled. "You've got guts, little girl."
"You're just too impatient, old man."
Liam Griffin didn't deny it.
The Ferris wheel began its slow ascent.
Liam Griffin pulled a knife from inside his jacket.
The same knife from my future vision.
"Sophie, I never imagined there'd be someone else in the world like me. Without you, I could do whatever I wanted. But..."
"Sorry about ruining so many of your plans."
"Indeed, so I can't let you live today. You understand, right?"
I nodded, thinking: he's terrifying.
That day at the hospital, when that vicious family member charged at me, at least Shawn had blocked him. But today, inside this cramped cabin, it was just me and the killer.
Liam Griffin was so tall. So imposing.