The Heartbreaker
I was crying in the room. Valerian didn't say much — he just kept handing me tissues.
When I finally tired of crying, he said, "Didn't you want to talk to me?"
"I don't want to talk anymore..." I shook my head. "I don't even know how to vent. I just want someone around, I guess."
He said, "That's fine. I can ask instead. I've been curious about you for a while. Last time you said your scars were from your parents and from other people — who were those other people? And... why are you so good at fighting? Did your husband teach you?"
A shadow I'd tried to forget for years surfaced in my mind.
I said quietly, "He didn't teach me."
"Then who?"
"I don't know what he was to me... childhood sweetheart, maybe. A boyfriend, maybe."
Valerian's eyes went wide. "What exactly did your ex-boyfriend teach you?"
That figure grew clearer in my mind...
I still remembered his name.
Cassian Vance.
"When I was little, my parents didn't care about me. In our village, if you wanted to go to school you had to walk out of town every day. They had no intention of sending me. Then someone found out and came to our door, saying education was mandatory. My parents had no choice but to let me go. The other kids who went to school in town brought lunchboxes or lunch money. I had nothing."
"So you went hungry?"
"Yeah... Every noon I'd go turn on the faucet at school. I thought if I drank enough water, I wouldn't be hungry. But I was starving, so I'd hide in the park. I couldn't stand the smell of other people's lunches — it only made it worse. I'd sit on the swing, telling myself it was the only time I could get the swing to myself, so I shouldn't waste it eating. But I was so hungry I'd sit there crying where no one could see."
"Did you go hungry until graduation?"
"Not exactly. My neighbor's kid also came to town for school — he lived right next door. Cassian Vance... he'd share his food with me. That was the only time he could get the swing, and we'd squeeze onto it together to eat. We couldn't stay too long, or other kids would come beat him up. I was scared to be seen with him too — my parents would hit me."
"Why?"
"The kids at school all came from nearby villages. Everyone's elders worked at the same factories, traveled home together for New Year's, left together afterwards. Since the villages were all relatives, they stuck together for protection... The year my brother and uncle came back, they were on that same bus. On the mountain road, Cassian Vance's dad, who'd been drinking, realized he'd left his wages at the rest stop... Back then there were no mobile payments — everyone clutched their cash tight on New Year's trips."
"I know."
"He demanded the driver turn back. The driver said they'd gone dozens of kilometers already... On that mountain road, his dad was drunk and insisted on getting his money back, ended up grabbing the steering wheel. The bus rolled off the mountain. It was overloaded — crammed with seventy people in a bus rated for forty-five. Forty-five people died in that crash. It was huge news. And just the people from our villages — more than ten elders died. In the village, children lost their fathers, uncles, or older brothers."
Valerian drew a sharp breath.
He touched his nose and whispered, "So your whole village became your enemy."
I nodded...
My family and Cassian Vance's family became sworn enemies because of that.
But me... I only wanted to be with Cassian Vance.
I never thought about what kind of man his father was, even if he was a devil who killed so many people.
I only remembered that when my adoptive parents were beating me, the boy whose mother was his only family was always covered in bruises, limping home.
I lived in the attic of their house. There was a skylight in the ceiling.
Whenever Cassian Vance got into a fight, he'd endure the pain, climb over his own roof, and leap dangerously onto mine.
He'd open the skylight. Below, my adoptive parents laughed with my brother, occasionally shouting insults at me.
Hearing those voices used to hurt, but when Cassian Vance was beside me, I couldn't hear their words anymore.
He'd smuggle leftover food from his house.
In my house, Mom always encouraged my brother to eat the meat from the leftovers.
But Cassian Vance always saved his food for me. He'd sit by the skylight and gaze quietly at the moon.
He really did love the moon.
After I finished eating, he'd ask what I wanted tomorrow, saying he'd have his mom make it.
I didn't like making requests. I just liked holding his hand, lying beneath the skylight, staring up at the sky. Smacking my lips, savoring the taste of meat.
I always held his hand until I fell asleep. He'd wait until I was out, then slip back through the skylight and go home.
In the morning, he'd ask his mom for extra lunch. She always called him a little glutton.
But Cassian Vance wasn't greedy — never was. He just liked carrying that heavy lunchbox out of the village, hiding in a secluded spot on the mountain path, waiting for me to arrive before we'd walk to school together.
That was our little secret.
He was the only light in my life.
I was his only companion.
A sinner's child, a bought-out bastard...
When the world piled layer upon layer of malice upon us, only we stayed by each other's side, and that was enough.
Growing up fighting constantly, Cassian Vance became an exceptional fighter — naturally. Peers could never beat him. But older kids still could.
He never liked to admit pain. He'd just squeeze next to me on the swing and watch me eat.
But I was so foolish.
Why are girls always the same — in their youth, writing the name of their crush over and over again?
I still remember that naughty boy pulling a notebook from my desk.
He flipped to a blank page, covered in that beautiful name.
Cassian Vance... Cassian Vance...
For some reason, I wasn't afraid that day. I wasn't scared of people knowing our secret. When our relationship was exposed, I felt like a weakling in the dark finally seeing light — I told myself someone was there for me.
Maybe from that day on, I started fighting alongside him.
From elementary school through middle school, through graduation...
Two on two, we could win. Two on four, we could still win... Little kids' fists hurt nothing compared to what my adoptive parents dished out.
But when it came to two on eight? We ran fast!
Unfortunately, my adoptive parents didn't let me go to high school. By then his mom could finally move him out of the village. The high school was farther away, in the county. But whenever I got the chance, I'd trek all the way to fight for Cassian Vance.
I still remember the day we won a battle. I wanted to smash a beer bottle over a guy's head, but Cassian Vance grabbed me from behind, wrestled with me — but I'd developed already, and he quickly let go. We both turned red.
That evening, sitting on the park swing back in town, he told me I was a grown woman now and shouldn't keep getting into fights.
I said no way — whoever dared touch him, I'd go fight them no matter how far.
He asked me why I always defended him.
I wanted so much to say I loved him.
But I didn't dare, because I could feel that he loved me too. Girls aren't stupid — they can tell when a boy likes them.
But that day, eating the rice bowl he'd bought me, mouth smeared with grease, I panicked that he might confess and kiss me. I didn't want my first kiss to taste like spicy twice-cooked pork.
I forced a smile and said, "I eat your food, so of course I owe you. I can't exactly marry you — who'd want a wild girl like me?"
He said nothing, just lowered his head.
That night he didn't go back to school. He climbed into my house instead.
I was half-asleep when he woke me.
I remember the moon was bright that night. The boy who always loved watching the moon wasn't looking at the sky — he was cupping my face.
His voice trembled as he said...
"Help me... my heart's beating so fast. Can I kiss you?"
A seasoned fighter like me knew perfectly well — at this range, one elbow strike would take down this pervert!
But I closed my eyes instead, my own heart racing.
His kiss tasted of mint.
I'd bet good money he'd polished off half a tube of toothpaste before coming over.
Cool and refreshing... sweet.
After years of holding hands, he finally held me in his arms.
He whispered tenderly in my ear that when he got into college, he'd take me away from this place.
His breath was warm and sweet too.
We made a pact.
Rent a place near his college. He'd work and study, I'd find factory or restaurant work.
I'd support him as hard as I could until he graduated, then he'd support me.
We wove small dreams, and I carried them, waiting faithfully until the day he was accepted.
That day we agreed to meet at the park swings. He'd take me away forever.
I couldn't help asking — what if my parents didn't let me leave that day?
He said it didn't matter.
If we missed each other, he'd come back every week, every weekend he'd wait at the swings for me.
No matter how long, he'd wait, until I came running into his arms.
Valerian handed me another tissue and asked curiously, "Then what? Why isn't he by your side now?"
I said, "I don't want to talk anymore. I don't want to remember sad things again."
He looked anxious, quickly opened the mini-fridge, and brought me a bottle of chilled whiskey, saying softly, "Have a drink. People need to vent sometimes — saying it out loud helps."
"Can you drink this ice-cold? Won't it be bad for you?"
"You're a Sin Hunter — neither of us knows if we'll live to see tomorrow, and you're lecturing me about health?"
I took a big gulp.
As the alcohol hit, I whispered, "My dad and mom... always fixated on not having a son."
They always fixated on having a son.
And they never gave up on that obsession.
But Dad couldn't anymore, so they heard about IVF.
Mom asked him, "Where's the money for the procedure? I'm this old — the costs of having a child? Raising a kid is expensive, and you don't earn much."
He said nothing.
Until the day I turned eighteen, and my adoptive mother was forty-five.
I was so happy, because soon I could go work in the city and support my Cassian Vance. He was my greatest secret.
But I never imagined how obsessive she was about having a son...
When I drank that drugged glass of water and woke up, I was deep in the mountains.
Ten thousand yuan was all it took to make me some old bachelor's wife.
He was drunk, tearing at my clothes. Halfway through, when he saw my scars, he flew into a rage, cursing that he'd bought damaged goods.
I grabbed a sickle from beside the stove but couldn't bring myself to strike his head — only dared to whack him unconscious with the back of the blade.
I was still dreaming...
Dreaming of finding Cassian Vance, of living peacefully forever.
I'd endured so many years. I'd finally endured to the day he'd take me away.
Late that night, I took his phone and fled into the mountains.
I still remember that desperate cry for help.
"I want to call the police! I was sold into the mountains! I got out... it's so dark, I don't know where I am..."
I also remember the promise I made to my future husband.
"Please save me, I don't want to be dragged back. I'll serve you for the rest of my life — cook, clean, do anything — to repay your kindness."
I'd agreed to be his servant — never said anything about becoming his wife.
He appeared like a hero, carrying me out of the mountains.
I begged them not to tell my parents, not to notify my family — let them think I was dead.
The rescuers hesitated. He said this involved human trafficking, not something I could decide.
I cried, getting on my knees, begging over and over.
My husband asked me why I didn't hold them accountable.
I wiped my tears and asked, "Would they get the death penalty?"
"No."
"Then if they find out I'm alive, when they get out, they'll demand I support them. Can the law force me not to?"
"No... Children have mandatory support obligations toward adoptive parents."
I said I'd suffered for so many years.
I didn't want to spend the rest of my life supporting them. I'd rather they believed I was dead in those mountains. I wanted them gone from my life forever.
If saving me meant they'd find out I was alive and force me to care for them until they died, then I'd rather have stayed buried in those mountains forever.
Ah, I suddenly remembered.
Even though the memory was blurry, I remembered.
That day, my husband had made a call and asked, "Officer Su, how should we handle this?"
The voice on the other end went silent for a moment...
It was Adrian Cross's voice. Only now did I recall it.
"The police exist to help people. If we follow procedure and push a living person back into hell, we've gotten it backwards. Since both the process and the outcome serve the victim, sometimes lying is a skill we need to learn. There's no reason to sentence this girl to a lifetime of suffering. We'll handle it — arrest the criminals as usual, but tell no one we found her. I'll take responsibility."
So I'd encountered him before. I just couldn't remember.
After leaving the mountains, I stayed in the hospital for a few days.
I wanted so badly to get up and find Cassian Vance, but I was afraid people in town would recognize me, afraid my adoptive parents would find out I was alive.
Ethan Cole learned about my situation and told me, "If you have nowhere to go, stay at my place for now. You two agreed to meet every weekend, right? Whenever I'm free I'll drive you there. If I'm busy, get your license and take my car."
I asked him how I should repay him.
He said... Repay? Just help with laundry and cooking at my place for now!
From that day on, I moved in. Every weekend, he'd always drive me to that park.
We hid in his tinted car, watching the swings.
The first time, Cassian Vance wasn't there.
The second time, Cassian Vance wasn't there.
I kept the promise. But for half a year, he didn't come.
I refused to give up. Ethan Cole drove me to Cassian Vance's college so I could find him in person.
I couldn't go inside — it was a city school, and I was afraid villagers or townsmen would see me. Everyone thought I was dead.
Ethan Cole went in for me. I gave him my only photo of Cassian Vance, making him promise not to mistake anyone.
I waited in the car, full of hope, until I saw Ethan Cole walking back alone.
I asked, where's Cassian Vance?
Ethan Cole said... he saw him being lovey-dovey with some girl.
The one I'd waited for so long had already found someone else.
I held back tears and forced a smile. "That's okay! He just thought I was dead — everyone thought I was dead. Once I come back, we can explain it to that girl. She'll understand!"
Ethan Cole said alright and started to get out of the car.
But I grabbed his arm.
If he could forget me in half a year... that girl must be something special, right?
She must speak softly and sweetly, not like me grinning foolishly all the time.
She must have beautiful hair and pretty eyes, not my yellowed, malnourished hair and sunken eye sockets.
She must be delicate like a doll, with flawless skin, not covered in scars like me — someone who couldn't even look at herself in the mirror while bathing.
In the end, I didn't dare face it. I told Ethan Cole to drive me back.
At the bottom of his building, I finally broke down. I said from this day forward, I had nowhere else to go.
Ethan Cole held my hand.
He said, "Since you have nowhere to go, then stay here forever, okay?"
From that day, I stayed by his side.
In time, my hero became my man.
The darkness was always hard to endure, but daylight always comes.
But I never imagined my night could be so long.
Valerian was quiet for a moment, then suddenly said, "There's something I want to tell you. I just found out myself."
"What?"
"Remember I wondered why Hemlock didn't stop the fire?"
"Yes."
"I heard someone say... and I'm only going by hearsay, no evidence... that fire might have been set by Hemlock himself."