When Liu Mengran awoke from her coma, all she saw was darkness.

Her temples throbbed with pain, as if someone were hammering her skull from the inside. A bitter medicinal taste filled her mouth, and the adhesive tape clung tightly to her lips; with each breath, the dry edges of the tape rubbed against her skin, causing a slight stinging sensation.

Fragments of memory gradually pieced together. Someone knocked on the door at night... the sound of footsteps breaking in... a hoarse male voice said, "This medicine is really powerful"... and then there was only endless darkness.

Liu Mengran blinked, trying to adjust to the darkness around her. She lay on her side on a hard, cold concrete floor, her wrists and ankles bound by rough ropes that would chafe her skin with the slightest movement. She carefully regulated her breathing, exploring her surroundings with the slightest possible motion.

"Hmm..."

A faint groan came from beside her. Liu Mengran froze, then slowly moved her body, touching another person's arm in the darkness—a suit fabric, a male physique. She moved her hand up, touching a tie and a slightly sticky cheek.

Qin Chuan!

He had been brought here as well. Liu Mengran's heart raced, her blood rushing to her ears. She gently nudged Qin Chuan with her shoulder, but he didn't respond; he was clearly still unconscious.

Calm down. She had to stay calm. Liu Mengran forced herself to take deep breaths, even though each inhale only made the tape stick tighter to her face. Liu Xiaoran had taught her that the most important thing in a crisis was to keep a clear head. Han Feng and the others... must be looking for her now.

Suddenly, the screeching sound of metal door hinges came from afar. A blinding beam of light cleaved through the darkness like a knife, and Liu Mengran instinctively closed her eyes. Heavy footsteps grew closer.

"Awake?" a male voice with a heavy accent said in broken Chinese.

Liu Mengran squinted and saw two tall foreigners standing in front of her. The one in the lead had a shaved head and a hideous scar over his left eye, which looked particularly terrifying in the dim light. The other had dreadlocks and tattoos all over his neck, and he was looking her up and down with an unsettling gaze.

The bald man squatted down and roughly ripped the tape off Liu Mengran's mouth. The pain of her skin being torn made her gasp, but she gritted her teeth and remained silent.

"Someone wants to talk to you." The bald man grinned, revealing a set of yellow teeth, and handed over a video phone.

The screen lit up, displaying a woman's face—delicate, porcelain-doll-like features, fiery red lips, but eyes as cold as the Siberian permafrost. Liu Mengran had never seen her before, but her intuition told her that this was the mastermind.

"You must be Liu Mengran." The woman's voice was surprisingly gentle, yet it sent a chill down Liu Mengran's spine. "I never expected our first formal meeting to be like this."

"Who are you?" Liu Mengran struggled to control the trembling in her voice. Her throat was parched, and each word felt like sandpaper scraping against her skin.

The woman chuckled softly, her fingers, painted with bright red nail polish, tapping lightly on the table: "To remain so calm under these circumstances, no wonder Han Feng looks at you differently." She leaned forward slightly, her face suddenly zooming in on the screen, "I'm Mu Xiaoxiao, Han Feng's old friend."

Liu Mengran's mind raced. Han Feng had never mentioned this name before, but the hatred in this woman's words almost seemed to pierce through the screen.

"What do you want to do?" Liu Mengran stared directly into Mu Xiaoxiao's eyes, even though her heart was pounding dangerously in her chest.

"Simple." Mu Xiaoxiao's red lips curved into a perfect arc. "I want Han Feng to suffer. Jiang City didn't have a chance to target his parents, and Su Wanwan is too well protected... And you," her eyes turned dangerous, "are the perfect target."

Liu Mengran felt a chill creep up her spine. She instinctively reached for the brooch on her collar, the emergency signal transmitter Han Feng had given her, but then remembered that she had already been dressed in unfamiliar, loose clothing.

"Looking for this?" Mu Xiaoxiao suddenly picked up a delicate butterfly brooch from off-camera; it was the one Han Feng had given to Liu Mengran. "Don't waste your energy, darling. Do you think we'd overlook such an obvious distress signal?"

Liu Mengran's fingernails dug into her palms. Even the communication function on the brooch she wore had been discovered by the other party.

"You expect Han Feng to come and save you?" Mu Xiaoxiao toyed with her brooch, then suddenly slammed it down. The crisp sound of metal hitting the ground came through the microphone. "Even if he comes, I'll make sure he doesn't leave alive."

The screen then pans to the bald man beside him: "Wake up the other one and repeat what you just said."

The bald man grinned maliciously as he approached the unconscious Qin Chuan, drawing a military knife from his waist. Liu Mengran's heart skipped a beat: "Don't hurt him!"

Mu Xiaoxiao seemed amused: "Don't worry, as long as you cooperate, he'll be fine, at least not now." She nodded to the bald man, "Just use cold water, don't make a mess."

A bucket of ice water was splashed on Qin Chuan's face. He woke up coughing violently, looked around blankly, and when he saw Liu Mengran and himself tied up, a look of terror flashed in his eyes.

The bald man roughly grabbed Qin Chuan by the hair and shoved the phone screen in his face: "Listen up, you piece of trash..."

While their attention was focused on Qin Chuan, Liu Mengran quietly glanced around the warehouse. High windows, iron doors, stacks of wooden crates... a typical abandoned factory. Her gaze fell on a piece of broken glass not far away on the ground. If only she could get her hands on it...

"Please enjoy your call, Ms. Liu." Mu Xiaoxiao's voice drew her attention back. "We'll meet again soon—in person." The screen went black.

The bald man put the phone back in his pocket and began speaking to the man with dreadlocks in English. Liu Mengran's English was excellent; she listened intently to every word.

"This Asian girl is really beautiful," the dreadlocked man licked his lips, his gaze lingering on Liu Mengran. "How about we enjoy ourselves first?"

"Do you fucking want to die?" the bald man cursed in a low voice. "That lady said we can do whatever we want with her after this is over. If we touch her now, we're the ones who will die."

The man with dreadlocks muttered a few words of resentment, then gave Liu Mengran one last greedy look before following the bald man toward the door. The iron gate slammed shut, and darkness once again engulfed the warehouse.

"Manager Liu... Manager Liu?" Qin Chuan's voice trembled. "What happened? We..."

"We'll be alright," Liu Mengran whispered reassuringly, though her own heart was pounding in her chest. "Han Feng will find us."

The moment she uttered that name, Liu Mengran felt a strange calm. Han Feng's face appeared clearly in her mind, and she didn't know why she was thinking of Han Feng instead of her brother.

She shifted her body, trying to get closer to the shards of glass. The rope was digging deep into her wrists, the skin already raw, warm blood flowing into her palms. The pain brought tears to her eyes, but she didn't stop.