{Chapter: 141 - Pride Wounded And Working Together}
She had killed men who ogled her. She had carved up clients who thought they owned her. But Aiden? He didn't try to touch her. He didn't even smirk. His stillness was reverent.
The heat in her cheeks deepened. She spun again, her jacket sliding from her shoulders.
Her cold, expressionless face… cracked. For the first time in a long time, her lips parted not in a sneer or a snarl—but in something like uncertainty. Something almost soft.
Did she trust him?
'Trust him?'
No. She couldn't. She wouldn't.
And yet, in that moment, part of her did.
Na Wei felt that she is crazy, she is being humiliated yet still feel satisfied? She even unknowingly started to striptease more seriously, she didn't even realize her cold face was now a bit more feminine.
Did she 'Trusted him'
Na Wei's breath was ragged, her chest rising and falling in quiet gasps as she finished the last slow turn of her dance. The rhythm had long since faded from the speakers, but she kept moving, as though her own heartbeat had taken over the tempo.
Now she stood, exposed beneath the soft moonlight filtering through the yacht's tinted windows—clad in nothing more than a matching purple lace bra and panties that glistened faintly with the movement of her body. Her usually cold and calculating eyes were clouded with confusion, cheeks flushed with a heat she didn't understand. Somewhere between shame and defiance.
That was when she felt it.
A subtle shift in the air. Like a presence vanishing into thin mist. A phantom exit.
Her senses, honed from years of survival and murder-for-hire contracts, caught the absence instantly.
Aiden was gone.
Her breath caught in her throat. She turned instinctively, eyes scanning the shadows of the room, then the hallway, the entry… but there was no sign of him. No footsteps. No sound. No door closing.
Only silence.
He'd left.
Just like that.
Na Wei stood frozen in place, half-turned, arms slightly raised as if to offer herself further—but now the gesture felt ridiculous. Empty. As meaningless as a sigh in a storm.
'He watched for a moment… then turned and walked away?'
Her mind recoiled, not from fear, but disbelief. The confidence she'd built layer by layer, through blood and calculated manipulation, faltered. For years, her allure had been a weapon as deadly as any blade. She'd wielded it against diplomats, mercenaries, even warlords. But tonight…
Tonight, she was discarded halfway through a performance she hadn't even wanted to give.
And that hurt more than any rejection she'd ever known.
Her arms slowly lowered to her sides. The lace against her snow-white skin now felt tacky and wrong. Powerless. The same garments that had once made her feel invincible now clung to her like tattered pride.
'Did I do something wrong? Was I not alluring enough? Not enough?'
The questions came unbidden, cruel in their persistence. She looked down at her body—the long legs, the hourglass waist, the pale porcelain complexion, and the rare white hair that once marked her like a snow goddess. All of it, once a source of pride… now felt common. Forgotten.
No, not common—rejected.
A confused ache pulsed beneath her sternum. Her lips parted, as if to call out to the man who had already vanished. But nothing came. Nothing except a single sigh, long and hollow.
She turned away from the empty room, each step heavy with wounded pride and unanswered questions. Her bare shoulders trembled once before she buried the pain beneath a mask she'd worn her entire life.
'I'll leave Star City, she thought coldly. This city doesn't deserve me.'
Na Wei turned away, shoulders sinking slightly, her pride wounded in ways she hadn't expected. She buried the swirl of shame and quiet suffering beneath a practiced composure, the same mask she had worn for years.
She would leave Star City. That much she knew.
---
Does Na Wei lack charm?
Absolutely not.
She was a woman of shadows, a master of seduction and steel. A woman whose allure could topple empires, whose blade could silence kings.
Did Aiden see that charm?
Of course he did. Only a fool would miss it. Her beauty, her fire, her ferocity—he saw it all. But he wasn't here for beauty. He wasn't here for satisfaction.
He had a mission.
Aiden wasn't like the others Na Wei had ensnared. His strength came from something deeper. Not just his power, but his focus, his purpose. Something she couldn't quite grasp. Yet.
And the truth was, her performance—enticing as it was—was never the point.
---
Somewhere across the city, high above the rooftops of Star City, Aiden stood silently at the edge of a rooftop. His coat fluttered in the wind, one hand pressed to a hidden earpiece, the other resting on the hilt of a glowing short sword.
His eyes scanned the skyline.
"Somers will know he lost," Aiden murmured to himself. "Which means he'll run. Or strike early."
That was the opportunity.
A chance to end it all.
Somers wasn't just a gang boss—he was the central node in a web of corruption spreading across the city's underworld. Drugs, trafficking, weapons—his empire bled into every dark alley and crooked boardroom from the Glades to Queen Consolidated.
Taking him down would be more than a win. It would be a message.
And it served the Main Quest.
"Protect Star City."
Aiden's fingers flexed slightly. His ring shimmered.
Working with Green Arrow would fulfill the quest conditions—teaming up with the city's vigilante protector, stopping Somers, and unraveling the entire criminal empire in one fell swoop. It would even deepen their Friendship Level. A metric Aiden took seriously, despite its gamified tone.
Three days.
That was all he had to do all this.
---
Inside the underground command center, Oliver Queen—Green Arrow—descended the spiral staircase, his hood thrown back, and bow still slung over his shoulder.
He looked tired. Grim. The weight of Star City, of expectations, always pressing on his shoulders. His green leather armor bore new scratches from a recent scuffle.
When he saw Aiden standing there, arms folded by the table with blueprints spread across it, Oliver offered only a terse nod.
"Thanks for the assist," he said, not unkindly—but cautiously.
Aiden returned the nod. "Just lending a hand. By the way… I let China White go."
That made Oliver frown. "You what?"
"I made her pay for what she did," Aiden said, sidestepping the full truth. A dance for a debt. "But I realized—she's not the mastermind. Somers is. If we go after him directly, we cut off the head of the serpent."
Oliver crossed his arms. "You want to work together?"
"I'm offering it," Aiden said, voice steady. "This city is your home. But it's my mission. Together, we can end this in one strike."
For a long moment, Oliver said nothing. Then he slowly nodded.
"Fine. But if she shows up again—"
"She won't," Aiden assured.
A beat of silence.
Oliver sighed. "Then let's suit up."
Aiden smirked. "Thought you'd never ask."
Oliver came here just to get ready to deal with Somers.
Although he felt that he could deal with it alone, since Aiden has asked to work together he readily agreed.
*****
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