The sky roared with thunder. Yellow cabs drifted down the rain slick roads, headlights gleaming in the darkness.
I sat alone in the hotel lobby, legs crossed, fingers tapping againstmy clutch. It was 1:15 am and Mr. Hangman, my ever punctual chauffeur for late for the 1st time ever.
My school farewell was still ragging on in the banquet hall opposite to me. The crystal chandeliers trembled under the bass of some DJ flown in from Ibiza. Champagne glassed clinked and my classmates - dripping and designer and Basquing in privilege - danced like they had nothing to loose.
I could hear the laughter coming from the hall, I could hear them toasting to futures that they hadn't earned. I had had enough and slipped away from all that chaos.
Now, I was just a girl waiting for her chaffeur to take her far, far away.
But I guess that was too much to ask for.
And there he was—my ex—pinned against a marble pillar, kissing some girl like the world was ending. His hands roamed. Her laughter rang. They looked like a scene from a trashy drama, one I never auditioned for but somehow lived through.
That bastard.
As if cheating wasn't enough, he'd taken it further—spinning my secrets into venom-laced gossip, whispering to anyone who would listen that I was the mistake of the Liang family. The unwanted daughter. The black mark on our pristine name.
I still remember the way my stomach used to knot when I overheard those lies. Secrets I'd once shared with trembling honesty now paraded as punchlines to fuel his fragile, pathetic ego.
And of course, no one ever stopped him.
His father, the CEO of Saedung Group, played golf with mine every other Sunday. They shared whiskey, war stories, and the belief that sons are legacies and their daughters are worth garbage. Especially, illegitimate daughters like me.
My father had his golden boy, my half brother.. Han Liang. The eldest with a perfect smile and perfectly placed dimples. I was the sidepiece. A showpiece they kept polished for the public, forced into silent obedience.
But right now, watching my ex devour another girl like i never existed, something clicked in me.
I couldn't bear watching any longer as tears threatened to spill down my cheeks.
I tore my eyes away from that mess. My chest felt like it might cave in, not only from heartbreak but from the disgust of having forgiven him for all that he had done, time and time again.
I adjusted the hem of my silk skirt, straightened my shoulders as if trying to muster up all the confidence i had left in me and turned towards the hotel entrance, willing Mr. Hangman to show up before I became a puddle of tears.
I kicked off my heels halfway down the hall as they had cut into my feet, and stormed off.
I didn't care about anything any longer. I felt empty and I needed to breathe.
By the time i reached the hotel entrance, the concierge had barely blinked before I pushed open the hotel's door and stepped out into the rain.
The drops of rain felt like needles against my skin.
Withing seconds, my dress was soaking wet, sticking to my skin. I greeted the rain like an old guest, letting it wash over me.
Right now, I didn't want a driver. I didn't want anything to remind me of the world I was born into.
I wanted to feel something real.
But fate had other plans.
Just a few steps ahead of me a sleek black sedan pulled up headlights blaring in the rain.
The door opened.
And out stepped the person I least expected to see.
Liu Zichen.
The wild second son of the Liu Dynasty group. My father's rivals in every sense.
Through the rain I could barely make out his figure. He had no umbrella. He didnt even look as the rain soaked into his black suit. It looked like he was late for our college farewell.
His eyes widened in recognition as they landed on me, something unreadable swirling in them beneath the wet strands of his ink-dark hair.
I froze.
Of all the people in the city, it had to be him.
His lips curled, just slightly. That maddening half-smirk.
"What a surprise," he said, voice like velvet. "The Liang family's precious daughter, out past her curfew?"
I narrowed my eyes, refusing to bite back.
"I'd rather drown in the street than go back in there."
Zichen stood tall, the lightening and the rain turning his already sculpted features into art. The rain slipped down his throat, past his sharp jawline, soaking the collar of his coat probably imported from Italy like everything he owned.
"Do you want to get away from here? I would appreciate a companion." He added as an afterthought.
I blinked, caught off guard.
"What?" I asked stunned. "I barely know you. I'm not going anywhere with you."
Zichen clutched his chest dramatically. "Ouch Lily, I thought we knew each other."
"We've barely spoken." I said as the cold was biting into my skin.
I wrapped my arm around myself, suddenly lying aware of how transparent my gown was getting in the rain.
He chuckled softly, "Look, its my birthday, and I just had the worst dinner of my life an hour ago. My father threw a wine glass against the wall because I told him that i wanted to do what I wanted. My mother told me that I was embarrassing the family."
There it was, a glimpse under the polished exterior. The wounds that no one got to see.
"i just wanted to enjoy my birthday", Zichen said, eyes closed. "One night to forget it all and when i saw you storm out of that place like you had had enough... i figured you understood."
I looked at him this time. Really closely. Exhaustion hid behind his eyes and hurt hid behind his smirk.
"Happy Birthday Zichen." I said mustering a small smile.
Zichen's eyes grew wide, a smile lighting up his face.
My phone buzzed in my clutch. Probably my father's secretary asking why I wasn't networking upstairs.
"Tonight is my last day in China. Tomorrow morning I have to catch a flight to New York. I'm going abroad to business school. This will be the last time you see me."
I laughed in spite of myself. Everything in our world was politics. Now that I had turned 19, I wanted to truly live.
I glanced at him, hair dripping, eyes flickering, like he was just as lost as me.
Maybe, just maybe, this wasn't about fun.
Maybe it was about freedom.
And so I said yes.