There's a special kind of silence that falls before a public execution—
Polite, curious, champagne-scented.
And tonight, Liana Zhou was the one holding the blade.
Scene: Annual Qin Corp Charity Banquet – Grand Ballroom, 7:45 p.m.
The event gleamed with wealth and pretense. Crystal chandeliers. String quartet. Waiters too scared to blink.
Liana entered five minutes late—intentionally—with Damon Qin at her side. But she walked two steps ahead.
That wasn't an escort.
That was a power move.
Heads turned. Mouths whispered.
There she was again—in velvet black this time, with a slit high enough to scandalize and a neckline sharp enough to decapitate.
And her smile?
Deadlier than anything she wore.
At the table:
Damon, Liana, Shen Ruoyi, several board members, and the mayor's wife.
Ruoyi tried to sit between Damon and Liana.
Liana politely slid a butter knife onto that chair.
"You wouldn't want to make this messier than it already is," she murmured.
Ruoyi blinked. Took the next seat over. Face: plastic.
The appetizers arrived.
So did the tension.
Shen Ruoyi, attempting small talk: "Black velvet? Bold choice. Looks... suffocating."
Liana sipped her wine. Didn't blink.
"Oh, it breathes. Especially when you're not choking on someone else's man."
Damon almost choked on his wine instead.
The board member across the table laughed into his napkin. The mayor's wife clutched her pearls.
First kill of the night.
And Liana hadn't even touched her steak yet.
Scene shift: Damon steps away – short meeting with press
Liana rises. Toasts.
"For love," she says, voice like champagne dipped in venom.
"For truth," she adds, turning slightly—to face Ruoyi head-on.
"And for women who know the difference between being chosen... and being a placeholder."
The silence was instant.
Then polite clapping.
Then murmurs.
Ruoyi's eyes burned, but she didn't speak.
Because Liana had just declared open war—in public, under chandeliers, with every camera watching.
Scene: Bathroom Mirror – Five minutes later
Ruoyi storms in after Liana, seething.
"You think this is a game?!"
Liana applies lipstick calmly. Blood red, of course.
"Oh no," she says, clicking the tube shut. "A game implies rules."
"You bitch—"
"Careful," Liana says softly. "You're the one who tried to have me killed. If I were you, I'd be praying I never remember the exact details."
Ruoyi pales.
Liana leans in, almost kind.
"But if you want to confess now, I'd be happy to record it."
She taps her clutch—a recording light flashes briefly.
Ruoyi stumbles out.
Face-slap number two.
Scene: Damon's Car – After the event
He's watching her again. Like she's a stranger wearing Liana's skin.
"That toast," he says slowly. "You didn't hold back."
"I never do."
"She's unraveling."
"She started unraveling when she mistook me for someone soft."
Beat.
"You scare her."
"I'm counting on it."
He looks at her then—not with lust. Not with anger.
With awe. And fear.
"You scare me too."
She turns to him, finally. Smiles.
"Good."
Scene: Liana's Apartment – Midnight
She pulls up the flash drive footage again.
This time, she pauses.
The board member shaking hands with Ruoyi?
It's Mr. Liang.
The one who introduced Liana at the last board meeting.
The one who called her "impressive."
Traitor. Opportunist. Perfect pawn.
She pours herself a drink, slow.
"Well," she murmurs.
"If you're playing both sides... I'll just have to burn down both your houses."
She sends an anonymous message to Mr. Liang:
> "I know who you're sleeping with.
Meet me tomorrow. Or your wife will too."
And then?
She finishes her wine.
Smiles like the killer she is.