"Wei'er works too hard," Liu Mei simpered, shooting her step-daughter a venomous glance. "She doesn't understand opportunities when they present themselves."
"Perhaps," Wang Zhou swirled his wine, "she needs proper motivation. I heard Chen Pharmaceuticals lost the Zhao contract last month. Unfortunate. I also heard your family's investment portfolio has been... struggling."
The temperature in the room dropped.
Chen Haotian, Wei'er's father and family patriarch, stiffened. "Business has its cycles, Young Master Wang."
"Of course, of course." Wang Zhou's smile never wavered. "Which is why partnerships are so valuable. For instance, I could ensure the Chen family receives priority consideration for the upcoming West District development project. The commission alone would be... substantial."
Liu Mei's eyes gleamed. "The West District project? But that's—"
"Exclusively controlled by Wang Enterprises. Yes." Wang Zhou set down his glass. "All it would require is a small show of cooperation. Perhaps Chen Wei'er could head the liaison team? It would mean working closely with my company. Very closely."
Kai refilled glasses and watched the trap snap shut.
Chen Haotian was weak not in body but in will. He'd inherited the Chen family's modest wealth and had spent twenty years slowly bleeding it away through poor investments. Liu Mei, his second wife, had married him for status and was now desperate to maintain it.
Chen Wei'er was their last valuable asset. Her competence, her education, her connections.
Wang Zhou was offering them salvation.
All it would cost was their daughter.
"Wei'er," Chen Haotian said slowly, "perhaps you should consider—"
"No."
Every head turned.
Chen Wei'er stood, her hands clenched at her sides. "I won't be sold, Father. Not for a project, not for the family's debt, not for anything."
Liu Mei's face purpled. "You ungrateful—"
"I've already saved this family twice by forgoing my inheritance rights and marriage proposals," Wei'er continued, her voice shaking slightly but firm. "I won't do it again."
The silence was deafening.
Wang Zhou's expression didn't change, but his eyes went cold. "Miss Chen, I think you misunderstand—"
"I don't. Thank you for dinner, Young Master Wang. I'm going to my room."
She turned to leave.
Wang Zhou nodded slightly.
His bodyguard moved.
It was a subtle shift of weight, a hand sliding toward a pocket. Kai's enhanced divine sense caught the glint of a needle in the man's palm. Coated with something oily. Probably a sedative.
The bodyguard would "accidentally" bump into Wei'er on her way out. She'd feel dizzy. Wang Zhou would "generously" offer to help her to her room. And once alone...
Kai moved.
The tray slipped from his hands with a perfectly timed stumble, wine and glasses crashing directly into the bodyguard's path. The man jumped back, the needle disappearing as he avoided the spill.
"Clumsy fool!" Liu Mei shrieked.
Kai knelt immediately, mumbling apologies, using his body to block the bodyguard's route to Wei'er.
"So sorry, so sorry," he muttered, grabbing a napkin and making an elaborate show of wiping the floor.
Wei'er used the distraction to slip out of the room.
The bodyguard's jaw clenched. Wang Zhou's eyes narrowed fractionally.
They knew.
Kai continued his act, letting Liu Mei berate him, letting Chen Jian kick his shoulder "accidentally" as he cleaned.
But when Wang Zhou's gaze met him for a brief moment, Kai saw recognition.
This wasn't a clumsy servant.
This was an obstacle.
"Clean it up and get out," Liu Mei snapped. "Young Master Wang, I apologize for this incompetent—"
"It's fine," Wang Zhou said smoothly, though his tone had chilled. "Actually, I should be going. Early meeting tomorrow. But Chen Haotian, do think about my proposal. The West District opportunity won't last forever."
Threat delivered.
As the dinner party broke up, Kai finished cleaning in silence. Through the walls, he could hear Chen Haotian and Liu Mei arguing in furious whispers.
"—can't refuse Wang Zhou! Do you know what he could do to us?"
"Wei'er is being unreasonable—"
"Then make her reasonable! That useless husband of hers won't stop us—"
Kai straightened and carried the broken glass to the kitchen.
In his pocket, his phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number:
"You made a mistake tonight. The West District isn't the only thing Wang Zhou controls. He owns the police chief, three judges, and half the city council. You have no idea who you're interfering with."
Kai deleted the message without responding.
They were right about one thing.
He had no idea who Wang Zhou was.
But Wang Zhou had even less idea who he was.
And that information gap was about to become very, very significant.
******
Chen Wei'er's room was on the third floor, isolated from the main family quarters.
Another subtle humiliation is the family's daughter living like a guest in her own home.
Kai found her on the balcony, arms wrapped around herself despite the warm night. She didn't turn when he approached, but her shoulders tensed.
"You didn't have to do that," she said quietly. "The tray."
So she'd noticed.
"It was an accident," Kai replied, his tone neutral.
"You've never been clumsy in three years." Wei'er finally turned to face him. "I'm not blind, Kai. Or stupid. You saw something, didn't you?"
For a moment, Kai considered maintaining the facade. But Wei'er was different from the rest of the Chen family. In three years, she'd never once treated him as inferior. Never demanded. Never degraded.
She'd asked for his name on their wedding night. Had thanked him for agreeing to the arrangement. Had insisted he have his own room, his own space, his own dignity.
Small mercies, perhaps.
But Kai remembered mercy.
"Wang Zhou's bodyguard was carrying a drugged needle," Kai said simply. "He intended to spike you when you left."
Wei'er's face went white. "Are you certain?"
"Yes."
She was silent for a long moment, processing. Then: "Why help me? This arrangement benefits you. If something happened to me, you'd receive the settlement money from the marriage contract. You'd be free."
Kai turned to look at the city lights sprawling below them. Haishi City has eight million people, hundreds of thousands of cultivators hiding in plain sight, and somewhere in this urban sprawl, eleven more fragments of his power.
"I'm not interested in blood money," he said.
"Then what are you interested in?"
Good question.
Revenge, obviously. Return to the Heavenly Realm. Make the Jade Emperor and the Supreme Deities understand the cost of their betrayal.
But he didn't say that.
"Staying alive until tomorrow," Kai said instead. "Same as everyone else."
Wei'er laughed, but it was bitter. "Staying alive. That's becoming harder, isn't it? Wang Zhou won't stop. My family won't protect me. And you..."
She trailed off, studying him. "You're different lately. These past few months, especially. You move differently. Speak differently. Sometimes I wonder if—"
Her phone rang.
She glanced at the screen and her expression shuttered. "My father. Probably going to try to convince me again." She declined the call. "I need to leave, don't I?"
"Yes," Kai said bluntly. "Tonight, if possible."
"I can't. My accounts are monitored by the family. The moment I book a ticket or rent a hotel, they'll know." Wei'er's hands clenched on the balcony railing. "I'm trapped. I've been trapped for three years, and I was too proud to admit it."
"Then we leave without accounts."
Wei'er turned to stare at him. "We?"
"You think they'll let me stay after I interfered tonight?" Kai pointed out. "Liu Mei will find a reason to throw me out by morning. Probably blame me for ruining Wang Zhou's mood. And the original marriage contract stipulates I forfeit the settlement if I'm ejected for cause."
It was true. He'd read the document carefully. The Chen family had left themselves a dozen legal exits to avoid paying him.
Not that he cared about the money.
"So what are you suggesting?" Wei'er asked carefully.
Kai pulled out his phone and transferred a photo to hers. "This apartment. East District, under a false name. I've been paying rent on it for six months."
Wei'er's eyes widened as she looked at the image. A modest two-bedroom flat, clean and furnished. "How? You don't have any—" She stopped. "You've been skimming the household budget."
"Correcting accounting errors," Kai said. "Liu Mei inflates grocery costs by thirty percent and pockets the difference. I simply redirected some of that discrepancy to more useful purposes."
"That's..."
"Theft," Kai acknowledged. "But so is poisoning your step-daughter and stealing her inheritance. I thought it was a fair turnabout."
For the first time that night, Wei'er smiled. Really smiled. "You know about the poison?"
"I cured it on our wedding night."
"I know. I wasn't asleep." She shook her head, wonder and disbelief mixing in her expression. "Who are you, Kai Zhenwu? Really?"
Someone who's made gods bleed, Kai thought but didn't say.
"Someone who dislikes bullies," he said instead. "Pack light. We leave in two hours, after the household's asleep."