The photograph slipped slightly in Xiaoyu's trembling hands.
Her eyes remained fixed on the shadowed figure standing near the burning building, but her mind was somewhere else entirely—lost inside the memory that had just resurfaced.
The flames.
The smoke.
Her father's voice.
"If anything happens… run from him."
Her breathing became uneven.
Because the man in the fire hadn't looked afraid.
He had smiled.
Xiaoyu suddenly stepped back, almost dropping the photograph entirely. Her chest rose sharply as panic tightened around her ribs.
"No…" she whispered. "No, I remember him…"
Lu Shen's expression darkened instantly.
"What exactly do you remember?"
She pressed a hand against her temple, trying to steady herself, but the memories kept coming now in broken flashes.
A hallway drowned in smoke.
Her father shoving papers into someone's hands.
A gunshot.
Then that same man standing inside the flames, calm as if the fire itself belonged to him.
Xiaoyu's knees weakened slightly.
Lu Shen moved forward immediately, catching her arm before she could fall.
"Careful."
The warmth of his hand against her skin felt grounding for a moment, but it only made everything more confusing.
"You knew this would happen," she whispered, lifting her eyes toward him. "You knew the memories would come back."
"Yes."
The answer came too easily.
Her chest tightened painfully.
"Then why bring me into this again?"
Lu Shen stayed silent for a second before speaking quietly.
"Because they already found you."
The room fell still.
Xiaoyu stared at him.
"They?"
His gaze remained steady.
"The people connected to the fire."
Fear crawled slowly beneath her skin.
"And the man in the photograph?"
Lu Shen's jaw tightened slightly.
"He's one of them."
"One of them?" she repeated weakly. "How many people were involved?"
Too many.
She saw the answer in his eyes before he even spoke.
"Your father discovered something much bigger than he expected," Lu Shen said quietly. "By the time he realized how dangerous it was, they had already decided to silence everyone connected to him."
Xiaoyu felt cold all over.
"So the fire…"
"Was meant to erase everything."
Silence crashed heavily through the apartment.
Xiaoyu looked down at the photograph again, her fingers tightening around the burned edges.
Erase everything.
Her family.
Her memories.
Her entire identity.
A sharp ache spread through her chest.
"They tried to kill me too."
It wasn't really a question anymore.
Lu Shen didn't deny it.
"Yes."
The single word made the room feel smaller.
Xiaoyu slowly pulled her arm away from him and turned toward the window. Rain still hammered against the glass outside, but now even the storm sounded distant compared to the thoughts inside her head.
All these years…
She had been living without knowing the truth.
Without knowing someone had wanted her gone.
Without knowing Lu Shen had been standing in the middle of it the entire time.
"Why you?" she asked quietly without turning around.
Lu Shen frowned slightly. "What?"
"Why were you there that night?"
The question hung heavily between them.
When he didn't answer immediately, Xiaoyu finally turned to face him again.
"You said you saved me," she whispered. "So why were you even there?"
For the first time since the conversation began—
Lu Shen looked genuinely conflicted.
And that terrified her more than any answer could.
Slowly, he exhaled.
"My family was connected to the investigation."
Xiaoyu's heartbeat slowed.
"What does that mean?"
"It means my father worked with yours."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"Worked with him… or against him?"
Silence.
A dangerous silence.
Then finally—
"At first?" Lu Shen said quietly. "Against him."
The words hit like ice water.
Xiaoyu stared at him in disbelief.
"No…"
"My father believed your father was getting too close to something dangerous," Lu Shen continued calmly, though tension had started creeping into his voice now. "He wanted the investigation stopped."
"And the fire?" Xiaoyu asked.
Another pause.
This one longer.
"He didn't order it."
"But?"
Lu Shen looked directly at her.
"He also didn't stop it."
The truth slammed into her chest so hard she physically stepped backward.
Everything suddenly felt unstable again.
"So your family was involved."
"Yes."
"And you still stayed beside me all this time?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
This time, Lu Shen answered immediately.
"Because I owed your father my life."
Xiaoyu blinked.
"What?"
The rain outside softened slightly, but the silence inside only deepened.
Lu Shen walked slowly toward the table and picked up the old photograph from her trembling hands. His thumb brushed briefly against the burned edge before he spoke again.
"The night of the fire," he said quietly, "I was supposed to die too."
Xiaoyu's breath caught.
"My father brought me there because he thought it would force your father to stop investigating."
Every word made her chest tighter.
"But something went wrong."
His gaze lowered briefly.
"The people behind the fire didn't care who survived."
A chill spread through Xiaoyu's entire body.
"So my father…"
"He got us both out."
Silence.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Xiaoyu's thoughts spun violently.
Her father had saved Lu Shen too.
Protected both of them.
And then disappeared.
Tears burned behind her eyes, but she forced them back down.
"So all this time…" she whispered, "you stayed near me because of guilt?"
Lu Shen's eyes lifted toward hers instantly.
"No."
The answer came sharper than expected.
"Then why?"
For the first time—
His control cracked.
Only slightly.
But enough.
"Because after that night," he said quietly, "you became the only thing I couldn't walk away from."
The room fell completely silent.
Xiaoyu's heart stumbled painfully inside her chest.
She hated that those words affected her.
Hated that after everything she had learned…
Part of her still wanted to believe him.
But before she could respond—
A sudden sound shattered the moment.
A loud crash from outside the apartment.
Both of them froze instantly.
Lu Shen's expression changed immediately.
Cold.
Focused.
Dangerous.
He moved toward the window sharply and looked outside.
Xiaoyu's pulse quickened.
"What happened?"
He didn't answer right away.
That alone was enough to make fear crawl up her spine.
Then slowly—
Very slowly—
Lu Shen turned back toward her.
And for the first time since she had known him…
she saw real alarm in his eyes.
"They found us."