The Lost Lamb's Trap - Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Stars
Duan Jiayang pressed against Lin Ke’s lips, convinced that even though Lin Ke had spit out the ring and was now wearing it, she still had the ring in her mouth. She pushed her away, then grabbed hold of her again, her palm almost turning into a slap.
A voice called out from outside. “Excuse me, are you the owner of the vehicle with a designated driver request ending in 3904?”
No one in the car replied. The driver could see two people in the back through the window gap. The one closest to the left door had bright, alert eyes, like a wild cat prowling at night. Her fur bristled, and she watched the passerby with a vigilant glare that sent shivers down the driver’s spine.
Duan Jiayang reeked of alcohol and was on the verge of getting truly drunk. She pulled her hand back and shrank to one side, panting, her eyes aching.
The driver cautiously got into the car, put in the address, and reminded them, “Please close the right door.”
“Miss, please close the right door.”
The woman on the left moved. The driver turned his head and saw their hands touching. The woman closed the door, but the other person’s hand struggled, only to be pulled back. Finally, with her cheeks flushed, she leaned against the window.
When the car arrived at the villa’s entrance, the designated driver unfolded his e-bike and left. Lin Ke helped Duan Jiayang out of the car. The sleepiness and alcohol were hitting her at the same time, making her stumble and walk unsteadily. The housekeeper came out to help. Duan Litian wasn’t home today.
Lin Ke said, “Don’t tell Uncle that Jiayang was drinking, or he’ll scold her.”
“That’s true. You’re so thoughtful,” the housekeeper said.
The housekeeper went to the kitchen to make some hangover soup, urging Duan Jiayang to drink it to avoid a headache in the morning. Duan Jiayang’s alcohol tolerance was average, but the aftereffects were severe. She sprawled out on the bed, her limbs splayed. Her breath stirred the strands of hair stuck to her nose, her cheeks flushed a tempting pink. Her shoulders and knees moved, causing her skirt to slide up to her thigh, revealing a section of black lace.
The room’s lighting was soft. A rich fragrance hung in the air, a mix of jasmine, pomegranate, and the smell of alcohol on Duan Jiayang’s breath. Lin Ke looked up, wondering if the room was the same as she remembered. But when she heard Duan Jiayang’s soft moan, she couldn’t move her feet. She went and sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers tracing Duan Jiayang’s hair. Without any reason, she asked, “Xiao Yang, do you like Lin Ke?”
Duan Jiayang’s breathing got heavier, more like a soft “hmm.” Lin Ke’s fingers brushed her shoulder, then hooked her hair, revealing her feverish cheek. “Jiayang, can you make a sound like a lamb?”
“Meh.”
“That means you like me.”
The housekeeper brought the soup but couldn’t wake Duan Jiayang. Lin Ke gently coaxed her for a long time, but she didn’t move. Lin Ke finally cleaned her up, wiping her face and mouth and arranging her to sleep properly.
When she was done, Lin Ke came out of the room, gently closing the door. She reminded the housekeeper to check on Duan Jiayang twice during the night in case she threw up.
Duan Litian was about to return, so she quickly tidied up and left.
…
It was the weekend, and Duan Jiayang didn’t have to go to work. She woke up with a splitting headache, her vision blurry. She held up her phone and saw her haggard face on the screen.
Duan Jiayang sighed and replied to messages, declining invitations from He Xiao and Lan Yao.
As she typed, she felt like something was missing, but she couldn’t remember what it was. She got up to wash her face and brush her teeth. Downstairs, the housekeeper called her for breakfast. Duan Jiayang put on a face mask and went downstairs, patting her cheeks. The housekeeper stared at her. “Miss, where is your bracelet?”
Duan Jiayang froze, her gaze falling to her wrist.
Right. Where was her bracelet?
She had been wearing a diamond-inlaid gold bracelet. She looked down at her wrist, then at the stairs. She touched her finger, and the new ring was also gone.
Duan Jiayang struggled to remember. She only recalled a conversation from yesterday.
“Aren’t you afraid of being robbed?”
The housekeeper thought for a moment. “Don’t worry, Miss. You can ask Miss Lin. She was the one who drove you back.”
Duan Jiayang’s head throbbed even more. She only remembered how she lost the ring, but had no memory of the bracelet at all.
The housekeeper saw her motionless for a long time, her face turning red. The housekeeper called her name again. Duan Jiayang came to her senses. She didn’t want to eat anymore. “I don’t have her number,” she said.
The housekeeper didn’t have Lin Ke’s number either. Only Duan Litian had it in the family. She couldn’t ask her father to call and ask. Duan Jiayang turned, ripped off her mask, and went back to her room to search everything. The bracelet was something her father had bought at an auction for nearly two million yuan. Her heart would bleed if she lost it.
After a day of searching with no success, Duan Jiayang asked all the colleagues who had been at dinner. A female colleague said she had specifically put on a ring when she got in the car.
On Monday, Duan Jiayang arrived at the office early, waiting. She hadn’t had a good day for two days now. She kept her eyes on the director’s office. Her colleagues arrived right on time, each looking different.
Yu Xiao yawned. “Duan Jiayang, did you find your bracelet? I saw it very clearly. It was still on your wrist when you got into the car.”
As she spoke, she saw Duan Jiayang’s eyes light up. Following her gaze, she saw Lin Ke had arrived. Lin Ke came over with a file, asking everyone to go to the conference room for the regular meeting.
Lin Ke was wearing a white shirt that morning, with the top buttons undone, revealing her deep, sexy collarbones. She tapped the blue folder on the table. She briefly discussed the tasks for the week and urged two designers to hurry. Then she glanced at Duan Jiayang. “Is there anything you want to say?”
Duan Jiayang didn’t hear what she said. A sudden surge of panic washed over her, just like being called on to answer a question in class.
She looked up, following Lin Ke’s hand to her face. “I’ll give you the file later. I’m done with it.”
“That was fast. Very efficient.”
The meeting ended, and everyone went back to their desks. After Lin Ke returned to her office, several female colleagues secretly discussed her outfit, thinking her fashion sense was excellent.
Duan Jiayang booted up her computer and logged in. She had finished all the files. She could send her designs to Lin Ke online, but since she hadn’t accepted Lin Ke’s friend request, she had to copy them and deliver them to her office in person.
It could have been solved with a simple friend request, but she insisted on this convoluted process just to avoid a face-to-face meeting.
But adding her as a friend would mean reconnecting a broken link, a sign that Lin Ke was back, fully and completely, in her life.
Duan Jiayang got up, unplugged her USB drive, and went to the director’s office door. She knocked.
“Come in.” Lin Ke was there.
Duan Jiayang walked in and placed the USB drive on the desk. Lin Ke typed on the keyboard for a moment, then looked up at her. “Yes?”
“My ring.”
Lin Ke’s fingers were slender and bare. She wasn’t wearing Duan Jiayang’s ring.
“The ring. The one I was wearing.”
Lin Ke still didn’t react. Duan Jiayang had to force the words out. “The one you took that day.”
“Oh, I left it at my place. Do you need it urgently?” she asked.
It wasn’t urgent. Duan Jiayang was just worried she would wear it at the office. “It’s someone else’s. I have to give it back.”
“Then why don’t you come back with me to get it?” Lin Ke said. “I can take the afternoon off.”
She said it so casually, as if taking the ring had been Duan Jiayang’s imagination. That day… Duan Jiayang’s fingers were still trembling because she remembered the softness of Lin Ke’s lips so vividly.
Lin Ke’s teeth were sharp, and her bites were itchy.
“And the bracelet,” Duan Jiayang added.
“I don’t know about that. I only took the ring.”
“It might be in your car. Can you look for it carefully?”
“Is it that important?” Lin Ke looked at her. “Let me think. Maybe I can help you remember.”
She withdrew her hand and curled her lip. It was a look of contemplation, but more of a smile. Her eyes landed on Duan Jiayang’s fingers. Duan Jiayang clenched her hands into fists, but she couldn’t hold on. She quickly turned and left.
Back at her desk, Duan Jiayang buried her head in her arms, gently hitting her forehead on the table. So pathetic.
Around the afternoon, Lin Ke left her office and didn’t return.
Lin Ke had found Duan Jiayang’s bracelet in the compartment behind the car seat. It was a gold and blue diamond piece of very high quality and a high price. Duan Jiayang had a lot of patience, waiting until Monday to ask her about such a valuable item. Lin Ke put the bracelet back in the glove compartment and locked it.
Looking down, she saw something else under the passenger seat.
Lin Ke was out for work, personally picking up some samples. The head of the other company’s department came out to meet her. It was Lan Yao.
The meeting between the two of them felt a little strange, even though they weren’t at the stage of signing a contract yet. Lan’s company was mainly involved in the R&D, manufacturing, and sales of high-performance, low-power-consumption semiconductor products, and they had a long-standing partnership with Duan’s auto manufacturing company.
The blind date between Duan Jiayang and Lan Yao was on the surface about two single people, but on another level, it was an unspoken marriage alliance.
Lan Yao shook her hand. Lin Ke placed a bag on the chair beside her. Inside was a high heel, white and just a single shoe. It looked familiar.
Lin Ke placed her phone on the table. Lan Yao showed her the samples and introduced the chip. Lin Ke listened intently, twisting the ring on her finger as she thought, her thumb rubbing the leopard on top.
When Lan Yao handed her a sample, she took it with her left hand.
No matter how much Lan Yao tried to ignore it, she could see the leopard ring on Lin Ke’s index finger. She glanced at it twice. From an aesthetic perspective, the ring was quite beautiful.
Lin Ke’s phone chimed. She apologized and long-pressed the voice message to convert it to text. After reading it, she immediately pressed play.
It was Duan Jiayang’s voice.
Lin Ke’s lips curled into a smile. “Please continue,” she said.
Lan Yao called her assistant over. “Go get Director Lin a refill on her tea.”
Her assistant was sensible and brought her a new summer tea.
Their meeting wasn’t about subtle jabs. They talked business when they should and drank tea when they should.
When Lin Ke left, Lan Yao leaned back in her chair, the tea in her cup all gone. Lan Yao’s assistant said, “That new director is a little arrogant and strange. Her eyes make you uncomfortable.”
“She’s always been like that,” Lan Yao said, her voice turning cold. “She’s like a shadow.”
…
Lin Ke walked out of Lan’s company, her head down, her fingers gently caressing the ring. She looked to be in a very good mood.
“Are we going to partner with them?” the assistant in front of her asked.
She took the ring off. “She’s pretty calm,” she said.
“Huh?”
Lin Ke squinted at the ring. “Let’s go to a jewelry store.”
The assistant didn’t understand why they were going to a luxury store after a business meeting. Surely she wasn’t buying a ring as a gift?
Close to quitting time, Duan Jiayang started to pack up. There was nothing for her to do today. She just needed to put away her lipstick and other things.
A few minutes later, Yang Ruiqi patted Duan Jiayang’s shoulder. “Director Lin sent this to me.”
Duan Jiayang was puzzled. She turned her head and instantly blushed. The picture showed a high heel lying on its side on the passenger seat. The strap was undone, and the image was quite suggestive.
Duan Jiayang wanted to reply, but she saw the complicated look in Yang Ruiqi’s eyes and pursed her lips. “I was drunk. I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“Hmm,” Yang Ruiqi said.
Yang Ruiqi was an adult, older than them, and she could sense the unspoken intimacy.
Duan Jiayang felt uneasy. She was about to say something when another photo appeared on Yang Ruiqi’s phone. This time, it was her two-million-yuan bracelet.
The atmosphere became awkward. She was worried about what would be sent next. She had a tendency to take things off when she was drunk…
She took Yang Ruiqi’s phone and sent a voice message. “Thank you. Please bring them to me. And please stop sending messages to Sister Ruiqi.”
A few seconds later, a message popped up in the work group chat.
“LK”: @Duan Meimei, I’m waiting for you at the company entrance.
Duan Jiayang’s body suddenly felt hot.
A well-meaning colleague, worried she hadn’t seen it, called out, “Duan Jiayang, the director is calling for you.”
Yang Ruiqi turned off her phone screen and cleared her throat.
This was the downside of not being friends on WeChat.
Half an hour passed quickly. Duan Jiayang had nothing much to pack. She could leave as soon as she turned off her computer. The department was crowded at quitting time, so she deliberately stalled until most people were gone before she went down to the first floor.
Lin Ke’s car was already parked outside.
Duan Jiayang walked over. Lin Ke opened the compartment and took out the bracelet, handing it to her. She glanced at her. “Going on a date with Lan Yao?”
Duan Jiayang didn’t reply.
Lin Ke reached out the car window and handed her the shoe. It was in a clear bag, so the shoe was very visible. Its suggestive outline was provocative. “Should I take you?”
Duan Jiayang looked at her, confused. She didn’t know what Lin Ke was trying to do. Was she a great humanitarian to offer to drive her to a date?
Duan Jiayang’s fingers twitched. She had a sudden impulse. She took the bag, went to the back of the car, and pulled open the door. “Fine, you can take me on my date.”
The air froze for a minute. Lin Ke held the steering wheel and looked at her sideways. “You’ve got some nerve.”
“What’s there to be brave about? I just think this would be more exciting,” Duan Jiayang said, placing the high heel on her lap, her face burning. She added, not afraid of the consequences, “If you don’t mind, if I don’t go home tonight and check into a hotel, I’ll trouble you to drive me there, too.”
Lin Ke tightened her grip on the steering wheel and didn’t look back. Suddenly, she reached her hand back and handed her a beautiful red box. Duan Jiayang was puzzled. She took the box and opened it. It was her ring.
Lin Ke said, “You can try.”
Duan Jiayang then put the ring on her finger.