The Lost Lamb's Trap - Chapter 7
Chapter 7: Stars
Duan Jiayang calmed down, filled with regret. She shouldn’t have argued so fiercely with Lin Ke. She should have been more subtle, and when Lin Ke said they were done, she should have agreed, letting Lin Ke believe it was truly over, and then, little by little, letting her give up completely.
She knew she couldn’t win an argument against Lin Ke before, and now that Lin Ke had returned from abroad, more mature and wiser, she stood no chance at all.
People had to learn from their mistakes, or they would be foolish forever.
Duan Jiayang lowered her head to calm herself. She opened the work file and saw how meticulously the edits had been made. Her previous supervisor had done nothing but praise her, teaching her nothing.
When it was time to leave, her colleagues started heading out, making the office noisy. Yang Ruiqi called out to her, asking if she wanted to leave together.
“I’ll be a little longer,” Duan Jiayang replied, still looking through the work file.
Yang Ruiqi waited for a minute, leaning on the desk, and gossiped quietly, “Are you and Director Lin friends, or did you know each other from when you were little?”
She was trying to get a feel for the new director. Lin Ke’s demeanor suggested she was a product of immense wealth. After studying abroad, she immediately took on a high-level position and seemed perfectly at ease in her work. The R&D department said Lin Ke often worked on important projects, bringing new technology from her time in a US lab, and now she was the core of their team.
“Neither,” Duan Jiayang replied. “We’re just schoolmates.” Her tone was curt, suggesting some kind of past conflict. Yang Ruiqi picked up on her mood, and not wanting to offend the daughter of a major group, she didn’t ask any more questions and left immediately.
Later, Lin Ke returned from a meeting. The two colleagues who had accompanied her were talking loudly as they left, recounting what happened in the meeting room. Duan Jiayang stared at her computer, forcing herself to ignore them.
Now, only the two of them were left in the entire department.
The light was on in the director’s office, but Duan Jiayang didn’t dare to look. Lin Ke’s earlier words made her feel that Lin Ke wasn’t actually working in there. The one-way glass seemed like a tool, allowing her to secretly watch her captive prey at any time.
Lin Ke had become the hunter, possessing all the information about her prey.
Duan Jiayang had no doubt that if she dared to look at Lin Ke for even a moment longer, she would provoke her, and Lin Ke would emerge and embrace her without a word.
They’d ignite a fire in the office, making love right there on the glass.
Duan Jiayang patted her own face, telling herself to snap out of it.
Lin Ke was clever, while Duan Jiayang was slower, taking a long time to grasp things. They were two stubborn screws that should have been driven into the wood without interfering with each other, but now they were twisted together.
Her heart was a jumble of conflicting emotions, a mix of all kinds of strange feelings.
Lin Ke’s words, in particular, echoed in her mind.
Had Lin Ke been thinking like that while she was abroad?
It was almost a strange coincidence, because at that time, she was also focused on studying hard. The sole motivation for her studies was to stand high and far away from Lin Ke.
Duan Jiayang finished her last change, grabbed her bag, and quickly left. As she reached the door, the light in Lin Ke’s office went out. Lin Ke came out, locked her door, and then turned off the lights in the department.
Lin Ke stood in front of her, reaching out to press the elevator button. Unlike Duan Jiayang, she wasn’t carrying a bag, her hands resting at her sides. Lin Ke spoke up, “Are you angry?”
She stood beside her, a faint jasmine scent wafting from her.
Duan Jiayang wanted to speak but bit her tongue, knowing she would say the wrong thing, so she decided to say nothing at all.
Lin Ke’s tone was much gentler than before. Since her return, Duan Jiayang had noticed many subtle changes. Before, Lin Ke had been crazed and unforgiving, but now she seemed more rational.
“I thought about it for a long time during the meeting,” Lin Ke said. “I shouldn’t have been so harsh.”
“Did you… really only think about that?” Duan Jiayang wondered.
Or was she thinking about how to covet and torment her while others were discussing work? While others talked business, her mind was only on her.
Lin Ke turned her head. “Yes… I regretted it right after.”
Duan Jiayang’s hair stood on end. What was she doing? What was she saying? Was this really Lin Ke? She felt like she was seeing a ghost.
When the elevator arrived, Duan Jiayang quickly slipped inside. Lin Ke followed, pressed the floor, and closed the doors. Duan Jiayang didn’t speak, and neither did Lin Ke.
Duan Jiayang thought she must have misheard. Her hearing had never been very good.
The elevator stopped in the middle, and employees from another department got in, a lot of them. Lin Ke took a few steps back, getting very close to Duan Jiayang. As the elevator filled with people, their arms touched. Lin Ke’s body temperature was low. Before Duan Jiayang could flinch, Lin Ke reacted as if she had been burned, turning her head to look at her.
The elevator went directly to the parking garage. The others got out first. Duan Jiayang lowered her head and took her car keys out of her bag. The garage was much emptier at this time, and the sound of cars was clearer. Duan Jiayang opened her car door and sat down as Lin Ke walked past her.
Duan Jiayang rested her head on the steering wheel for a while, wanting to wait for Lin Ke to leave first, but she never saw Lin Ke’s car. She eventually started her own car and drove away.
As soon as she exited the garage and entered the road, a car behind her also turned out.
Duan Jiayang’s phone rang. She put her Bluetooth headset in her ear. It was Lan Yao calling. “Did you have dinner?” Lan Yao asked.
In the rearview mirror, she saw a car flash by. It was Lin Ke’s car, following right behind her.
“Jiayang? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Just passing a green light, didn’t hear you. What did you say?” Duan Jiayang said, pulling her gaze back.
“Let’s have dinner tonight,” Lan Yao said. “Are you home yet? I can come wait for you.”
Duan Jiayang was hungry, too, but she passed a red light this time, pausing for a few seconds as she watched the car behind her. “I already ate,” she said.
“Alone?” Lan Yao asked.
“With a colleague,” Duan Jiayang replied.
Lan Yao was silent for half a minute before asking, “Is Lin Ke your director?”
Duan Jiayang was already annoyed, and hearing the name from Lan Yao made her even more so. It wasn’t Lan Yao she was annoyed with, but the very nature of the situation.
Lan Yao said, “You can talk to me if you’re unhappy about something.”
Lan Yao’s voice was gentle and understanding. However, she didn’t understand what was bothering Duan Jiayang. Duan Jiayang couldn’t bring herself to confide in He Xiao, let alone her potential blind date. She responded with a quick “Okay,” and then said the traffic was bad and hung up.
Her car pulled into the villa complex. When she reached her front door, the housekeeper came out to greet her and help her with her bag. Duan Jiayang looked for her dad but didn’t see him. “Where’s my dad?” she asked.
“He went out to dinner with someone. Is there something you need? I can call and ask him.”
“Never mind. I’ll just wait until he gets back.”
That night, the chef made a delicious pot of rice porridge for her.
After eating, Duan Jiayang went upstairs to shower. She came out in a green nightgown and started to blow-dry her hair.
The thin straps of the nightgown hung on her shoulders. The light, thin fabric covered her chest. As the wind blew, the young woman’s figure looked fragile and delicate, yet the exposed skin made her appear seductive.
In the car, a person leaned back, watching the wind lift her skirt and sweep across her chest, gradually growing to envy the wind itself.
The moon was bright and the stars were few. The branches and leaves cast flickering dark shadows on the roof of the silver Maybach below.
A moment later, Duan Jiayang’s phone rang.
She had a new friend request on WeChat.
Duan Jiayang’s fingers hovered over the screen. She couldn’t understand what the person below was trying to do. She looked down and saw the silver Maybach drive away.
Baffled, Duan Jiayang stood in the cold wind for a bit before going back to her room. She lay down, placing her phone on the nightstand, even though it was only 9 p.m. and not her usual bedtime.
A moment later, she hit the bed with her fist and sat up, grabbing her phone.
The light from the screen shone on her face. She frowned, scrutinizing the friend request and the attached message, repeatedly breaking down the words and reassembling them. How could Lin Ke say something like that? Was she crazy, or was Duan Jiayang blind?
Duan Jiayang thought about their past. She didn’t think she had ever wronged Lin Ke in any way.
Lin Ke probably needed to see a doctor. She seemed seriously ill, like she had a terminal illness.
Xiao Yang, I’m sorry, I was wrong.