Design sketches were scattered across the desk. Morning light filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting shadows on the pages. The lines seemed to breathe with life. I picked up one and held it against the sunlight—a lotus-shaped pendant embedded with sapphires, its overlapping petals concealing a subtle mechanical structure.
"Here," I said, tapping a spot on the page with a pencil. "What if this section were a spiral? Wouldn't that work better mechanically?"
Chen Mo suddenly grabbed my wrist with surprising force. "How did you think of that?"
I winced, trying to pull away, but caught an emotion in her eyes I couldn't quite name. "Just a hunch…"
"Sorry." She released me and quickly modified the design. "You're right. The spiral was the original version."
Original version?
Before I could press further, the office door creaked open. Xiao Tao entered with two cups of coffee, clearly startled by the mess of drawings.
"Ms. Chen's designs are brilliant, aren't they?" I said loudly on purpose. "The Water Moon collection is going to be huge next year."
Xiao Tao set the drinks down, her gaze lingering on Chen Mo for a second too long. "Mr. Zhou is waiting downstairs. He said he had a meeting scheduled to discuss the new brand ambassador."
I never scheduled any such meeting. Judging by Xiao Tao's tone, this was her way of passing along a warning.
"Let him wait," I said calmly, turning back to Chen Mo. "We'll stop here for today. You can coordinate the next steps directly with production."
Chen Mo began gathering the drawings, neatly aligning them. But before she left, she paused in the doorway and looked back. "Ms. Harrison, do you believe in past lives?"
The coffee nearly slipped from my hand. "What?"
She smiled faintly. "Nothing. Just... feels like we've known each other for years."
After the door clicked shut, I immediately swept the office for bugs. Sure enough, tucked behind the bookshelf was a tiny listening device—identical to the one Marcus Lu used before.
How did Xiao Tao even spot it?
Downstairs, Zhou Yuchen's black Mercedes was parked at the corner of the building. I climbed into the passenger seat, greeted by the comforting scent of coffee.
"I didn't ask you out," I said as I buckled up.
"I know." He handed me a latte. "But there's something wrong with Chen Mo."
I nearly choked. "What did you find?"
"On paper, she's clean—freelance designer, Central Saint Martins alum, no criminal record. But…" He pulled out a photo. "Take a look."
It was a group photo of students, probably in their early twenties. Right in the center stood a young Chen Mo, wearing a sapphire necklace that made my heart stop—the exact same one my mother wore the day she vanished.
"This is…"
"From a London School of Design exchange trip, ten years ago," Zhou said, watching me carefully. "But oddly enough, the school has no record of her ever attending."
I gripped my coffee cup. "She said something odd today… mentioned a 'spiral structure' like she already knew what I would suggest."
"There's more." Zhou started the engine. "She visits one specific place every night—your mother's old studio."
My stomach twisted. The studio was in an abandoned house on the edge of the city. My father sealed it off after Mom disappeared. Even I hadn't set foot there in over a decade.
"Go now?"
"No rush," Zhou said as he turned sharply. "We need to lose the tail first."
In the rearview mirror, a silver BMW followed closely. After a series of tight corners, we ducked into the underground garage of a cinema.
"Lu Mingyuan's men?" I whispered.
"No. Lin Yurou's. She's more dangerous than Marcus."
He handed me a baseball cap and sunglasses. Ten minutes later, we strolled through the mall disguised as a couple. Zhou's arm slipped naturally around my waist, and the warmth of his palm against my back made my heart skip.
"Focus," he whispered, his breath grazing my ear. "Third floor. Emergency exit. Take it."
We turned down an alley. Zhou opened a rusted iron door leading to a cramped antique shop filled with wall clocks.
"Looking for a pocket watch," Zhou said as we approached the counter.
A hunchbacked old man emerged from the back, peering at us through milky eyes. "What kind?"
"Lotus mark."
He stiffened, then quickly shut the shop's front gate. Trembling, he handed Zhou a key. "Basement. Third safe."
The basement was larger than expected, filled with antique jewelry and ornate trinkets. Zhou headed straight to one of the safes and punched in the code with practiced ease.
"You come here often?" I asked.
"This was my mother's secret collection room," he replied. "Before she died, she told me—if I ever met someone wearing a sapphire lotus, I'd find my answers here."
Inside the safe was a brown envelope. I pulled it out with trembling hands—my mother's handwriting.
"Top Secret: Report on the Stone of Destiny."
"This is…"
"Keep reading." Zhou switched on a desk lamp.
The report described a mysterious gem found in a remote Burmese mine. It could store memories and perhaps even predict the future. More chilling were my mother's notes implicating Lu Zhentian in the murder of multiple insiders to monopolize the stone—including Zhou Yuchen's mother.
I looked up, stunned. "Your mom…?"
"Lin Yueru. A world-renowned gemologist," Zhou said coldly. "They said she jumped off a cliff in Myanmar. I never believed it."
He turned to the last page. Two photos were attached. One showed our mothers, arms around each other like sisters. The other was a sapphire fragment, swirling with cloudy light.
"The Stone of Destiny…" I whispered. "Why is Lu Zhentian so obsessed with it?"
"Because it can…" Zhou began, but was interrupted by the shrill sound of an alarm.
The old man's voice crackled over the intercom: "They're here! Back exit, now!"
We bolted into the back alley just as glass shattered inside the shop. Zhou led me through a winding maze of alleys before finally stopping in front of an abandoned church.
"We're safe for now." He pulled out his phone and sent a message.
Colored light from stained glass danced across the floor. I resumed reading the report and discovered something shocking—the Stone of Destiny had been split into three fragments. My mother held one. Zhou's mother the second. The third…
"Lu Zhentian has it," Zhou said grimly. "That's why he wants us all silenced."
"But where's ours?" I flipped through the report again. No clues.
Zhou suddenly grabbed my hand. "Sophia—did your mom leave you anything that seemed… ordinary? Something you overlooked?"
"A jewelry box!" I stood abruptly. "It had a blue glassy stone hidden in the lining. I used to play with it as a child."
His eyes lit up. "Is it still at your old house?"
"It should be…" I hesitated. "But how did Chen Mo even know where the studio was? Not even I remembered."
"Unless she was someone your mother trusted," Zhou muttered. "Or…"
"Someone from the Lu family," I finished. A chill ran down my spine. "What if she's here to fish for information?"
Zhou's phone buzzed. He glanced at it and cursed under his breath. "Marcus just invited you to dinner. Guess where? Galaxy Yacht Club."
"Again?" I frowned. "That can't be a coincidence."
"It's not." He pulled up the news. "Lu just announced a new mineral discovery in Myanmar. Tonight's dinner is the official celebration."
The photo in the article showed Lu Zhentian proudly holding up a chunk of ore. Even in the grainy image, I recognized the shimmer—the Stone of Destiny.
"I have to go," I said.
"It's too dangerous!" Zhou snapped. "You remember what happened last time."
"That's why I need you." I looked him in the eyes. "Just like before."
He stared at me, then sighed and reached into his pocket. "Wear this."
A small box revealed a pearl earring.
"Camera and transmitter," he explained. "I'll be watching."
As he helped me put it on, his fingers trembled. I caught his wrist. "Why are you helping me so much?"
He lowered his eyes. "At first, it was for revenge."
"And now?"
He didn't answer. He just tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. The gesture was so gentle it made my heart ache.