Looking at the fierce, unwavering determination on Ren's delicate face, Heena didn't feel a single flutter in her chest. She wasn't moved. She didn't feel the sudden, overwhelming warmth of a tragic heroine finally finding a loyal companion in a cruel world.
Instead, a single, highly cynical thought echoed in the dead center of her mind: What the hell does he actually want?
Heena was not a newly birthed rookie who would jump for joy just because a pretty man swore his allegiance in a dusty room. She didn't believe in free meals, and she absolutely did not believe in free loyalty.
Normally, if a man truly wanted to stay out of pure, selfless devotion, he would have tried to gently coax his mother into agreeing first, playing the role of the dutiful, peacemaking son. But Ren hadn't even looked at Madam Lin. He had made this bold, unilateral decision on his own, staring Heena down with calculated intensity.
Behind her stoic expression, Heena's mind rapidly broke down the variables.
