Tell me?

Si Jian had spent the better part of the evening meticulously selecting her attire. She chose a satin deep crimson dress, one that exuded elegance and confidence, a stark contrast to the chaos that had engulfed her life. As she drew her lipstick to her lips, she couldn't help but recall the events that had unfolded on her computer screens earlier that evening.

Her extensive network of surveillance cameras and digital informants had revealed a shocking truth. Huan Jing, the man she had known as the feared mafia prodigy, had been captured by her own cameras in a state of utter brutality. He had become a feral figure, a monster who had taken the lives of five of his enemies with ruthless abandon.

She knew that guilt,grief and his emotions made Huan Jing go feral and had driven Huan Jing to this point, something far darker just like she wanted. But why did she felt hurt from this????

Why was she feeling guilty for telling Huan Jing her everything ???

Si Jian arrived at Huan Jing's imposing mansion in the dead of night, her red velvet heels clicking in the darkness. The mansion was a fortress, but she had ways of slipping through its defenses, a testament to the skills she had honed over years of working in the shadows.

Once inside, Si Jian moved silently through the dimly lit corridors, her crimson dress a stark contrast to the muted tones of the surroundings. She reached the room where Huan Jing was known to retreat when he needed solitude, a place where he could wallow in his darkness.

As she entered, she found Huan Jing sitting on the floor, tears flowing down from his eyes..blood on his shirt.His eyes vacant, as if he had witnessed horrors beyond imagination. He looked mentally unstable, a stark departure from the composed figure she had known.

Si Jian approached him and lowered herself to the floor, sitting infront of him, and their eyes met in the dim light of the room.

"Huan Jing," she began, her voice confident and deep yet tinged with concern, "Tell me?What haunts you? What has driven you to this point?"

Huan Jing's gaze remained fixed on the floor, but his hands trembled as he clutched his shirt. He seemed lost in a world of his own, a world where the lines between sanity and madness had blurred.

For a long moment, he didn't respond, and Si Jian could feel the weight of his silence. She waited patiently, her own heart heavy with the knowledge that she had pushed him to the edge….no no what am I even thinking? It was not me…it was his own doings.

Finally, in a voice that was barely above a whisper, Huan Jing began to speak. "You saw it, didn't you? You saw what I did."

Si Jian nodded, her expression one of empathy rather than judgment. "I saw it. But I also saw a man who is tormented, a man who has been pushed to his limits. Tell me, Huan Jing, what led you to this point?..I mean ofcourse whatever you got to know about me but what else??"

Huan Jing's hands relaxed their grip on the shirt, and he stared at the floor with a haunted expression. "They took something from me," he said, his voice filled with a mixture of anger and despair. "Something I can never get back."

Si Jian leaned in closer, her eyes locked onto his. "What did they take, Huan Jing? What could drive you to such extremes?"

A heavy silence hung in the room, and for a moment, it seemed as though Huan Jing might not answer. But then, as if a dam had burst, he began to speak, his words pouring out in a torrent.

"They were my old enemies whom I was not killing because I was planning to destroy them first but when they met me,they started their same bullshit of threatening and ......….. and ...….they tried to touch the pendant….," he whispered, tears welling up in his eyes. "So I killed them."

He extended his hands towards Si Jian…..the pendant and chain in his hands….he was giving it to Si Jian.

Huan Jing's gaze shifted from the floor to Si Jian, and for the first time, she saw a glimmer of vulnerability in his eyes. "I don't know how to stop," he admitted, his voice trembling. "The darkness has consumed me, and I can't find my way back........Take your love back." He said signalling towards the pendant and chain….it glistened in the sim room.

Si Jian reached out and placed a gentle hand on his, offering what little comfort she could and then took the pendant from his hand. "Find your way back from the abyss."

Huan Jing's shoulders slumped, and he looked down at the floor again,"I don't know if I can ever find my way back," he confessed, his voice barely audible.

As Si Jian sat with Huan Jing in the dimly lit room, the weight of their conversation hanging heavy in the air, she felt a sudden shift in the atmosphere. Her eyes were drawn to the delicate gold Japanese fan pendant in her hand that had been snatched away from her. It was the only thing left for her…the only love… strength and resilience, and she wore it as a reminder of her roots and the wisdom she had inherited.

With a subtle, almost imperceptible movement, Si Jian reached the pendant and put her around her neck, her fingers lightly tracing its intricate design. As her hand settled back to her side, she looked at Huan Jing, her expression shifting from concern to a subtle, enigmatic smirk.

Huan Jing's gaze met hers, and for a moment, there was a flicker of confusion in his eyes. He had expected sympathy, understanding, or perhaps even anger from Si Jian, but what he saw was something altogether unexpected—a glimmer of confidence and intrigue.

Si Jian's smirked as she was wearing the pendant and her smirk deepened as she leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "You see, Huan Jing, sometimes, strength comes from the most unexpected places."

Huan Jing watched her, his earlier vulnerability now mixed with curiosity. Si Jian had always been an enigma, but in that moment, she seemed to hold a secret, a source of power that he couldn't quite grasp.

With a sly smile, Si Jian continued, "We all have our masks, Huan Jing. But the question is, which one of us will wear it better in the end?"

The room remained shrouded in uncertainty, but as Si Jian's smirk lingered, it was clear that she had unveiled a new facet of herself, one that hinted at depths of complexity he had yet to explore.

Si Jian remained with him, a beacon of hope in the darkness that threatened to engulf him. She knew that the road to redemption would be long and arduous, but she somewhat wanted to walk it with him.