Si Ning helped her off with her helmet. Both of them were soaked to the bone, but the coffee cradled in Jiang Lan’s arms was perfectly dry. “What is wrong with these people? A company this big and they don’t even have a coffee machine?” Si Ning cursed under her breath, taking the coffee from Jiang Lan and offering her a small smile. “Sweetie, wait for me here. I’ll be right back.” Jiang Lan nodded, walking silently to wait just outside the main entrance. The rain fell harder, a final downpour before the onset of winter. Jiang Lan stared into the curtain of rain, her expression distant. The day Grandpa Lu brought her to the Lu family home, the rain had been just as heavy. She had hidden timidly behind the old man as a nine-year-old Lu Jingchi sized her up. Lu Jingchi had asked who she was. The old man had joked, “I found a wife for you. Want her?” The nine-year-old Lu Jingchi had scoffed. “I don’t want a monkey for a wife.” It was true. Back then she was all skin and bones, her hair a brittle, faded yellow—probably worse off than a monkey in a zoo. But later, he had said, “You need to eat more. How are you supposed to be my wife if you’re this skinny?” She knew he was only joking, but every time, she had taken it to heart. A voice pulled Jiang Lan from her reverie. “This rain is impossible. I’m not working today, I’m out of here.” Xia Yan swayed out of the company entrance on her high heels. She turned her head and her eyes landed on the drenched figure of Jiang Lan. “Jiang Lan?” She was on the phone with Lu Jingchi, and her sharp “Jiang Lan?” was clearly audible to him on the other end. Xia Yan glanced back at the building, then shot a look at Jiang Lan before hanging up. “Are you here for Jingchi?” Jiang Lan shook her head, gesturing that she wasn't. Xia Yan arched an eyebrow and strode toward Jiang Lan, her eyes raking over her body like an X-ray. “Jingchi said you were innocent, but I don’t see it. Getting yourself soaked like this just to see him.” Xia Yan reached out, pinching a damp strand of Jiang Lan’s hair between her fingers. “Tsk, you look so pitiful, it’s almost heartbreaking.” Jiang Lan simply watched her, watching the triumphant pride on her face. “But what’s the point? To him, you’re nothing more than a pet, a little cat or dog he keeps around.” “He pats a puppy’s head, and you think that’s love? Stop wasting your time with these pathetic little tricks.” Jiang Lan pressed her lips into a thin line. Perhaps it was the cold rain, but they had lost their color. She didn’t need Xia Yan to tell her any of this; she already knew it all too well. Most of the time, the way Lu Jingchi looked at her was no different from how he looked at the pet cat they kept at home. He was fond of that cat. Sometimes, if he forgot to feed it before leaving for work, he would even turn back to do it. Fondness and love, in the end, were two very different things. Just then, Si Ning came back out after delivering the coffee and overheard the last sentence. She strode in front of Jiang Lan, shielding her, and looked Xia Yan up and down. “Tsk, look what the cat dragged in. What’s this old hen doing, clucking away out here? Lost your coop?” Xia Yan’s face changed, and she glared at Si Ning. “Did you forget to brush your teeth this morning? All that filth coming out of your mouth. Who the hell do you think you are to talk?” Si Ning crossed her arms, a playful smirk on her face. “And who are you? You think you’re so high and mighty picking on someone who’s too quiet to fight back? Seriously, I’ve never seen anything like you. Strutting around someone else’s territory, crowing your head off, desperate to let everyone know you’re just some cheap hen trying to roost where you don't belong?” “You…” Xia Yan’s face flushed crimson, choked with rage. She hated it most when people called her a homewrecker. If it weren’t for Jiang Lan, she should have been the one to marry Lu Jingchi! Who was this girl to insult her? Spoiled by Lu Jingchi’s affection, Xia Yan was used to getting her way. No one had ever dared to speak to her like this. She raised her hand to strike Si Ning. But Si Ning wasn’t about to let her. Before Xia Yan’s hand could connect, Si Ning’s own palm had already cracked across her face. “Ah—!” Teetering on her high heels, Xia Yan staggered back two steps from the force of the blow and fell hard onto the wet ground. She clutched her foot, tears of pain welling in her eyes. The sudden violence left Jiang Lan stunned. Si Ning looked down at Xia Yan. “You thought you could hit me? Go home and have some chicken soup. After all, you are what you eat.” Xia Yan, seething, could only glare up at Si Ning, her chest heaving with fury. Si Ning grabbed Jiang Lan’s hand. “Let’s go.” Jiang Lan kept looking back. She saw Lu Jingchi rush out of the building and sweep Xia Yan up from the ground. The anguish on his face was clear even from a distance, through the sheets of rain. He never once glanced at Jiang Lan, standing in the storm. Si Ning revved the motorcycle's engine, and they disappeared into the downpour. The heavy rain blurred Jiang Lan's vision, and the towering skyscraper melted away, its silhouette lost in the grey.