Chapter 33 – The Man Behind the Mask
The rain had stopped, leaving the city washed and gleaming under a silver dawn. But for Bai Xueqing, the chill hadn't left her bones.
She stared at the still frame in the file. The image was blurry, but unmistakable—a man in a coat and gloves, standing across the street from Bai Corp, watching her office window.
Mo Chen stepped into the room, damp from his overnight fight. His knuckles were bruised, his coat torn, but his eyes—dark, unreadable—were locked on her.
"You fought him," she said, not asking, but knowing.
"I did," he replied, voice rough.
"And?"
"He's trained. Not just street-trained—military, assassin-level precision. He knows your habits. Knows me."
Xueqing's brows furrowed. "Who the hell is he?"
Mo Chen hesitated.
"He said something," he finally admitted. "Something strange."
"What?"
"He said we share you."
Her stomach twisted. "What does that mean?"
"I don't know," he said honestly. "But he believes it."
She sat, crossing her arms. "A deluded stalker."
"No," Mo Chen said quietly. "This isn't obsession. This is revenge."
A silence settled between them, heavy and full of buried ghosts.
---
Elsewhere, deep beneath the city, the gloved man stood in a candlelit room, staring at an old photograph.
In the photo: a young Bai Xueqing, laughing in ancient robes. Beside her… a man in armor with his face carefully scratched out.
He touched the image with gloved fingers. "You were mine once."
Behind him, a voice asked, "Is she worth this?"
The gloved man turned slightly. "She was my world. In one life, I lost her. In this one, I will have her back."
"And the man?"
He smiled under his mask. "Mo Chen thinks he remembers everything. But there are things he never saw. Things only I shared with her."
"Even if she hates you now?"
"I don't need her love," he said coldly. "I need her back."
---
That evening, Mo Chen returned to Bai Xueqing's penthouse. The city lights stretched far below, but his attention was only on her—curled up on the couch, hair loose, eyes thoughtful.
"He's not going away, is he?" she asked softly.
"No," Mo Chen said. "But neither am I."
She looked at him, something fragile flickering in her gaze. "If he's someone from our past life…"
"I don't care," Mo Chen said, stepping close. "In every life, you're mine."
She didn't flinch. She didn't pull back.
Instead, she whispered, "Then fight beside me. We end this. Together."
---