Chapter 5: Playing With Fire

I spend the rest of the day in my room, paralyzed by indecision.

Go to Eclipse Bar, don’t go to Eclipse Bar.

Face him, hide from him.

Every time I close my eyes, I see those cold gray eyes staring at me from the laptop screen, every time I try to think, I hear that commanding voice in my ear. *Don’t make me come find you, omega.*

By eight PM, I’m pacing the small bedroom like a caged animal.

What does he want? What is he planning to do?

If he wanted to expose me, he could have done it already, one word to my family, one hint to his grandmother, and the entire engagement would explode. Our family’s reputation would be destroyed, the partnership would collapse.

But he hasn’t.

Instead, he wants to meet alone, at the same bar where this whole mess started.

Why?

My phone sits on the desk, that cracked screen mocking me. The messages are still there, the watch, the command, the threat wrapped in silk.

I could not go.

I could stay here, lock my door, pretend I never got the messages.

But then what? He said it himself. *Don’t make me come find you.*

And somehow, I know he would.

At 8:30, I’m standing in front of my closet, staring at clothes that aren’t really mine.

’Wear something nice’, my brain supplies, even though he never said that, even though this isn’t a date, it’s an interrogation. Maybe worse.

I pull on black jeans and a dark blue silk shirt that the memories tell me was expensive, a gift from Feifei for my birthday last year. I look at myself in the mirror.

The marks on my neck have faded slightly but are still visible, I button the shirt higher, but it doesn’t quite cover them.

Evidence.

I look tired, wrecked, scared.

I force my expression into something harder, detached, the face that Original Runze wore when he didn’t want anyone to see him hurting.

Better.

At 8:45, I slip out of the house. Mother is in her room with the door closed. Feifei is on a call with wedding planners, her voice floating down the hallway, excited and happy.

Guilt twists in my stomach.

I push it down and leave.

***

Eclipse Bar looks different at night.

Upscale, exclusive, the kind of place where people come to be seen or to hide, depending on what they’re paying for, the entrance is understated, just a red door with a small bronze plaque.

I stand outside for a long moment, heart pounding.

I could still leave.

But my feet carry me forward, through the door, into the dim interior.

The bar is busy but not crowded. Low lighting, expensive liquor, beautiful people in expensive clothes, soft music plays underneath the murmur of conversation. Private booths line the walls, curtained off for discretion.

A hostess approaches, immaculate in black, her smile professional.

"Can I help you?"

"I’m... meeting someone."

Her smile doesn’t change, but something flickers in her eyes. Recognition? Amusement?

"Name?"

"Li Runze."

"Ah. Mr. Wuchen is expecting you, this way, please."

She leads me through the bar, past the main seating area, toward the private booths in the back, my stomach twists tighter with every step.

She stops at a booth with the curtain drawn, gestures politely.

"Enjoy your evening."

Then she’s gone, leaving me standing there alone.

I take a breath, another, then I pull the curtain aside and step in.

Bael is already there.

He’s sitting on the curved leather booth, legs crossed, one arm draped casually along the back of the seat. He’s wearing a charcoal suit, no tie, the top button of his shirt undone, effortlessly elegant and dangerously beautiful.

Those cold gray eyes lock onto me the moment I enter.

"Runze." His voice is smooth, pleasant even, like we’re old friends meeting for drinks. "Sit."

It’s not a request.

I sit on the opposite side of the booth, keeping as much distance between us as the space allows.

A bottle of expensive whiskey sits on the table between us, two glasses already poured.

Bael picks up one glass, takes a slow sip, watching me over the rim.

"You look nervous."

"I’m not."

"Liar." He sets the glass down with a soft click. "But I appreciate the effort."

I don’t reach for my drink, I don’t move.

"Why am I here?"

"You left something behind this morning." He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out the watch, sets it on the table between us. "I thought you might want it back."

I stare at the watch, expensive, masculine, definitely not mine.

"That’s not mine."

"No." His lips curve into something that’s not quite a smile. "It’s mine, but you were so eager to leave this morning, I thought perhaps you’d taken it as a... souvenir."

"I didn’t take anything."

"Hmm." He leans back, studying me. "Then let’s talk about what you ’did’ take. My time, my... attention, and now, apparently, my fiancee’s peace of mind."

My stomach drops.

"I don’t know what you mean."

"You don’t?" He tilts his head slightly. "Last night was quite a performance, the heartbroken omega, drunk and reckless, throwing himself at the first alpha he could find. Very convincing."

"It wasn’t.." My voice cracks, I clear my throat, force it steadier. "It wasn’t a performance."

"No?" His voice goes cold. "Then explain to me, Li Runze, how a heartbroken omega who supposedly had no idea who I was just happened to seduce me three days before my engagement to his sister."

The accusation slams into me like a truck of ice.

And I have no idea how to defend myself.