Fake dating my enemy, The playboy billionaire-Chapter 159: Salt, Blood, and Bone

Yiren’s POV

I don’t know where I am.I don’t know how long I’ve been here.Minutes, hours, days—it all bleeds together beneath this goddamn blindfold.

Jun.Does he know I’m gone?Is he tearing the world apart to find me?

He is. I know it. That’s who Jun is.

A part of me aches for him—craves his voice, his scent, the steady heat of his body next to mine. He makes the world brighter. Safer.

But another part of me... fears him walking into this.

I don’t want him hurt. Not for me. Not again.

Waves crash somewhere close. Salt clings to my lips and soaks into my skin. The air is thick with sea and rot. I’m near the ocean. Maybe a port. Maybe the edge of the world.

I wiggle my cuffed wrists behind my back, hunting for anything—anything—sharp enough to cut the rope. But pain explodes through my body with every movement. My ribs scream. My back hurts. Something inside me shifts wrong.

There better not be internal bleeding. Or a broken rib slicing into something vital.That would be a pathetic way to die.

Meimei’s voice slices through the fog—her words from that night when I confessed my fear of being restrained, helpless.

"Dislocate first. Pain’s temporary. Death’s permanent."

Right. Focus, Yiren.

Footsteps echo in the hallway. Slow. Intentional.A door creaks open.

"So you’re awake."

That voice. That smug snakeskin voice.

"Yifan," I growl.

The blindfold rips off. Light stabs my eyes like blades. I blink hard, vision swimming before it focuses on the figure across the room.

Yifan stands there, smiling like the cheap villain in a pressed suit.

The room is dim, stripped bare—just a wooden table, four chairs, and the stench of mildew and salt.

"If you think kidnapping me is going to win you the race, you’re a fucking coward."

His lips curl in amusement, "Still got bite. Cute."

He strolls closer, arrogance dripping from every step as if he won. "It’s not about winning, sweetheart. It’s about making sure he loses."

"Losing?" I scoff. "You couldn’t beat him if he gave you an hour’s head start and a blueprint. That’s how big of a loser you are."

"He’s just a man born into privilege. Every resource handed to him. Without his brothers and Feng money, he’s nobody." He laughs—a hollow, cruel sound. "But you? I need you for something else."

The scout camp. The murder.

I say nothing. He’ll fill in the blanks. They always do.

He jerks his chin, and another man steps in. Rough hands drag me upright. My knees buckle, and pain lances through my side. I grit my teeth, refusing to cry out. I won’t give him the satisfaction.

Breathe.

Breathe.

They shove me into a chair. My wrists stay bound behind me, but I focus on the rhythm Meimei taught me—twist, pull, breathe. One inch of slack. That’s all I need.

Yifan takes the seat across from me and sets a tablet down beside my elbow, tilting it toward me.

"I thought you’d want to see this."

The screen flickers to life.

Zeng’s car appears—gliding through a checkpoint. He’s racing.No.He’s losing.

I feel the color drain from my face.

"I told him to pull out, but instead, he chose to lose. Cool by me—as long as my shareholders are happy."

The tablet goes dark. He leans forward like a vulture, fingers steepled, eyes glittering."But this—" he slides a folder across the table, "—this isn’t about the race. I can spare your life. Let you go back to your husband. All you have to do is sign."

Spare my life, my azz.

He knows we’re married.

I stare down at the open file, pulse pounding in my ears.

"Transfer of property?" I scoff, "I don’t own shit, dumbass. And if you think being married to Jun means he handed me the keys to the Feng empire, you’re deep in delulu land."

Yifan smirks. "Isn’t Jun giving you business lessons? Didn’t he teach you to always read the documents fully before jumping to conclusions? Right, Arthur?"

My blood runs cold.

I follow his gaze—And there he is.Arthur. My father’s best friend. Our family’s trusted lawyer.

He saunters in like a snake, smirking like he’s been waiting to watch me break. That hateful smile—greasy and smug— speaks unspeakable that I drop my gaze to the file again. Reading deeper this time.

If the words are not shocking enough, Ning’s signature on it did the last blow.

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

"You want my inheritance?"

"You really think the conditions of your inheritance were random?" Arthur breath reeks close to my ear that I can smell the alcohol in it, "There’s something in it we want. Something precious."

I whip my head around and meet his gaze.

"It’s not worth a few millions, isn’t it? There’s something in it that you want. Something precious." He is my family’s lawyer and my dad’s best friend. I won’t be surprised if he knows the things beyond that, and has something to do that dad put our inheritance behind these conditions.

"Gold. Tons of it. The property in Nevada is a hidden mine. Whoever owns it, gets the mining right as well." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

My stomach churns.

"Dad knows about it, right? And you knew it too. It was your idea to put my inheritance behind those stupid conditions." He was always influential in my dad’s decisions.

"Took me a lot of convincing, but knowing how naïve you girls were and the dangers of owning something this precious, your father agreed.

I clench my fists.

"But then, the idiot went behind my back and found men with powerful backgrounds for his daughters. It nearly destroyed my plan until--" His grin rakes on my nerves. If only I can punch his smug face. "Ning found Kai, and you were just easy to kick around.... Always stewing in your fucked up genes you inherited from your mother."

My molars are about to break by how hard I’m clenching them.

He grabs my jaw with a tight grip. "But then Jun came into the picture. That bastard backed you every step of the way. Lifted you up. And stomped all over my plans."

"How did you get Ning’s signature?"

Arthur just grins. "Guess."

Kai.

It was a trap. A move to force me away from Jun. But why would Kai— Unless... it was to protect someone he love. Liam. Or Ning.

"What did you do to push Kai?"

Arthus smile4s at Yifan, "Look how smart she’s gotten."

"Just pressed the right buttons. Kai’s weak spot has always been his wife and son. So I sent a cute nanny his way." Yifan slides a sleek black Montblanc pen similar to Jun’s. "Sign here."

I stare at it.

Then at him.

I won’t.

I pull my right hand inward ignoring the burn of skin grating against the rope and press my thumb with the left hand to assist it free.

I lift my head.

"Nice pen." I shoot to my feet, grab the pen, and ram the sharp point straight into Arthur’s eye. He screams—high—and I slap the back of the pen, driving it in deeper. Blood spurts. He collapses with a howl.

Then I yank it free from his eyes, and charge at Yifan. But he kicks the table hard. Its corner slams into my ribs. Pain detonates through my side like a landmine.

"Predictable," he sneers and pulls a small remote from his pocket and presses a red button.

The only curtain in the room parts.

Two glass chambers slide into view.

My heart stops.

In one—Valentina.

In the other—"Papa!"