Qiu Dai stared at her, the already cutting silence piercing even deeper.

"But I wonder if your benefactor truly holds your interests in his heart. Going so far to take this step and relying on their word? Seems like you have put too much trust in those words," Jia said.

He smiled. "I don’t know what you are talking about. I just want my revenge, that’s all. You cops ruined her life."

"As opposed to a young man with hopes and dreams who died under her car? That man at the construction site. He was that man’s younger brother who fought the case. I remember him now. The older brother died at your girlfriend’s hands and the younger one by yours. It’s because of people like you why I became a cop who thinks laws should bend conveniently for your sake. Two innocent people died because of two utterly selfish people."

"It was a mistake on her part!" His jaw clenched.

"A mistake that took someone’s life. Now someone is banking on your desperation to take more lives - including your own. But where does this take you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your plan at the construction site failed as you can see very well that I am alive. You probably thought your benefactor would be very disappointed in you. I am not sure whose idea this is to become a suicide bomber - his or yours. But it’s a stupid one."

"What will you understand!" He snapped. "I love Yan Xiang...She is the only one who understood me, who loved me for who I was. We...we were supposed to get married! But a stupid mistake ruined it all! B-But it was okay...I thought she would serve some prison time and she would be free, but you! You pushed for a life sentence! You did it! Your charges against her did it!"

00:22:17

Outside, Huojin had already rushed outside to the main office area, barking orders sometime before.

"Qiu Dai. What have you got? His whereabouts, who he met in the last few days, where did he go, where did he spend his money - give me something."

"Inspector Mo, this is last week’s video of him in a supermarket. Based on the receipts, he mainly bought electrical and hardware kinds of stuff along with some other general household things."

"Quite a transition he made from finance to chemistry. What about his friends? Co-workers? Anyone in cahoots with him?"

Officer Xiyang shook his head. "He was basically an aloof guy. Didn’t have much of a friend circle. We asked around his workplace and they said the same thing. Was a stickler for computers. Spent all his day on the laptop more and talking less."

"So where does this kind of a man meet up with someone who could possibly guarantee the release of his girlfriend? That’s too far-fetched. And..." his head tilted. "Why only Jia?" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

An enemy’s enemy is...a friend?

By that logic, Jia should have already been buried six feet under. We have too many enemies to keep a count.

"Inspector Mo! A woman named Li Beiye is asking for you."

His eyes widened. "Beiye?"

"Yes, she has been trying to reach your phone for sometime but you weren’t picking up..."

He pinched his brows. "I didn’t get the time to look at my phone with all this chaos...You keep digging about Qiu Dai," he patted Xiyang on his shoulder.

He walked over to the other room and picked the landline. "Hey."

At first, he didn’t hear a response for a moment.

"Hey," a voice breathed out. "Busy playing badass hero."

He hummed. "Just passing marks. Jia is the real hero talking to a bomber all on her own."

"It’s an agenda against her. She was the main officer-in-charge of his case five years ago."

"Seems like you are bribing the officers outside to give you secret intel. How are you doing that?"

"Trade secret. Here’s another intel for you. Xie Mulan is behind this. She is the one who promised to get Yan Xiang out of prison."

—

Jia breathed in. The air only turned more and more stifling as minutes kept passing.

"Blame me all you want but how sure are you that your promise will be met? That bomb on your jacket is going to take out you too. Sure, I will die but so will you. What makes you so certain that Yan Xiang will breathe the outside air after your death?"

"They have promised me."

"Promises can be easily broken. Clearly, you don’t understand that, that’s why you get easily manipulated. Where is the assurance that they will release her? Unless you plan to haunt them as a ghost."

Jia felt the floor beneath her faintly vibrate by the incessant tapping of his foot against it. His fingers twitched and quivered and he licked his lips often.

"Once you serve the purpose of killing me, there is no reason to follow upon any promise. You failed the first time so I think...they got quite disappointed at you. Probably threatened to back off? Which explains why this sounds like a haphazard plan. Who in their right mind would agree to strap a bomb to their jacket? You are not doing some noble sacrifice, you are just a scapegoat."

She could see it. The faint cracks in his determination. Suspicion for this mysterious benefactor.

"Do you even know their name?"

A light flickered in his eyes but only for a moment.

"Have you ever met them?"

He licked his lips faster.

She smiled. "I seriously wonder just what made you trust this shadowy person so much."

00:14:01

Her eyes narrowed, watching his eyes dart left and right. "Give up, Qiu Dai. Whether you press the button or not, Yan Xiang’s fate is not going to change."

"No!" He gritted his teeth and banged his palm on the desk. "You are just trying to manipulate me! I don’t care if I die, but I will take you down with me!"