Chapter Two: A False Diamond and Real Debt

Silence held for three seconds. “A photograph cannot authenticate a diamond,” Su Wancheng said. “But it proves you're suspicious too. Otherwise, you wouldn't be speaking to a stranger at two in the morning.” He heard papers turn. “Seven a.m. Chenghai Center, forty-sixth floor. One minute late and the arrangement ends.” Lin Yan entered the conference room at 6:59, rain still darkening his shoes. Five people sat across the long table: Su Wancheng, Chenghai's chief counsel, an insurance gemologist, security director Luo Jing, and Su Wancheng's uncle, Su Qirong. Wancheng was twenty-nine, dressed in a gray suit without a visible label. There was no coffee before her, only a timeline marked to the minute.