Chapter Three: She Came Out of the Photograph

Shoes scraped farther down the lane. The short-haired woman stood beneath a broken streetlamp, an oversized man's coat over her white dress. Up close, she was not exactly Wen. A faint mole marked her nose. A burn shaped like a crescent crossed the back of her hand. It was Shen Lan's scar. “Who are you?” Wen demanded. The woman tilted her head, regarding a relative changed by a long absence. “They call you Wen Qi now?” “They always have.” “No.” She smiled. “Before nineteen, you were Wen Xingyao. You hated people changing your name for you.” Wen stepped back. “Do you know Qiao Sui?” Jianwei asked. “Yes. She wasn't erased. She was moved somewhere you can't see.” The woman pointed toward the abandoned studio.