Chapter Two: The Bloodstained Wedding Ring

It disappeared this morning. Wanqing said she'd misplaced it.” Security footage showed a cleaner entering the jewelry store after midnight. His face was hidden, but part of his left ear was missing. “Call the police and postpone the wedding,” Xu Zhi said. Zhou was silent. “My grandfather is dying. This may be the only wedding he lives to see. And if Wanqing learns we called the police, her brother dies first.” It was not a choice. It was a net tied shut at every edge. That night Shen Yan forced another vision from the ring. He saw cabinet seven, broken champagne, Zhou's bloody hands, Wanqing fallen before the mirror, and a silver-antler cuff link in the corner. When the vision ended, blood ran from Shen Yan's nose.