Chapter Three: Do Not Listen a Third Time

The fire crew found no body in the car. The Gu family blamed old wiring. Minglan sealed the clock tower and sent Han to a private hospital. Before dawn, she and Shen Yan sat across untouched tea in the kitchen and struck a bargain. He would help investigate the Nightingale, the crash, and Shen Qinghe. She would advance him two hundred thousand, keep his creditors away, and guarantee Xingyao's safety. "Why protect her?" he asked. "She is my niece." No false note this time, but not the whole answer. Xingyao appeared for her lesson. Seeing the burn on Shen Yan's back, she tapped five urgent beats on the table. "I didn't press it a second time," he said. She went to the piano, played one note three times, and struck the third with extra force.