Page 45 of Billionaire’s Cruelty

Dannie had changed. His perfectly pressed three-piece dark suit hugged his frame a little too tightly, especially across his chest. It left little to the imagination about the toned body underneath.

“Where are we going?” I asked, watching as he slipped on the watch he had left on the dining table. “Can we just check into a hotel or something? We could both use some rest.”

Wendy nodded in agreement beside me.

“Oh honey… I’m so sorry you’re tired. Can you hang on a little longer?” His voice dripped with saccharine sweetness, the kind that made me feel like he was patronizing a small child. “Grandma is expecting us.”

“Grandma?” I echoed, my breath hitching in surprise. “How does she know I’m here?”

I remembered her vividly. When I first met her, she had been nothing but kind—almost too kind. She showered me with gifts and warmth, a level of generosity I never experienced from a stranger. But it wasn’t just her kindness that lingered in my memory—there was something else, something unforgettable.

I didn’t mind seeing her again. But every detour Dannie planned only pushed me farther from getting to Kai. And I hadn’t forgotten about Kai. No matter how much I wanted to reach Kai, I had no choice but to rely on Dannie for now. Unless I found another way, I needed to play along with whatever he had planned.

“I was just on the phone with her,” Dannie said, grabbing a container and stuffing it with cookies. “She was so excited that we finally made up.”

“You… I…” I opened my mouth but quickly closed it again. He must have told her something about us—he had to explain my disappearance somehow.

“It’s her birthday today. What better way to cheer her up than by telling her that you’re here?”

I marched to Dannie’s side and opened the box he had just filled, frowning at the crushed cookies he had clumsily assembled. I removed the broken pieces and carefully rearranged the rest in a neat order. “Those flowers—can we give them to her? I don’t have anything else to bring.”

“You want to give Grandma some flowers?”

“Yes.”

“That can be arranged.” He pulled out his phone, tapped on the screen, and barked a quick command. “Done. She’s going to be very happy to see you. Us. Together.”

“Your grandad?”

Last time I saw Dannie’s grandma was at our wedding. Because of Dannie’s unique circumstances, we skipped the traditional door games. Besides, I didn’t have any friends who could host them. We did have a tea ceremony where we knelt and served tea to the elders—some were family, others were powerful senior members of the triad. Afterward, we held a dinner reception, which was similar to an American wedding, except I wore a traditional Chinese red and gold wedding dress called a kua.

“He passed away a few months after you took off.”

“I’m sorry.”

His grandad had been dying of cancer. That was the real reason behind the wedding—to fulfill his grandad’s dying wish: to see Dannie married.

I never understood why it meant so much to him. Dannie once explained that his grandad had never gotten over his father’s horrific murder. His body had been cut up in pieces and fed to stray dogs. His grandma had fainted when the police informed her they had found his father’s head inside a soup pot in a holiday home. Dannie’s father had been the head of the triad then. With him gone, his grandad was forced out of retirement to take over. Dannie couldn’t bear to watch him carry that burden again, so he stepped up and assumed his father’s role as the head of triad.

There were many objections and complaints—mostly about how young Dannie was when he took over. But with his grandad’s guidance, the older members eventually fell in line. And as the only male in the family, it was crucial that Dannie continue the family name.

How could I say no to that proposal after hearing the whole story? Even though it was all fake, we did it for a good cause.

“He’s in a better place now.” Dannie’s eyes fixed on an ornament a few feet away, his expression distant and thoughtful. “I know people always say that, but it was true for him. The chemo was killing him more than saving him.”

“Should I bring something too?” Wendy’s soft voice broke the silence. She had a point—she’d been dragged into this situation without much choice. “Maybe we could stop somewhere on the way there?”

“That sounds like a great idea.”

I latched onto the suggestion, relieved at the thought of delaying our visit to Dannie’s beloved grandma. She had always been kind, but it had been ten years since I last saw her. How she felt about me now might be entirely different from how she felt back then.

Dannie didn’t like going to public places. His fear of being attacked at any moment, from any corner, might have seemed paranoid—but it wasn’t impossible. This was a man who had been ambushed in his own home, for God’s sake. No one could blame him for feeling unsafe in the outside world.

“Fine. Let’s make a move. My driver’s waiting.”

We took the same shabby elevator down the building. As soon as we reached the lobby, a sleek black Toyota minivan pulled up. Dannie waved at the driver inside, slid the door open, and gestured for Wendy to take a seat in the back row.

I climbed in next, settling into one of the two middle-row seats. Dannie followed, taking the seat beside me, and slid the door shut. I had ridden in these luxury minivans before during my time working in Korea and Japan—they were wildly popular in Asia. But as soon as the heavy door clicked shut, the noise from the outside world vanished. The silence was eerie, thicker than in a regular car. That’s when I realized—the minivan was bulletproof. The thick, heavy doors and reinforced windows weren’t just for show.