Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
The first-class seat was wide enough that Mei Lin could tuck her feet up beneath her. When a steward walked by, she whipped them back to the floor, sure she’d be reprimanded for such impertinent behavior.
But the steward just offered a vague smile when their eyes met and continued down the aisle.
She was safe.
How long until she believed it?
Outside, the world slid past in shades of green and gray, soft with morning haze.
The train hummed beneath her, reminding her of her trip home after earning her nursing degree.
She’d said goodbye to the friends she’d met in Vancouver and the world she’d fallen in love with.
She’d wanted more than anything to stay in Canada and earn a doctorate.
It wouldn’t make her a physician, which had always been her dream, but she would know more and be able to serve more.
The school had accepted her, but she hadn’t been able to secure a scholarship. She’d had no choice but to return to China.
She’d been looking forward to seeing her parents, of course, but even as the train had brought her closer to what should have felt like home, her heart had longed for what she’d left behind. Not just her friends and her dreams, but the man she’d fallen in love with.
Now, Mei Lin struggled to keep her eyes open. She’d sat up all night long in the station, afraid to venture too far away.
The money Ethan had wired was in the inside pocket of her jacket. He’d sent enough cash to last for a week, maybe two. If all went according to plan, she wouldn’t need it.
If all went according to plan, when she got to Kowloon Station…
I’ll meet you in Hong Kong.
Would he be there? Truly?
She was afraid to let herself believe.
She leaned against the window and watched the landscape change and tried not to think about it.
She’d replayed their short phone call in her mind a dozen times. Sweetheart. He’d called her that when they were dating, and after. He’d even said it the morning of her arrest.
Your visa is going to come through soon, sweetheart. In the next couple of weeks. I can’t wait to see you.
And then she was taken, and six years had passed with no word.
Maybe Ethan had never stopped fighting for her, working through channels she couldn’t see.
But if that were the case, why not visit her?
Why not write a letter or send money, which she could’ve used in the prison commissary?
She could’ve bought extra food and slippers without holes in the toes.
That would have cost him next to nothing and changed her life.
He hadn’t bothered.
Which meant Ethan had moved on. He’d built a life without her. Maybe he’d married someone else. He was only coming now out of a sense of obligation.
Once he’d done what he felt he must, he’d cast her aside.
But at least she’d be safe. If he helped her get out of China, she wouldn’t ask anything else from him.
The train hummed on, and her eyes drifted shut.
Suddenly, she was walking toward her parents’ front door. It swung open, and her mother was there, breathless, cheeks flushed, hands pressed together like she was holding something fragile.
Go inside, she mouthed. Hurry.
Mei Lin was too tired to figure out what had gotten Mama excited. She was bone-weary after twelve hours on her feet, the smell of the hospital still clinging to her skin. She wanted to shower and crawl into bed.
Mama grabbed her arm and propelled her into the house.
Mei Lin was about to ask what the hurry was, but a sound stopped her.
A man’s voice, and the sound of it raised bumps along her arms.
Her father laughed, and the other man joined in.
It can’t be. Her pulse went wild. This isn’t happening. I’m dreaming on my feet.
She was afraid to move.
Then there was the scrape of a chair, followed by footsteps.
And Ethan stepped into view.
He was too tall for this house, too broad for this hallway, too real—and she couldn’t reconcile what she was seeing. How was he here?
His smile broke wide, then faded. He took a few steps toward her but stopped just out of reach. “Surprise.”
She couldn’t seem to make her mouth move. Her eyes worked, but her lungs were barely functional. And her heart? She might need CPR.
Her father scowled at her from behind Ethan. When she still didn’t move, he put a hand between Ethan’s shoulder blades and urged him forward.
Ethan came to her slowly, approaching as if she were a skittish animal about to bolt. He cupped her face in his hands, leaning down to meet her eyes. “You okay, sweetheart?”
Tears blurred her vision, though she still couldn’t make her mouth move.
He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, and she rested her cheek on the soft cotton of his sweater, breathing him in. He smelled of fresh soap, her father’s tea, and his perfect scent. She didn’t know why he was there, but she held on and never wanted to let him go.
“When you left…” His voice rumbled in her ear, so low that only she could hear. “I knew I didn’t want to live without you.”
He stepped back and went down on one knee right there on the worn linoleum in her parents’ house, which suddenly became the most beautiful, most romantic spot in the whole world.
The diamond caught the overhead light.
Something in her chest—fear and worry and the certainty that she would always be alone—simply let go.
She was too stunned to speak, and after a moment, his expression shifted. “Uh-oh,” he said. “Have I miscalculated?”
“No!” She laughed, the sound bubbling out of her on a current of joy. “I mean… Yes, yes!”
A moment later—she wasn’t even sure how it happened—her feet were dangling a foot above the ground. She was clinging to him and crying and not caring that he could see right through her into her heart.
Her mother wept in the doorway. Her father’s stoic eyes were watery.
Ethan set her back down and slid the ring onto her finger, looking like he’d just won a prize, and she thought… This. Whatever comes next—this is enough.
A squeak had Mei Lin’s eyes opening, and the dream-memory faded away.
As if it had never been real at all.
She sat up and shook off her melancholy, taking in her surroundings. The train was pulling up to a station for one of its scheduled stops.
A few people around her stood and gathered their things, preparing to exit, but she was still hours from Hong Kong.
She yawned and looked out the window, scanning the faces on the platform. Businessmen and women, families, normal people going about their normal lives.
And then, her heart thumped.
She slowed down and scanned the faces again.
A man she’d once respected was standing near the far end of the platform with the others waiting to board, his gaze moving methodically across the train windows as they rolled past. Searching.
She’d forgotten the unusual size of his nose. He was heavier, a little paunch hanging over his belt, his hair shorter and gray at the temples.
It couldn’t be him. Her fear was playing tricks on her.
But her body knew the truth before her mind caught up. She was already standing, one hand on the seat back. The train was almost stopped by the time her car passed him.
She stayed away from the window but peeked out.
No question. It was Dr. Lu Feng, the man who’d ruined her life.
Maybe it was a coincidence that he was waiting to board the train she was on.
More likely, he’d discovered the ticket attached to her national ID.
He must be looking for her. If she stayed on board, she’d be trapped with him.
At least out there, she’d have a chance to escape.
She ducked out of view, her pulse racing. She had seconds before the doors would open.
He’d managed to silence her for six years. If he caught her again, he would make sure she didn’t survive.
Her seat was in the second car from the front. Did he know she was in first class? Even if not, fewer people in the car meant fewer would be getting off and on.
She skirted past other passengers in the aisle, thankful for her short stature and prison-skinny frame. At the end of the first-class car, she stepped through the connecting door and into another just like it.
She kept moving, desperate to get to a second-class car and to put as much distance between herself and Lu Feng as possible.
She was halfway down the aisle of a second-class car when the doors opened.
Slow down.
Breathe.
She had to blend in. She waited as a cluster of businessmen stepped onto the platform, then followed them, staying close and using their bodies as a shield.
More people followed her. She was just one tiny woman in a throng of passengers.
She shot a glance toward Lu Feng.
He stood about forty meters away, watching, his phone still pressed to his ear.
She faced forward. Don’t run. Don’t draw attention to yourself.
A man up ahead was scanning the passengers. He stood a foot taller than even the tallest man in front of Mei Lin. The stranger had broad shoulders and thick arms. He must be from Shandong or another one of the northern provinces, based on his height and breadth. He, too, held a phone to his ear.
Was he looking for her? Did he work for Lu Feng?
Peering through a gap in front of her, she saw people spreading out, moving in different directions. She must be nearing the station’s exit.
Almost…
“Chen Mei Lin!”
She almost turned at the sound of her name, but she didn’t. She just kept moving forward. Don’t run. Don’t run.
Maybe the man who’d yelled wasn’t sure. Maybe he thought he could get her to reveal herself.
Finally, she was through the gate.
She bolted.