Chapter 6
Kai
“Ring. Ring. Ring.”
Wrong sound. Wrong timing.
The old-fashioned alarm ringtone I’d chosen months ago sliced through the chaos. For a split second, everything inside my head went still. June’s head snapped toward me, her eyes blazing before I even reached for the phone.
I bent down and picked it up from the floor.
I answered. The second I lifted it to my ear, I knew it was a mistake. June’s stare hit me like a slap—cold, disbelieving, accusing. She looked like I’d just been caught doing something wrong in front of the headmistress.
“Hello,” I said and knew instantly that I’d pissed her off.
“Are you serious?” June snapped.
She leaned closer to Dannie, checking for any sign of breath. Her fingers trembled against his throat, searching for a pulse.
My heart started pounding. The room was unbearably loud. Men arguing. Voices overlapping. Orders being shouted from every direction. No one knew what to do with their boss lying unconscious on the floor. Laura was yelling somewhere behind me, trying to take control.
“It’s your brother,” I said to June, though she hadn’t asked.
It was supposed to sound like a comeback. It didn’t.
The mention of Lincoln didn’t soften her glare. I knew what Lincoln meant to her. He wasn’t just her brother. He was the wall around her—the guard dog, the overprotective, intimidating man who scared the hell out of anyone who got too close.
Which was exactly why I had to answer. Because June wouldn’t listen to me anymore. To be honest, if I were her, I wouldn’t want anything to do with me either. Not now that she was officially the wife of a Triad boss.
And possibly my sister-in-law. The thought sat in my stomach like poison.
“What does he want?” June demanded without looking at me.
“I just picked up the phone,” I shot back. “It’s been two seconds.”
“I cannot deal with him right now.”
Her fingers remained pressed against Dannie’s neck, her whole body leaning over him as if she could wake him by force.
I let out a frustrated sigh. “He called me,” I said flatly. “Not you.”
“Shut the fuck up!”
June’s voice cut through the room like a gunshot. Everyone froze. The sound hit me straight in the chest.
“I can’t hear…” she said, shaky now. She pressed two fingers harder against Dannie’s neck, then leaned closer, watching his lips, his chest. Waiting.
“Kai! What is going on?” Lincoln’s voice barked through the phone. Even without speaker, people nearby could hear him. “June? Is that you?” His voice rose with panic. “What the hell is happening over there? Speak to me. Put me on speaker.”
Every sensible instinct told me not to. The room was already one wrong word away from exploding. The last thing we needed was Lincoln’s voice thrown into the middle of it.
But my thumb moved anyway. I pressed the speaker button. Maybe I just wanted backup.
“This is not the time, Lincoln Young!” June snapped before he could speak.
“How can I help?” Lincoln asked immediately, his tone sharp and alert.
“You can’t,” June said, shaking her head. “Not when you’re miles away.”
“You don’t know that,” I cut in before I could stop myself. I wasn’t even sure why I said it. Maybe I just wanted her to be wrong. Maybe I wanted someone on my side for once.
June shot me a look that could have killed.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” she said, her voice cracking as she looked down at Dannie. “I can’t think…”
Her body gave out. One second she was kneeling; the next, she dropped onto the floor beside him, sitting hard like her legs could no longer hold her. “We need to get him to the hospital.”
“No hospital.” Squirrel’s voice cut through the room, followed by another voice, then another.
“No hospital.”
“We can’t.”
“Not there.”
“No way.”
The words spread through the room, men muttering and shaking their heads as if the idea itself were dangerous. June stared at them, stunned.
“He could die,” she said, her voice trembling but loud enough for everyone to hear.
Lincoln was still talking through the phone, but his voice disappeared beneath the noise.
“There has to be another way,” Laura said, pushing through the crowd.
“There’s no other way,” June snapped.
“No. We simply can’t go to the hospital.”
June looked at her slowly, then started unbuttoning the top of her white shirt with jerky movements, like she couldn’t breathe. “Don’t fight me on this,” she said, her voice low and dangerous.
I froze.
I knew Dannie hadn’t been well. I’d seen the headaches, the exhaustion, the whispers whenever he left the room.
But no one had told me anything. And the way June reacted now… this wasn’t new. She knew and she’d kept it from me.
Something ugly twisted in my chest. Part of me was angry at Dannie. Most of it was at her.
After everything we’d been through, I thought at least that much hadn’t changed. We didn’t have to be lovers anymore. Fine. But we could have been friends. Real friends. The kind who shared secrets. The kind who called when things went wrong.
“Kai! Kai! Kai!” Lincoln’s voice snapped me back.
I switched off the speaker and pressed the phone to my ear.
“Listen to me,” he said.
“Link… I don’t know what you want from me right now.” It was easier to be angry at him than look at June.
“Listen,” Lincoln repeated, his tone leaving no room to argue.
Behind me, June and Laura had started arguing, every word louder than the last. The whole room seemed to have split in two.
June’s eyes locked on Laura, fire burning in them. Then she shot me a warning glare when I stood.
“Yes,” she said coldly. “Take it elsewhere.”
I let out a humorless breath. “Where do you think I’m going?”
The second the words left my mouth, I knew I’d poured gasoline on the fire. Childish. Petty. And I still did it. Because when it came to June, I never seemed to know when to stop.
I walked out, feeling her stare on my back until I reached the hallway. I didn’t stop until I found a quiet corner near the stairwell.
“You better have a good solution,” I said, lifting the phone back to my ear.
“I do,” Lincoln replied. “It might not sound like the best solution, but hear me out. Give it a chance.”
A short laugh escaped me. Nothing about this was funny. But the confidence in his voice still got to me. It always did.
“Alright. Let’s hear it.”
I listened as he explained.
My brows drew together with every sentence. By the time he finished, I rubbed my face and stared at the floor. His plan was insane. Completely insane. And yet… it wasn’t impossible. Bold. Risky. Complicated. But it could work.
There was just one problem.
“You know this might actually work,” I admitted. “But June—”
Lincoln cut me off. “Use your charm,” he said, his voice dripping with familiar smugness. “She listens to you.”
I let out a loud sigh, “I don’t think that’s true anymore.”
Not after what I did. Not after what we lost. I pushed myself off the wall and walked back.
When I returned, nothing had changed. If anything, it was worse.
June stood beside Dannie, arms crossed tight, face pale but stubborn. She wanted him in the hospital. Somewhere he could get real treatment.
Laura stood opposite her, surrounded by several senior members.
“This would be the end of us,” Laura said, her voice firm but strained.
“So what?” June shot back.
Laura stared at her. “You saw what happened earlier. The other gang is waiting for us to collapse. If they find out Dannie is sick, they’ll move. They’ll come for our territory, our businesses, our people.” Her jaw tightened. “People will die.”
June shook her head. “You can’t be serious.”
I pushed through the crowd and grabbed her shoulder, just enough to make her stop. I already understood what Laura was afraid of. But June was a doctor. To her, this wasn't about territory or power. It was about one patient—her husband.
“Can we have the room, please?” I raised my voice over the noise. “Just a few minutes. For the family. I’m sure you all understand. We all want what’s best for Mr. Wu.”
Laura and June exchanged a long, tense look. Finally, Laura nodded.
“We’re done for the day. We’ll do what’s best for Dai Lou.”
Squirrel immediately began ushering people out. Some protested, others kept talking, but none dared stay. He remained by the door until June gave him a small nod. Then he stepped outside and closed it behind him.
Silence fell.
Laura looked at me. “Why are you still here?”
The question hit harder than I expected. I realized what I had said earlier.
Family.
I wasn’t family. Not to her.
“He’s Dannie’s best friend,” June said before I could answer. Her voice was flat. She didn't look at me.
“Since when?” Laura asked.
She had every right to question it. The last time she saw Dannie and me together, we barely acknowledged each other.
“I think we’ll be here forever if you want to debate what counts as real family,” June said coldly.
Laura stiffened. “Dannie never mentioned him,” she said after a moment, her tone softer. “Ever.”
“I know.” June reached over and rested a hand on Laura’s shoulder. “He keeps most things to himself.”
The tension eased slightly.
With the room cleared, Dannie looked smaller lying on the floor. His chest rose and fell, slow and unevenly.
Only three of us remained. Laura crossed her arms. “What’s the plan?”
“He needs the hospital,” June said immediately.
“If he goes to the hospital, we’re finished,” Laura replied. “Every one of us. Including you. Including your family.”
They must have been arguing about this the entire time I was gone. Same fear. Same refusal to compromise.
“That’s not going to happen,” I said.
Both women turned toward me.
I didn’t know how the triad worked. Not really. I’d never been part of that world. But I knew how powerful people operated—where secrets were currency and certain things were never meant to leave the room they happened in. Maybe the triad wasn’t so different.
Same rules. Different worlds. But the same instinct to keep the ugly things hidden.
“Who do you think you are?” Laura snapped. The sweetness she used to have was gone. Whatever effect I once had on her had disappeared with her rise to power.