Chapter 1
New York. A little after eight in the evening.
The private dining room was on the top floor of an upscale restaurant. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the lights of one of New York’s wealthiest neighborhoods flowed like a river. Inside, the lighting was low. Silverware, white china, an ice bucket, a spray of flowers—everything on the table was exactly where it should be. The air held the scent of white wine and fir, with the faintest trace of roses.
Rain was wearing the green qipao-style evening dress Celestina had given her. It skimmed her waist and hugged her hips, the slit offering a glimpse of her calf with every step. Her heels made her stand taller than usual. They also made her feel considerably less at ease. She finished the last bite of her dessert and fidgeted with her knife and fork.
Celestina, meanwhile, had been watching her since the moment she walked in. Not a single reaction had escaped her.
A brief silence fell as the server set the check presenter at the edge of the table. Outside, traffic moved in a slow golden stream. The windows reflected the two women sitting across from each other.
Rain lowered her head and searched her bag, her movements hesitant. After a while, she took out her wallet and withdrew a carefully arranged stack of bills. The edges had been pressed flat, as if she had gone over them again and again before coming.
Celestina leaned back in her chair, her fingers resting loosely against the stem of her wineglass. Her gaze settled on the small stack of worn bills. Her smile stayed in place, but her eyes cooled a little.
Rain pushed the money toward the check.
“Let me get this one.” She spoke softly, as though afraid of spoiling the evening. “This should be enough… I can’t keep letting you pay for everything. And thank you for the dress.”
Celestina did not answer immediately.
She looked at the money, then at Rain’s fingers resting on top of it, stiff at the joints, the tips faintly white. When she finally lifted her eyes to the girl across the table, it was as though a little bird that had been content to perch in her palm had suddenly begun inspecting the door of its cage.
Celestina reached out.
Her long, pale fingers came to rest at the edge of the stack. Then she gave it a light flick.
A few bills fanned out, sliding away from the check and back toward Rain’s retreating hand. The movement was delicate, almost elegant.
There was nothing negotiable about it.
The server stood nearby with his eyes lowered, as though he had seen nothing.
Celestina slipped her card into the check presenter and handed it to him, her tone warm and almost casual.
“Thank you.”
The door closed behind him. The room was quiet again.
Celestina slowly turned back to Rain, still smiling. In the dim light, her beautiful blue eyes seemed a shade darker.
“Rain.” She let the name fall softly. “The way you were looking at me just now. Anyone would think you were afraid I was going to sell you off.”
She gave a low laugh.
There was no accusation in her voice, no demand for an explanation. It sounded like teasing between friends. But she was already reaching across the table, gathering the scattered bills one by one and straightening them into a neat stack.
She slid them back to Rain at her leisure, tapping a fingertip lightly against the edge.
“Put it away. I asked you to dinner. It’s not an investment, and it’s not a transaction.”
She paused. Her gaze dropped to the waist of Rain’s dress, then returned to her face.
“And I certainly don’t expect you to go home and work out what you owe me.”
She stood, rounded the corner of the table, and stopped beside Rain’s chair, half a step away.
The distance was carefully judged. Close enough for Rain to catch the cool, expensive scent of her perfume. Far enough that the proximity could still pass for nothing more than friendliness.
Celestina bent slightly and brushed a stray curl back from Rain’s shoulder. Her fingertips skimmed the hair with a tenderness that suggested she was handling something precious.
“You didn’t use to be like this.” Her voice had lowered.
“You used my coat to dry off a cat. You let Rongrong get fur all over the back seat of my car. You’d apologize, then ask if I could keep a few more bottles of fish oil at my place for him.”
A little genuine amusement warmed her eyes.
The kitten itself was hardly important. What mattered was that it had brought her to Rain.
Back then, the little Asian beta had been utterly unguarded around her. Soaked through and shivering, she had still cradled that half-dead scrap of a creature against her chest. She had even taken the expensive coat Celestina offered her and used it to dry the cat.
That tenderness, so oblivious to the cost of things, had struck Celestina as absurd.
Now it made her want to keep Rain where she could see her. Always.
“Why are you suddenly so careful about what’s yours and what’s mine?” Celestina asked.
She took the chair beside Rain, settling lightly onto the seat and turning toward her with one elbow resting on the table. She looked relaxed, elegant. A slight, well-timed crease between her brows made her seem like nothing more than a concerned friend.
Her eyes never left Rain.
“Have I become a stranger after two weeks away?”
She smiled, as if the question had only just occurred to her.
“Or have you found something out?”
“No…”
Rain stared at the cash by the edge of the table, uncertain whether she should pick it up. The air between them felt strained, tight enough to make it difficult to breathe.
She looked at Celestina, at her effortless poise and those beautiful blue eyes. They were full of tenderness, of an indulgence that came close to doting.
And yet Rain felt a flicker of fear.
As though something ferocious lay beneath that elegant, flawless exterior.
She reached hurriedly for her wine and took a sip, trying to hide her discomfort. Then she chose her words.
“I just feel bad about how much you’ve been spending on me… Oh, I’ve worked things out with my landlord. I can bring Rongrong home next week.”
It was a clumsy change of subject. She hid behind the cat anyway.
“Then I won’t have to keep troubling you… And I’ll wash the dress and give it back.”
Beneath the table, she shifted her legs, her thighs brushing together as she tried to find a more comfortable way to sit. All the while, she searched for the right words. Something that would make her sound less flustered, without letting Celestina see how anxious she was.
How much she wanted to pull back.
Celestina’s smile faded a fraction at the words bring Rongrong home next week, though her expression remained warm and familiar.
She lowered her eyes and rested her fingertips against the bowl of her glass. The amber wine shifted, catching a thin ring of light, as though a little of the New York night had been trapped inside.
She did not answer at once.
Instead, she watched the restless movement of Rain’s thighs beneath the table. Her gaze drifted, seemingly by chance, to the tense fingers wrapped around Rain’s glass.
At last, Celestina looked back at her face. Her voice was still gentle.
“You’re taking Rongrong home?”
She said the cat’s name a little more slowly than usual.
She remembered the tiny thing in Rain’s arms. For a while, it had been their reason to see each other almost every day. Now Rain wanted to take it away, as though she had begun, quite deliberately and very politely, to undo the ties between them.
Celestina reached for the bills Rain had yet to put away. She gathered them together and laid her palm lightly over the stack, as though holding an ill-timed decision in place before it could go any further.
“Rain.” She lifted her eyes. “Has something happened lately?”
“Didn’t your landlord say he wasn’t keen on tenants keeping pets? Has he changed his mind?”
She tilted her head. A little of her blonde hair slipped over her shoulder, flowing like pale gold in the light.
“Or did you have to agree to something difficult?”
As she spoke, she leaned back a little, leaving more room between them.
Her gaze stayed on Rain. Quietly, she watched her eyes, her mouth, her fingers. The way she breathed.
Rain pressed her lips together, scrambling for an answer.
Her landlord had messaged her yesterday. That much was true. But he had not actually agreed yet.
She frowned, hesitated, and said nothing.
An understanding smile appeared on Celestina’s face.
“You don’t need to return the dress.”
Half a second passed. As though realizing how much that sounded like an order, she softened it.
“I had it altered to fit you. Even if you gave it back, I couldn’t wear it.”
She raised her hand.
Rain could feel her fingertips hovering beside her shoulder. Celestina did not quite touch her. Her hand moved slowly above Rain’s shoulder and the base of her neck, tracing the way the green fabric followed her body, as though through an invisible veil.
Rain glanced up.
Celestina was looking at her with quiet concentration. There was nothing overtly sexual in her expression, only an appreciation so still and intent that it was almost too much.
“Besides, it suits you.”
She smiled.
“It’s doing far more good on you than hanging in a closet.”
Neither of them spoke for several seconds.
Rain realized she was holding her breath.
Beyond the windows, passing headlights swept across the glass, making Celestina’s blue eyes brighten and darken. They were dazzling, like gemstones catching the light.
Just as Rain felt she could not hold her breath another second, Celestina drew her hand away and pushed the money toward her.
“Put it away. You’re living on your own now. You’ll have Rongrong to settle in, cat food to buy, rent and a security deposit to cover.” Her voice was steady. “You’ll need the money for those things.”
It sounded so considerate that Rain could find no way to refuse.
“…Thank you.”
Her face warm, Rain gathered up the cash with a rush of relief. She reached for her wine and took a large mouthful to cover her embarrassment.
Before she could lower the glass, Celestina spoke again, gently.
“I’m a little hurt.”
Rain’s hand jolted. The glass tipped, and the wine caught sharply in her throat.
She broke into a fit of coughing, covering her mouth as she reached for a tissue. The holder was a little too far away, closer to Celestina’s side of the table. Rain pressed one hand to her chest and stretched out the other.
This time, Celestina did not immediately help.
Her long, pale fingers rested lightly on the tissue holder. For a moment, she left it where it was.
She watched Rain cough, watched the color flood her face. Something morbidly appreciative stirred in her eyes.
Then she smoothly slid the tissues within reach.
Rain snatched one, never noticing anything odd about that brief delay.
“I’ve only been away for two weeks, and you’ve already got it all worked out.”
Celestina looked up. Her voice was still warm, touched now with the faintest disappointment.
Her gaze, however, had deepened.
She knew that with a sweet, trusting beta, pressure was not nearly as effective as letting her feel she had something to make up for.
Sure enough, Rain rushed to explain.
“No, Celestina, that’s not it. We’re still friends. I just don’t want to keep putting you out like this. I—”
Celestina set down her wineglass.
It made almost no sound against the tablecloth, but Rain fell silent at once, as though someone had pressed a mute button.
“You’re not a burden, Rain.”
Celestina tapped one finger lightly against the table.
“Certainly not to me.”
She turned toward her, moving just a little closer, her voice dropping into something more intimate.
“You can take Rongrong home. I won’t stop you. You’re the one who rescued him. Of course he’s yours.”
The corners of her mouth lifted.
“But before next week, I need to take him in for another full checkup. He’s been shedding quite a bit with the change in season, and his appetite’s been up and down. The vet said we should have him checked, see whether he needs a different food.”
“Once that’s done, I’ll bring him over myself,” Celestina said. “And while I’m there, I can see if your new place is right for her.”