The Rusted Pipe

Good days did not last.

My father lost several hundred thousand at a gambling table.

While I was walking Fifteen, he kidnapped me.

When I woke, I was hanging from the top floor of an abandoned factory.

Only a rusted pipe supported my weight.

One end of the pipe was pinned beneath a large box.

My father was video-calling Victor.

His foot pressed against the side of the box.

“Fifteen minutes,” he said. “If I don’t see the money, I kick the box.”

My mouth was stuffed with a glove.

I could not speak.

My two brothers were livestreaming nearby.

“The heat is number one!” one shouted happily. “Everyone, guess how long this rusty pipe lasts!”

“Thanks for the donation, big brother. I’ll kowtow for you!”

“Don’t misunderstand. This is fake. My sister volunteered to film with us.”

“Don’t worry. There are soft mats below. She won’t die.”

Victor transferred five million.

My father tasted blood and wanted more.

“You rich bastard have money. Send another five million!”

I shook my head desperately.

Tears ran down my face.

The rusted pipe cracked slightly.

My father pointed the camera at it.

The livestream viewers demanded I speak.

My brothers removed the glove.

I tried to tell Victor not to pay.

Blood surged up my throat instead.

“Lina!”

Victor’s voice tore through the phone.

I closed my eyes.

At least before dying, I heard him call my name.

Then the pipe snapped.

For a fraction of a second, I fell.

Then everything stopped.

I opened my eyes.

Victor was on his knees, both hands gripping the broken pipe.

He had arrived in time.

Under the pull of gravity, I kept slipping.

I cried and begged him to let go.

“Victor, let go. We’ll both die.”

His veins bulged on his forehead.

“Shut the hell up, Lina.”

It was the first time I had ever heard him swear.

My father laughed.

“What a tragic pair.”

Then he stepped on Victor’s hand.

Hard.

Bone cracked.

I screamed.

My father smiled like a winner.

“Let me remind you, boy. Back when you were poor, you already liked Lina. You came begging me like a dog.”

Pain and shock blurred together.

Victor’s hands bled.

Still, he did not let go.

“Victor, please let go!”

“Lina,” he said, eyes fierce and gentle at once, “I’ll die with you.”

I did not die.

Victor’s friends arrived in time.

They subdued my father and brothers.

I fainted from shock and slept for three days.

When I woke, Victor was not there.

His friend Jason Jiang rushed in.

“Sister-in-law, hurry. Victor is about to beat someone to death.”

In the basement, my father and brothers were barely breathing.

When Victor saw me, the murderous darkness in his eyes vanished.

He wrapped his injured hand quickly, but blood seeped through the bandage.

I wanted to ask if it hurt.

Instead, I opened my arms and hugged him.

Victor buried his face against my shoulder like a child asking for candy.

His voice was hoarse.

“Lina, why did you come so late?”

I patted his back.

After brushing death, the invisible cage around me finally cracked.

Jason muttered nearby,

“Look at him pretending. Such a big bad wolf.”

Victor shot him a look.

Jason immediately behaved.

At my request, Victor spared my father and brothers.

Not because I was soft-hearted.

Because I did not want him to stain his hands with blood for me.

That night, Jason stayed for dinner.

Halfway through, Fifteen tugged at my pants.

I picked it up.

Jason grinned.

“Sister-in-law, do you know where this cat came from?”

Victor’s eyes turned dangerous.

Jason ignored him.

“My upright, ability-first Victor promised your former colleague a department head position just to lure you here as a cat sitter.”

I blinked.

Jason continued, trying not to laugh.

“But where did the cat come from? You’ll never guess. Victor dragged us to the countryside in the middle of the night to catch a kitten. He separated mother and child. That’s why Fifteen hates him.”

I nearly choked.

I imagined Victor in an expensive suit crawling near a cat nest at midnight.

I had to recall every sad thing in my life to avoid laughing.

Jason wiped his eyes.

“Victor said local cats are easier to raise. Less trouble for you.”

My heart softened completely.

This ridiculous man.

This careful, clumsy, impossible man.

He had built an entire cat trap just to give me a place to stay.