Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The night I snuck into Distortion, Wen Yan was still on stage.

My brother, Pei Che, had stood in that same spot three years ago. Later, he died.

Now, Wen Yan had become the biggest name at Distortion.

Staring at the man on stage, only one thought occupied my mind.

I was going to drag him down.

It took me a month just to get into Distortion.

First, I worked night shifts at other bars to steady my hands.

Then, I had someone submit my resume to Distortion.

The manager rejected me at first, saying they weren’t looking for any newcomers.

So, I stood by the back door for three days straight, waiting.

On the fourth day, he finally lost his patience and asked me what I was really after.

I said I was after the money.

But money was never what I was after.

I wanted to come back and see just how rotten the place where my brother died had become.

I also wanted to see Wen Yan with my own eyes.

I wanted to see if this man, whom I had hated for three years, was actually worth destroying with my own hands.

Quite a few veteran employees at Distortion still recognized me.

When they saw me, their eyes held a strange look.

It was as if they were looking at a lingering shadow left behind by Pei Che.

Or as if they were looking at someone who was bound to get into trouble sooner or later.

Looking back, they weren’t wrong at all.

The moment I entered Distortion, the reckoning had already begun.

I just didn’t expect that, in the end, I would lose myself in the process as well.

I lost everything.

When the song ended, I slipped into the backstage area during the peak of the chaos. Just as I pressed the keycard against the sensor, someone grabbed my wrist.

A second later, I was shoved into the liquor storage room.

The door slammed shut behind me.

Wen Yan held the door with one hand and gripped the back of my neck with the other, looking down at me.

“First day at Distortion and you already have the nerve to steal a keycard for the old backstage area,” he said. “Pei Shi, you’ve got more guts than your brother.”

My heart sank.

He recognized me.

I looked up and flashed him a smile.

“Is this the extent of Mr. Wen’s ability to recognize people?”

“Is that so?” Wen Yan didn’t let go. “Then explain what you’re doing in the old backstage area in the middle of the night.”

“Taking a stroll.”

“A stroll that involved ‘accidentally’ stealing a keycard?”

I remained silent.

Wen Yan looked down at me and suddenly gave a small laugh.

“You really are like your brother,” he said. “When you lie, you both like to pretend to be calm first.”

The smile faded from my face.

“You’re not fit to mention him.”

“Whether I’m fit or not isn’t for you to decide.” Wen Yan stared at me. “What were you looking for tonight? Audio tracks? Backups? Or the things Pei Che didn’t have time to hand over before he died?”

My breath hitched for a moment.

Wen Yan knew, after all.

He didn’t just know who I was.

He knew why I was here.

“The things your brother left behind aren’t in that room out there,” he said. “Even if you tore the backstage apart tonight, you wouldn’t find them.”

I looked up at him.

“So? You want to stop me?”

“I’m not stopping you,” Wen Yan said. “I’m warning you. You can’t take it alone.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because half of it is here at Distortion, and the other half is in your hands.” He looked at me. “Pei Shi, your brother didn’t leave you with a dead end.”

I frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“That cocktail recipe book-you still have it, don’t you?”

My back tensed up instantly.

That book was the most inconspicuous thing my brother had left behind. I had flipped through it countless times, but aside from recipes and symbols, I hadn’t found anything.

“How do you know I have that book?”

“Because I’m the one who bought it for him.”

I paused.

Wen Yan looked down at me, his voice dropping lower.

“Pei Shi, your brother split the materials before his accident. Half stayed at Distortion, and half was left to you. If you really want to find them, don’t go on a suicide mission alone tonight.”

I looked at him and suddenly laughed.

“Wen Yan, you don’t actually think a few words of truth are enough to coax me over, do you?”

“You don’t have to believe me,” he said. “But Lu Qi’s people are already watching you. If you go out now, you might not even make it out of Distortion.”

A knock suddenly sounded on the door.

The manager shouted from outside:

“Brother Wen, Mr. Lu’s people are looking for that new bartender.”

Wen Yan didn’t even hesitate.

“Tell them I’m keeping him here.”

There was a moment of silence outside.

I looked up at him.

“What do you mean by that?”

Wen Yan finally let go of me.

“It means you’re coming with me tonight,” he said. “Tomorrow night, I’ll take you to unlock the old mainframe.”

I didn’t agree.

But I didn’t refuse, either.

Because I could tell he wasn’t acting.

And for the first time, the hatred I held so tightly began to lose its footing.