When My Star Came Home - Chapter 1

“Have a family member come in and sign for you, and you can go.”

I panicked. “I’m an adult. Why do I need a family member to sign anything?”

The middle-aged officer glared at me. “A young woman turns up at a place we’re raiding for prostitution, and she thinks she’s in the right?”

I’d been exhausted from renovating my studio lately, so I’d picked a random place for a massage. How was I supposed to know the police would raid it?

A policewoman patted my shoulder. “It’s all right, sweetheart. We just need a family member to sign for you. Don’t be nervous.”

I sighed and resigned myself to writing down Pei Yu’s name and number.

The air went still.

The policewoman forced a stiff smile. “Sweetheart, is Prosecutor Pei your brother?”

I shook my head. “No, he’s my husband.”

Crack.

I could hear a heart breaking.

Our families had been close for generations. Three years ago, my mother died, and my scumbag father set his sights on taking over our family’s assets.

My brother had only just graduated. To avoid a head-on confrontation, he shifted his focus overseas and took me abroad to live with him.

Before I left, at the urging of the Pei family’s elders, Pei Yu and I registered our marriage.

One moment I was getting married; the next, I was off to the airport.

Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined our first meeting in three years would be at a police station.

I crouched in a corner, huddled against the wall, listening to steady footsteps approach and stop behind me.

“Prosecutor Pei, I’m so sorry to trouble you this late.”

Pei Yu signed his name and murmured an acknowledgment.

The policewoman tried again. “This young lady says she’s your wife. She must be joking, right?”

Pei Yu looked up, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. “No. We got married three years ago.”

Crack, crack.

More hearts breaking.

Prosecutor Pei came over and patted my head. “Ruan Ning, let’s go home.”

I covered my head and pitched my voice higher. “You’ve got the wrong person. I’m not Ruan Ning.”

Who reunited with her new husband by making him pick her up from the police station?

After getting caught in a vice raid, no less.

“Really? Then shall I call Ruan An?”

“No, no, no, no!”

I shot to my feet and snatched his phone. “I was joking, Brother Pei Yu. Don’t take it seriously.”

“It’s late. Let’s go home.” He patted my head.

He must have come straight from home. He was wearing gray loungewear with a coat thrown over it.

Pei Yu took me to his place, a penthouse duplex in the city center.

“The door code is your birthday.”

My brain short-circuited. “As in… ‘yourbirthday’?”

His lips pressed into a straight line. Exasperation practically radiated from his forehead. “990909.”

Awkward.

“Well, it’s late. I’m going to bed.”

“Wait.”

He caught my wrist. “Why did you suddenly come back?”

“To expand my glorious business empire.”

“Bullshit.”

“Tell me the truth.”

“I…”

I was about to thank the incoming phone call for saving me when I saw my brother’s name on the screen.

Why was he calling now?

I shot Pei Yu a murderous look.

He glanced away. “Ahem. I thought the call was a scam, so I checked with Ruan An.”

“Pei. Yu.”

With a trembling hand, I answered in my most fawning voice. “Hellooo, my darling brother…”

“Ruan Ning, weren’t you crying and begging to go home and work on your marriage with Pei Yu? How did that land you in a police station?”

His voice carried straight out of my phone. Pei Yu heard every word.

“I was wrong, okay? I’m sorry. Please have mercy.”

“I’m freezing your credit cards for three months,” my brother said coldly. “A little punishment to teach you a lesson.”

“What? Wait! Please! Hello? Ruan An! You old bastard!”

I gazed up through my tears. How could words that cold come out of a mouth at a perfectly normal thirty-seven degrees Celsius?

A long-fingered hand plucked the phone from mine.

Pei Yu stared straight at me with a half smile. “Crying and begging? To work on our marriage?”

“I made that up.”

“I don’t believe you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Believe whatever you want.”

Looking around, I asked, “Where am I sleeping?”

He raised an eyebrow. “My room.”

I backed away two wary steps.

“I don’t usually have visitors. None of the other rooms have been cleaned,” he explained.

My luggage was at the hotel, so he found one of his oversized T-shirts for me to sleep in.

His bedroom was spotless. The sheets smelled faintly of laundry detergent. I breathed it in and soon drifted off to sleep.