Counterattack

The afternoon sun filtered through the trees, scattering patches of gold across the small playground.

Two children sat side by side on a pair of swings, their short legs kicking back and forth above the sand.

"Shen Yi."

The little boy turned his head.

Jiang Ruyi was staring at him with an unusually serious expression on her round face. Her dark hair was tied into two little pigtails, one already coming loose after all the running around they'd done.

"What?"

Ruyi suddenly held out her pinkie. Shen Yi stared at it. "What are you doing?"

"Making a promise."

"What promise?"

Ruyi puffed out her cheeks. "We'll always be friends." Shen Yi blinked. "And we'll always be together." He burst out laughing.

Her little face crumpled into a scowl. "Why are you laughing?!"

"Because you're stupid."

"Shen Yi!"

"Fine, fine." Still snickering, Shen Yi hooked his little finger around hers. Just like that, her scowl vanished.

"Promise?"

Shen Yi glanced at their joined fingers, then at her beaming face. "Promise."

💜~~~~~~

Nineteen years later.

"Life is shitty," Shen Yi groaned.

The nightclub pulsed around him.

Music thundered through the building. Coloured lights swept across the packed dance floor, bodies pressed against bodies, and somewhere nearby, someone screamed when the DJ switched tracks.

Shen Yi sat alone in the middle of it all.

Bottles surrounded him. Some empty. Some half-empty. One currently dangled between his fingers. He lifted it to his lips, took another drink and stared miserably into the distance.

"Unfair and shitty," he continued solemnly. "What's the point of living anymore?"

Nobody answered.

A group of girls danced past his table without so much as glancing at him.

Shen Yi."..."

He took another drink.

Fuck this world.

💜~~~~~~~

Ding ding ding.

Shen Yi frowned beneath the covers.

Ding ding ding.

He dragged the blanket over his head. Whoever was calling apparently had no respect for the dead.

The phone kept ringing.

With a muffled curse, Shen Yi blindly searched the bed until his hand found it. He dragged it beneath the covers and answered without checking the caller.

"What?"

"Young Master Yi! Where are you?"

His eyes remained firmly shut.

"The ceremony will start soon. Everyone is already—"

Shen Yi hung up.

Peace and quiet. Much better. He tossed the phone somewhere across the bed, then his eyes opened.

Ceremony.

For several seconds, he stared blankly at the ceiling and everything came flooding back.

"Oh."

Right.

The engagement. His former fiancée was getting engaged to his elder brother today.

How lovely.

Shen Yi remained exactly where he was.

Did he even have to attend? He could switch off his phone. Lock the doors. Order food. Watch television. Perhaps disappear from civilisation for approximately six months.

Unfortunately...

Ruyi would probably be upset if he didn't come and no matter how badly he currently wanted to strangle her, she was still his friend.

His oldest friend.

Shen Yi threw the blanket aside and dragged himself upright. "Troublesome."

The shower helped with the hangover, barely.

Shen Yi stood beneath the cold water, letting it run through his hair and down his face.

Jiang Ruyi.

He had loved that idiot for years. They had grown up together. Played together. Fought together. Gotten punished together. Somewhere between scraped knees, stolen snacks, birthdays, family dinners and countless summers spent together, his childish affection had quietly changed into something else.

And Shen Yi had stupidly assumed she felt the same. After all, their families had arranged their marriage years ago. He loved her, she was going to marry him. Everything had seemed perfectly straightforward. Until one month ago.

Shen Yi switched off the shower and reached for a towel.

"I'm sorry, Shen Yi."

His hand stilled. He could still remember exactly how Ruyi had looked that day, nervous, guilty, unable to meet his eyes.

"I really don't love you."

He dragged the towel roughly through his hair.

"I love Haoyu. I'm going to ask my brother to dissolve our engagement so I can marry him. I'm really sorry."

Shen Yi stared at himself in the mirror."Yeah." He tossed the towel aside. "Sorry my ass." If she were really sorry, she could have considered him before ripping his heart out and handing it to his brother.

Dammit, Ruyi. Why you too?

He opened his wardrobe. A black suit. Simple, expensive and appropriate for watching the love of his life get engaged to someone else.

Perfect.

By the time Shen Yi left his apartment, there wasn't a trace of last night's drunken wreck left.

His suit fitted his tall frame perfectly. His brown hair fell carelessly across his forehead, deliberately styled to look as though he hadn't bothered styling it at all.

Shen Yi had always been handsome, sharp, features— straight brows, narrow eyes that naturally carried a hint of mockery, a defined nose and lips that always seemed one second away from saying something offensive.

He slipped on his sunglasses and climbed into his BMW. The engine roared to life. Finally. Something he understood. Shen Yi pulled onto the road and pressed down on the accelerator.

One vehicle, two, three.

He slipped between them effortlessly, ignoring the angry horn behind him.

Speed cleared his head. It always had, at high speed, there wasn't enough room for useless thoughts. People were complicated. Cars weren't.

Unfortunately, even speed couldn't completely silence his thoughts today.

Jiang Ruyi.

His grip tightened around the steering wheel.

The absolute love of his miserable fucking life had broken off their engagement... to marry his elder brother, Shen Haoyu.

Fucking Shen Haoyu.

Who else? A humourless laugh escaped him. How many more things was he supposed to lose to that man?

Ever since childhood, Shen Yi had understood his position in the Shen family. Shen Haoyu was the eldest son. The legitimate son and heir.

Shen Yi?

The mistress's child and mistake their father had brought home and forced everyone else to acknowledge.

He had learnt very early how to survive inside that household.

Watch what you say. Watch where you sit. Watch how you behave. Don't embarrass the Shen family. Don't argue with the elders.

Don't cause unnecessary trouble.

And most importantly— Don't compete with your elder brother.

So Shen Yi hadn't. He had spent years stepping aside. The pharmaceutical company? Haoyu could have it, the inheritance? Whatever.

Family approval?

Shen Yi had stopped expecting that years ago.

He had racing. That was his. The track didn't care who his mother was.

A stopwatch didn't give a damn whether he was legitimate. When Shen Yi sat inside his car and those lights went out, nobody could hand Shen Haoyu his victory simply because he'd been born first.

Shen Yi had built something that belonged entirely to him and he'd thought Ruyi would belong beside him too.

The one person he'd known before any of this mattered, the one person he had believed would choose him.

Apparently, he'd been fucking delusional.

The hotel finally appeared ahead. Shen Yi eased off the accelerator and turned into the entrance.

Luxury vehicles already lined the driveway. Security surrounded the property while reporters crowded behind designated barriers, cameras swinging towards the approaching BMW.

Shen Yi parked and for several seconds, he didn't move. His hands remained on the steering wheel.

He could leave. Nobody could stop him. Reverse, go home, pretend this entire ridiculous engagement had nothing to do with him.

A seven-year-old voice floated through his memory.

We'll always be friends.

His jaw tightened. "You're such a fucking pain, Jiang Ruyi." He opened the door and camera shutters erupted.

"Shen Yi!"

"Shen Yi, over here!"

"Mr Shen!"

"What are your thoughts about today's engagement?"

"Are there problems between you and Shen Haoyu?"

"Shen Yi!"

He stepped out.

Tall. Immaculate black suit. Hair falling slightly across his forehead. Sunglasses hiding his eyes. Not one crack visible, the miserable drunk from several hours ago was gone.

In his place stood Shen Yi— Formula One driver. Second son of the Shen family and today's most interesting abandoned fiancé.

He shut the car door.

One reporter managed to shout above the rest. "Mr Shen! How do you feel about Jiang Ruyi marrying your elder brother?"

Shen Yi stopped. The shutters went wild. He slowly turned towards the reporter. A grin tugged at his lips.

"Wonderful." Shen Yi pushed his sunglasses higher up his nose. "I've always wanted a sister-in-law." Then he walked inside.

If his heart was going to be broken today, that was his fucking business.

Nobody else needed to know.