Redemption Vows: A CEO's Forced Contract

Let Me See You Home

Usually, when a phone call from the police station came at this hour, it usually meant either a major case had broken out or... someone had died.

A few minutes later, the woman's hand gripping the phone suddenly tightened, her knuckles turning slightly white.

The deranged killer who had escaped from Xiyuan yesterday had claimed another young girl's life shortly after fleeing.

Rong Jingning threw her phone onto the bed with bitter frustration. If only she hadn't let her guard down and fallen for the killer's trap yesterday, she could have captured him then, sparing that innocent girl!

Early that morning, the task force led by Team Leader Lu Xianri rushed to the crime scene. The victim displayed identical characteristics to the previous two cases—sexually assaulted before being murdered, with a heart-shaped carving etched on her face.

However, since the killer's appearance and general residential area had already been narrowed down, the task force didn't linger long at the scene before returning to the police station.

While some officers were dispatched to investigate the suspect's possible address in Liuxia District of the city's northern sector, Rong Jingning had already briefed Lu Xianri on her encounter the previous night, confirming that the man she'd confronted was indeed the serial killer. She needed to return immediately to assist in composing the suspect's facial composite.

Inside the municipal police station, Rong Jingning and Lu Xianri stood behind their colleague Li Xiao'an, who was operating the computer. Both wore grave expressions as they watched the screen.

The monitor currently displayed the rough outline of a child's face. Li Xiao'an was digitally adjusting the eyes.

"Jingning, is this closer?"

"No, make the eyes slightly smaller."

"Like this?"

"Mm, that works."

"What about the mouth?"

"Thinner lips, with corners slightly downturned."

...

Before long, a complete portrait of the suspect finally materialized on the screen.

Rong Jingning glanced at Lu Xianri beside her. "Team Leader Lu, this is roughly what the killer I encountered yesterday looked like. Xiao'an's reconstruction is about ninety percent accurate."

"Understood," Lu Xianri nodded, his obsidian-dark eyes fixed intently on the portrait as if plunged into deep contemplation.

After a prolonged silence, he instructed Li Xiao'an at the computer, "Officer Li, please print the composite. Have the investigation team search based on this image, but avoid alerting the suspect."

"Got it." Li Xiao'an stood promptly and exited the room.

The office soon held only Lu Xianri and Rong Jingning.

When Lu Xianri turned to Rong Jingning, his face had shifted to its usual bright smile. "Jingning, you insisted yesterday I shouldn't escort you home. See what happened?"

Jingning? Since when had they become so familiar?

His mood swings were almost whiplash-inducing. Rong Jingning averted her gaze awkwardly, muttering, "At least it wasn't a complete disaster."

Though she'd recounted the entire encounter with the killer to Lu Xianri, she'd deliberately omitted certain irrelevant details—like how she'd begged an iceberg-cold stranger to fetch her a bucket of cold water, only for that enigmatic figure to vanish inexplicably.

Even now, thinking about that man made her feel like she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"What's wrong? You don't look right," Lu Xianri looked at Rong Jingning. His seemingly gentle eyes somehow gave people a sense of oppression, as if they could see through everything about a person.

Rong Jingning quickly put away her thoughts and shook her head. "It's nothing. Maybe I was really a bit scared yesterday."

"Then how about giving me a chance to send you home today?" Lu Xianri suddenly brought his handsome face close to the woman in front of him, with a smile in his eyes.

Rong Jingning obviously didn't expect Lu Xianri to get so close to her. She was a bit slow to react for a moment.

There were no flaws on the man's enlarged face. It was bathed in the sunlight shining through the window, taking on a dreamy glow, bright and sunny. His eyes were so pure and clean, as if they had never been tainted by the dust of the mortal world.

Rong Jingning was stunned and subconsciously took a step back. She took a deep breath and said, "Well, Team Leader Lu, I think there should be a certain distance when men and women talk. I know you studied abroad, but the openness of foreigners doesn't necessarily apply to China."

Lu Xianri was stunned by Rong Jingning's words. When he came to his senses, he laughed. "Sorry, I didn't expect there to be such a conservative girl like you nowadays. I was a bit impolite. However..." Lu Xianri paused, and the smile on his face faded a bit. "Whether you agree to me today or not, I must send you home."

Rong Jingning frowned because of Lu Xianri's words. She thought that as a public official, and her colleague and superior, Lu Xianri was being a bit too flirtatious.

She was just about to decline when a strange thought suddenly flashed through her mind. She exclaimed, "Team Leader Lu, don't tell me you suspect that the murderer will come after me again today?"

"Officer Rong, you're really smart," Lu Xianri looked deeply at Rong Jingning. He had thought yesterday that this girl had high observation ability and was very sharp in criminal investigation and reasoning, and was very suitable to be a police officer. It seemed that he was right today.

Lu Xianri hooked his lips into a smile, and his favor for Rong Jingning increased a bit.

After understanding Lu Xianri's intention, Rong Jingning's expression became serious. Lu Xianri's speculation was right. The murderer was very likely to attack her again.

Based on her previous experience of handling cases with her master, Sun Bing, generally, if a serial killer has a target that he fails to attack, he will usually choose to attack again, and will be more extreme than before, using more brutal means.

Rong Jingning nervously clenched her fists. The events of yesterday flashed through her mind again. Although she was a police officer, after all, she was a girl. When facing a brutal thug, it was impossible for her not to be a bit scared. Just take what happened yesterday as an example. If someone hadn't come by just then, she might have...

However...

The woman bit her lip. If Lu Xianri really sent her home today, it would be very troublesome. He would then find out that an ordinary little police officer like her lived in a mansion. With Lu Xianri's intelligence and sharpness, he was bound to notice something.

She wasn't afraid of anything else, just afraid that if Lu Xianri knew about it, it would spread in the police station and would definitely affect her career as a police officer.

"So, Jingning, you should agree to let me send you home, right?" Lu Xianri's words interrupted Rong Jingning's train of thought.

Rong Jingning thought for a while and met Lu Xianri's bright eyes. "Team Leader Lu, I think I can handle the murderer on my own. Yesterday, I let my guard down because of the murderer's appearance. I believe that with full alertness, I can definitely capture the murderer." The woman's voice was clear and clean, with a hint of firmness.

What she said was not entirely to brush off Lu Xianri. It was also about the dignity of a female police officer. The murderer escaped from her hands yesterday, which led to the death of an innocent girl. She had to take full responsibility.

Lu Xianri's eyes brightened. He raised his eyebrows imperceptibly. Rong Jingning's personality was really likable. She wasn't coquettish or artificial, but strong and brave.

However...

A sudden feeling of annoyance welled up in the man's heart. Did she really dislike getting close to him that much? It was the first time in his life that he had experienced such a sense of frustration. The girls he had met before were not like this.

Lu Xianri frowned, but soon relaxed his brows as if he had thought of something. He smiled at the woman in front of him and said, "Jingning, although what you said is very reasonable and moving, as your superior, I will never let my subordinate take risks. Moreover, although I believe that you have the ability to capture the thug, there is also a chance that the thug will escape. We can't let more innocent people die."

As he spoke, Lu Xianri had walked to the door of the office. His tone also lost its smile and became extremely serious. "This is the first order I'm giving you as your superior. I must send you home tonight."

After saying that, Lu Xianri's figure disappeared from Rong Jingning's sight, leaving only a faint echo lingering in the small office.

Rong Jingning standing there rubbed her forehead. It seemed that she couldn't escape this time.

Forget it. Lu Xianri was right. Catching the murderer was the most important thing. Her personal issues had to be put aside. But she still had to come up with a reasonable-sounding excuse.

In the afternoon, the colleagues who went to Liuxia District in the north of the city to investigate the murderer came back. They found out that the murderer's name was Sun Jianghe. He was thirty-two years old, and his appearance basically matched the portrait drawn by Rong Jingning. He had moved there from other places a few years ago. He seldom interacted with his neighbors on weekdays and was rather withdrawn.

The police in the station found Sun Jianghe's home according to the descriptions of the neighbors. His house was small, and there were very few things in it. Judging from the amount of dust in the room, Sun Jianghe hadn't been home for at least half a month.

Since they didn't catch the person this time and weren't sure when the murderer would go home, the police station could only arrange two colleagues to stake out in the vicinity, and the rest of the people were withdrawn.

After listening to her colleagues' narration, Rong Jingning went outside to answer a call. As soon as she pressed the answer button on her phone, she heard a man's furious voice on the other end of the line. "Rong Jingning, you'd better come up with a good reason to explain to me why you didn't answer or return my calls. I called you eighteen times. I was almost one short of a football team!"

Qiao Xiran on the other end of the phone tightly held his mobile phone. His just-made-up face looked a bit distorted.

He knew about Rong Jingning's job nature. He could understand that she sometimes couldn't answer the phone. But from yesterday to now, she had been like a person who had evaporated from the world and hadn't answered a single call. Didn't she know that he would be worried?

Originally, he just wanted to complain to her about the fact that they had been photographed by paparazzi. But after making several calls without getting an answer, all his annoyance turned into worry and uneasiness. He was even thinking about pushing off all his work today and going directly to the police station to find her.

Rong Jingning patted her head. There was a big case in the police station yesterday. They had a meeting until late at night, and then she had that kind of encounter on the way back at night. How could she have time to return Qiao Xiran's calls? But even through the long phone line, she could feel the man's burning anger on the other end. She could only say awkwardly, "Xiran, I'm sorry. There was a big case in the police station yesterday. I was so busy that I forgot to call you back."

"Rong Jingning, is that your excuse?" Qiao Xiran's anger not only didn't subside, but also seemed to be intensifying.

Rong Jingning was a bit speechless. Had she said something wrong?