Reborn as His Deadliest Enemy

The Friend I Once Trusted

Lin Wan didn't call Gu Yanshen.

She stared at the message for nearly a minute.

He is already inside your family.

Then she deleted it.

Not because she believed it.

Because she didn't.

Ten years ago, she had trusted people too easily.

She had believed every smile.

Every promise.

Every carefully chosen word.

That had been her greatest weakness.

And if there was one thing she had learned from dying, it was this—

Never let someone else decide what you believe.

Lin Wan turned off her phone and walked to the window.

The black car was already gone.

She looked down at the quiet street.

Nothing appeared unusual.

No suspicious people.

No strange movements.

No one watching the house.

But she knew better than to trust appearances.

Someone had entered her room.

Someone had hidden the note.

Someone knew about her father's fear of Blackstone.

And someone knew enough about Gu Yanshen to use his name as a threat.

That meant the enemy was much closer than she had expected.

Lin Wan turned around.

She walked back to the desk.

The black envelope was still there.

She picked it up again.

Her father's handwriting.

The date.

June 18.

And that final warning.

Do not trust the person who tells you he can destroy it.

She read it again.

Then she noticed something she had missed.

There was a tiny mark at the bottom corner.

A small black circle.

Nothing more.

Lin Wan frowned.

She had seen that symbol before.

Not in this life.

In her first life.

She closed her eyes.

Memory came rushing back.

A conference room.

A stack of acquisition documents.

A black folder.

Lu Minghao standing beside her.

And a lawyer placing a document on the table.

There had been a small black circle printed in the lower corner.

She had never thought anything of it.

Now she knew.

It belonged to Blackstone.

Lin Wan opened her eyes.

Her father's note wasn't simply a warning.

It had been connected to something.

Something documented.

Something that had existed before she was reborn.

She carefully photographed the mark.

Then placed the note inside a sealed envelope.

She wasn't going to confront her father.

Not yet.

If he was hiding something, pushing him would only make him more cautious.

She needed information.

And she knew exactly where to start.

Luo Qing.

The next morning, Lin Wan arrived at university before eight.

The campus looked exactly as she remembered.

Students carrying books.

Coffee in paper cups.

Bicycles parked beside the library.

People laughing on their way to class.

Everything was painfully ordinary.

That was what made the memories so strange.

She knew things these people didn't.

She knew who would become successful.

Who would fail.

Who would disappear.

Who would betray someone.

And who would die.

She had once thought knowing the future would make her powerful.

She was beginning to understand that it was actually dangerous.

Because every time she changed something, she changed something else.

One small decision could create consequences she couldn't predict.

The future was information.

Not certainty.

She had written that rule herself.

She intended to remember it.

"Lin Wan!"

A familiar voice came from behind her.

She stopped.

Her heart tightened.

Then she turned around.

Luo Qing was walking toward her.

He was carrying two coffees.

He looked exactly the way she remembered.

Clean white shirt.

Dark trousers.

A warm smile.

The kind of smile that made people feel safe.

In her first life, Luo Qing had been one of her closest friends.

They had met during university.

He had helped her with projects.

He had listened when she complained about Lu Minghao.

He had even attended her wedding.

When her father died, he had been one of the people standing beside her.

Or so she had believed.

Later, when Lin Group began collapsing, Luo Qing had told her not to worry.

He had said he would help.

Then, three days later, he disappeared.

She never saw him again.

At the time, she had thought he was afraid.

Now she knew he had been connected to the network surrounding Blackstone.

"Coffee?"

Luo Qing held one out.

Lin Wan looked at it.

In her first life, she had accepted coffee from him almost every morning.

Today, she didn't.

"No, thank you."

His smile froze for half a second.

"You don't drink coffee anymore?"

"I've changed my habits."

He laughed.

"Since when?"

"Recently."

Luo Qing looked at her carefully.

"You really have changed."

Lin Wan smiled.

"People change."

He nodded.

"True."

They walked toward the main building together.

"Did you hear?" Luo Qing asked.

"About what?"

"Phoenix Technology."

Lin Wan didn't react.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing."

He lowered his voice.

"Someone is trying to acquire it."

"I know."

Luo Qing glanced at her.

"You know?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I invested in it."

He stopped walking.

Lin Wan continued forward.

After two seconds, he caught up.

"You're serious?"

"Very."

"How much?"

"Ten million."

Luo Qing stared at her.

"Ten million?"

"Is that surprising?"

"You're twenty-two."

"And?"

"You've never invested that much before."

Lin Wan turned to him.

"Everyone has a first time."

He laughed awkwardly.

"Of course."

But his eyes had changed.

Lin Wan noticed.

That was the first useful piece of information she had gained that morning.

He wasn't surprised that she was interested in Phoenix.

He was surprised by the amount.

That meant someone had told him something.

Or someone had expected her not to have access to that much money.

She continued walking.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Do you know anything about the company trying to acquire Phoenix?"

Luo Qing hesitated.

"Not much."

"Blackstone?"

His expression changed.

Only for an instant.

But Lin Wan saw it.

"You've heard of them?"

"Of course."

He smiled.

"They're a big investment group."

"Have you dealt with them?"

"No."

Another quick answer.

The same answer her father had given.

Lin Wan smiled.

"Good."

"Why?"

"No reason."

She walked into the building.

Behind her, Luo Qing watched her disappear.

His smile slowly faded.

At noon, Lin Wan sat alone in the university library.

Her laptop was open.

She wasn't studying.

She was watching a spreadsheet.

On the left were companies she remembered from her first life.

On the right were the people connected to them.

Phoenix Technology.

Jinhai Investment.

Blackstone.

Luo Qing.

Lu Minghao.

And now—

her father.

She stared at the names.

There was a pattern.

But it wasn't complete.

She needed one missing piece.

A transaction.

Something that connected Luo Qing to Blackstone before anyone else knew Blackstone existed.

She searched her memory.

Then suddenly remembered.

September 14.

In her first life, there had been a university entrepreneurship competition.

Luo Qing had participated.

He had won.

The prize money was small.

But there had been an investor who offered him funding afterward.

A company called Jinhai Investment.

At the time, nobody thought anything of it.

Lin Wan hadn't either.

But now she remembered something else.

Three years later, Luo Qing had suddenly started working in finance.

Five years later, he became an executive at a company indirectly controlled by Blackstone.

Six years later, he disappeared.

And seven years later—

he returned.

Only to become involved in Lin Group's collapse.

Lin Wan closed her eyes.

It couldn't be coincidence.

She opened her calendar.

September 14 was less than three months away.

She smiled.

This time, she wouldn't wait seven years.

She would find out what happened on September 14.

But she needed Luo Qing to show his hand first.

She opened a new document.

Then typed:

PROJECT: LUO QING

Under it, she wrote:

Objective: Determine his relationship with Jinhai Investment.

Method: Give him information only I know.

Expected result: Observe who receives it.

Lin Wan stopped.

This was dangerous.

If Luo Qing was innocent, she would be destroying a friendship for nothing.

If he wasn't—

then she needed to know before he had a chance to become dangerous.

She deleted the word "friend."

Then wrote:

Subject.

That felt safer.

At four in the afternoon, Luo Qing found her outside the library.

"Lin Wan."

She looked up.

"What's wrong?"

"I heard you're looking for investors."

"I am."

"For Phoenix?"

"Yes."

He hesitated.

"I might know someone."

Lin Wan raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"Jinhai Investment."

There it was.

The name she had been waiting for.

She kept her expression neutral.

"Why would they invest in me?"

"Because they invest in promising young companies."

"Phoenix isn't mine."

"You could acquire it."

Lin Wan looked at him.

"That's an interesting idea."

Luo Qing smiled.

"You should consider it."

"I will."

"Actually, I can introduce you."

"No."

His smile disappeared.

"Why?"

"I don't like introductions."

"Then how do you meet investors?"

"On my own."

Luo Qing laughed.

"You're becoming stubborn."

"Maybe."

He looked at her for a moment.

Then said,

"Fine."

He turned to leave.

Lin Wan called after him.

"Luo Qing."

He looked back.

"I've already received an acquisition offer for Phoenix."

His eyes sharpened.

"From whom?"

"I don't know."

She lied.

"That's why I'm interested in finding out."

Luo Qing didn't speak.

Lin Wan smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

She turned and walked away.

She didn't look back.

But she knew he was watching her.

At 6:17 p.m., Lin Wan received an email.

No sender name.

No signature.

Only an attachment.

She opened it.

A single page.

JINHAI INVESTMENT — INTERNAL CONTACT

Below it was a name.

Luo Qing.

Lin Wan's expression remained calm.

But her pulse accelerated.

The file had been sent less than two hours after her conversation with Luo Qing.

Someone was monitoring them.

Or someone wanted her to believe they were.

She didn't open the attachment again.

Instead, she forwarded it to her investigator.

Then another message appeared.

You asked the right question.

Lin Wan stared at it.

A second message followed.

Now ask why Luo Qing was chosen.

She frowned.

"Chosen?"

She typed:

Who are you?

No response.

She waited.

Nothing.

Lin Wan put down the phone.

The mystery had just become more complicated.

Luo Qing wasn't simply connected to Jinhai Investment.

Someone had deliberately placed him there.

But why?

And who had chosen him?

She remembered her father's note.

Do not trust the person who tells you he can destroy it.

Could that person be Luo Qing?

Or Gu Yanshen?

Or someone else entirely?

She didn't know.

And that uncertainty was exactly what made her cautious.

That evening, Lin Wan returned home.

Her father was in the living room.

He was reading a newspaper.

Her mother was watering the plants.

Everything looked normal.

Almost too normal.

Her father glanced up.

"You're back."

"Yes."

"How was university?"

"Fine."

He nodded.

Then asked casually,

"Did you meet Luo Qing today?"

Lin Wan stopped.

She looked at him.

"Why?"

Her father lowered the newspaper.

"Your mother mentioned his name."

Her mother looked confused.

"I did?"

"You said you saw him at the family dinner last year."

Her mother frowned.

"I don't remember."

Lin Wan watched both of them.

Something was wrong.

Her father was lying.

And her mother didn't know why.

"Yes," Lin Wan said calmly.

"I met him."

"How is he?"

"Good."

Her father nodded.

"He's a smart young man."

Lin Wan smiled.

"You like him?"

"He's reliable."

The word made Lin Wan's heart go cold.

Reliable.

In her first life, that was exactly how her father had described him.

She suddenly remembered something.

Her father's death had happened three years later.

The official report said cardiac arrest.

But before that—

there had been a dinner.

A family dinner.

Luo Qing had attended.

So had Lu Minghao.

And someone from Jinhai Investment.

Lin Wan's gaze slowly moved to her father.

"Father."

"Hm?"

"Do you remember the dinner three years from now?"

His hand stopped.

"What dinner?"

"The one with Luo Qing."

Her father looked at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Lin Wan smiled.

"Neither do I."

Then she stood.

"I'm going upstairs."

Her father watched her leave.

The moment she disappeared, his expression changed.

He put down the newspaper.

Her mother whispered,

"She knows."

"I know."

"What are we going to do?"

Her father looked toward the staircase.

"We're out of time."

Upstairs, Lin Wan closed her bedroom door.

She stood in silence.

Then her phone vibrated.

A message from Gu Yanshen.

I know who contacted Luo Qing.

Her eyes narrowed.

She immediately replied.

Who?

The answer came.

Someone inside Lin Group.

Lin Wan stared at the screen.

Another message arrived.

And there's something else.

Luo Qing isn't the person Blackstone wants you to fear.

Her fingers tightened around the phone.

Then who is?

This time, Gu Yanshen took longer to answer.

Almost a full minute.

Finally:

I think you already know him.

Lin Wan's heart sank.

Before she could reply, another message appeared.

Look at the people your father trusts most.

She stared at the words.

Then slowly raised her head.

Her eyes moved toward the family portrait hanging on the wall.

Her father.

Her mother.

Herself.

Three people.

Three faces.

Three lives.

And suddenly, one terrible possibility entered her mind.

Maybe the greatest secret wasn't outside her family.

Maybe it had been sitting at the dinner table with them all along.

Lin Wan walked toward the portrait.

She touched the frame.

Then she noticed something behind it.

A small black circle.

Exactly the same symbol as the one on her father's note.

Her breathing stopped.

Someone had hidden something behind the family portrait.

Something her father had never told her about.

Lin Wan reached for the frame.

And pulled it from the wall.