Chapter 2

My blood seemed to freeze.

The rabbit meant danger.

Chu Tu Dã had discovered something was wrong.

Why had he not told me?

Was he afraid I would be dragged into it, too?

And why did the rabbit have human eyes?

I turned the two messages over and over in my mind.

Tu Dã, what were you trying to tell me?

Who had shared my bed last night?

Thoughts collided in my head. The more I thought, the more frightened I became.

I stepped outside for some air, then stopped dead.

Across from the old house stood a makeshift grocery shop.

It was the Year of the Horse, but an old Year of the Rabbit New Year picture still clung to Uncle Trần’s shipping container.

Someone had scribbled over the rabbit’s eyes, turning them into human eyes.

The rabbit with human eyes.

I forced down the surge of emotion and tried to sound casual.

“Uncle Trần, Tu Dã must have caused you a lot of trouble while he was fixing up the house.”

He waved a hand and laughed.

“Not at all. He’s the one who’s been helping me.

“That boy notices everything. My eyesight’s poor, and people sometimes take things without paying. He suggested I set up here. If anyone tried it again, I could come to him.

“Oh, and he even put in a security camera for me. Now I can see exactly who tries to get away without paying!”

My heart beat faster.

A security camera?

So the rabbit with human eyes had a second meaning.

It stood for the camera, too.

“Could I have a look?”

I stared at the screen, fists clenched, my palms slick with cold sweat.

April 26. The day he posted the photograph.

On the footage, Chu Tu Dã hurried into the house. Half an hour later, he emerged with his luggage.

I sat bolt upright.

It had just rained that day.

When he went in, his ankle boots were caked in mud.

When he came out, they looked brand-new. Dry and spotless.

Rage and terror surged through me, chilling my whole body.

The man who came out was a fake.

The real Chu Tu Dã had been replaced in those thirty minutes.

My head rang.

If the man who left was an impostor, where was the real one?

Chu Tu Dã had been in special forces before spending years undercover. He had survived countless brushes with death.

How could anyone subdue him so easily?

What had happened to him?

I immediately called his superior.

But after hearing my detailed account, the man responded nothing like I expected.

“Miss Trang, you’re saying the man who came back isn’t the real Chu Tu Dã?”

His tone was indifferent.

“Because he forgot a private joke from three years ago? And forgot that you don’t eat brown sugar?”

“Please believe me!” I said urgently. “I don’t know how they did it, but that man really isn’t Tu Dã!”

“Do you have proof? Solid evidence?”

My throat went dry.

“I... don’t.”

He sighed softly.

“Do you know what he’s been through these past three years?”

My heart tightened.

“He said it was classified. He never told me...”

“He’s carried out extremely dangerous assignments. More than once, he was barely alive. Thinking of you was all that kept him going. To help him return to normal life, we used mild hypnosis to seal away his most painful memories.”

His voice became stern.

“And naturally, we verified his identity. There is no possibility that he was replaced.”

My eyes burned, but I remained certain.

“If thinking of me kept him alive, our memories together can’t be painful ones. He wouldn’t forget them.

“I can tell because I love him. That man isn’t Tu Dã. I’ll send you the security footage. You’ll understand when you see it.”

After a silence, he finally agreed.

I watched the upload bar creep forward.

At ninety-eight percent, it stopped.

The signal was always poor in the mountains. I was about to move when a voice sounded behind me.

“It’s no use. You won’t be able to send it.”

My blood ran cold. Every hair on my body stood up.

I turned stiffly.

Chu Tu Dã stood there, one hand in his pocket, watching me calmly. I had no idea when he had arrived.

“Đóa Đóa, a mudslide just took out the village cell tower. The network will be down for forty-eight hours.”

His voice was so gentle that I could hear nothing wrong in it.

“Perfect. We can enjoy our honeymoon without any interruptions.

“Isn’t that wonderful?”

Fear crashed over me.

“Darling, who were you calling?”

He stared at me, his question cold.

My mind raced as I forced myself to breathe.

“Who else? My boss. He wants me to write an introduction for a video. I can’t even get any peace on my honeymoon.”

“Really?”

The impostor clearly did not believe me. He snatched my phone.

For a moment, I almost stopped breathing.

The screen lit up on my work group chat, showing more than ninety-nine unread messages.

He went through everything before smiling and handing it back.

“Just ignore him. Worst case, you can quit. Your husband will support you.”

I smiled back, pretended nothing had happened and returned to the bedroom.

As soon as the door shut, my legs gave way. I sank to the floor.

Thank God.

I had used my spare phone to send the video.

It was still in my pocket.

But there was worse news to come.

Chu Village lay between two mountains. Only one dirt road connected it to the main highway.

And now that road, our only way out, had been blocked by a landslide.

The entire village was cut off from the world.