Chapter 78 - 72– Wine, Wounds, and a Line Crossed
The rooftop of the Crimson Circle’s private dining club had transformed from a venue for polite conversation into an arena where social standing was both weapon and prize. The air hummed with tension, thick enough to slice with one of the silver butter knives laid out on the linen-draped tables. This was no longer just a gathering of the city’s elite youth—it had become a battlefield.
Not of fists or blades—but of names, net worths, and unspoken hierarchy.
And tonight, Lin Feng had just thrown a chair at the pecking order.
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### **The Spark That Lit the Fire**
It began with what appeared to be a simple gesture—a gift presented without fanfare.
To Xu Shanyue, the enigmatic heiress known for her discerning tastes and even more discerning company, Lin had offered a jade hairpin. Not the gaudy, ostentatious kind favored by those trying too hard to impress, but something far more dangerous: a piece hand-carved by a master artisan, understated in its elegance, expensive in the way that whispers rather than shouts.
He hadn’t bragged about its provenance.
He hadn’t even explained its significance.
He simply ordered it, handed it over with the same casual grace one might use to return a borrowed pen, and said, "Consider it rent."
That single move set the whole room on fire.