CHAPTER 67: CHAPTER 67

~Fan xiao~

Lee Know wouldn’t stop staring at me. Like literally staring. Like I was a TV drama and he just found out a character died.

He sat up straighter in his hospital bed, clutching the blanket like a grandma judging the world.

"Tell me," he said. "Everything. Why am I always being targeted? I know it’s because of you."

I opened my mouth, closed it, opened it again like a dying fish.

"Do you REALLY want to know?"

"Yes."

"No, you don’t."

"Yes, I do."

"You’re going to freak out."

"I’m already freaking out! So TALK."

I rubbed my face with both hands. "Okay. But don’t shout."

"I’m not shouting."

"You’re literally shouting."

"I’M TALKING NORMALLY..."

"Oh my God." I sat down and grabbed the metal rail of the bed so I wouldn’t run away. "Fine. I’ll tell you. Just don’t have a heart attack, you’re already barely functioning."

He narrowed his eyes like he was about to report me to customer service.

I took a deep breath. "So... I’m a hacker."

He blinked. "Okay. That’s... Actually, no. That’s not okay. What kind of hacker? Like... stealing game accounts? Or...?"

"BANKS, COMPANIES......"

He froze.

I swear the beeping monitor behind him actually hesitated.

"Banks," he repeated, voice flat. "Like... banks. Banks."

"Yes, banks," I said, waving my hand like we were talking about grocery stores. "I started young. Like... stupid-young. Like ten."

"Ten?!" he squeaked. "You were TEN hacking BANKS?! At TEN I was eating glue...WHY WERE YOU...?!"

I shrugged. "I was bored."

"You were BORED?!"

"Yes, bored! What else does a kid do with a phone and free Wi-Fi? Homework?"

He stared at me like he wanted to throw me out the window.

"And," I continued because I’m dumb, "I was good at it. Like... very good. And my dad noticed, and he was kinda losing his business at the time, and... yeah. One thing led to another."

He slowly leaned back. "What ’another’ are you talking about?"

I scratched my head. "So basically I hacked into companies and got private info... and my dad sold it."

Lee Know just stared.

I kept going because once you start confessing crimes you weirdly can’t stop.

"I made a LOT of money for him. Like insane money. It became our little system. I steal. He sells. We eat."

He blinked aggressively. "FAN. XIAO."

"What?"

"That’s ILLEGAL!"

"No shit?" I snapped. "You think I thought it was community service??"

He threw a pillow at me. "Why would you do something like that?!"

"I WAS TEN," I yelled back. "I didn’t even know how to tie my shoelaces properly!"

"You knew how to hack BANKS but not tie your shoes?!"

"That’s not the point!"

He groaned into his hands. "Oh my god. Oh my GOD..."

"And then" I held up a finger.."my mom found out, it had been going for years and I always almost a teen now."

He stopped groaning.

"Oh boy," he whispered. "What did she do?"

"She kept asking my dad to stop but he wouldn’t. She didn’t think it was good for me and when she couldn’t take it anymore....she snitched."

He choked. "She WHAT?!"

"She told one of the companies we hacked," I said. "She straight up betrayed us. Just called them and said, ’Hello, yes, my husband and my son just committed digital crimes, thank you for your time.’"

"WHY?!" he yelled.

"She didn’t want me doing illegal shit. Said she’d rather divorce my dad than watch me become ’some criminal rat with talent.’ Her words."

"Oh wow," he muttered. "She sounds... intense."

"She threw me under the bus," I corrected. "And my dad took the fall so I wouldn’t go to jail."

Lee Know’s eyes softened. "He protected you."

"Yeah." My throat tightened a little, but I swallowed it down like it was poison. "He said he’d never let me take the blame. So he’s sitting in jail right now. Alone."

Silence.

Heavy silence.

Even Lee Know’s breathing slowed.

"How long?" he asked quietly.

"More than ten years."

"And you’ve been... alone?"

"Pretty much."

He stared at me for a long, long second. "That must’ve been hard."

I shrugged even though my chest hurt. "It’s life. You deal with it."

He didn’t look convinced but didn’t push it.

"So," I said, forcing myself back into sarcastic mode before I got emotional, "after the divorce, my mom tried to raise me alone. But then she realized, surprise, I was still hacking."

"DID YOU LEARN NOTHING?!" he yelled.

"No. Absolutely nothing."

The nurse passing by glared at us. We both pretended to be saints for exactly three seconds.

"So then what?" Lee Know demanded.

"Then I became... careful." I lowered my voice. "I couldn’t get caught. Eyes were on me. I owe a LOT of money."

"How much is a lot?"

I hesitated.

"How MUCH?"

"...Around 500 million dollars almost a billion I don’t exactly know. Give or take."

"GIVE OR TAKE?!" he shrieked. "HOW DO YOU ’GIVE OR TAKE’ HALF A BILLION...?!"

"Closer to a billion," I mumbled.

He slapped my arm. "ARE YOU INSANE?!"

"Ow...look, it’s not LIKE I WANTED this debt!"

"How do you even GET that much debt...no, wait, I don’t want to know, I’m already dying..."

"I have to pay it," I cut in. "For my dad."

His head snapped toward me.

"If I don’t pay it," I said tightly, "they’ll kill him in jail. They already threatened it. So yeah, I spend my whole life paying shit off."

Lee Know’s expression changed. It wasn’t pity. It wasn’t shock. It was something quieter, heavier, like he finally understood why I never talked about my family.

"That’s why people come after you," he whispered. "Because you owe them?"

"No." I sighed. "Because I owe their bosses. And their bosses owe someone else, and some of them want me to personally hack for them. Most people want me hacking for them. And someone else owes someone bigger. It’s... a mess."

"And they target ME because...?"

"Because I care about you." My voice cracked before I could stop it. "And they know it."

His face went red instantly. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." I rubbed my forehead. "The second we met again in this country, I knew trouble would follow. I just didn’t think it’d find you so fast."

He folded his arms. "You should’ve told me."

"I didn’t want you involved."

"Fan Xiao," he snapped, "I got KIDNAPPED. I was almost KILLED. I AM VERY INVOLVED."

"Okay, but I didn’t PLAN THAT..."

"Oh shut up. So why don’t they go after your mom."

"You shut up, she’s married now and has her own family. She married the man she betrayed us too"

He grabbed my wrist. Hard. "What!? That took a quick turn. Now tell me everything. All of it. I deserve to know."

I inhaled slowly. "Fine. But you’re not going to like it."

"Too late."

"So after my dad went to jail, and my mom left, I kept hacking. Not as big, not as flashy. But enough. Enough to keep the debt from swallowing me alive. Enough to keep my dad breathing. Enough to pretend I’m not drowning."

Lee Know was quiet. Too quiet.

Which scared me more than yelling ever could.

"Say something," I muttered.

He lifted his eyes. "What about your mom? Does she know?"

I laughed. A short, bitter, ugly sound. "She doesn’t talk to me."

"At all?"

"At all," I repeated. "She told me I ruined her life. I told her she ruined mine. Now we pretend the other doesn’t exist."

Lee Know’s face softened again. "That’s... sad."

"I don’t have time to be sad," I said. "I have debt collectors breathing down my neck. Crying won’t pay them."

"You’re allowed to feel things, idiot."

"Feelings don’t fix anything."

He rolled his eyes. "You’re so stubborn."

"And you’re so nosy."

"Because you hid a whole CRIME HISTORY from me!"

I threw my hands up. "I DIDN’T WANT YOU TO PANIC...."

"WELL I AM PANICKING NOW!"

We somehow ended up yelling again. A nurse peeked through the door, sighed loudly, and left again.

Lee Know scooted to the edge of the bed and grabbed my hoodie. "So all these people following us, threatening us, kidnapping me... it’s because they want either you, your skills ,or your money?."

"Basically."

"And you’re paying all of it alone."

"Yeah."

"Why didn’t you ever tell anyone?"

"Who would believe a kid paying off a billion-dollar crime debt?"

He had no answer.

I sat there for a moment, letting the weight of everything hang between us. Then he nudged me with his foot.

"So... what now? You’re just going to keep hacking banks forever?"

"No."

"What then?"

I hesitated.

Because this part... I hadn’t said out loud yet.

I leaned back, staring at the ceiling like it had answers.

"There’s one place," I said slowly, "that has enough money to erase everything. Enough to pay the debts. Enough to save my dad. Enough to disappear after."

Lee Know narrowed his eyes. "What place?"

"Not a place," I said. "A company."

"Which company?"

I paused.

Long enough that he shoved my shoulder.

"Which. Company."

I looked him straight in the eyes.

"My mom’s."

He froze. "Your... mom’s company?"

"Well typically that of hers and her husband so yeah."

He stared at me like he forgot how to blink. "You’re not..."

"I didn’t say anything," I said, holding up my hands. "But if someone were to look at my mom’s company... and notice they have billions sitting around... and notice I have a reason to ruin them..."

"FAN XIAO..."

"I’m just saying. Hypothetically."

He grabbed my hoodie again. "You’re insane."

"Maybe."

"You’re serious."

"I didn’t say that."

"You’re planning something."

"I didn’t say that either."

"FAN XIAO!"

I grinned.

He groaned and fell back against the pillow. "Oh my God. I’m going to be a father to twins AND an accessory to hacking..."

"You won’t be an accessory if you don’t know anything."

"I KNOW EVERYTHING!"

"Not my fault you asked."

He threw another pillow at me.

I caught it this time.

And for a second...just a second...I let myself breathe.

Because for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t alone with this secret.

Even if he yelled at me the whole time.

Even if he stared like I was the dumbest genius alive.

Even if he demanded all the answers I never wanted to give.

He stayed.

He listened.

He didn’t run.

And maybe... maybe that was enough.

For now.

I stood up and stretched. "Anyway. You should rest."

"I can’t rest knowing you’re planning something illegal with the same energy you use to order noodles."

"Not my fault noodles are important."

"FAN XIAO."

"Yes?"

"If you do anything stupid..."

"Define stupid."

"Don’t worry. I won’t drag you into it."

But I also didn’t say I wasn’t going to do it.

Because I was.

And nothing was going to stop me.

Not even him.

Not even myself.