Lu Zhuonian was nearly scared to death.
Chen Zemian, dangling in danger, still had the nerve to ask if he looked handsome.
Lu Zhuonian drew a sharp breath, held the elevator door open on the 22nd floor, leaned into the shaft, and extended the lifeline downward. His usually steady voice trembled. “Chen Zemian, tie the rope first.”
Chen Zemian had no intention of waiting for death. The moment he slipped he grabbed the cable, but the force still dragged him down. Between the 20th and 21st floors he finally stopped, almost four meters below the 22nd.
He dangled diagonally across from the elevator entrance. With that distance, a rope alone wouldn’t reach him.
Someone had gone to get the maintenance team to open the lower doors, but Lu Zhuonian refused to wait.
Every second Chen Zemian stayed in the shaft put him in more danger. The elevator car above them, stalled due to a malfunction, hung like a sword of Damocles, threatening to fall at any moment.
Lu Zizhen, pale and shaken, clutched his chest as if suffering a heart attack. Seeing his son on the floor, he frantically signaled the bodyguards to help.
To reach Chen Zemian, Lu Zhuonian braced himself at the edge and leaned down. Dust covered the front of his elegant suit.
Chen Zemian glanced up. “Lu Zhuonian, your clothes are dirty.”
The nearby staff fell silent. That’s what he chose to say now?
Lu Zhuonian’s hand paused. His forehead twitched.
He leaned farther into the shaft, nearly slipping in himself—but still couldn’t reach.
Worried he might fall, the bodyguards tied a safety rope around his waist.
Lu Zhuonian tugged on the rope and told them in English, “I’m going down.”
“No!” shouted Chen Zemian and Lu Zizhen in unison.
Ignoring them, Lu Zhuonian shifted position to descend.
Chen Zemian yelled from below, “Don’t come down. I can climb up.”
This time, Lu Zhuonian refused.
“Don’t move!” His voice dropped, pleading. “I’m begging you, Chen Zemian.”
“If you move, I move,” Chen Zemian replied at once.
They stared at each other—one above, one below—frozen in a short-lived standoff.
“No one move!” Lu Zizhen shoved aside the bodyguard helping him, grabbed a golf club, and held it out. “Use this to pass the rope.”
Lu Zhuonian and Chen Zemian: “…”
Chen Zemian gave an awkward laugh. “President Lu is really clever.”
Lu Zhuonian didn’t respond. He tied the rope’s loop to the golf club.
Lu Zizhen peered into the shaft. “Xiao Chen, hold on. You better not get into trouble.”
Chen Zemian replied, “Yes, sir.”
Lu Zhuonian lowered the club carefully.
Chen Zemian caught it and slipped on the safety lock. “Okay.”
Lu Zhuonian signaled the bodyguards to pull, then warned, “Don’t let go yet.”
Pain seared through Chen Zemian’s raw palm. He nodded, switched hands, and gripped the cable with his uninjured one.
As they hoisted him up bit by bit, Lu Zizhen finally exhaled. “Xiao Chen, you saved your uncle’s life. I’ll remember this. Whatever you need, the Lu family will repay it.”
Chen Zemian looked up. “You staying alive is enough reward.”
Lu Zizhen fell silent.
The shaft was thick with dust. Chen Zemian, whose lungs were already sensitive, coughed and covered his nose.
Lu Zhuonian frowned. “Buy asthma spray,” he ordered one of the men. Then, turning to his father, he snapped, “Don’t say anything until he’s safe,” and pushed him aside.
The bodyguards worked fast. They pulled Chen Zemian up out of the dark.
Lu Zhuonian saw blood streaking his face—from his nose across his cheek. It looked like a handprint.
Grimacing, he reached out and steadied him. “Give me your hand.”
Chen Zemian lifted his right hand, but it was covered in blood. Instinctively, he wiped it on his shirt.
The cable had torn open his palm. Every movement sent a jolt of pain through him. His face drained of color. He almost cried out—but dozens of eyes watched from above. He swallowed the pain and raised his hand calmly.
Lu Zhuonian grabbed it and pulled him up.
Chen Zemian’s arm touched solid ground. Half his body had escaped death.
Lu Zhuonian dropped to his knees and reached farther into the shaft, wrapping his arms around Chen Zemian’s waist.
Everyone let out a collective breath.
Chen Zemian looked down one last time and slowly released his grip on the cable.
The moment he let go, the cable twitched with a strange click.
His face paled. He looked up.
The elevator car was moving.
The one meant to stay parked at the 22nd floor had been hanging precariously. While Chen Zemian held the cable, his weight balanced the stalled car. But as he released it, the balance broke.
The sword of Damocles fell.
With a loud clang, the elevator began descending.
Chen Zemian reacted instantly and shoved Lu Zhuonian back.
Strong from adrenaline, his push sent Lu Zhuonian stumbling.
That stumble saved him. He looked up and saw the car dropping fast.
His pupils shrank. Without thinking, he lunged forward and embraced Chen Zemian again.
The elevator dropped at about three meters per second. A fall from ten meters takes less than two seconds.
They didn’t have time to pull him all the way up.
Death loomed.
Chen Zemian still hung halfway in the shaft. Lu Zhuonian gripped him tightly, leaning out, half his own body exposed.
If the car reached them, it would crush them both.
Wind from the falling car howled.
Chen Zemian trembled. He tried again to shove Lu Zhuonian back.
But Lu Zhuonian held firm, wrapping him tighter.
Tears blurred Chen Zemian’s vision. “Let go!” he cried.
“I won’t,” Lu Zhuonian replied, steady as ever.
Lu Zizhen’s eyes turned red. He remembered that conversation—what if one day he doesn’t love you anymore? You’ll die.
It hadn’t been a joke.
Chen Zemian looked up and saw Lu Zhuonian’s jaw set with determination.
The elevator roared.
Time froze.
The car’s shadow swallowed them.
Noise vanished. All Chen Zemian could hear was Lu Zhuonian’s heartbeat.
Flashes of memory spun in his mind like a lantern wheel.
He recalled the Koenigsegg crash. Back then, he had joked that if death came, his last words would be, Lu Zhuonian, help me.
But now, in the final second, he screamed:
“Lu Zhuonian, let go!”
Lu Zhuonian was stunned.
He refused.
If they died, they’d die together.
This wasn’t recklessness. It was certainty.
Even if crushed, Lu Zhuonian would not release him.
That moment fused their lives together. No force could separate them now.
The sword of Damocles couldn’t cut through obsession. It couldn’t sever their bond.
The elevator stopped.
Three meters above their heads.
As if fate itself yielded to Lu Zhuonian’s will.
He glanced up at the stalled car and gave a faint, ironic smile.
“Pull Chen Zemian up first,” he instructed calmly in English, shielding him from above with his own body.
The elevator shook again, then went still.
They pulled Chen Zemian up the final stretch. When his feet hit solid ground, he gasped for breath.
Rebirth, he thought.
Lu Zhuonian dusted off his suit and stood up.
The night had been chaos.
Lu Zizhen nearly died. His son risked everything. The one who had saved him nearly died in return.
But both children survived.
Lu Zizhen stepped forward and wrapped them in a tight embrace. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” he muttered to himself more than them.
Chen Zemian rubbed his nose and glanced sideways at Lu Zhuonian.
So much had happened in a few short minutes.
By the time the building’s manager arrived, the rescue was over.
He turned pale when he recognized Lu Zizhen.
Panicked, he bowed repeatedly and offered compensation.
Lu Zizhen left the matter to his secretary. He had no interest in negotiations.
Even when the manager urged him to take the express elevator and assured him of its safety, Lu Zizhen shook his head and headed for the stairs.
They felt safer.
Half the bodyguards followed him. The rest stayed behind with Lu Zhuonian.
Chen Zemian watched Lu Zizhen’s back. “Should we go with him?”
Lu Zhuonian looked at his bloody hand. “You need bandages and a tetanus shot. The ambulance is downstairs. The elevator’s faster.”
Chen Zemian stepped inside, eyes fixed on the changing floor numbers.
“So this is what Master Jingchen meant by overcoming adversity,” he murmured. “But Yan Luo still faces disaster.”
Lu Zhuonian hit the button. “Nothing will happen to you again.”
“We can’t ignore Yan Luo,” Chen Zemian said.
“You can help if you want.”
Pain throbbed in Chen Zemian’s palm. He bit back a groan. “There’s always a price for changing fate. But I think I came out ahead.”
Lu Zhuonian went quiet. Then he said, “As long as you’re with me, everything’s fine. If you’re worried about Yan Luo, bring him.”
Chen Zemian’s heart skipped a beat. He looked up.
“What if fate can’t be changed?”
Lu Zhuonian smiled faintly.
“I am fate.”
*****
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Author: LazyHermitGal
A Lazy Hermit Gal wondering in the void and falling into the translation abyss.
