Su Fan took a brief look at the old man in the morgue and then shifted his attention away from that peculiar family.
Since there was no trace of malevolent spirits or demonic activity, this matter fell outside his jurisdiction.
Still, he could always give Sheriff Dyson or Carl a call to have them look into it—it’d be a nice little highlight on their records.
Then again…
With no demons or evil entities involved, that meant this entire affair was purely orchestrated by human hands.
Who knows what dark truths might unravel from this down the line?
[Just give them the heads-up. Whether they want to pursue it is up to them.]
Su Fan tilted his head back to look at the sky, savoring the crisp, cool breeze unique to this time of year.
Teresia’s injuries had been taken care of, and Annie was fine too.
It was about time he headed back.
After sitting for a short while, Su Fan rose and made his way toward the hospital exit.
——-
Early December.
At a picturesque lakeside estate far from the city, a fleet of black luxury cars pulled up, and from them emerged a steady stream of elderly figures dressed in fine attire.
They were all guests invited to attend a funeral.
Up on the second floor of the villa, a young Black man stood by the window, watching the arrivals below with a hint of anxiety in his eyes.
His name was Chris Washington, and he was the boyfriend of the estate owner’s daughter.
Soon, he’d have to go down and mingle with the guests as the family’s future son-in-law.
To be honest, having lost both parents at a young age, this was the first time he’d ever been in such a setting.
Though the attire of all the visitors below looked modest, anyone with even a bit of worldly experience could tell those were high-end custom-tailored suits.
A single piece would cost more than what he, a working-class guy, could earn in months—or even years.
Just then, Chris felt someone beside him. Before he could turn around, he felt his arm being wrapped in a warm, soft embrace.
The familiar scent wafting to his nose was enough to tell him exactly who it was.
“Don’t be so nervous, honey.”
His beautiful girlfriend looked up at him with a radiant smile, soothing his nerves.
“They’re nothing special—just a bunch of old fogeys practically one foot in the grave.”
“I’ll be by your side through the whole reception, so don’t worry.”
“Thanks, Rose. I feel a lot better now.”
His girlfriend’s encouragement wasn’t just empty talk.
Though they’d only known each other for a few short months, their bond had grown incredibly deep.
Rose didn’t have the arrogant shallowness typical of many white girls—she was gentle, cheerful, and well-mannered.
What’s more, she never looked at him through a prejudiced lens.
That meant the world to Chris, who had endured discrimination his entire life and finally found a warmth he’d never known before.
“I’ll head down first to check on things. Come find me once you’re ready.”
After giving him a kiss, Rose turned and left the room.
Not long after she was gone, the phone in Chris’s pocket rang.
“You’re still not coming back? I’ve told you before—don’t stay too long around white people. They don’t have your best interests at heart.”
“Rod, how many times do I have to tell you? Rose is different from the others.”
“Come on, man, you’ve said that same line a million times. Ever since you started dating, your brain’s been chewed up like a dog got to it—your IQ’s taken a nosedive.”
Hearing his best friend still spouting the same old “white people are a threat” rhetoric and badmouthing his beloved girlfriend, Chris immediately launched into a story about a little incident that had happened on their way to the estate.
At the time, he’d been in the passenger seat chatting and laughing with Rose when a deer suddenly darted out from the woods by the roadside.
The deer was, of course, killed instantly by the high-speed collision, and the two of them, at a loss, had to call the local police.
The officer went through the routine questions and then suddenly asked to see Chris’s driver’s license and ID.
By all rights, Chris—who was just a passenger with nothing to do with the accident—had no reason to be investigated at all.
The white officer’s request was purely because of Chris’s skin color.
Chris was used to this kind of treatment. He didn’t protest; he just let out a helpless smile and reached for his wallet.
But to his surprise, Rose reacted strongly. She stopped him from handing over his license and directly called out the officer’s behavior.
Knowing he was in the wrong and not wanting to be accused of racism, the officer backed off and left.
To Chris, Rose’s instinctive defense of him at that moment was nothing but genuine feeling.
“Tell me, man—where else are you gonna find a girl like that?”
After finishing his story, Chris shot back.
Rod seemed to waver a little after hearing it, but his tone quickly hardened again.
“All I’m saying is, it never hurts to be careful.”
“Think about it calmly—good family background, beautiful, great figure, and not a hint of racism.”
“A girl that perfect—why wouldn’t she have picked someone else? Why you?”
The moment those words left his mouth, Rod realized how they might sound and quickly added:
“Sorry, man, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“But didn’t you think her whole family was weird before? That old lady even offered to hypnotize you or something.”
“I remember she said you were her first Black boyfriend. You’re telling me there weren’t any Black guys at her university who went after her?”
“That’s way too suspicious.”
Chris didn’t hear the rest of Rod’s explanation.
Because before Rod could finish, Chris had already hung up and set the phone down on the table.
He was convinced that after spending so much time together, he knew Rose far better than Rod did.
All this talk of threats and ulterior motives was nothing but paranoia.
[Rose is different from the others.]
Chris recalled all the sweet moments he’d shared with his girlfriend, and his conviction only grew stronger.
She’d brought him home, had him meet her grandfather one last time, and was now having him attend the reception with her…
Rose had fully accepted him as family and was doing everything she could to help him fit in.
How could he let her down?
With that resolve, Chris straightened his appearance and walked out of the bedroom.
He would hold onto this hard-won happiness and grow old together with Rose…
Grow old together…
In the empty room, the sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows gradually shifted and then faded, replaced by the faint, almost negligible glimmer of starlight.
The young Black man who was supposed to stay the night never returned. All that remained was a phone, buzzing occasionally with incoming call notifications—but no one answered.
At that very moment, in a concealed room on the first floor of the villa, a man in surgical scrubs was removing the pulsating brain of an elderly white man and placing it into another body covered in a white sheet.
At the edge of the sheet, a dark-skinned hand slipped out and hung limp…
Just one wall away, in the corridor, two figures were speaking to each other.
“Another smooth operation, as always, Rose.”
“Lately, the LAPD has been stepping up their investigations, so Jeremy can’t run wild like he used to.”
“The family business is all riding on you now.”
The white woman looked at the young woman before her and smiled.
“You know, the one in there fetched a pretty good price. The buyer of his body is a well-known wealthy man… We made a killing. And it’s all thanks to you.”
“It’s nothing, Mom.”
The corner of the girl’s mouth curled into a smile that seemed almost mechanical.
Unlike her daytime image—hair down and approachable—she was now clad in white from head to toe, her hair tied back in a ponytail.
The cold-toned lighting made her skin look pale and bloodless, as if devoid of any warmth.
Seeing her daughter like this, the woman sighed.
“Does doing this every time take a toll on you? I noticed you seemed pretty close to him earlier—did you catch any real feelings?”
She’d watched the interactions between her daughter and that Black man during the day.
“Not at all… Those were just his delusions…”
“If you can’t even fool yourself, how are you supposed to fool others? The moment you show even a hint of inconsistency, the prey might slip away.”
In a world of long-standing discrimination, the marginalized always grow sensitive and suspicious—every tiny detail gets noticed.
Perfect acting means fully immersing yourself in the role, and then, once the show is over, detaching yourself completely.
“At the end of the day, why would I develop feelings for merchandise?”
Rose’s voice was cold, devoid of any of the warmth she’d shown during the day.
“So, who’s the next target? If there’s no special request, I’ll pick someone myself.”
A hint of excitement crept into Rose’s otherwise flat tone.
She seemed genuinely addicted to this kind of predatory hunt.
“A born predator…”
Watching her daughter’s eager demeanor, the woman wore a satisfied expression.
“The next target has already been chosen. Someone’s paying big money to get their hands on his body.”
With that, the woman pulled out a few photos from her bag.
Staring at the face of the young man in the pictures, Rose looked up at her mother with a hint of surprise and double-checked:
“This time… are you sure it’s him?”
