Chapter 4

The second Butch heard that, he lit up like he'd been shot full of adrenaline and actually started swinging at his wife.

I hunched low and slipped out along the side, but the moment I reached the door I was spotted.

My leg had taken a hit from a stick earlier, so I couldn't run fast.

Looking down from the second-floor railing, I saw my eldest brother being escorted out of the hall by a crowd of people.

My second brother, Benedict Whitney, and my third brother, Bertram Whitney, were there too!

The three of them seemed to have come to talk over some matter, and none of them looked pleased.

I opened my mouth to shout, but the man who'd caught up clamped it shut, hard.

Seeing I was about to be dragged back, I steeled myself, grabbed the man behind me, and went right over the second-floor railing with him.

The club lobby had a ceiling six or seven meters high, so the second floor was like an ordinary third story.

A fall like that would leave me crippled if not dead, but I was past caring.

If I didn't run now, I really would die.

With a deafening crash, I slammed into the giant fish tank in the middle of the hall.

The tank burst, water flying everywhere.

Shards of glass sliced open half my face and my arm.

Even with the water cushioning me, my leg and ribs still broke.

The pain nearly knocked me out.

Luckily, right as they were about to step out the door, my three brothers all turned back at the same moment.

My eldest brother frowned. "What's going on? Butch, have you dragged me into trouble again?"

His face darkened too. "Didn't I tell you not to touch the dirty rackets anymore? Have the dogs eaten the rules?"

My third brother sighed. "If you can't keep yourself in line, then get lost back home! Stop being an eyesore here!"

For more than twenty years, my three brothers had always smiled at me.

I'd never seen them like this—murderous air all around them, their eyes cold and indifferent.

And yet, right then, not one of them recognized me.

No wonder—my clothes were a mess, my hair was down, my face was covered in blood. How could they possibly know it was me?

Butch immediately planted himself in front of me, forcing a grin. "No, no! How could I ever forget what the young masters told me!"

"It's just a new waitress who slipped and fell! I'll deal with it right now!"

He shot his men a look. "Get her out of here, now! Don't let her offend the young masters!"

But if I got taken away this time, I really was finished.

I watched my three brothers start to turn and leave.

Summoning the last of my strength, I tore a red string off my neck.

Strung on the red string was a gold locket.

On my eighteenth birthday, I'd spiked a high fever and collapsed. The doctors issued a critical condition notice, and my three brothers were nearly in tears.

My eldest brother found a craftsman overnight and had this locket made from antique jade and gold.

My second brother traveled through three provinces to find the most sacred temple to bless it.

My third brother, his eyes red, fastened it around my neck.

And the strange thing was, once I had the locket on, my fever actually broke.

From that day on, it never left me.

To see the locket was to see me.

Later, every time I got into trouble, I would deliberately hold up the locket to call for help—it became our own little unspoken understanding between us siblings.

They always said, "Lisa, as long as this locket is still on you, even if you run to the ends of the earth, your brothers will bring you home."

I never imagined he'd be proven right.

I held up the gold locket with everything I had, betting they'd understand.

But the instant I raised it, Butch charged over in a fury and stomped down on my wrist. "You just won't quit, will you? Get this one out of here now!"

As he said it, he ripped the locket off and hurled it to the ground. "Damn bad luck! Now there's blood in the hall—I'll have to bring in a master to clear it!"

Then he turned back to my three brothers with a forced smile. "Young masters, please don't take offense, it was an accident—"

But suddenly my eldest brother's pupils shrank.

He stared at the locket on the ground, his face changing in an instant.

He bent down and picked it up, his fingers trembling. "My sister's gold locket... how is it in your hands!"