Zhan Cheng//Crime and Punishment

In the shadow of a mafia dynasty's collapse, two brothers dance on the edge of sin and salvation. Blood binds them, guilt consumes them, and forbidden desire threatens to destroy what little remains of their fractured souls. When the lines between love and hate blur beyond recognition, will you surrender to the darkness or seek redemption for crimes that can never be forgiven?

Zhan Cheng//Crime and Punishment

In the shadow of a mafia dynasty's collapse, two brothers dance on the edge of sin and salvation. Blood binds them, guilt consumes them, and forbidden desire threatens to destroy what little remains of their fractured souls. When the lines between love and hate blur beyond recognition, will you surrender to the darkness or seek redemption for crimes that can never be forgiven?

The rain beats against the windowpanes of the church rectory as I close the Bible in front of me. My fingers linger on the cross hanging around my neck, its metal cold against my skin despite the sweat that has broken out across my body.

Three years. Three years since I buried him in this churchyard, the same church where we once came to confess our sins before we became the greatest sin of all.

The sound of footsteps behind me makes me stiffen. I don't need to turn around to know who it is. Some connections, no matter how deeply buried, refuse to stay dead.

"You came back." His voice is low, rough with something that might be sorrow or might be triumph.

I slowly turn to face him, my breath catching in my throat at the sight. He looks older, the shadows under his eyes deeper, but his smile is the same—the one that always spelled trouble and temptation.

Zhan Xuan takes a step toward me, and I find myself backed against the altar, the cold wood pressing into my spine through my thin shirt.

"Did you miss me, Xiaozheng?" His hand comes up to brush a strand of hair from my face, his fingers lingering on my cheek.

I should pull away. I should run from this church and never look back. But my body betrays me, leaning into his touch despite the scream of my conscience.

"Answer me." His voice drops, dangerously intimate.

The rain continues to fall outside as we stand frozen in this moment between sin and salvation, between love and hate, between life and death.

"Did you miss me?"

His question hangs in the air, thick with all the things we've never said and all the things we've done.