It was past midnight.
The world had slowed into silence, streets empty, lights dimmed, most people cocooned safely in their beds, unaware that just miles away, life and death had been separated by nothing more than a trembling wheelchair and one man's grip.
Zhu Zihan dragged the wheelchair fully backward, away from the cliff. Only when all four wheels hit solid ground did Guo Min finally breathe.
It wasn't a sob nor was it a cry.
It was a long, broken exhale like her lungs had been locked for minutes and were only now remembering how to function.
The night swallowed the sound. For a moment…
everything went quiet. Not comforting but suffocating.
The wind still howled, but neither of them moved. Neither of them spoke. The adrenaline ebbed slowly, leaving behind something far worse, raw fear, shock, and reality.
Zihan straightened slowly, his hands still trembling faintly. "…This is my fault, Guo Min." His voice was low. Controlled. But beneath it was something fractured. "…I'm sorry."
He turned to face her fully, bracing himself... for anger, for blame, for tears. She had every right to hate him. If she wasn't his wife, she would never have been targeted. Never dragged into his world. Never pushed to the edge of death.
But Guo Min didn't shout. She didn't cry. She looked at him and smiled.
A polite smile.
Too polite.
Too careful.
The kind of smile people wear when they're trying very hard not to fall apart. Zihan's chest tightened. She placed her hands on the armrests and tried to stand and her legs wobbled violently.
Zihan froze.
For the first time since arriving, his feet wouldn't move.
She swayed, unsteady, the smile still pasted on her face as she took one step toward him... then another... like she was convincing herself she was fine.
But he saw it. The slight tremor in her fingers. The unfocused look in her eyes. The way her body flinched when the wind brushed past her.
She wasn't okay.
She wasn't just scared.
She was traumatized.
Zihan finally moved, catching her just before her knees buckled. She stiffened at his touch, not pulling away, not leaning in, just rigid, like her body hadn't caught up with reality yet. Her smile didn't fade. That was the worst part which made Zihan swallowed hard.
"I'm here," he said quietly, not touching her any more than necessary. "You're safe now."
Guo Min nodded once, a polite smile still on her face. And in that moment, Zihan realized something terrifying... Saving her life hadn't ended the nightmare. It had only stopped her from dying.
Zhu Villa
The car screeched into the garage, stopping with brutal force. Zihan jumped out before the engine had fully died, lifting Guo Min into his arms. Her body was limp, unconscious, her face pale against the dark fabric of his suit.
"Doctor. Now," he barked coldly as he strode into the villa. The servants scattered instantly, fear tightening their movements.
Moments later, the doctor arrived and quickly checked her vitals. After a tense examination, he prescribed several medications and instructed that she be kept under close observation. "She needs proper rest," the doctor said cautiously. "Both physically and mentally." And Zihan nodded.
When the doctor left, silence reclaimed the room. Zihan stood beside the bed where Guo Min lay sleeping, her lashes resting softly. For a long moment, he didn't move. Then he leaned down and gently pressed a brief kiss to her temple.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, so quietly no one else could hear, then he straightened and walked out.
(Living Room) Zhu Villa
The living room felt unnaturally cold as Zhu Zihan stepped inside. He sat down on the couch slowly, deliberately. In front of him stood the shadow guards assigned to Guo Min.
Their posture was perfect, backs straight, heads slightly bowed, but beneath that discipline, their hearts pounded violently. Sweat clung to their palms. Fear crawled up their spines. They had failed.
Half an hour passed.
Zihan didn't say a word.
He simply tapped on his phone screen...
once,
twice,
again and again...
The sound echoed in the room, each tap heavier than the last. Finally, he stopped. He lifted his gaze. His eyes were calm.... Too calm.
"Explain," he said quietly.
One of the guards swallowed hard and stepped forward. Before he could speak, Zihan continued, his voice soft but lethal. "I don't need excuses. I don't need apologies." A pause. "I need names."
The guards stiffened.
Zihan leaned back against the couch, fingers interlaced, eyes darkened like an approaching storm.
"Because the people who touched my wife…"
His lips curved, not into a smile, but something far worse. "…won't survive to live through this week."
And in that moment, every man in the room understood what was coming next... Execution.
The head guard finally gathered the courage to speak. "…Young Master, we lost track of the people who kidnapped Young Madam."
He paused, about to continue...
Zihan's anger moved faster than words.
His hand shot out, striking the guard's neck with brutal precision. Not enough to kill but enough to remind him how close death was.
The guard staggered back, choking, fear flooding his eyes. Zihan didn't say a single word. That was worse.
The guard knew better than to speak nonsense now. One wrong sentence, one useless excuse, and he wouldn't be leaving this room on his feet.
Hands trembling, he hurriedly pulled out a wallet and held it out with both hands. "We… we found this on the ground after rescuing Young Madam."
Zihan released him and took the wallet without a glance. "You're all dismissed," he said coldly. The guards didn't hesitate. They bowed and left immediately, the room emptying in seconds.
Zihan picked up his phone and dialed a number.
"Come over," he said simply before ending the call.
It didn't take long. Yufan rushed into the villa, his composed demeanor shattered. "Where is she?" he demanded the moment he stepped inside.
"She's asleep," Zihan replied calmly, removing his glasses and turning off his phone screen.
"Fuck, Zihan," Yufan snapped. "How did they even get to her? What were the shadow guards doing?"
Zihan's gaze lifted slowly. "You need to discipline your people," he said flatly. "I don't pay that much money to watch incompetence. It took every bit of restraint not to snap their necks."
For a brief moment, Yufan went still.
This was the first time he had seen Zhu Zihan like this... not coldly calculating, not quietly dominant... But genuinely furious.
After a beat, Zihan continued, his voice steady once more. "What's done is done. Now we find who did this." He showed Yufan the wallet and IDs. "Track him".
"Okay". Yufan replied as he wrote the person info in a piece of paper.
Zihan paused, eyes darkening. "Yufan, I want this case solved by the end of this week. No one in my family will be hurt again."
Yufan nodded without hesitation. "Understood." He turned to leave, then stopped. "…Call me when she wakes up."
Zihan didn't respond and Yufan left.
And alone in the silent villa, Zhu Zihan opened the wallet in his hand, already knowing that whoever owned it had just signed their own death sentence.
Guo Min woke up screaming. Her body jolted upright violently, breath tearing out of her chest as if she had been dragged back from drowning. Cold sweat soaked through her nightdress, her hair clinging to her temples. "No...! Stop...!"
Her hands flew up instinctively, fingers clawing at the air, searching for restraints that were no longer there. The room was dark. Silent.
Her chest heaved as she gasped for air, eyes darting wildly around the bedroom. The familiar outlines of the Zhu Villa slowly came into view the curtains, the bedside lamp, the faint glow of the city lights outside the window.
But her heart didn't believe it. Her mind was still at the cliff. Still hearing the wind. Still feeling the wheelchair tip forward. Her legs trembled uncontrollably beneath the blanket.
She pressed a hand to her throat, swallowing hard, only to flinch at the sensation of her own touch against her skin. The memory of teeth sinking into her neck flashed through her mind, vivid and violent.
Her breath broke. "…I'm safe," she whispered to herself, though her voice shook. "I'm home… I'm safe…" But her body didn't listen.
Her hands were still shaking. Her pulse raced painfully fast, thudding in her ears. She swung her legs off the bed, feet touching the cold floor, grounding herself through the chill.
That was when she noticed it. The bedside lamp was on... But she hadn't turned it on. Her eyes slowly lifted and Zhu Zihan was sitting in the chair beside her bed.
Not sleeping but watching.