At around six in the evening, after a barrage of calls from his grandfather, Julian Huo's car finally came to a stop outside the Huo residence.
The moment he stepped inside, he saw the old patriarch seated in the main hall, animatedly whispering something to Lanyin Huo, the youngest daughter of the family.
Julian handed his coat to the butler and said in a low voice, "Grandfather, you asked to see me?"
The old man's spirited chatter halted instantly. His eyes turned toward his grandson, and the exuberant gleam in them was swiftly replaced with a frail, almost pitiful look. He gestured to the sofa beside him.
"You're here, Julian? Good. I've something important to discuss with you."
Julian glanced at him, his gaze brushing past his younger aunt as she turned toward him, her expression calm and unreadable.
"Please go ahead, Grandfather."
The old man coughed lightly, the sound colored with the carefully crafted fragility of old age.
"It's like this—last night, I had a dream. I dreamt that our Huo family's great-grandchild had been lost to the world… Julian, tell me the truth. Is it real?"
"There's nothing of the sort," Julian replied flatly. "You're overthinking."
But the patriarch would not be swayed. His withered hands pressed against his cane, his sharp eyes refusing to yield. "How is it overthinking? Even if there's no great-grandchild, what about a granddaughter-in-law? Am I imagining that too?"
Julian frowned slightly. "Dreams are often the opposite of reality, Grandfather. Please don't joke about this."
The old man's voice rose. "Who's joking? Julian, you know my health better than anyone. How many times have I asked you about marriage? Every time, you've brushed it off. I'm not asking for much. Just bring home a girl—let me meet your future wife before I leave this world."
"Or do you really intend to let me die with regrets?"
Julian pressed his temple with a trace of fatigue, trying to reason with the old man. "I've already told you, I have no intention of settling down or starting a family."
"Julian," the old man cut in with a rare edge in his voice, "you've built Huo Group into a powerhouse. I couldn't be prouder. But I don't have many days left. My only wish before I go is to see you married, maybe even with a child. That's all I ask."
His sigh echoed through the room—soft, resigned, almost heartbreaking. "Julian… my time is limited. You know how your parents passed, full of regret. I don't want to face them in the afterlife with nothing to show for it."
Julian remained silent for a while.
The words of the chief physician from a month ago came to mind—warning him not to let the old man suffer emotional strain, lest his fragile health deteriorate further.
Finally, with brows furrowed, Julian exhaled slowly. "I'll think about it."
"But I just finalized a project with Tiansheng Group in Huaihai. The company's schedule is packed. Once things settle down, I'll deal with it."
The old man was visibly satisfied, waving away the rest of his rehearsed lamentations and eagerly instructing the butler to serve tea and dinner.
Julian observed him for a few more seconds, confirming there was nothing urgent, and stood to leave.
"I'll skip the tea. There's still a meeting tonight at the office. I'll take my leave now."
The old man nodded, letting him go.
As soon as Julian exited the hall, the weariness on the patriarch's face vanished. He turned to Lanyin with youthful energy and a glint in his eye.
"Well? Wasn't that performance convincing?"
Before she could reply, a notification dinged on her phone—a message from Julian:
[Aunt, were you in Huaihai a few days ago?]
Lanyin sighed and rubbed her temples. Her perfectly made-up face showed a rare trace of helplessness.
She didn't reply.
If she denied it, Julian likely already knew the truth—he wouldn't have asked otherwise. But if she admitted it, the next question would almost certainly be: What were you doing in Huaihai? And then it would become all too clear that she had tipped off the old man after discovering the girl Julian had unknowingly slept with.
Avoiding the issue, she flipped her phone over and looked at her father, who was still beaming.
"Dad… don't you think you're pushing this too fast?"
All she had said was that Julian might have feelings for a girl in Huaihai—and the next thing she knew, her father had gone full speed ahead, summoning Julian under the guise of a health scare to pressure him into marriage.
The old man was indignant. "If I don't push, with that boy's personality, he'll never bring me a granddaughter-in-law!"
Lanyin knew that despite the tone, the words rang painfully true.
Julian Huo might seem untouchable now, ruling Huo Group with authority and poise, but beneath that sheen of power was a childhood riddled with torment and betrayal.
Decades ago, Huo Group was far from stable. When Julian was just a boy, he had been kidnapped by enemies of the family, drugged and tortured, locked in basements like a prisoner of war.
Huo Group's thorough investigation revealed that the betrayal had come from within—ambitious relatives from a side branch of the family had colluded with rivals to usurp power.
In the chaotic rescue that followed, Julian's parents were killed in an accident while searching for him.
The old man had personally dealt with those traitors. But the loss of his beloved son and daughter-in-law had broken him. When Julian was finally rescued, he was a shattered child—his body bearing the marks of torture, his bloodstream tainted with untraceable toxins.
To this day, remnants of those poisons remained in his system. Though not fatal, they triggered agonizing episodes that left him in near-crippling pain.
Watching Julian grow up through that torment, the old man carried a guilt so heavy it nearly crushed him. No matter how strong Julian became—how cold, ruthless, and feared—he never once entertained thoughts of marriage or a normal life.
All the matchmaking attempts over the years had failed.
Lanyin was the only one who ever got through to him, and so, three years ago, the old man had passed the baton to her.
Now, with his health steadily declining, all he wanted was to see Julian settled down—someone who could be by his grandson's side through thick and thin, someone who could offer warmth to that frozen heart.
And then, by sheer coincidence, at a hotel in Huaihai just before the auction, she had seen a young woman, hair tousled and clothes wrinkled, slipping quietly out of Julian's room in the middle of the night.
Julian had never allowed any woman near him—let alone into his private space.
It had stunned her.
But it had also ignited hope in the old man's heart.
He feared that if they didn't act fast, the trail would go cold and the chance would be lost. So, here they were.
After a moment of silence, the old man asked again, "That girl—do we know who she is yet?"
Lanyin sighed. "I was going to look into it. But the hotel's surveillance footage is gone—as if someone deliberately erased it."