The dining room was a sanctuary of gold leaf and flickering candlelight, but for Shu Yao, it felt like a cage of polished bone. He sat rigid beside Bai Qi, his pulse a frantic staccato against his ribs.
Bai Qi's presence burned like a warning. He didn't look at Shu Yao, but the weight of his glare pressed down anyway—cold, unforgiving. A silent reminder: If anything goes wrong, I will never forgive you.
Shu Yao kept his eyes lowered.
Not out of obedience—but out of fear.
Shu Yao's gaze didn't wander to the fine china or the silver cutlery. Instead, his eyes were locked on the dishes—expensive, glistening arrangements that looked less like food and more like a promise of poison. He watched Ming Su with a vigilance born of desperation.
When Bai Qi took his first bite, Ming Su's lips curled into a subtle, jagged smirk. She caught Shu Yao's eye, a flicker of dark triumph dancing in her gaze.
Shu Yao flinched. He felt the cold oily slide of dread in his gut. She has intentions, his mind screamed. She's going to strike.
She smiled.
A slow, knowing curve of lips.
Shu Yao's fingers twitched.
Bai Qi lifted his fork.
Shu Yao's heart lurched.
One bite.
He counted it.
Another.
But Shu Yao didn't touch his plate.
He sat straight, hands folded in his lap, eyes fixed on Bai Qi's fork as it lifted food, paused, then moved again. Each bite felt like a countdown he alone could hear.
He swallowed hard.
Bai Qi noticed.
Of course he did.
His fork slowed, then stopped. He leaned back slightly, gaze sharp as a blade. "Are you planning to starve," he murmured, voice low, "or do you really want to embarrass me this badly?"
Shu Yao's throat tightened. "I—"
Before he could finish, Bai Qi leaned closer, shoulder angling toward him, shadow falling over Shu Yao's plate. From the across the table, Ming Su was laughing softly with Naina, discussing additional dishes as if this dinner were nothing more than a pleasant social affair.
"She calls you so sweetly, she treats you with grace, and yet you sit there like a statue. You are being disrespectful to her."
Shu Yao finally lifted his eyes.
"They… she wants to harm you," he whispered, words tumbling out thin and urgent. "I just—"
The air in Bai Qi's lungs turned to ice. He fixed Shu Yao with a lethal glare, effectively severing the sentence before it could breathe.
If you dare to disrespect her again, shu Yao! Then I swear.
Shu Yao froze. The rest of the sentence died in his mouth. He lowered his gaze at once, shoulders stiff, silent.
"You can eat with my uncle," Bai Qi hissed, his voice thick with a jealous, simmering resentment. "But you can't eat with me? You are a constant disappointment."
Shu Yao's head dropped, his thin shoulders trembling. "I... I didn't..."
"Always disappointing," Bai Qi finished flatly.
The words landed with dull finality.
Shu Yao said nothing after that. He simply stared at the porcelain edge of his plate as if it might swallow him whole.
Across the table, Ming Su had been watching everything.
Her laughter suddenly chimed through the room, light and predatory. She had been eyeing the tension between the two men with the relish of a hawk watching a fraying rope.
"Shu Yao, dear," she sang, her voice dripping with artificial warmth.
"You shouldn't work too much. You look so tired."
Bai Qi flinched, the mention of Shu Yao's exhaustion pulling at a nerve he didn't want to acknowledge.
He turned his head away, his jaw locking into a rigid line. Shu Yao, sensing the rhythm of the game, forced himself to remain silent.
He knew this was a performance; he just didn't know the ending.
"Ah Qi,"Ming Su murmured.
The use of his name made shu Yao knuckles whiten on his lap.
She stood up, her ruffled dress soughing against the marble as she glided around the table.
She stopped behind Bai Qi, her manicured hand coming to rest on his shoulder.
Bai Qi stiffened, a rare, boyish flush creeping up his neck. He was captivated, blinded by the ghost of the girl he thought he knew.
she said softly, using the name like it belonged to her tongue.
Bai Qi's fingers curled against the tablecloth.
"Ming Su continued, You need to be careful with Shu Yao," stepping closer. She glanced at Shu Yao, eyes filled with concern. "Look at him. He's so fragile."
Bai Qi looked away.
Ming Su smiled, then smudge her hand lightly on Bai Qi's shoulder.
Bai Qi stiffened—surprised—and, infuriatingly, a faint flush crept up his neck.
"You wouldn't be harsh on him, would you?" she asked sweetly.
Shu Yao's eyes widened.
The sight of her hand resting there—so casual, so intimate—made something twist painfully in his chest. He turned his face away at once, as if that alone could dull the sting.
Ming Su noticed. Her lips curved.
She leaned closer to Bai Qi, lowering her voice near his ear. "I know you're kind,
Ah Qi," she murmured. "So why are you pretending to be so cold?"
Bai Qi's knuckles tightened. "I—"
She smiled, cutting him off gently.
"It's all right. Sometimes people don't need to be cruel for no reason."
Shu Yao flinched.
The words struck old wounds with surgical precision. He felt them echo inside him, sharp and familiar.
Ming Su straightened and returned to her seat, composed once more. "All right," she said lightly. "Let's toast."
She lifted her glass slightly and gestured to Naina.
Naina stepped forward with the wine bottle, nodding obediently.
She filled Shu Yao's glass first. "I— I don't—" Shu Yao started, panic flashing across his face.
But Naina didn't stop.
The wine flowed anyway.
Shu Yao's fingers trembled beside the glass.
Naina turned to Bai Qi—then paused.
The bottle tilted uselessly. Empty.
"Oh dear," Ming Su gasped softly. "Naina, didn't you check first?"
Naina bowed immediately. "My apologies, Miss Su."
Ming Su waved it off with a smile. "It's fine. Go fetch another."
Bai Qi watched the exchange, a faint ease settling into his expression. The kindness—it reminded him too much of Qing Yue. The same gentle reprimand. The same softness.
Naina nodded and turned.
Shu Yao's heart slammed violently against his ribs.
What if something was added this time?
Before the thought could spiral further, he pushed his chair back and stood.
Bai Qi looked up sharply. "What are you doing?"
Shu Yao forced the smile he had perfected over years of survival—the polite, harmless one.
Bai Qi looked from the pale, trembling secretary to the smiling, radiant Ming Su. He felt a strange, misplaced pride in Shu Yao's "loyalty" in front of her.
"Allow me, sir."
Confusion flickered across Bai Qi's face.
"I know what wine you like best," Shu Yao added quietly, head lowered.
Bai Qi lifted an eyebrow. Since when did Shu Yao care about wine?
Before he could question it, Ming Su spoke.
"Oh my," she said, amused. "Shu Yao, you don't need to. You're my guest—it would be too rude."
Shu Yao shook his head, eyes flicking briefly to Bai Qi. Bai Qi frowned, then turned to Ming Su. "It's fine."
Ming Su smiled brightly. "If you insist."
She turned to Naina. "Take care of him. Don't let him get lost."
Naina nodded. "This way, sir."
Shu Yao followed her without another word.
Bai Qi watched them leave, something unsettled curling in his chest.
He turned back just as Ming Su met his gaze.
"Please," she said softly, "eat."
Bai Qi flushed again and looked away. "Yes."
Ming Su lifted her glass, smile flawless.
And beneath it—
A perfect, patient smirk.
Everything was unfolding exactly as she had planned.
Ming Su watched him, her eyes tracking the slight twitch in his jaw. She reached out, her fingers grazing his hand with a feather-light touch.
"He's very... protective of you, isn't he, Qi?" she asked, her voice a soft, velvet purr. "Almost too protective."
Bai Qi frowned, his gaze returning to her. "He is my secretary. It is his duty."
"Is it?" Ming Su tilted her head, a lock of chestnut hair falling over her eye.
"He will," Bai Qi stated. His voice wasn't a question; it was a decree, delivered with the absolute, chilling certainty of a man who had never been told no.
He finally lifted his gaze to Ming Su, his obsidian eyes hard and unreadable. "You speak of him as if he has a will of his own.
But, it is not, Ming Su—Shu Yao is mine. I bought his silence, and I own his loyalty.
Ming Su watched him, her eyes glittering with a secret, jagged mirth.
She saw the trap closing. Bai Qi's greatest weakness wasn't his cruelty—it was his pride.
He was so convinced of his ownership over Shu Yao that he would never see the serpent sliding through the grass until it was far too late.
Meanwhile, The lobby of the North Star Tower was a cathedral of glass and indifference. George stood by the weeping wall of the water feature, his reflection fractured by the cascading ripples. He checked his watch for the fiftieth time in ten minutes.
He was exhausted. The weight of his years, usually worn with such effortless charisma, now pressed down on him like a leaden mantle. He clasped his hands together, not in a business gesture, but in a silent, desperate prayer.
Bitte, Gott—bitte lass ihn nicht zerbrechen.
He means :
Please, God—just don't let him break.
George's jaw set in a grim line. He had watched Shu Yao walk into this lion's den, his body failing, his spirit trembling, yet moving with the courage of a soldier marching to his execution.
And for what? For a man who couldn't see the diamond he held in his hand until he had crushed it to dust.
A dangerous thought crystallized in George's mind. If Bai Qi harmed him—if he laid a single finger on Shu Yao or allowed that viper Ming Su to sink her fangs in—George would cross a line.
He looked at his own hand. It was a hand that signed billion-dollar contracts. But tonight, he swore to the silent lobby, if he found Shu Yao hurt, he would slap Bai Qi.
Not in front of Shu Yao. No, he would preserve the boy's dignity. But he would drag his nephew into a dark corner and deliver a blow hard enough to rattle the blindness out of his skull. He would make the "Ice Monarch" feel the pain that he so carelessly inflicted on others.
Three hundred feet above, the air grew thinner and colder.
Shu Yao walked beside Naina. They were technically of the same height—both standing at 181 centimeters—but tonight, the dynamic was grotesquely skewed.
Naina wore stiletto heels that gave her a towering, predatory elegance. Beside her, Shu Yao, in his soft light brown suit, looked diminished.
His fragility made him seem smaller, like a sapling growing in the shadow of a sleek, black monolith.
They reached the heavy, industrial door of the cold storage.
"You wait here, Sir," Naina said, her hand resting on the handle. "I'll go and grab the wine."
Shu Yao shook his head immediately, his instinct for danger flaring despite his exhaustion. "No. I'll go too."
Naina paused. She gave a curt nod. It was exactly what her mistress had predicted. Shu Yao's desperation to protect Bai Qi was the very leash they would use to strangle him.
She stepped aside, holding the door open.
Shu Yao stepped into the room. The temperature dropped instantly. It wasn't just cool; it was a biting, aggressive freeze that knifed through his thin suit and settled deep in his failing bones.
He shivered violently, his teeth chattering, his arms wrapping around his torso to hold his shattering pieces together.
"The reserve is in the back," Naina said, her voice echoing off the metal racks.
Shu Yao moved forward, his eyes scanning the labels, his mind racing with thoughts of poison and betrayal. He didn't hear the soft zip of a zipper behind him.
Naina reached into her blazer pocket. She withdrew a small, pre-loaded medical kit. Her fingers were steady, trained by fear of Ming Su rather than malice toward the boy. She held the syringe, the needle glinting under the harsh fluorescent light.
She took a deep breath. "Forgive me."
Shu Yao began to turn. "What—"
He never finished the sentence.
Naina lunged with the precision of a viper. She plunged the needle into the side of his neck, depressing the plunger in a single, fluid motion.
The sedative was military-grade. It hit Shu Yao's system like a sledgehammer.
His eyes went wide, filled with a sudden, drowning terror. He clutched his neck, his fingers brushing against the puncture wound. He staggered back, his boots scuffing against the frost-covered floor.
"What... what did you..." he slurred, the words dissolving on his tongue.
Shu Yao tried to lunge for her, to grab her coat, to stop the trap. But his legs betrayed him. His knees buckled, hitting the concrete with a bone-jarring thud. The world tilted sideways. The rows of wine bottles blurred into streaks of blood-red light.