The night after she found the rare flower resting silently on her desk, Jiang Yue's heart had carried an unfamiliar warmth. She had stared at its delicate white petals under the pale moonlight, her fingertips trembling as she traced the stem. She didn't need words, she knew who had left it for her.
Li Zhenkai's silence spoke louder than any confession.
For hours, she sat by the window, poem unfinished in her lap, holding that flower as if it were a fragile promise. In a world where disaster shadowed her every step, his gesture felt like defiance,a quiet vow that he wasn't afraid to stand beside her, no matter the chaos.
But warmth never lingered long in her life. Shadows always crept back in.
It started faintly: the scrape of metal against metal. Soft and Deliberate at first she almost thought it was Tessa trying to open it but the delay and the deliberate slow opening
At first, Jiang Yue thought it might be the wind teasing her lock. But her instincts screamed otherwise. She stiffened, listening, her pen stilled above the page.
The sound came again. A precise clickand the pause, as if being careful not to wake her up
Her breath hitched.
She rose slowly from her chair, bare feet brushing against the wooden floor. Her hand inched toward the light switch.
The door burst open.
A man in black surged inside. His face was obscured by a mask, but his eyes were sharp, predatory and cruel and they locked onto her like a hunter spotting prey.
Jiang Yue stumbled back, notebook slipping from her hands. "Who—who are you?!"
He didn't answer. His movements were swift, practiced. He closed the distance between them like a shadow swallowing light.
Her pulse spiked. Desperate, she snatched the nearest object, her lamp and swung with all her strength. The glass shattered against his shoulder. For a second, she thought she had a chance.
But he barely flinched.
He caught her wrist in an iron grip, twisting until she cried out. "You should've stayed quiet, Miss Jiang Yue," he hissed. His voice was low, cold, and too calm.
Her stomach dropped. This wasn't an obsessed fan. This was something darker.
She struggled, thrashing, clawing at his mask. "Let me go!"
But he was prepared. His free hand pressed a cloth against her mouth. A sickly sweet, acrid scent filled her nostrils, burning down her throat. Panic exploded in her chest.
She fought to hold her breath, fought not to inhale. But her strength faltered, her limbs growing heavy. Her body betrayed her.
Her last coherent thought, as the world tilted and darkness closed in, was of a single white camellia resting on her desk.
And of him.
She woke briefly to the jostle of movement, her body was tossed into the back of a van. Her wrists bound.
The masked man's voice cut through the haze: "Yes. I have her. What do you want me to do next?"
After a pause, his tone darkened. "Understood."
Jiang Yue's stomach twisted. Whoever hired him wanted her alive… but not unharmed.
Her vision blurred, but she caught the glint of a blade in his hand.
Orders. Torture first. Then death.
Terror swallowed her whole as the drug pulled her back under.
When Jiang Yue failed to respond the next morning, Li Zhenkai's brows furrowed. She always replied—even if it was just a single word.
His gut clenched. Something was wrong.
He dialed his subordinate. His tone was a whip crack. "Check the surveillance. Every camera around her building. Now."
Within minutes, the footage appeared.
Zhenkai's eyes narrowed as he watched a masked man drag Jiang Yue into a black van under the cover of night.
The air in the room seemed to plummet. His jaw clenched, knuckles whitening as he curled his hand into a fist. The veins on the back of his hand stood out like cords.
"Find him," he ordered, voice low and lethal. "I don't care how deep you have to dig. If even a strand of her hair is harmed…" His gaze turned glacial. "…I'll burn them to the ground."
Qin Yuze leaned over the footage, his usually composed face grim. "This wasn't random. Professional extraction. Someone hired him."
Zhenkai's head snapped toward him, fury flashing in his eyes.
Yuze didn't back down. His voice was calm, but his hands were clenched tightly at his sides. "I need to tell you something. I've been investigating her."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Zhenkai's voice was cold enough to freeze blood. "You. Did what?"
Yuze met his glare without flinching. "I investigated Jiang Yue."
Zhenkai's expression darkened, storm brewing in his eyes.
Yuze pressed on, voice steady. "At first, it was for you. She appeared suddenly, and you—someone who never lets people close—were letting her in. I thought maybe she'd hurt you. So I dug into her past. Watched her steps."
His throat bobbed. "But what I found… she's not a threat. She's the opposite. She's your anchor. She's the only thing keeping you from drowning."
Zhenkai's fists tightened.
Yuze continued, quieter now, but with more conviction. "And then I realized… I didn't just want to protect you from her. I wanted to protect her. Not as your shield, not because you care, but because she deserves it. She carries pain she hides, dreams that light up others, words that heal even as they break. She's worth protecting for her own sake."
He inhaled deeply, gaze unwavering. "So listen to me. I don't love her romantically. That's not my role. But from this day forward, she's my sister. My family. And I'll protect her as fiercely as you do."
For the first time, Zhenkai's façade cracked. A flicker of relief passed through his eyes, quickly masked.
He turned away, jaw tight. "…Do what you want. But if you fail her " His gaze sharpened, lethal. " I'll hold you responsible."
Yuze gave a faint, grim smile. "Fair enough."
Inside a Warehouse in the middle of God knows where
Jiang Yue woke groggy, wrists tied to a rusted chair, the faint stench of oil and damp metal in the air. The warehouse was dimly lit, shadows curling like predators around her.
The masked man leaned against a crate, spinning his knife idly.
"Awake, finally." He sneered. "Good. Makes it more fun when they beg."
Her blood froze.
She tugged desperately at the ropes, but her limbs were weak, sluggish from the injection. Her system flickered to life.
> [System Alert: Host incapacitated. Muscle relaxant detected. Escape probability: <8%]
"Not now," she hissed in her mind.
But the system continued, voice grim.
> [Warning: Captor intends torture before termination. Survival window limited.]
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
The man stepped closer, blade gleaming under the flickering light. "They said I could take my time. Lucky you."
Just as he reached for her, the warehouse door exploded open.
"Yue!"
Qin Yuze's voice roared through the space, followed by the crash of boots on concrete.
The kidnapper snarled, jerking Jiang Yue's chair. But before his blade could descend, a gunshot rang out, metal clattering as the weapon was kicked away.
Li Zhenkai stood in the doorway, a storm incarnate. His gaze locked onto Jiang Yue's pale, tear-streaked face. Something inside him snapped.
He was across the room in seconds, his fist colliding with the attacker's jaw. The man staggered, spit and blood spraying from his mouth but Zhenkai didn't relent. His strikes were merciless, precise, each one fueled by rage.
"Who sent you?" he growled, slamming the man against the wall.
The attacker only laughed, blood dripping down his chin. "Too late. She was never meant to live long in your world anyway…"
The words barely left his mouth before Zhenkai's punch silenced him into unconsciousness.
"Yue! Stay with me!" Yuze was already by her side, frantically untying her ropes. Her body sagged into his arms, muscles refusing to obey. Tears slipped silently down her cheeks.
Zhenkai dropped to his knees beside her, his icy mask cracking as he gripped her hand tightly. "It's okay. He won't touch you again. I'm here. I'm here."
Sirens wailed in the distance. Reinforcements were coming. But for Zhenkai, the world had narrowed to the fragile woman trembling in his grasp.
Hours later, Jiang Yue lay in a hospital bed, IV drip feeding antidotes through her veins. The doctors confirmed: the muscle relaxant had weakened her body but spared her life. She would recover.
She could hear, though her voice was faint, her limbs sluggish.
Qin Yuze sat at her bedside, eyes rimmed red, shoulders heavy. Finally, he spoke. "I investigated you," he admitted.
Zhenkai stiffened at the window, but said nothing.
Yuze's tone was quiet, remorseful but firm. "At first, it was for him. But then I saw you. And I realized… you're someone who deserves protection, Jiang Yue. Not because of him. Because of you."
His gaze softened. "From now on, I'll be your brother. Your shield. No one will touch you again while I live."
Her throat ached too much to speak, but her eyes glistened, whispering what her lips couldn't: Thank you.
Zhenkai turned away quickly, hiding the flicker of relief that softened his features.
After they left When the room finally quieted, the system's voice returned, sharp as knives.
> [System Alert: Survival Event Triggered.]
Mission Outcome: Success.
Penalty Avoided: Death.
Her pulse stuttered.
The system rarely sounded this grim.
> [Warning: Threat escalation confirmed. The "stalker" is not random. Host is now a direct target of a contracted scheme.]
Her breath hitched.
> [Updated Probability: Host survival rate 42%.]
42%. Less than half.
Her heart twisted. For the first time, she wasn't sure she could survive this world, guess she'll die try or die anyways
The door creaked softly.
Li Zhenkai stepped in, thinking she was asleep. He lingered by her bed, his gaze softer than she had ever seen, he used his hands to traced her feature gently not to wake her up
Finally, he placed a small bundle beside her pillow.
A rare white camellia.
Her lashes fluttered, tears escaping silently. She had written him a poem under moonlight, pouring her heart into the words she couldn't say aloud.
This was his answer.
Silent. Gentle. Unmistakable.
Her body was weak, but her heart beat louder than ever.