The Lu mansion was quieter than usual, but it wasn't the comfortable kind of quiet. It was the silence that followed a storm, the uneasy stillness before the next wave of destruction.
Emily sat by the window in her suite, the hem of her silk nightgown spilling across the floor like spilled moonlight. The city beyond glimmered in the distance, but her reflection in the glass was pale, haunted. She touched the edge of her mask—still lying on the windowsill, discarded after the ball—and shivered.
That night had changed everything.
The press had wasted no time. By morning, the internet was aflame with headlines:
"Mrs. Lu Dazzles at Cheng Society Ball""Leonard Lu and Wife's Frosty Dance Sparks Rumors""Who Was the Raven-Masked Man Whispering to Emily Lu?"
Emily scrolled through them, her throat tightening. Every photograph, every grainy video clip, captured moments that made her appear either glamorous or guilty—sometimes both. She was no longer just the mysterious wife of Leonard Lu; she was the subject of gossip, speculation, and judgment.
And Leonard had said nothing.
He had vanished into meetings the moment they returned, leaving Emily to fend off calls from society women, journalists, and even her own estranged relatives, who suddenly remembered her existence. She wanted to be angry, but exhaustion dulled her fire.
It wasn't until the third evening that Leonard finally entered her suite.
Emily didn't rise. "You've been busy."
His tie was loosened, his expression shadowed. "Damage control."
"Is that what you call ignoring me?" Her voice was sharper than intended, but she didn't pull it back.
Leonard's eyes flickered, but he said nothing. He poured himself a glass of water, his movements too precise, too controlled.
"You should have told me," Emily said after a beat.
"Told you what?"
"That Adrian isn't just some intruder. That he knows something about you." Her nails dug into her palms. "You left me standing there like bait, Leonard. And you still won't give me the truth."
For a long moment, Leonard only stared at her. The silence stretched, weighted with unspoken words. Finally, he exhaled, setting the glass down with deliberate care.
"Emily," he said, his voice low. "What I've built—what my family has built—rests on fragile ground. Adrian wants to shatter it. And you…you weren't supposed to be dragged into this."
Her chest tightened. "But I am."
"Yes." His jaw clenched. "And that's the crack I never accounted for."
The next morning, Emily discovered just how deep those cracks ran.
She descended to the breakfast hall, only to find it occupied not by Leonard, but by his aunt—Madam Lu, a woman with iron-gray hair and eyes sharp enough to cut glass. She was surrounded by two society matrons Emily vaguely recognized, their jeweled fingers wrapped around delicate teacups.
"Ah," Madam Lu said coolly as Emily entered. "The belle of last night's scandal."
Heat rose in Emily's cheeks. "Good morning."
The matrons exchanged smirks. One leaned closer to Madam Lu. "She is lovely, I'll grant you that. But so reckless, to waltz with strangers under so many watchful eyes."
Emily froze. "That wasn't—"
"Silence," Madam Lu snapped, her voice like a whip. "You have embarrassed this family enough."
Emily's pulse thudded painfully. She wanted to retort, to defend herself, but the weight of their disdain pinned her in place. She excused herself instead, retreating to the gardens, her breath shallow.
She was still there when Leonard found her hours later.
"You shouldn't let them see they've rattled you," he murmured, his presence both comforting and infuriating.
"They don't need to see it," Emily shot back. "They already decided I'm unworthy."
Leonard's gaze softened for a fleeting second. "They'll get over it."
"Will you?" she asked before she could stop herself.
The question hung in the air, raw and fragile. Leonard didn't answer. Instead, he looked away, his armor firmly back in place.
That evening, another blow landed.
Emily was scrolling through news feeds when she stumbled upon a leaked document—one that detailed a questionable merger involving Lu Enterprises and an offshore account. The article didn't name names, but the implications were clear: the Lu empire was under threat.
Her phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number appeared on the screen:
"The cracks are showing. Do you see them now? —A"
Emily's blood ran cold. Adrian.
Before she could react, her door burst open. Leonard strode in, his expression thunderous. "Who have you been speaking to?"
"What?"
He grabbed the phone from her hand, scanning the screen. His eyes darkened. "Damn him."
Emily's voice trembled. "He's playing with us."
"With me," Leonard corrected. His fist tightened around the phone. "And he's using you as leverage."
Emily's chest constricted. "Then stop keeping me in the dark. If I'm leverage, I deserve to know the stakes."
For the first time, Leonard's mask slipped. Anger and fear warred in his eyes, raw and unguarded. "If I tell you everything, Emily, you'll never look at me the same again."
Emily's breath caught. "Maybe. But at least I'll be looking at the truth."
The days that followed blurred into a tangle of hushed arguments, sleepless nights, and unspoken tension. Emily began to notice things she hadn't before—the way Leonard's hand trembled when signing documents, the fatigue etched in the corners of his eyes, the way his voice sometimes faltered mid-command.
The cracks in his armor were widening.
One evening, as rain lashed against the windows, Emily found Leonard alone in his study. The desk was littered with papers, the air thick with cigar smoke.
"You'll ruin yourself if you keep carrying this alone," she said softly from the doorway.
Leonard didn't look up. "It's my burden."
"It's ours now," Emily countered, stepping closer. "Whether you wanted it or not."
His gaze lifted, meeting hers. For once, there was no mask—only exhaustion, vulnerability, and something she couldn't quite name.
"Emily," he said quietly, almost pleading. "Don't ask me for the truth tonight. I'm not ready."
She swallowed hard, her chest aching. "Then let me stay."
He didn't protest when she sat beside him. They remained like that, silent but not alone, as the storm raged outside.
For the first time, Emily saw Leonard not as the unshakable titan of the Lu empire, but as a man fighting battles that threatened to consume him.
And for the first time, she wasn't sure whether she feared Adrian more—or the secrets that Leonard himself was hiding.
Because cracks didn't just weaken walls. They revealed what lay beneath.
And Emily was terrified of what she might find.