"Your fiancée," he began carefully, "Lily Liang… she was here earlier. She saw what happened, and—"
"Don't you dare."
The voice was sharp, guttural. Jinhai froze.
Lihyun's head lifted slowly, his gaze locking onto him like a vice. In the next breath, his hands were gripping the collar of Jinhai's black shirt, yanking him close.
"Don't you dare say that wretched girl's name in front of me," he snarled. "She's dead to me. You understand? DEAD!"
The force of his anger startled Jinhai, but it didn't scare him. Not when he knew Lily was innocent.
"You're being irrational," Jinhai shot back, shoving Lihyun's hands off. "Lily had no hand in this engagement. She doesn't even know you. She's done nothing to you."
"To hell with her innocence!" Lihyun's voice broke, the rage laced with raw grief. "She's the reason Shin left me!"
Jinhai's eyes narrowed. "If you need to blame someone, blame Father for arranging this farce of a marriage. Don't destroy some girl's life just because you're hurting."
"You think I'm just hurting?" Lihyun's laugh was bitter, almost a sob. "I love her, Jinhai. I love her so much I can't breathe without her. You think I can just—just watch her walk away? Please…" His voice crumbled. "Please tell her to come back. You have connections with the entertainment industry right? She'll listen to you."
Jinhai's chest ached, but his voice stayed firm. "You're engaged now, Lihyun. Whether you like it or not, it's over between you and her."
"It's not over until I say it's over!" Lihyun roared, his hand slamming against the armrest. In a sudden burst of emotion, he kicked the tall flower vase beside the TV. It toppled, shattering against the floor, water and soil splattering across the carpet.
Jinhai flinched—not from fear, but from the shock of seeing his brother so undone.
This wasn't the cold, calculating Lihyun the world knew. This was a twenty three year old man stripped bare, drowning in love and loss, and thrashing at anything that came near.
Jinhai stepped closer, lowering his voice. "If you keep going like this, you're going to lose more than Shin. You're going to lose yourself."
Lihyun's chest heaved, eyes glassy, jaw tight. For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke.
And in that silence, Jinhai realized just how far his brother had fallen. And just how much farther he was willing to fall.
He needed to give Lihyun the time to sort out his emotions.
So, he called Michael. "Please prepare the car Michael. We're going home."
--------------------------------
LI MENG'S OFFICE – 10:00 PM
The city skyline glittered beyond the wide glass windows, each neon light stabbing through the darkness like a restless thought. Inside his office, Li Meng slumped into the black leather chair behind his desk, the faint hum of the air conditioner filling the otherwise silent room.
He had just finished the last call confirming Zichen's penthouse arrangements. The past two days had been nothing short of chaotic—arrivals delayed, last-minute renovations, a chef backing out at the eleventh hour. His phone battery was nearly dead, his head throbbed from negotiating with five different suppliers, and all he wanted was to loosen his tie, grab a beer, and forget this day existed.
He did loosen the tie. The beer would have to wait.
With a sigh, he unlocked his phone and opened KakaoTalk, idly scrolling through unread messages from acquaintances he didn't have the energy to reply to. Then—he froze.
A message from Lily.
His tired mind jolted awake.
A small smile tugged at his lips. She remembered him? Out of all the people in her busy, glittering world, she had thought of him tonight? He tapped on the thread, anticipation blooming in his chest—
—and felt that bloom instantly wither.
His eyes scanned the words once. Twice. Then again, slower this time, as if the repetition might somehow change the meaning.
Engaged.
At this age.
The disbelief hit him in waves. Lily Liang, the girl he remembered as bright-eyed, sharp-tongued, and fiercely independent, was getting married? Not just married—engaged to a man she barely knew?
The more he read, the deeper the pit in his stomach grew. Her words didn't carry the excitement of a bride-to-be. They bled urgency, almost… fear. She was reaching out, not to share happy news, but as if throwing him a lifeline in the middle of a storm.
Li Meng's jaw tightened.
Blasphemous wasn't the word—it was madness. And he didn't know if the madness belonged to her family, to the mysterious fiancé, or to something darker lurking beneath the surface.
The fatigue in his bones evaporated. Slowly, deliberately, he retightened the tie he had just loosened, as if gearing up for battle. His laptop's screen flickered to life beneath his fingers.
If she was asking for help, he would give it. No questions. No hesitation.
---
LI MENG'S OFFICE – 3:00 AM
Nothing.
Not a single scandal. Not one leaked photograph. The man was a ghost in the public eye. All he had was a dry record of Lihyun Shulong's iron grip on the family conglomerate's shares. Cold, impersonal facts—nothing to explain why the hell Lily Liang was being tied to him like a pawn in a chess game.
Li Meng leaned back in his chair, running a hand down his face. He hated ghosts.
If the surface was spotless, then he would have to dig into the dirt beneath it.
He reached for his phone. There was one number in there he had sworn never to use unless it was life or death. Tonight… it felt close enough.
The line rang twice before a groggy voice answered.
"...Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"I have a job for you," Li Meng said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"At three in the morning? Hell no. Call me when the sun's up."
"I'll pay you double."
Silence. Then a sleepy chuckle. "Double? You must be desperate. Who's the target?"
Li Meng's eyes narrowed, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous timbre.
"Find me everything on Lihyun Shulong. And I mean everything—past, present, skeletons in the closet. I want it all. Tonight."
"You're asking for a high-profile dig on one of the richest heirs in the country. You sure you're ready for what I'll find?"
Li Meng glanced once at Lily's message on his phone before replying.
"I don't care how deep you have to go. Just get me the truth."
When the call ended, the office seemed even quieter than before. The faint hum of the city outside only made the silence heavier.
Li Meng sat there, staring at the dark screen of his laptop, feeling a tension in his chest that had nothing to do with exhaustion.