Beijing 10:00 A.M.
Zhao Mei walked out of the hotel's back door like a ghost.
Zhang Wei's black coat hung off her shoulders, swallowing the torn white dress she wanted to tear apart with her bare hands. Her legs shook violently. Her vision pulsed. Her heart felt splintered, fractured in too many places to count.
Her phone vibrated endlessly.
Buzz.
Buzz.
Buzz.
When she finally forced herself to look
Xiao Lan 48 missed calls
Aunt Mei 19 missed calls
Unknown callers 23
Messages 112
Her stomach twisted into a cold knot.
She opened Xiao Lan's chat.
Xiao Lan:
MEI!! DON'T GO ONLINE!! PLEASE DON'T!! CALL ME!!
Another message followed instantly
Xiao Lan:
They posted a CLEAR video... your FACE is visible... Mei... I'm shaking...
A chill ran down her spine.
Clear?
My face?
No.
No, no, no...
Her fingers trembled as she tapped the link.
Her world collapsed in one breath.
There she was.
Zhao Mei.
In that bed.
Her face unmistakably clear.
Her dress torn.
Eyes half-open.
Body limp.
Breathing shallow.
And Zhang Wei, drugged, disoriented, reaching out to touch her cheek as if trying to understand what was happening.
The angle was pristine.
Too deliberate.
Too cruel.
The comments hit her like blows to the ribs:
"Isn't that Zhao Mei from the café near Shizi Street?"
"Look at her face, she's obviously awake! She seduced him!"
"Are you blind? He forced her!"
"She should be arrested!"
"Leak her full information!"
"Arrest the man too! He's dangerous!"
Zhao Mei's breath tore out of her chest.
People around her stared openly now
"...is that her...?"
"...looks exactly like the girl from the video..."
Her blood froze.
And she ran.
****
Assistant Qin's voice shook as he handed him the phone.
"Sir... the video is everywhere. It's... very clear."
Zhang Wei watched the footage, his jaw clenching so tightly a muscle ticked.
Someone drugged him.
Someone drugged her.
Someone filmed them.
Someone leaked it.
And someone would pay.
"Find the maid," he said coldly.
"She's disappeared, sir."
He inhaled sharply, fury brewing under his skin.
"Then find where she went."
****
11:40 A.M. Zhao Mei's Neighborhood
The moment she stepped into the courtyard, heads whipped toward her like vultures scenting blood.
"There she is!"
"That's the girl from the video!"
"Shameless thing!"
"She slept her way into a billionaire's bed!"
Zhao Mei shook her head desperately.
"I...I didn't..."
SLAP!
Madam Zhao's palm crashed across her face.
"You disgrace! Your face is everywhere! Everyone saw you!"
Her stepbrother shoved his phone into her face, recording.
"Smile for the camera, zhao Mei. You're famous now."
More neighbors gathered.
More phones lifted.
More voices rose.
Someone threw water at her.
Ice-cold shock slammed into her body.
She gasped and fell to her knees, hands scraping the concrete.
Her lungs spasmed.
Her chest tightened.
She couldn't breathe.
Please...
Please stop...
Someone... anyone... help...
I didn't choose this...
A foot kicked her bag.
A voice spat near her ear
"She should be arrested."
Her tears splashed onto the damp pavement.
This was humiliation so sharp it felt like her soul was tearing.
****
FLASHBACK
1:42 A.M. 17th Floor, Hotel Corridor
Lin Xia only wanted to finish her shift.
When Room 1708 didn't answer, she swiped the card.
What she saw inside froze her blood.
A young woman lay on the bed, half-conscious, dress slipping off her shoulder, breathing weakly. Her face was turned just enough to see clearly.
This girl needs help.
Then she saw him
Zhang Wei.
Half-dressed.
Unsteady.
Drugged.
Leaning over the girl with confusion in his eyes.
To Lin Xia, it looked like assault.
Her hands shook violently as she pulled out her phone.
"I... I have to protect her..."
Record.
Ten seconds.
Enough to show Liu Mei's face.
Enough to show Zhang Wei leaning over her.
Enough to destroy two lives.
Panicking, she sent it to her cousin:
Lin Xia:
Jie, I'm scared. Confidential. I think a girl is being hurt. What do I do? Don't share this!!
But her cousin, trembling and shocked, pressed the wrong button.
SHARE.
Not "save."
Twenty people saw it instantly.
Then forty.
Then hundreds.
Then tens of thousands.
The wildfire had begun.
Lin Xia's breath stuttered.
She sprinted to the CCTV room and ripped the cables from the 17th-floor cameras.
The screens went black.
Then she grabbed her bag...
...and disappeared.
****
PRESENT
Zhao Mei's body shook violently as tears streamed down her cheeks.
The courtyard was filled with whispers.
Each one another knife.
Phones recording every second.
Madam Zhao screaming.
Her step siblings laughing.
Neighbors judging.
Her hands trembled as she covered her ears.
Please... please...
I just want to live...
Why is this happening to me...?
Her breath broke.
Her vision blurred.
Her heart felt like it was shattering inside her chest.
She curled into herself on the ground
completely alone.
Then...everything went silent.
The voices cut off.
Phones lowered.
The world seemed to freeze.
A deep engine rumbled outside the gate.
Slow.
Measured.
Predatory.
Zhao Mei lifted her head weakly.
Her heart stuttered.
People instinctively stepped backward.
The door opened.
One polished black shoe touched the ground.
A tall, shadowed figure stepped out.
cold
commanding
untouchably powerful.
Zhao Mei's breath trembled.
He looked like a storm contained in human form.
His gaze swept the chaotic courtyard...
Then landed on her.
Her trembling body.
Her soaked hair.
Her bleeding knees.
Her broken dignity.
He moved toward her with slow, devastating confidence,
each step silencing another whisper.
He stopped right in front of her.
Her lips parted, voice barely a thread.
"...why... are you... here...?"
He didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
He extended his hand, steady, unyielding, commanding.
"Stand."
Her fingers trembled as they reached toward his.
*****