CHAPTER 111: CHAPTER 111; HE DIDN’T WAIT

She stood there in the dim light, the silence around her suddenly thunderous.

Her uncle, the man people only spoke of in whispers, who existed in shadow more than flesh, was on his way. How was she going to face him? After all, they were never that close...

And from the way he had said Yueyao’s name...

Something had cracked.

She had no other options; if it weren’t that she was powerless, she wouldn’t have resorted to asking him for assistance.

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UNKNOWN LOCATION – NIGHT

The man stood at the window of a high-rise suite, city lights flickering far below. The phone, still warm in his hand, hung loosely by his side.

"Lin Yueyao."

This was the girl he always vowed to protect. He had secretly been watching her, but how come he didn’t know that she had run away from the Shen mansion in distress? Why wasn’t his men telling him anything?

He immediately called his close aide/guard, Jin Zhou, from the telephone, and he immediately showed up in the suite.

The floor-to-ceiling windows painted the room in blue and silver, the skyline cold and distant. He stood tall, back straight, one hand in his pocket, the other clutching the phone until his knuckles turned white.

A sudden knock at the door echoed.

"Come in," his voice was low but resonant.

Jin Zhou entered soundlessly, his coat still dusted with rain, head slightly bowed.

"You called, sir?"

"She ran from the Shen Mansion a few days ago," the man said flatly, his eyes never leaving the lights below. "And none of you reported it to me?"

Jin Zhou stiffened slightly but kept his composure. "We have been watching as you had instructed us, unless it was past in the middle of the night when all that happened, probably, they could have left their station at that time of the incident.."

"Middle of the night? I had said it should be 24/7 hours a day! So, they were slacking? Get rid of them, they don’t know what I pay them to do...." He coldly dismissed them, but Jin Zhou’s entire body froze. It wasn’t as simple as getting rid of them; they were to be fed alive to wolves he owned, and the wolves don’t eat human meat, but they would tear them apart into pieces.

Jin Zhou swallowed hard, a ripple of unease flashing in his eyes, "Master, please punish them and don’t get rid of them, they must have listened to my instructions!"

There was nothing more feared than to be ’gotten rid of’ in their camp.

The silence stretched again, thick and suffocating.

The man turned finally, stepping away from the glass, his presence almost more oppressive than the vast city behind him.

His tailored suit clung to a frame carved by discipline and danger, and his face, though partially shadowed, held a cold, unreadable expression that could make men drop to their knees.

"Okay, you punish them... But they aren’t going to go back to working until I feel like it! Prepare my chopper, we are going back to the city now." He slightly relented.

Jin Zhou heavily exhaled, a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. "Yes, Master. I will make the preparations immediately."

The man, known in the underworld only as Sir, turned away once more, eyes flicking back to the window. But he wasn’t seeing the city anymore. He was seeing her.

Yueyao.

The little girl who once clung to his coat as if it could shield her from the entire world. The girl who used to wait for him at the edge of the estate, eyes full of trust he never felt worthy of.

And now she was out there... hurt, alone, and he didn’t know.

That was the part that, sliced his heart the deepest.

He had made a vow.

To protect her.

To keep her safe even if she hated him.

To destroy anything that tried to consume her.

PRIVATE AIRFIELD – TEN MINUTES LATER

The rain had picked up, pouring in sheets over the tarmac as the chopper waited, blades whirring slowly and steadily.

Jin Zhou stood by the stairs, soaked and pale. The man arrived without a word, coat whipping behind him as he boarded.

Inside, the lights were dim, the leather seats stitched in custom dark red, the hum of power surrounding him like an invisible army.

He sat down, crossing his legs, unbothered by the storm outside.

As the chopper lifted off, slicing through the night sky, he reached into his coat and pulled out a small locket that had her image.

Yueyao, laughing under a cherry blossom tree.

That laugh.

That light.

His jaw tightened, voice a mere whisper as he traced her name.

"Yueyao..."

"My Yueyao...."

— — — — — —

The clock on the wall ticked in a slow, torturous rhythm. Fang Lin paced the small living room, the shadows from the single overhead light stretching with every anxious turn she made.

Her phone sat on the table, silent. Every now and then, she glanced at it, lips pressed into a tight line, her mind a storm of panic and doubt.

She hadn’t expected him to answer.

She hadn’t even expected him to care.

But he had. And the way he had said Yueyao’s name...

It chilled her to the bone.

A sudden gust of wind slammed against the windows, rattling them in their frames. She flinched, heart skipping a beat.

Then.....

A knock.

Suddenly, there was a knock echoing.

It didn’t come from the door, but from the window.

She spun around, eyes wide.

Her apartment was on the tenth floor.

Another knock sounded. Three slow, deliberate taps against the glass.

Fang Lin’s breath caught in her throat as she moved cautiously to the window, drawing back the curtain.

A tall figure stood outside on the narrow fire escape, his dark coat fluttering slightly in the wind. His face was partially shadowed, but she recognized the cold, imperious eyes immediately.

He didn’t wait for an invitation.

He pushed the window open himself and...