The rest of the day passed as if nothing had happened.
Xia Ruyan didn't show even a flicker of emotion, not after crushing an entire company, not after toppling a legacy built over decades. She returned to the Mo Mansion, spent time with Grandfather Mo, ate her dinner quietly, and went to sleep.
Nothing had changed for her.
The next day, she was back in the office, calm and composed, handling the document for presentation for a collaborative project. That was when she heard Lee Jian's voice, unusually rushed, trying to stop someone.
Of course, it was Ye Yutong.
Tears streaked her face; her expressions were panicked. Ruyan glanced at her once, then looked back down at her work as if she hadn't seen anything at all.
"Miss Ye, you can't go in; this is the presidential area. Please don't make this harder than it already is," Lee Jian pleaded, trying to block her.
"If you just tell Brother A-Chen that I'm here, he'll come out! He will!" Her voice cracked, but the arrogance underneath was still impossible to hide.
At that moment, Mo Yichen stepped out of his office. He had a meeting at 11, but the chaos outside had drawn him out. His face darkened.
His grandfather had banned Yutong from the Mo Mansion, and now here she was, creating a scene in his workplace. Was he not clear, or is the Ye family not taking him seriously?
"What the hell is going on here?" he snapped.
"Brother A-Chen, please, help me!" She immediately burst into tears. From the corner of his eye, Mo Yichen saw Xia Ruyan still seated, typing away, untouched by the drama.
He sneered faintly.
"Brother… my friend Wanwan, Li Wan, she's missing! Please ask Miss Xia to tell me where she is!" Yutong begged, as if she were trained in the art of pitifulness.
Mo Yichen raised a brow and looked toward Xia Ruyan, who had finally stopped typing. She stood up gracefully. Her chair didn't even screech. Calm. Composed.
He gestured. "Miss Ye here has something to ask you."
Xia Ruyan walked over, her posture straight, elegance wrapped in ice. She looked at Ye Yutong as if she were inspecting a fly on glass. "Miss Xia," Yutong sobbed, "please return Wanwan. I'm begging you."
A small frown touched Ruyan's lips. "Miss Ye… is this some new game?" she asked, genuinely puzzled.
"She—she went to meet you yesterday and then disappeared," Yutong said, her voice rising. She was losing control. Li Wan told her she was going to take care of Xia Ruyan personally. Now she was missing. Xia Ruyan was unharmed. The only thing that made sense… was terrifying.
Ruyan tilted her head slightly. "Why would your friend want to meet me?"
"She just… just wanted to talk…"
"I don't know your friend. In fact, I don't really know you, either," Ruyan said calmly. "Are you trying to blame me again, Miss Ye? Like you did before?" Her voice was soft, but it struck like a slap.
Ye Yutong took a step back, lips trembling.
"President Mo," Ruyan turned smoothly, "I would appreciate it if you handled your problems."
She returned to her seat like nothing had happened. Mo Yichen stood frozen. At first, amused. Now… intrigued. And slightly embarrassed.
Does she think I have something going on with Ye Yutong?Should I clarify that I don't? But… why does it matter to me if she misunderstands?
He shook the thoughts away.
"Ye Yutong," his voice turned sharp, cold, "I told you to stay away. Was I not clear enough?"
She looked at him as if he'd just slapped her. Tears poured freely now, dramatic, theatrical sobs. But she'd forgotten who she was dealing with.
Mo Yichen wasn't the kind of man to melt at tears. He wouldn't blink even if someone he didn't care about dropped dead in front of him. Still, she believed his anger would fade. That he would eventually return to her.
Sobbing, she ran away.
"The Ye family is banned from this building," Mo Yichen said flatly to Lee Jian but his eyes were fixed on Xia Ruyan. It was his way of saying: they mean nothing to me.
He didn't think much about Yutong's accusation. She'd already tried to frame Xia Ruyan once; this was probably another act.
But his thoughts started spiraling when, at 6 p.m., the headlines dropped like a bomb:
"Wild Fantasies of the Heiress: The Twisted Kinks of Li Media's Young Lady"
"Fetish or Fantasy? Heiress Li Wan Paid Criminals for Brutal Roleplay"
The capital froze. People re-read the news again and again in disbelief. It was all there, video proof, transaction records, blurred but unmistakable faces. She'd paid gangsters to stage a violent "play" for her twisted pleasure. The more brutal, the better.
The nation watched, stunned, as her life crumbled live on-screen. No amount of money could suppress the leak. The video was everywhere: social media, forums, news tickers, and underground sites. It trended worldwide in hours.
The Li family's stock plummeted like leaves in a storm. The patriarch, a man who built his empire on control and secrets, collapsed with a heart attack.
As he lay in the hospital, all he could think about was: Is this karma
And Ye Yutong? She couldn't breathe.
Her legs gave out when she read the articles. Her ears rang. She kept whispering, "No, no, this can't be real…"
She deleted every message and call log she had with Li Wan. Every plan. Every note. The Ye family, sensing the incoming disaster, cut all ties with the Li family immediately. Their engagement was broken without a trace of sentiment.
Ye Yutong hid herself away.
Back at the Mo residence, Mo Yichen read the headline again. Li Wan. The same Li Wan Ye Yutong had mentioned earlier.
His mind turned cold. Could Xia Ruyan… really be connected to this?
He walked to her room. She wasn't there. The butler told him she'd gone out. Yichen stared at the door for a moment, a strange feeling crawling up his spine.
He didn't have evidence.
But something told him, deep in his gut, this wasn't a coincidence. And if Xia Ruyan really was behind this…
Then perhaps the woman sleeping under his roof wasn't just someone to admire… She might be someone to fear.