"Marlene, dear," Bai Mingzhu's voice had crackled through the speaker, sounding uncharacteristically frantic. "Does Bai Qi know about this? Does he know you are standing outside the house right this second?"
Marlene tilted her head, a lock of blonde hair falling over her shoulder. She watched the security cameras on the gate pillars rotate toward them. "No, no, Aunt! I want this to be a total surprise for Bai Qi. If he knew I was coming, he'd probably arrange a whole parade, and that's just too formal, don't you think?"
She giggled, the sound bright and airy, completely unaware of the cardiac arrest she was nearly causing her aunt.
On the other end of the line, Mingzhu's mouth twitched. She looked at the pastries on the table as if they were poisoned.
"Marlene, darling... Listen to me. I—I am already on my way. I'm leaving right now. We will go inside the house together, okay sweetie? Just wait for me. Do not go in alone."
"But Aunt—"
Click.
The line went dead. Marlene pulled the phone away and stared at the dark screen. "Oh... it got cut. She must be in a tunnel."
She turned around, flashing a radiant smile at the man sitting in the backseat. "Daddy! Aunt Mingzhu said she's on her way here. She sounded so excited she couldn't even finish the call!"
Marlene stepped closer to the car window, her blue eyes dancing with mischief.
"We should move faster. I want to surprise Zuckerchen before he hears the car tires on the gravel. Can you imagine his face? He's going to be so shocked!"
Gerhard Rosenhain shook his head slowly, a gesture of weary, paternal love. He looked at his daughter, who was practically vibrating with energy.
"Marlene, dear," Gerhard began, his voice deep and resonant. "Could you perhaps try to act more professional? You are a grown woman, yet you always act like a child the moment we get near the Rothenbergs."
Marlene's mouth dropped open.
She pouted, her lower lip trembling in a way that had worked on her father for twenty years.
"Daddy! You know I've been like this since I was a little girl," she countered, crossing her arms over her chest. A delicate handmade charm bracelet on her wrist jingled with the movement.
"It's not my fault that you always pampered me and told me I could have whatever I wanted. Now you want me to be a boring statue?"
Gerhard smirked. He looked at the daughter who was the light of his life, despite her theatrics. "Okay, okay. Forgive your old father. I suppose I am the architect of my own frustration."
Marlene turned back to him, her pout vanishing as curiosity took over. "But what exactly did you do wrong, Daddy?"
Gerhard's smirk widened into a look of genuine pride. "For pampering my princess until this very moment. I've made it impossible for any other man to satisfy your whims."
Marlene felt a heat creep into her cheeks. She turned away, feigning annoyance. "Stop it, Daddy! Truly! If you don't stop teasing me, I won't talk to you for at least a month. Or maybe I'll just stay at Bai Qi's villa and never come home."
Gerhard laughed, a rare, boisterous sound. "We both know you couldn't survive a month without my credit cards, Marlene. Now, let's see if the Young Master is actually home."
Miles away, the atmosphere was far from playful.
Bai Mingzhu moved with a velocity. She grabbed her designer purse from the table, her movements jagged and rushed. Han Ruyan came walking out of the kitchen, carrying a tray of steaming tea and fresh biscuits, only to find her guest halfway to the door.
"Mingzhu? What—what happened?" Ruyan asked, setting the tray down hastily. "Is everything alright?"
"Han Ruyan, I am so sorry," Mingzhu said, not even looking back as she fumbled with her car keys. "I have important things that I must handle immediately. I swear I'll come over as soon as possible to finish our tea."
Ruyan stepped forward, her face etched with concern. "Did something happen? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Nothing special," Mingzhu lied, her voice tight with the effort of remaining polite. "Just some unexpected guests at the villa. High-level business, you understand."
"But you haven't finished your tea yet! And the pastries..."
Mingzhu stopped at the threshold. She turned and placed her hands firmly on Ruyan's shoulders.
"Next time, Han.
I promise. I need to make it there as soon as possible before things... before things get complicated. I need to go."
"Mingzhu—"
"Okay, bye! See you tomorrow!"
With that, Mingzhu vanished through the door. Ruyan stood in the center of her living room, blinking at the empty doorway. She shook her head, a confused sigh escaping her lips. "Guests? At this hour?"
Outside, Mingzhu didn't wait for her driver to open her door. She hopped into the back of the sleek black sedan and tapped on the glass partition.
"Speed it up, Lou!" Mingzhu commanded. "Faster! We do not have enough time. If those gates open before I get there, we are in deep trouble."
The driver, Lou, didn't ask questions. He knew that tone. "Yes, Madam."
The car roared to life, tires screeching as it pulled away from the curb. Mingzhu sat in the back, her heart hammering against her ribs. She pulled out her phone, her fingers flying across the screen.
She needed to warn him. She needed to stop the collision before Marlene saw the one thing she wasn't supposed to see: Shu Yao.
She dialed Bai Qi's private number.
Ring... ring... ring...
At the Rothenberg Villa, the hallways were silent, save for the hum of the air conditioning.
Bai Qi stood outside the massive, carved oak doors of his father's private study. He felt like a prisoner awaiting sentencing. His eyes were bloodshot, the whites of his eyes mapped with tiny red veins from lack of sleep and the sheer volume of tears he had shed in secret.
He raised a hand, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm, trying to scrub away the evidence of his vulnerability. He needed to be the "Ice Monarch" again. Niklas would be inside, waiting for a report on the "Winter Aurora" project, and any sign of weakness would be devoured.
He reached for the heavy brass handle. His fingers were inches away from the cold metal when his pocket began to vibrate.
The sound was jarring in the absolute quiet of the hall. Bai Qi froze. He didn't want to take any calls. He didn't want to speak to anyone who wasn't Shu Yao.
But the phone was insistent. It was ringing and ringing, the electronic trill echoing off the marble walls.
If he didn't answer it, the sound would surely alert Niklas. His father hated interruptions, but he hated incompetence even more.
Bai Qi let out a sharp, frustrated breath. He pulled the phone from his pocket, ready to silence it and throw it across the hall. But then he saw the caller ID.
MOM.
His thumb hovered over the green icon. Mingzhu rarely called him on his private line unless it was a matter of life and death—or a social emergency that she considered life and death.
He looked at the study door, then back at the phone. The "Monarch" took a deep breath, stepped back from the door, and pressed the phone to his ear.
"Mother," he whispered, his voice a scorched rasp. "This is a very bad time. I am standing right outside Father's study door."
"Listen to me, darling. Listen very carefully," Mingzhu commanded. Her voice had lost its usual socialite sparkle, replaced by a sharp, clinical urgency.
Bai Qi closed his eyes, his breath coming in shallow hitches. "Yes, Mom... I'm listening. What happened? Is the residence okay? Is Auntie Han Ruyan feeling better? Did something go wrong with the preparations?"
"Everything is fine with Han Ruyan," Mingzhu snapped, her patience fraying. "She is in the kitchen. But that is the only thing that is fine right now."
Bai Qi felt a momentary surge of relief, his thumb hovering over the 'end call' icon. He needed to face his father; he didn't have the mental capacity for minor domestic updates. "Then it's fine. I have to go, Mom. I'll call you when I'm out of the—"
"Do not hang up, Bai Qi!" Mingzhu's voice rose to a frantic pitch. "Listen to me! Oh, God, how am I supposed to explain this clearly?"
Bai Qi paused, his hand freezing. The sheer panic in his mother's tone was a physical weight. "What is it now, Mom? Just say it."
"Marlene," Mingzhu blurted out. "Do you remember Marlene, dear?"
Bai Qi's eyes snapped open, his pupils dilating until his eyes looked like hollowed-out obsidian. The name hit him like a physical blow.
"Marlene?" he repeated, his voice hesitating. "Yes, Mom. I remember her. What about her? Why are you mentioning her all of a sudden? Did something happen with her family? Is the Rosenhain estate in trouble?"
"No, darling," Mingzhu exhaled, a sound of pure exasperation. "Something worse happened."
Bai Qi felt the blood drain from his face. His mind, already fragile from the "brainwashing" crisis with Shu Yao, began to spiral through a dozen lethal scenarios. "What happened, Mom? Tell me.
Did something happen to Marlene? Was there an accident? Is she hurt?"
"No, dear," Mingzhu replied. "Worse. Even worse than that."
The world seemed to stop moving. The hallway felt like it was tilting on its axis. Bai Qi gripped his phone so hard the screen creaked.
"Then don't tell me... don't tell me her father finally lost his mind.
Did Gerhard force her to marry someone? Is that why you're calling? To tell me she's being sold off into some political union she doesn't want?"
"Bai Qi, we are wasting precious time!" Mingzhu cried, her voice echoing in the cabin of her car. "Stop guessing! Let's get back to the point, because the point is currently standing at our front door."
"What?"
"Darling," Mingzhu said, her voice dropping to a terrifyingly calm whisper. "Marlene and her father are outside the villa. Right now."
Bai Qi felt his heart skip a beat, then another, until his chest felt like a hollow drum. He suddenly looked down the long, opulent hallway, half-expecting to see her blonde hair shimmering in the distance.
"What are you talking about, Mom?" he hissed, his voice barely audible. "That's impossible. She's supposed to be in Austria.
How is it possible she's here? She would have called. She would have sent an itinerary. She never does anything without letting me know first."
"You are too innocent, my son," Mingzhu countered, the sound of her car tires screeching around a corner punctuating her words. "She didn't want to call. She wanted to surprise you.
Bai Qi's heart began to hammer against his ribs with a violent, staccato rhythm. The shock was visceral. Marlene wasn't just a guest; she was a whirlwind of energy, curiosity, and proprietary affection. She was the one person who could bypass security with a smile and a wave.
"So she really came..." he whispered, the reality finally sinking in. "She came all the way from Austria without a single word to me."
"Yes," Mingzhu confirmed. "Now listen to me, and listen well. Since I've told you everything, you have exactly three minutes before they reach the inner foyer. I am already on my way, but I'm miles behind them."
"What do I do?" Bai Qi asked, his mind racing to the second floor—to the room where Shu Yao lay in a fragile, medicated sleep. If Marlene saw him... if she even sensed there was another person in Bai Qi's inner sanctum, the fallout would be catastrophic.
"Your job is to manage the house," Mingzhu instructed. "Call the staff. Right now. Tell everyone to pretend they have no idea she's coming.
"Why?"
"Because if you act like you didn't knew, she'll feel welcomed and settle in," Mingzhu explained with the cold logic of a master strategist. "But if everyone pretends to be 'casually' busy, you can buy time. Tell them to act normal.
You need to keep Marlene in the drawing room. Do not, under any circumstances, let her wander toward the East Wing."