The weekend sky was pale and cold, hanging like dull silver over city z.
Xu Meilin needed air. Space. Distance.
The silence at the Moon Pavilion had grown thicker lately. Li Zeyan hadn't spoken to her since the night on the balcony. Not a word about her swollen eyes, her brother, or her broken voice under the stars.
She asked the driver to take her to VelaLux Mall, not to splurge, not to impress, but to find something that felt like hers.
Something warm.
Something soft.
Something that didn't smell like someone else's choice.
---
Inside the mall, VelaLux sparkled with winter sales and polished arrogance. The place reeked of quiet wealth, silk heels on marble floors, whispers that were sharper than screams.
She walked into a boutique called Averie, where soft coats hung like clouds against gold rails.
She found one.
Simple beige. No logo. No shine. Just… hers.
She was holding it gently when a voice sliced across the air behind her.
> "Well, look who crawled out of her sponsor's lap."
Meilin froze.
Slowly, she turned.
Three women stood behind her, draped in designer smugness. The one in the center, sharp heels, wine-red lips, and judgment in her eyes, Qin Ruoyi.
A board member's daughter in L&Z international
Ruoyi's smile was elegant. Cruel.
> "Still pretending you belong in places like this?"
Meilin didn't speak.
Ruoyi's eyes fell on the coat in Meilin's hands.
> "Are you shopping? Or just touching things for the thrill of it?"
Laughter.
One of the other women giggled. "Does she even know how to pay for anything without lying on her back?"
The coat was yanked from her hands.
> "Maybe she's just here for her weekly allowance," Ruoyi said sweetly. "Right? Or do you call him darling now that he's upgraded you from hotel desk girl to… what? Live-in maid?"
Meilin's fingers clenched at her sides.
> "Oh, don't pout. It's cute. Makes you look almost real."
---
She took a step forward.
Voice soft. Calm.
> "You speak so much for someone so irrelevant in his life now."
The store stilled.
Ruoyi's face twitched. "Excuse me?"
> "You act like you know him. But if you really did," Meilin whispered, "you wouldn't be here trying to make me feel small. You'd know you already lost."
Silence.
And then Ruoyi raised her hand.
But it never landed.
It was caught mid-air, fingers gripped tight by a hand so strong it made her stumble.
Gasps rippled through the store.
Li Zeyan.
Standing there in black, eyes colder than frost.
> "Touch her," he said, his voice low and deadly, "and I will break your wrist."
Ruoyi's lips parted, but no sound came.
> "Zeyan, i...It was just a joke..."
> "Leave."
The single word hit like a bullet.
Ruoyi's face burned with rage, but she knew better. She turned, heels stabbing the floor, followed by her speechless friends.
---
Silence settled again.
Zeyan didn't look at anyone else.
Only her.
Meilin's heart was thudding, not with fear, but something more painful. Shame.
He stepped forward. "Why didn't you tell me you were going out?"
Her voice cracked. "Would you have stopped me?"
He didn't answer.
The sales staff stood frozen, pretending to be busy.
Meilin stared at the coat still hanging limply on a hook.
> "Do you know what it's like," she said quietly, "to be dragged through dirt just for standing where you are?"
His jaw clenched. "Yes."
She looked up, angry now. "Then why do you act like I should get used to it?"
> "Because pretending you're untouchable is the only thing that keeps people from destroying you."
She shook her head. "I'm not you, Li Zeyan."
She walked past him.
Didn't wait for his reply.
Didn't need it.
And for the first time in days, he turned around to watch her leave.
And realized… she didn't look like a girl he rescued anymore.
She looked like a storm that chose not to strike.