The night air did little to cool the heat crawling under his skin.
Li Zeyan stood with one hand gripping the balcony railing, knuckles tight, jaw tighter. The city stretched endlessly before him, glittering like stars scattered across a velvet ground. Beautiful. Distant. Cold.
Just like her.
Just like Xu Meilin.
Except tonight,she wasn't cold. She was radiant. Lethal. A goddess dressed in midnight, stepping into a battlefield of silk and champagne without even lifting a sword.
And he…
He had walked away.
He didn't know why. Jealousy? That was too simple a word for the storm spinning in his chest. He wasn't a man easily shaken. But the way those men looked at her,like they wanted to claim what was already his,it had twisted something deep inside him. A feeling both possessive and uninvited.
He'd built walls his whole life. Walls made of control. Strategy. Detachment.
But tonight, her presence had cracked them.
A soft chime of laughter carried from inside.
He didn't realize how sharply he turned until his coat snapped behind him. Something,instinct, or maybe something deeper,dragged his attention back through the glass doors.
He stepped in, slowly, his eyes scanning the room.
And then he saw her.
Meilin.
Still standing. Still poised.
But something was wrong.
Her expression hadn't changed, but her grip on the glass in her hand had. Too tight. Her fingers were trembling, barely perceptible. Her eyes were unfocused for the briefest second,then she blinked, steadying herself as if she'd trained for it.
No one else noticed.
But he did.
He always did.
Zeyan's body moved before his mind caught up.
In seconds, he was by her side.
Her scent hit him first,floral, faint,lavender but laced with something else. Something artificial.
His gaze dropped to the half-empty orange juice.
"Who gave you this?" he asked, low, cold.
Meilin blinked up at him, her pupils dilated slightly. "The… waiter, I think. It's just juice."
He took the glass from her hand and handed it to Shen Rui who had quietly materialized at his side.
"Test this. Quietly," Zeyan ordered. No raised voices. No scenes. Just swift, silent power.
Then he looked at her again.
Her cheeks were flushed, her breaths shallow. She was trying to stay composed,of course she was. But he could see it. The strain in her eyes. The effort in each word.
Something had been slipped into her drink.
And she was still standing.
Barely.
"Come with me," he said, not asking.
She opened her mouth to argue, but the strength she used to hold herself upright faltered. She tilted ever so slightly.
He caught her.
One arm around her waist. The other steadying her shoulder. His grip was firm, possessive. Protective.
Warm.
"I'm fine," she whispered.
"You're not," he replied. His voice wasn't angry,it was something else. Something taut and quiet. Like a blade about to snap.
He led her out of the hall, through a private corridor, and into a lounge where no one else followed.
The moment the door shut, he turned to her, scanning her face.
"Tell me exactly what you felt. When it started. What changed."
Meilin leaned against the wall, her chest rising and falling. "After I drank it… I felt light. Then hot. And now everything feels… too much."
His eyes darkened. "An aphrodisiac," he muttered, mostly to himself.
He didn't realize his hand was still at her waist.
She looked up at him.
Her lips were parted slightly, her eyes glassy, vulnerable,but not from weakness. From fighting. From holding herself together even when her body was betraying her.
Something in him cracked again.
This time it wasn't jealousy.
It was rage.
Cold. Controlled. Dangerous.
"I'll find out who did this," he said.
She gave a small, unsteady laugh. "Why do you care so much, Mr. Li?"
He froze.
Why did he?
He didn't answer.
He couldn't.
But as his gaze lowered to her flushed cheeks, her trembling shoulders, her strength,even in this moment,he felt it again. That same pull. The one he never asked for. The one he never let himself feel.
He reached into his jacket, pulled out a silk handkerchief, and gently wiped the sweat beading at her temple.
"I told you before," he said, voice low, "don't fall apart in front of them."
Meilin blinked.
His hand lingered near her cheek.
"But if you have to," he added, "do it here. Where I can catch you."