Chapter 18
The following days passed like a blur wrapped in unease. The mansion, once a place of quiet isolation, now felt like a fortress under siege. Guards patrolled every corridor, security cameras blinked red through the night, and the gates remained locked around the clock.
Lin Yue could barely step outside without two bodyguards following her like shadows. Every movement was monitored, every word she said echoed back to Mo Chen one way or another.
It was suffocating.
At first, she thought he was being overprotective. But then, strange things began to happen.
A car she didn't recognize parked outside the gates for hours before disappearing.
Her phone—one she rarely used—buzzed with a text from an unknown number: "How's life in the lion's cage?"
And once, late at night, when she went to close the curtains, she caught a faint glint—like the reflection of a camera lens—from the trees beyond the wall.
When she told Mo Chen, his expression turned to stone.
"Show me the message."
She handed him the phone. He stared at it for a long moment, then crushed it in his palm, the screen cracking under his strength.
"Mo Chen—!" she gasped.
His eyes were dark, cold, almost terrifying. "From now on, you don't carry any personal devices. You use the ones I give you. Do you understand?"
"Are you serious? You can't just—"
"I can and I will," he cut her off sharply. "They're watching you, Lin Yue. Listening. Tracking. You think this is a game?"
Her heart thudded painfully. "I'm not your prisoner."
He turned toward her then, and for a second, his mask slipped—revealing not anger, but fear. "No. You're my weakness." His voice was rough. "And that makes you the easiest target."
The words silenced her. She wanted to argue, to tell him that this wasn't how protection should feel—but the look in his eyes stopped her. He wasn't just guarding her out of control; he was terrified of losing her.
Still, the tension between them grew thicker each day.
She couldn't leave the estate. Her meetings were rescheduled. Even her personal assistant was replaced by one of Mo Chen's men. The world outside went on, but Lin Yue lived in a cage—golden, beautiful, but a cage nonetheless.
Every night, Mo Chen came home later and later, his suits faintly smelling of smoke and rain. His phone never stopped ringing; his voice was colder, his tone sharper. Sometimes she'd find him standing on the balcony, staring into the distance, his expression unreadable.
"Are you sleeping at all?" she asked one night, standing at the door to his study.
He didn't look up from his papers. "I'll sleep when it's safe."
"Safe from who?"
"The Black Serpents don't send warnings without plans." He finally met her gaze. "They're not just threatening me—they're dismantling everything I've built. My security teams, my investors, my allies… even the police are compromised."
She took a hesitant step closer. "Then maybe it's time to stop fighting. You could—"
"Run?" His tone cut like ice. "That's not who I am."
Lin Yue swallowed hard. "It's not about pride, Mo Chen. It's about survival."
He stood then, walking around the desk until he was inches away from her. His presence filled the room—intense, magnetic, dangerous. "I've survived worse. But if they touch you…" His hand brushed her cheek, tender but trembling. "If they so much as breathe near you, Lin Yue, I'll burn this entire city down."
Her breath caught at the darkness in his words.
Before she could respond, his phone buzzed again. He glanced at it, his jaw tightening. "Stay here."
"Mo Chen—"
He was already out the door.
Hours later, she found herself pacing the room, unable to sleep. The mansion felt too quiet, too still. Every sound made her flinch.
Then, at midnight, the power went out.
The lights flickered, then vanished, plunging the house into complete darkness.
"Mo Chen?" she whispered, but there was no answer.
Her heartbeat quickened. She moved toward the door, the air thick with dread. Somewhere outside, she heard the faint whine of an engine… and then the sound of something metallic scraping against the gate.
Her hands trembled as she reached for her phone—then remembered it was gone. Mo Chen had taken it.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed in the hallway. Heavy, deliberate.
Her breath hitched. "Who's there?"
No answer. Just silence.
The door creaked open.
"Lin Yue."
Her knees almost gave out in relief when she saw Mo Chen standing there, a flashlight in one hand. His expression was hard, but his voice was steady. "It's a blackout. Someone cut the main power line."
"Someone?"
"Yes." He stepped closer, pulling her against his chest. "They're getting closer."
She could feel the thundering of his heart through his shirt, fast and uneven.
Mo Chen pressed his lips to her hair, whispering against her ear, "No matter what happens next, you stay where I can see you. Promise me."
She nodded weakly.
He pulled back just enough to look into her eyes. "They want me afraid. But I'll never give them that satisfaction."
And as the generator flickered back to life, flooding the mansion with dim light, Lin Yue realized something chilling—this wasn't just about revenge or control anymore.
The Black Serpents weren't coming after Mo Chen's empire. They were coming after his heart.
And that meant her.