The scene shifts overseas.
A long, polished boardroom glows under cold white lights. Men in expensive suits sit stiffly around a massive table, their faces pale with fear. At the head of it all sits Jeremy.
Calm.
Still.
Deadly.
Reports are laid before him — numbers, names, evidence of money that had been stolen from his empire. Embezzlement. Betrayal.
"They thought we wouldn't notice," one of the board members whispers.
Jeremy lifts his eyes slowly.
"They crossed me," he says, his voice smooth and quiet. "And people who cross me… pay."
Armed guards move in. One by one, the guilty men are dragged from their seats, their cries echoing through the room as they are arrested.
Some of the workers fall to their knees, begging.
"Please— we didn't mean to— have mercy!"
Jeremy stands.
He walks toward them, his footsteps measured. Then, without hesitation, he steps on one man's leg, pressing down until a scream fills the room.
"You made a choice," Jeremy says coldly. "Now you will live with it."
A slow smile curves across his lips — dark, sharp, and unmistakable.
The kind of smile that means…
you are already in danger.
And there, in the cold glow of power and fear, the truth becomes clear.
Jeremy is the second son of Senator Swiares — the one who built his father's empire into something greater, darker, and far more dangerous than anyone outside the family realizes.
Unlike his step-brother Lucas, who wears charm and careless arrogance, Jeremy is something else entirely.
He is calm.
He is proud.
And he is terrifying.
Where Lucas makes noise, Jeremy makes silence.
Where Lucas seeks approval, Jeremy already owns it.
People do not laugh around him — they lower their voices.
They do not argue — they obey.
He does not need to raise his hand to be feared.
His presence alone is a warning.
And in the shadows of Senator Swiares' empire,
Jeremy is the blade everyone knows not to touch…
but everyone is already bleeding from.
Yet beneath Jeremy's cold control and frightening power, there is a secret he has never spoken aloud.
Lucas.
Though they are not bound by blood, they are bound by something far more dangerous — longing.
Lucas is the only one who can step into Jeremy's silence without being destroyed. The only one whose voice can soften his eyes, whose presence can slow his breathing. When Lucas laughs, something unguarded stirs in Jeremy's chest — something he does not allow anyone else to touch.
To the world, Lucas is just his stepbrother.
To Jeremy…
he is everything.
Jeremy watches Lucas the way men watch the last light before night falls — quietly, painfully, with a hunger he never admits. He protects him without being asked. He destroys threats before they ever reach him. Not because he must… but because he cannot bear the thought of losing him.
And Lucas?
Lucas sees only a brother.
He sees loyalty.
He sees history.
He sees someone who has always stood beside him.
He does not see the way Jeremy's gaze lingers too long.
He does not feel the ache behind Jeremy's silence.
He does not know that he is the one thing in this world that could break him.
In a house built on power and fear,
love has become the most dangerous secret of all.
The scene shifts to Jeremy's office.
Tall windows overlook a city that moves without him. His secretary steps in, holding a neatly wrapped box.
"Sir, your early birthday gift just arrived."
Jeremy raises an eyebrow. When he opens it, a soft scarf rests inside — dark, elegant, carefully chosen. For a moment, something warm touches his cold expression.
Then his phone rings.
Lucas.
"Did you get my gift?" Lucas asks cheerfully. "I know you don't like the cold, so I had them make you a scarf that fits your whole… scary persona."
Jeremy lets out a quiet chuckle — a sound no one else in the world ever hears.
"You really care about me this much?" he asks.
"Of course," Lucas replies easily. "You're my brother."
The word hits harder than any weapon ever could.
Jeremy's smile fades just slightly — not enough for Lucas to notice, but enough for the audience to feel. A shadow of sadness slips across his eyes… then disappears when Lucas speaks again.
"So, when are you coming home? Dad says we should be ready to welcome the Chief Commander back. Ezekiel is finally returning."
Jeremy pauses.
"Next week," he says. "I just need to sort out a few things first."
"Okay," Lucas replies. "See you soon. Bye."
The call ends.
And in that silence, the truth becomes clear:
Ezekiel is the first son of Senator Swiares —
the decorated Chief Commander who lost his closest friend in the war…
and the man who will soon walk back into the same house where Lily now waits.
Two broken souls, moving toward the same door.
The night returns to Lucas.
He sits in the bar, one arm wrapped lazily around Veronica's waist, a drink in his other hand, laughter spilling easily from his lips. Music pounds. Lights flicker. His friends lean closer, half-drunk, half-amused.
"Wow, Lucas," one of them laughs. "It must be nice being related to the two scariest men in all of Beijing. One is a CEO so feared people say he's killed clients for embezzlement… and the other is a legendary Chief Commander who's survived countless battles. You must live like a king."
Lucas scoffs.
"Whatever they have, they earned it," he says. "My brothers worked hard. Every success they have is because they fought for it."
He takes another drink and smirks.
"And me? I'm just here to spend the money. What else am I supposed to do — wait for time to pass?"
They all burst into laughter. Glasses clink. Music swells.
The noise slowly fades.
Later, Lucas finds himself alone, slumped over a table, half-asleep, waiting for his uncle to pick him up. When he wakes, the bar is quieter, emptier. The world feels far away.
Back in his room, he begins to tidy up absent-mindedly.
That's when he finds it.
A small box of old photographs.
Four boys, barefoot and smiling.
Dusty roads. Open skies.
Lyra. Lucas. Jeremy. Ezekiel.
Memories flood in — promises whispered in childhood, swearing they would never forget one another. That they would always keep in touch. That nothing would ever separate them.
Time had other plans.
The scene shifts to the past — three brothers leaving the village for the city, waving goodbye, promising Lily they would return. Promises that slowly dissolved with distance.
Then we return to the present.
Chief Commander Ezekiel stands in a cold military room, packing his belongings. His face is hollow, weighed down by grief. Another soldier steps in, saluting him, calling him Commander, asking if he truly plans to resign.
Ezekiel doesn't answer.
Because how do you explain that the war didn't just take a friend…
it took the last piece of your heart?
Going home isn't about duty anymore.
It's about survival.
And somewhere in Beijing, under the same sky, Lily is waiting — unknowingly preparing to become the one thing that might finally bring Rose back to life.
Lucas returned to the Swiares villa long after midnight.
The city was still awake behind him, but the estate was quiet, vast, and cold — a palace built for a boy who had been given everything. His bedroom alone was nearly the size of a small house, proof of how deeply he had always been pampered in the Swiares family.
After dropping Veronica off, he stepped inside and noticed a light glowing from one of the smaller guest quarters near the courtyard.
He frowned and waved over a maid.
"Rosalie," he asked, "who's staying there?"
Rosalie bowed slightly.
"It's Mr. Dennis's cousin, sir — one of the garage man's relatives."
Lucas didn't think twice about it.
"Alright," he said flatly.
Then he added, almost sharply, "Turn the light off."
Rosalie nodded quickly.
Everyone in the house knew this rule — Lucas hated lights left on at night. Ever since a traumatic incident in his childhood, bright lights after dark unsettled him, reminding him of things he never spoke about.
Rosalie hurried away to switch it off.
Lucas continued to his room — and froze.
His space was a mess. Drawers open. Sheets disturbed.
Anger flared. He snapped at another maid to clean it immediately… then paused.
"Sorry," he muttered. "Just do it, please."
The maid smiled gently.
"It's alright, sir. Being you isn't easy. You're always trying to carry everyone's expectations."
Lucas didn't reply.
He changed, sank into his bed, and scrolled through his phone — Instagram, news, endless noise. Then a headline flashed across his screen:
"Chief Commander Ezekiel Swiares Returns — Soldier Thought Lost in War Comes Home."
Lucas coughed, as if something had lodged in his throat.
Without reading further, he locked his phone and turned away.
Sleep came quietly…
just as fate began pulling Lily and Rose closer together in the same house.