CHAPTER 2 — The Breaking Point
The house that once felt cold now felt suffocating.
After the humiliation in the hall, Shi Yunxi's legs felt weak beneath her. She walked with effort toward her room, every step echoing the truth she didn't want to face.
Her father hated her.
Her engagement was gone.
Her sister and fiancé betrayed her.
And the nightmare from last night hung over her like a shadow she could not escape.
But the moment she shut her bedroom door, the strength she'd been holding onto finally cracked. She slid down to the floor, her fingers trembling uncontrollably as she covered her face.
Her breaths came unevenly.
Her chest felt tight.
Her eyes burned.
Nothing made sense—nothing at all.
Her heart whispered:
Why did that man appear in that room?
Why had she lost consciousness?
Why could she remember nothing?
She hugged her knees to her chest, trying to steady the storm inside her.
A knock suddenly sounded.
Her heart froze.
"Who is it?" her voice was hoarse.
"It's me."
Qin Yuchan's voice.
Fear and anger surged at once. She rushed to lock the door—but she wasn't fast enough. The knob turned; he stepped inside, his expression cold and unreadable.
Shi Yunxi stumbled back.
"You… what are you doing here?"
He shut the door behind him slowly, like he owned the room—owned her.
"How pitiful," he said softly, his gaze sweeping over her.
"You still don't understand what you've done."
Her jaw tightened.
"I didn't do anything. I told Father— I didn't see anyone— I don't even know—"
"And that," Qin Yuchan cut her off sharply, "is exactly why it's pathetic."
He stepped closer. Yunxi instinctively moved back until her spine hit the wall.
Qin Yuchan leaned down, his voice low and icy.
"You disappeared yesterday. You rejected the business meeting Father arranged. You walked into a hotel room and let another man inside." His eyes narrowed.
"And now you expect me to believe you're innocent?"
The blood drained from Yunxi's face.
"That's not what happened," she whispered desperately. "Roulan told me— the meeting— she said the investor was—"
"Don't drag Roulan into your lies."
His tone was final. Merciless.
He reached out and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"Let me be very clear, Yunxi. After what happened last night, you are unworthy of me. Unworthy of the Qin family. Unworthy of even calling yourself a Shi daughter."
Her breath hitched.
She slapped his hand away, her voice trembling.
"You… you and Roulan planned this. Didn't you?"
Qin Yuchan didn't deny it.
He simply smiled.
A slow, cruel smile.
"As if someone like you could ever be suitable for me. From the very beginning, you were nothing but a placeholder."
He straightened, adjusting his sleeve.
"Roulan is the one I chose. The one I want. The one worthy of standing beside me."
The words landed like knives, each one burying itself deeper.
Shi Yunxi felt something inside her crack—so quietly she almost didn't hear it.
The part that believed in love.
The part that believed in family.
The part that believed in hope.
Qin Yuchan walked toward the door, pausing only to add:
"Do yourself a favor. Don't try to fight it. You lost the moment you stepped into that hotel room."
He left without looking back.
The door clicked shut.
Silence.
Yunxi stared at the wooden floor, the pain in her chest spreading like wildfire.
Slowly, she sank to her knees again.
Everything had been taken from her—her reputation, her engagement, her worth, her place in the family—
because of something she couldn't even remember.
As she trembled, a small buzzing sound came from her phone.
A message.
From an unknown number.
She wiped her eyes and opened it.
One single line appeared:
"You were not alone in that room."
Her breath stopped.
Then a second message:
"The man you were with… is far more dangerous than you think."
Shi Yunxi froze, heart hammering.
Far away, in the top floor of the Mu Corporation headquarters, a man in a dark suit stood silently by the massive window.
His face was flawless yet cold.
His aura sharp and untouchable.
His eyes deep with a composure that made people tremble.
Mu Lingchen.
Feared CEO.
Untouchable king of the business world.
A man no one dared approach.
He stared at the city below with unreadable calm.
His assistant approached cautiously.
"President Mu… about last night… should we investigate who was in the room?"
Mu Lingchen didn't turn.
His voice was low, emotionless, chilling:
"No need."
"But—"
"There's no point," he said calmly.
"That woman was merely an accident."
He straightened his cuffs, the faintest trace of irritation in his eyes—irritation at losing control for the first time.
"I won't see her again."
But fate had already begun to move.
And neither of them knew…
Their lives had been permanently tied together in the darkness of Room 1806.
Forever.