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CHAPTER 31
**— Unraveling Threads —
The office was too quiet.
Mu Lingchen sat behind his sleek black desk, long fingers tapping lightly against a document he wasn't reading. His expression was composed, but the air around him had turned sharp—cold in a way that made subordinates feel like the temperature had dropped several degrees.
The door knocked once.
"Come in."
Song Liyun entered, her head slightly lowered, but her steps steady. She held a tablet pressed against her chest, face pale with worry.
"CEO Mu… I've gathered the information you asked for."
Mu Lingchen's gaze lifted.
"Speak."
Liyun swallowed.
"It's about what happened three years ago… the night your son was born."
The fingers on his table stilled.
Not tightly.
Not dramatically.
Just a small, controlled pause—too calm to be normal.
"…Continue."
Her voice trembled, but she pushed through.
"It seems your family's private doctor, Doctor Zhao, was involved in something irregular that night. He received a payment from an unknown source. Shortly after, he disappeared overseas. And the hospital records… they don't match. Some documents were altered."
Silence.
Heavy enough to crush oxygen.
Mu Lingchen's eyes darkened, a storm gathering behind them.
"Unknown source."
"Yes."
"And the records?"
"One entry was erased entirely."
A sharp inhale—quiet, dangerous.
"Find the original records," he said softly. "All of them."
Liyun bowed quickly. "Yes, CEO Mu."
She turned to leave—
but froze when the door opened.
Shi Roulan stood there.
Her perfect curls trembled.
Her makeup looked too pale.
Her eyes, wide and terrified, said clearly—
She heard everything.
Mu Lingchen looked at her, expression unreadable.
"Why are you standing there?"
Roulan's lips trembled.
"I—I wasn't listening— I mean, I wasn't— I just came to say Yunxi has her costume fitting and I thought you might—"
"I don't," he cut off coldly.
She flinched.
And fled down the hallway, too fast to hide the panic in her steps.
Mu Lingchen didn't watch her go.
He simply leaned back in his chair, fingertips steepled.
Something was wrong with the past.
Terribly, dangerously wrong.
And somehow… all the threads circled back to Shi Yunxi.
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At Starlight Entertainment, Yunxi read the message from the wardrobe department.
"Report to Building 4, Room 12 for costume fitting at 3 p.m."
This was her first real step into the drama crew.
Song Liyun walked beside her, holding her schedule.
"You have three fittings this week, two rehearsals, and the media photoshoot on Friday."
Yunxi nodded. "Okay."
"And…" Liyun hesitated, "should I arrange someone to help with the children later?"
Yunxi's expression softened.
"Yes. Thank you."
But her thoughts drifted—
to Yichen, to Qing'er…
to RuiRui's tearful "Mama…"
Her chest tightened.
She shook the feeling away.
Not now.
She entered Costume Building 4. Assistants hurried around with fabrics, wigs, and props. She walked into Room 12—
—and stopped.
Because everyone inside was staring.
Because a tall man in a black suit stood there, leaning against the wall like he owned the air itself.
Dominating.
Cold.
Impossible to ignore.
Mu Lingchen.
The stylist stammered, "C-CEO Mu? W-why are you—"
He didn't even glance at her.
His eyes were locked on Yunxi.
"I came to see," he said slowly, "how well Starlight takes care of its actress."
A ripple of shock went through the room.
Yunxi's breath caught.
He wasn't here for business.
Not for the company.
He was here—
for her.
And just like that, she realized…
things were about to get far more complicated.