CHAPTER 58 — When the Enemy Steps Too Close
Shi Yunxi stood frozen in the washroom, Roulan's poisonous words echoing in her skull.
"I know they're your children."
Her heartbeat slammed painfully against her ribs.
How?
How could Roulan have figured it out?
Yunxi had been careful—meticulous—never letting the twins' faces circulate, never letting them appear near her workplace, never linking them to her online presence. Even their school used her alias.
Roulan had no evidence.
None.
But she had suspicion.
And suspicion was deadly in the wrong hands.
Yunxi leaned against the cold sink, breathing heavily as she tried to steady herself.
She couldn't break down.
Not here.
Not now.
Her phone buzzed again.
Mu Lingchen:
"I'm almost there. Stay where you are."
Her fingers tightened around her phone.
She didn't want him to see her like this.
Shaken.
Cornered.
But she also knew he was the only one strong enough to hold her up right now.
Before she could respond, the washroom door opened again—
Not Lingchen.
Lin Meixi burst in, flustered and out of breath.
"Jie! I've been looking everywhere for you—what happened? Your face—why are you so pale?"
Yunxi quickly straightened, pushing her fear deep into the pit of her stomach.
"I'm fine."
Meixi frowned.
"You're not. Did someone say something to you?"
A lie rose to Yunxi's lips.
Then died there.
She couldn't tell Meixi.
Not about the children.
Not about Roulan's threat.
Not when Meixi was already under so much pressure taking care of her schedules and shielding her from online attacks.
So she simply said, "Just work issues."
Meixi didn't believe it, but she didn't push.
"Okay… but Mu— I mean, CEO Mu is downstairs. He looks furious."
Yunxi's pulse tightened.
She couldn't face him like this.
Not with Roulan's threat clawing at her heart.
Not with fear written all over her body.
But she didn't have a choice.
Her children were in danger now.
No matter how deeply she tried to bury the truth, Mu Lingchen needed to know that the storm was about to reach them.
She took a deep breath.
"Let's go."
⸻
⸻ Starlight Entertainment — Basement Parking
The elevator doors opened.
A tall figure stood waiting.
Mu Lingchen.
His presence filled the entire concrete space—cold fury, sharp authority, and something dangerously protective lurking behind his eyes.
The moment he saw her—
His expression cracked.
"Yunxi."
He crossed the distance in two steps, grabbing her shoulders gently but firmly.
"What happened?"
Her lips parted.
Silence spilled out instead of words.
She didn't want to say it.
She didn't want to hear it.
But Lingchen's voice softened.
"Look at me."
She did.
And the second her eyes met his, her composure shattered.
His brows knitted in fear.
"What did they do?"
Yunxi swallowed tightly.
"Roulan," she whispered. "She… she found out."
Lingchen's jaw locked.
"Found out what?"
Yunxi hesitated.
Her breath trembled.
He leaned closer, voice low and steady.
"Yunxi. Tell me."
"She knows about the twins."
The world went very, very still.
Lingchen's eyes widened—slowly, sharply, devastatingly—before a cold murderous rage worked its way across his face.
"Are you certain?" he asked, voice dangerously calm.
"She confronted me. In the washroom. She said she knew they were mine. She threatened them."
Lingchen's fists clenched so tightly the veins in his arms strained.
Meixi gasped softly behind them, having heard only the last part.
Yunxi turned immediately.
"Meixi, listen. Forget what you heard. Don't repeat it to anyone."
Meixi nodded vigorously, her face pale.
"Of course, jie. I won't say a word."
Lingchen took Yunxi's wrist gently.
"Get in the car."
"Lingchen—"
"Now."
There was no room for argument.
This was no longer about scandal.
This was no longer about rumors.
This was war.
⸻
⸻ Inside the Maybach
The moment the doors closed, sealing them inside, the suffocating tension burst.
Lingchen reached out, pulling Yunxi into his arms without hesitation.
She stiffened at first.
Then melted.
The warmth of his embrace was overwhelming—steady, grounding, safe.
"You're shaking," he muttered softly into her hair.
She hadn't realized she was.
He tightened his hold.
"I won't let them touch you. Or the children. I swear it."
Her chest constricted painfully.
She wanted to believe him.
But the Shi family had already shown how low they could go.
"Lingchen," she whispered, "she said she'll expose them. The school, my address, everything. If she finds proof—"
"She won't."
His voice was steel.
"I'll bury the Shi family before I let them harm a single strand of their hair."
Yunxi's breath hitched.
He was serious.
Deadly serious.
But that didn't erase her fears.
"Lingchen, what if she spreads the rumor before you can stop her? What if she hints that you're involved with me? Or that the kids are—"
He cupped her face, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"Then I'll deal with it."
She swallowed.
"What if it affects your company?"
"I don't care."
"Your reputation?"
"I don't care."
Her eyes trembled.
"And if the world turns against me?"
Lingchen leaned in until his forehead touched hers.
"Then I'll stand in front and take every blow meant for you."
Her breath broke.
For a moment, the fear melted.
For a moment, she felt protected.
Seen.
Shielded.
But reality returned quickly.
"Roulan won't stop," Yunxi whispered. "Now that she thinks she has something to use against me… she'll drag my children into the mud."
Lingchen's expression shifted instantly.
Cold.
Violent.
Dangerous.
"She crossed the last line."
He pulled out his phone.
"Lingchen?" Yunxi asked softly.
He glanced at her.
"I'm ending this."
He dialed a number.
"Xiolan," he said when the hacker answered, "I need everything you can dig up on Shi Roulan. Every crime. Every scandal. Every dirty deal she's ever made."
Yunxi's eyes widened.
"Lingchen—"
He held her gaze.
"You're not fighting this alone anymore."
The call ended.
Lingchen took her hand, his thumb brushing over her knuckles.
"You're safe," he murmured.
"And whoever threatens you—threatens us—will pay."
Her heart stilled.
Us.
He had said us.
But she didn't have time to process it.
Because as the car rolled forward—
A figure stepped out from behind a pillar.
Qin Yuhan.
His expression twisted with confusion, disbelief, and something uglier—jealousy.
He had heard just enough.
And Roulan had given him a weapon he fully intended to use.