CHAPTER 63 — The First Strike Lands
Night fell over Phoenix Entertainment like a curtain of smoke.
Shi Yunxi didn't go home immediately.
She sat in the backseat of Mu Lingchen's car, Rui sleeping against her shoulder, while the twins were escorted home under extra security on Lingchen's orders. The city lights rolled past the windows, cold and distant—nothing like the warmth she desperately needed.
Mu Lingchen didn't speak at first.
He drove in silence, jaw tight, eyes fixed forward.
It wasn't the silence of anger.
It was the silence of a man calculating every threat, every danger, every possible angle to protect what was his.
Finally—
"Yunxi," he said quietly, "I need you to tell me everything the Shi family did."
Her breath hitched.
Everything?
She didn't think anyone could bear that much darkness.
But Lingchen turned to her briefly, and in his eyes she found something she had never seen before—
Not pity.
Not shock.
Not judgment.
But a promise:
You're not carrying this alone anymore.
And so she spoke.
Not everything.
Not yet.
But enough.
"They wanted to send me abroad," she whispered. "Not for school… but because they wanted me out of sight. Hidden."
Lingchen's hands tightened on the steering wheel.
"They tried to marry me off," she continued, voice low. "To someone who needed a quiet, obedient wife. Someone who wouldn't fight or talk or embarrass them."
Lingchen exhaled sharply—barely holding back fury.
"But when I refused… they punished me. They cut off my cards. Took my identity documents. Monitored my calls. Controlled everything. I was living in that house, but I wasn't living."
Rui shifted in his sleep, and Yunxi lowered her voice.
"I kept thinking… if I stayed, they would break me. And when I discovered I was pregnant—I knew they would break my children too."
A long silence.
Then—
"You did the bravest thing a mother could do," Lingchen said softly. "You saved them."
His words wrapped around her like something gentle and warm.
Something she hadn't felt in years.
But before she could respond—
Her phone vibrated violently.
A barrage of notifications flooded her screen.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Her heart dropped.
"Yunxi," Lingchen said sharply. "What is it?"
Her fingers shook as she opened the first news alert.
Her blood ran cold.
[BREAKING: Actress Shi Yunxi Accused of Drugging Mu Lingchen Three Years Ago — Insiders Claim She Seduced Him to Gain Fame]
She scrolled down.
Another.
['Evidence' Released — Anonymous Staff Member Claims Shi Yunxi Confessed to Trapping Mu Lingchen]
Then another.
[Shi Yunxi's Mysterious Disappearance Explained? Sources Say She Fled After 'Accidentally' Getting Pregnant]
Then—
The worst one.
A blurry picture.
Taken three years ago in a bar hallway.
Her silhouette.
Lingchen's silhouette.
A moment that wasn't even intimate.
But the angle…
the lighting…
the timing…
It made it look like something shameful.
Lingchen slammed the brakes.
Hard.
They were in front of her apartment building, but the world outside no longer existed.
His expression turned lethal.
"Who did this?"
Yunxi's breath trembled.
"It's Roulan," she whispered. "And Yuhan. They're working together."
Lingchen didn't speak.
He didn't have to.
The rage pouring off him was enough to make the air vibrate.
He reached for her gently, cupping her cheek.
"Yunxi," he said quietly. Too quietly. "Listen to me."
She looked up at him, eyes burning.
"This is only the beginning," he warned.
She swallowed hard.
"I know."
"But so is my retaliation."
Her breath stilled.
He leaned closer, voice dropping into something dangerous and absolute.
"They want a war?" he asked.
"They'll have one."
There was no hesitation.
No doubt.
No fear.
Mu Lingchen was not a man who fought to win.
He was a man who fought to destroy.
And for her—
For their children—
He was ready to burn the world.
But Yunxi—
She wasn't thinking about herself anymore.
Her voice broke when she whispered:
"Lingchen… what about the kids? This will spread to their school. Their friends. Everyone."
Lingchen reached out.
Took her hand.
Held it firm.
"They will be protected," he promised. "From tomorrow onwards, the Mu family will announce a new security protocol. No one will touch our kids. No one will harass them. They'll be safer than they've ever been in their lives."
Her chest tightened at the word our.
But before she could respond—
Another notification tone chimed.
Yunxi looked down.
Her face went white.
It was a live-stream link.
Roulan's voice echoed through the speakers:
"I'm only speaking out because I love my sister and I hate seeing her go down this path… Shi Yunxi wasn't innocent. She forced Mu Lingchen that night. She admitted it to me herself—"
Yunxi's grip on the phone slipped.
Her knees nearly buckled.
Lingchen caught her.
Held her upright.
Held her together.
His voice was ice.
"Get Rui upstairs," he said softly, deadly calm. "I'll handle the rest."
"Lingchen…"
"This ends tonight."
And in that moment—
For the first time—
Shi Yunxi believed it.
She wasn't fighting alone anymore.
Not against the Shi family.
Not against Roulan.
Not against the world.
This time—
She had a storm standing behind her.
And Roulan had no idea the hell she had just unleashed.