Anqi woke up the next morning with a heaviness she couldn't shake. She stared at her ceiling for a long moment before pulling her pillow over her head. She wanted to bury herself there permanently, hidden away from banquets, CEOs, trolls, and unexpected confessions from dramatic best friends.
But life had other plans.
Her phone buzzed nonstop on her nightstand. She peeked out from under her pillow like a startled hamster and grabbed it.
Notifications exploded across her screen.
Her name was trending.
Her stream clips from last night were viral.
And worse, someone had posted pictures from the banquet again.
This time, they were zoomed in. Her falling. Shen Zhi catching her. His hand on her waist. His eyes fixed on her.
Some captions were sweet. Some were curious. But many were sharp like broken glass.
"Why is she always causing trouble?"
"She looks so desperate."
"She's not even that pretty."
"Is Shen Zhi's type really this low?"
"She's obviously using him for fame."
Anqi swallowed hard, her chest tightening. She turned off her phone and pressed it against her forehead as if willing the world to go away.
"Not today," she whispered. "Please not today."
But ignoring the world didn't stop it.
A moment later, her doorbell rang.
She groaned into her pillow.
"There is no escape."
Dragging herself up, she shuffled to the door in oversized pajamas and opened it.
Shen Zhi stood there.
Again.
This time with a slightly chilled expression, as if he had fought with winter itself before knocking.
Her soul left her body. "Why are you here at nine in the morning?"
His eyes swept over her slowly - messy hair, puffy eyes, slippers shaped like tiny dinosaurs.
"You seem upset," he said simply.
"I am always upset in the morning."
"You are upset in a different way today."
She blinked. He noticed that?
He stepped inside without waiting for permission, though he paused after two steps, realizing this was her space again and not his office.
"May I come in?"
She nodded silently.
He walked in with a quiet tension in his movements, as if ready to dismantle the world on her behalf if she asked. She hugged her pajama sleeves and leaned on the edge of her couch.
"You saw the internet, didn't you?" she whispered.
"Yes."
"Everyone thinks I'm embarrassing."
"They are wrong."
She laughed weakly. "You keep saying that."
"Because it is true."
She looked down. "Maybe it doesn't feel true to me."
For a moment, silence stretched between them. A gentle but aching sort of silence.
Shen Zhi approached her slowly, carefully, as if she were made of something fragile. Not glass. Something warmer. Something he didn't want to crack.
He stopped only when he was close enough for her to feel his presence but not overwhelmed by it.
"I do not want you looking at those comments," he said.
Her lips trembled. "I can't help it."
"You do not need to listen to people who do not know you."
"That's easy for you to say. Everyone in your world respects you."
He hesitated before replying...and that hesitation told her more than any sentence could.
"They respect my position. Not me."
She looked up.
There it was. Another piece of him. Soft. Quiet. Unprotected.
"Anqi," he continued, "you have something I do not. Something I value."
"What is that?"
"People who care about you. Not your status. Not your family name. You."
She stared at him. He meant Lin Xu. He meant her streaming fans. He meant… himself.
Her throat tightened.
"Shen Zhi," she whispered, "why are you being so kind to me lately?"
He didn't look away this time.
"Because I want to be."
Her heart stuttered.
He took one small step closer.
"And because," he added, voice dropping lower, "you make me forget the parts of myself I thought I was trapped in."
Her breath caught. She didn't know how to respond. She didn't know if she should respond.
Before the moment could deepen, her window rattled.
"ANQIIIIIIII OPEN THE WINDOW— I BROUGHT BREAKFAST—"
Lin Xu's voice blasted through the glass like a siren.
Shen Zhi visibly deflated. The temperature in the room dropped two degrees.
Anqi scrambled to the window. "Lin Xu! Use the door like a normal person!"
"I DID BUT YOU DIDN'T ANSWER."
"You didn't wait long enough!"
"I waited thirty seconds."
She facepalmed.
She opened the door, and Lin Xu burst in holding a bag of buns, beaming—until he saw Shen Zhi.
His smile died. His eyes narrowed. His shoulders rose like an angry cat puffing up.
"You again?" he hissed.
Shen Zhi stared back. "Yes."
Lin Xu dramatically pointed at him. "Stop appearing in her house. It's suspicious."
"She invited me."
"No, she didn't."
Anqi lifted her hand. "I… kind of did."
Lin Xu gasped in betrayal.
"What happened to you? You used to fear men in suits! You used to panic around authority! Now you're letting a billionaire inside your living room like it's a hotel lobby? You've changed!"
Anqi threw a cushion at him.
Shen Zhi watched the exchange with a bewildered tightness around his eyes, like someone watching two birds fight over bread crumbs.
Lin Xu stepped between them, chest puffed up.
"You stay on that side. She stays on this side. You two do not stand together unless supervised by a professional."
"I do not require supervision," Shen Zhi replied calmly.
"I beg to differ!"
Anqi groaned, holding her head. "Please stop shouting. My soul is fragile."
Lin Xu immediately softened, cupping her face like a concerned grandmother. "You look tired. Did you cry? Who do I fight?"
"No fighting," she muttered.
Shen Zhi stood silently, but something sharpened in his eyes at Lin Xu's tenderness.
Lin Xu noticed the stare. "What? What are you glaring at?"
"I am not glaring."
"You are glaring with your entire face!"
"Your proximity to her is excessive."
"And your calmness is fake!"
Anqi stepped between them. "Both of you, sit down before I sprinkle water on you like angry cats."
They reluctantly sat — on opposite ends of the couch.
She settled between them, exhausted.
Lin Xu suddenly froze.
"Oh my god… you're sitting between us. Like we're… like we're some weird romance triangle."
Shen Zhi's eyebrow twitched with visible irritation. Anqi groaned again.
But before they could start bickering, her phone buzzed.
A new message. Unknown number. One sentence.
"Stay away from Shen Zhi if you know what's good for you."
She stared at it.
Her heart chilled.
Lin Xu leaned over and read it. His expression changed instantly.
"Who sent that?"
Shen Zhi saw her face pale and reached for her phone gently. She didn't resist.
His eyes scanned the message.
His expression didn't change visibly. But something cold slipped into the room. Something dangerous.
"Whoever sent this," he said quietly, "is about to regret it."
Lin Xu swallowed. Anqi looked terrified.
Shen Zhi stood up slowly, controlled but furious, and turned to her.
"You are not dealing with this alone."
He paused.
"And you will not stay away from me."
Her breath trembled.
This wasn't just gossip anymore. This wasn't just scandal.
A threat had begun.
And Shen Zhi was already preparing for war.