The message on Anqi's phone lay between them like a poisoned thorn.
Stay away from Shen Zhi if you know what's good for you.
It was short, but not careless. Not random. Not the kind of thing a troll would type for fun. There was a chilled precision to it, almost elegant in its cruelty.
Shen Zhi stared at the screen for a long, silent moment, his jaw tightening in a way Anqi had never seen before. His calm was too controlled, too still. The kind of stillness that made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.
Lin Xu, sitting on the couch, leaned forward with his elbows on his knees."So who do we beat up first?" he asked brightly. "Just give me a name. I'll bring the emotional trauma."
Anqi smacked him lightly with a cushion. "This is serious."
"That's why I'm asking!" Lin Xu protested, eyes wide. "My fists are metaphorical but my loyalty is real."
Shen Zhi did not respond. He continued staring at the phone as if memorizing every pixel on the screen. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and cutting.
"This wasn't written by someone acting on impulse. It's too measured."
Anqi pulled her knees up, hugging them. "So… someone planned this?"
"Yes."
"And they're watching me?"
He didn't sugarcoat it.
"It's possible."
Her breath hitched. Anxiety crept into her chest like cold water.
Shen Zhi stepped closer—not touching her, but near enough that she felt a thread of steadiness return to her pulse. His presence had weight, but not the crushing kind. The protective kind. Like a shield made of winter steel.
"You're safe right now," he said quietly.
Lin Xu's eyebrows shot up. "Okay, who gave you permission to sound comforting? That's my job."
"Your job is to cause chaos," Shen Zhi replied without turning.
"True. But I also comfort! Occasionally!"
Anqi gave a small, watery laugh. "He does. Badly."
"HEY—"
She leaned back into the couch, breathing deeply. "I just don't want this to turn into something big. The internet is already crazy. If more rumors start, it'll drag you into it."
"I do not care about rumors," Shen Zhi said.
"But you're a CEO—"
"I still do not care."
The firmness in his tone startled them both.
Anqi lowered her gaze. "I don't want to be a problem in your life."
"You are not a problem."
"But your world and mine, they don't mix."
"Then they will learn."
She looked up slowly. Something in his expression made her chest warm and uneasy at the same time. He wasn't being dramatic. He wasn't trying to impress her. He meant every word, and that terrified her.
Lin Xu cleared his throat loudly. "Okay, before you two start making heart eyes again—" Anqi threw a pillow at his face, but her cheeks warmed.
Shen Zhi tapped her phone with his thumb. "I'm going to have this number traced. Whoever sent this will be found."
Anqi paled. "But what if it turns into a bigger fight? What if this causes problems for you—"
"I'm not negotiating your safety."
She opened her mouth, but no argument came out. He had spoken with a certainty she didn't know how to break.
His phone buzzed. He answered instantly.
"Xu Chen. Report."
Lin Xu whispered to Anqi, "We're in CEO mode now. He might start speaking in money."
She elbowed him.
Xu Chen's voice crackled through.
"Sir… someone else has already been asking about Miss Gu."
Shen Zhi straightened. "Who?"
A beat of hesitation.
"…Xu Ruyan."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Anqi looked between them, confused. "Who is that?"
Shen Zhi exhaled slowly, fingers curling around his phone.
"My fiancée."
Lin Xu shot to his feet. "YOUR WHAT?!"
Anqi's blanket slipped from her hands. "Fiancée…?"
"That term is inaccurate," Shen Zhi said sharply. "Our families arranged it when we were children. I never accepted it."
"But she thinks you're engaged?" Anqi whispered.
"Yes."
"And your parents?"
"Yes."
"And the media?"
"Yes."
Anqi felt her stomach twist into a knot. "And she… knows about me?"
"She knows something is happening," he admitted.
Lin Xu threw his hands up. "Great! Fantastic! Amazing! Another person who wants to murder my pancake! How fun!"
Shen Zhi ignored him, though a small crack had formed in his composure.
"Ruyan will not harm you physically," he said. "But she will try to remove you."
"Remove me…?"
"From my life."
Her heart squeezed. "Why would she..."
"Because she wants the position that comes with my name."
Lin Xu muttered, "So she wants to marry your wallet."
Anqi whispered the real fear.
"She hates me already, doesn't she."
Shen Zhi's eyes softened—barely. "She does not know you. Her hatred is based on imagination, not truth."
"But imagination is powerful," Anqi said quietly. "Especially when you're from a world where people like me don't belong."
For a moment, Shen Zhi didn't have an answer.
Then—
There was a knock on the door.
Three precise taps. Cold. Deliberate.
Lin Xu stiffened. "Who knocks like that? A serial killer?"
Shen Zhi moved instantly, stepping in front of Anqi without thought. "Stay behind me."
Anqi clutched the back of his shirt on instinct. It was subtle, but he felt it. She felt him feel it. A strange, warm tension passed through the air.
He opened the door.
A woman stood outside.
Tall. Elegant. Beautiful. Perfectly controlled. Eyes sharp enough to cut through silk. Her presence radiated wealth the same way Shen Zhi radiated authority.
She looked at him first—and smiled. A smile that held no warmth. Then she turned her gaze onto Anqi.
Xu Ruyan.
Her voice was smooth and cool, like water over marble.
"So," she said, "this is the little girl making trouble."
Anqi's blood ran cold.
Lin Xu bolted upright from the couch. "Who are you calling little? Do you want to fight?!"
Ruyan didn't bother acknowledging him.
She took a graceful step inside, uninvited.
"Zhi," she said, "imagine my surprise when I heard you've been visiting a woman's apartment before noon."
Shen Zhi's tone sharpened. "Leave."
Ruyan ignored him entirely and walked toward Anqi with predatory grace.
"So you're the reason he's been rejecting my calls.
"Her eyes flickered over Anqi like she was evaluating a piece of cheap fabric. "Sweet face. Innocent look. No backbone."
Anqi's throat tightened.
Lin Xu jumped in front of her. "SHE HAS A BACKBONE! IT'S RIGHT THERE!"
"Lin Xu, not now," Anqi whispered.
Ruyan leaned closer to her. "Do you really think you can stand beside someone like Shen Zhi? Girls like you burn out the moment the light hits them."
Anqi swallowed. She didn't blink. She didn't step back. For once, something firm settled in her spine.
"I never said I could stand beside him," she said quietly. "But I won't let you talk to me like I'm dirt."
Shen Zhi froze. Even Ruyan blinked.
Lin Xu whispered, shocked, "That's my girl."
Ruyan's expression snapped back into disdain. "You have no idea what world you're stepping into."
Shen Zhi stepped forward, voice like ice cracking.
"Ruyan. Leave her alone."
Her lips curled. "Defending her already? My my. You've changed."
"I said leave."
She looked between them one more time, taking in the closeness, the tension, the fear and devotion hanging between them.
Then she laughed softly. A quiet, dangerous sound.
"Oh, Zhi. If you insist on protecting her…then she is now my problem."
Anqi's heart dropped.
Ruyan turned to the door, pausing only to give Anqi one last sharp, knowing smile.
"Be careful, little streamer. You shine too brightly for a world that wants shadows."
And then she was gone.
The door clicked shut.
The silence that followed felt heavy with threat.
Anqi trembled once. Just once. And Shen Zhi moved—not touching her, but close enough that she felt warmth replace the cold.
"You did nothing wrong," he said quietly.
She looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes.
"Shen Zhi," she whispered, "I'm scared."
He didn't hesitate.
"I'm here."
And for the first time since the message arrived, she believed she wasn't facing this alone.