The message on Anqi's phone was short, but it settled in the room like a cold draft.
Stay away from Shen Zhi if you know what is good for you.
She stared at the words for a long moment. She did not crumble or shake, nor did she fold into herself. Instead, she let the message sit in her mind while she breathed slowly through the discomfort. After a few seconds, she placed the phone on the table and leaned back.
"I am not going to hide because of that." Her voice was quiet but steady.
Lin Xu shot upright on the couch and pointed at her with dramatic pride. "This is exactly why you are my favorite person in this universe."
Shen Zhi, still standing near the window, did not smile. But something in his eyes shifted, as if he had just witnessed another layer of her he had not expected. He walked toward her, his steps deliberate, the kind of controlled grace that always suggested a man used to moving through dangerous places without making a sound.
"You handled it calmly," he observed.
"I handled it the only way I know," Anqi replied. "If I panic at every shadow, I will never live a normal day."
Lin Xu nodded vigorously. "Exactly. Panic is my job. She does the thinking part."
Anqi nudged him with her foot but kept her gaze on Shen Zhi.
"Do you think the message is serious?" she asked.
"Yes," he answered without hesitation. "It is not random. The tone is too careful."
Anqi absorbed that quietly. "Then someone has already been paying attention."
"They have," he confirmed.
Her shoulders straightened in response rather than curling inward. "Then they will not scare me off."
Lin Xu let out a small victory sound under his breath. "She is a warrior."
Shen Zhi's expression softened by a fraction. "Strength is not only loud," he said. "Sometimes it looks like this."
Anqi met his eyes, trying to understand the warmth in his tone. "Strength does not change the situation. Someone is threatening me to keep away from you."
"You do not have to obey anyone's demand." His voice deepened, gentle but firm.
Lin Xu nodded so hard his hair bounced. "Yes, exactly. If anyone should stay away, it is you from them."
Anqi gave him a look. "Lin Xu, that sentence made no grammatical sense."
"It made emotional sense."
Shen Zhi took a slow breath. He looked at Anqi, and his expression became serious in a way that made her pulse quicken. "I want you to pack a few things."
She blinked. "Right now?"
"You are not staying here tonight."
Lin Xu sprang to his feet as if electrocuted. "Hold on. Where is she going? Why is she going? Who authorized this trip? Nobody asked me."
"You are not the decision maker," Shen Zhi replied calmly.
"I absolutely am," Lin Xu insisted. "I am her emotional support system."
"You are a distraction."
"I take offense to that. But continue."
Shen Zhi turned fully toward Anqi again. "It is safer if you stay at my residence for now."
Anqi frowned slightly. "Because of one message?"
"It is no longer one message," Shen Zhi said. "Look at your phone."
She picked it up again and stared at the new notification that had appeared minutes earlier. This time it was not just text. There was a photograph attached. The picture showed Shen Zhi entering her building earlier that morning. The angle was distant, taken across the street, but clear enough to see him walking through the front door.
Lin Xu leaned in and hissed. "That is stalking. That is professional-level stalking. That is horror film material."
Anqi did not go pale. Instead, she sat straighter, gripping the phone tightly. "So they are watching the building."
"Yes," Shen Zhi answered.
"And waiting for what?" she murmured.
Shen Zhi stepped closer. Her hand lowered slowly, but she did not retreat. He looked directly into her eyes, and the quiet between them filled with something warm and electric.
"You are not in danger right now," he said, "but you will not remain alone long enough for danger to find you."
Anqi shook her head. "I can take care of myself."
"I do not doubt that," he said. "But you should not have to."
For the first time, her breath caught. His voice held a sincerity she was not prepared for.
Lin Xu flapped his hands dramatically. "This is exactly why I am suffering. Every time you talk like that, my soul screams."
Anqi exhaled and rubbed her temples. "Lin Xu, please."
Shen Zhi continued, gentle and unwavering. "Come with me. Not because you are afraid. But because this situation is escalating, and I cannot protect you from afar."
She looked at him for a long moment. "I am not a fragile person."
"I know," he said. "That is why I trust you to walk beside me."
The room fell quiet.
Her heart tightened in her chest. She studied him again. This man who hated touch. This man who had been alone his entire life. This man who had never allowed anyone to stand close. And yet here he was, stepping closer to her with every breath.
She stood slowly.
"Then I will go."
Lin Xu gasped. "She agreed. She actually agreed. The prophecy has begun."
"Lin Xu," she groaned, "stop narrating my life."
Shen Zhi looked visibly relieved, but only for a heartbeat before his mask returned.
They were about to gather her things when Shen Zhi's phone rang. He answered immediately.
"Report."
Xu Chen's voice trembled on the other end. "Sir, the number was traced. It is registered to Xu Ruyan's personal assistant."
Lin Xu nearly choked on air. "Her assistant? Are you kidding me?"
Anqi's jaw tightened. "So she is involved."
Shen Zhi shook his head. "She is not careless enough to use her own assistant for something like this. She is planning something more elaborate. This message is only the beginning."
Anqi took a steady breath. "Then I suppose we step forward. Not backward."
Shen Zhi's eyes softened as he watched her. "Exactly."
She held his gaze without flinching. He stepped toward her again, and this time she did not move away.
For the first time, he allowed himself to feel how natural that small closeness felt.
"Let us go," he said quietly.
Anqi nodded, gathering her coat and bag. Lin Xu struggled to shove snacks into his backpack as if preparing for a long journey.
Shen Zhi opened the door for her. She walked toward him without hesitation.
She was not running. She was not hiding. She was not bending under pressure.
She was simply choosing.
When she stepped past him, his fingers brushed the air near hers, an almost-touch he refused to complete. Not yet. Not now. But the intent was unmistakable.
She glanced back at him.
"Shen Zhi," she whispered, "I am not afraid."
He met her gaze, and something unguarded flickered through him.
"I know," he said. "That is why I am."
Neither of them noticed the car parked across the street.
Inside, Xu Ruyan lowered her window slightly, watching the trio step out. Her expression remained calm, elegant, and cruel.
"So she follows him even when warned," she murmured. "Good. It will make the next steps easier."
The first move had been played.
The game had truly begun.