The next morning, Dr. Shen was in the yard, staring at the garden. He was deep in thought, his brow furrowed.
Zhenlong walked out and stood beside him. "What are you thinking about so hard?"
Dr. Shen sighed. "I'm thinking about Zhiyuan. Now he knows about... everything. His body. His father. The baby. But there's one big thing left."
"What?" Zhenlong asked.
"His aunt," Dr. Shen said quietly. "Ruifen. Should we tell him what she's done? The poisoning. The attacks. He will want to go back to his life one day, won't he? And when he does... wouldn't he want revenge? He deserves to know."
Zhenlong nodded slowly, his face serious. "You're right. I was also holding back because of zhiyuan. I wanted to protect him from more pain. But now... he knows the big truth. Now it's time. Time to plan how to trap that snake, Ruifen, for good. But... his body hasn't fully healed yet. We shouldn't trouble him with this stress."
Dr. Shen thought for a moment. "But mentally... I think he is much better now. Lighter. Maybe just talking about a plan... maybe just including him... it wouldn't hurt, right? He's not a child. He's a CEO. He's smart."
Zhenlong thought about it, then nodded. "Okay. We can include him. Carefully."
There was a pause. Dr. Shen hesitated, then spoke again, his voice lower. "I saw what you did last night. To Yichen. By the pool."
Zhenlong stiffened but didn't deny it.
"I don't think... you should choose who he stays with," Dr. Shen said gently. "Love isn't something you can order someone to stay away from."
Zhenlong looked down at the grass. "I know that. But I am his father. I'm only doing this for his own good. You don't understand, Shen. Yichen isn't just... a part of this world. He's been my right-hand man. My shadow. He has made many, many enemies. Powerful, cruel enemies."
He ran a hand over his face, looking tired. "Especially... that motherfucker, Louis."
Dr. Shen's eyes widened slightly at the name.
Zhenlong sighed heavily. "Yichen once took his eyeball out. In a fight. The man is currently in a coma in some hospital. But I know for sure, once he wakes up... he will come for Yichen. He will want blood."
He looked at Dr. Shen, his eyes full of a father's fear. "I know these people. And I know Yichen. He is an idiot! He is loyal and fierce, and he has made so many enemies because he use his fist without thinking! And it scares me. What if...?"
He couldn't finish the sentence. The thought was too terrible. What if they use Yichen to get to Zhiyuan? What if Zhiyuan gets hurt because he loves the wrong man?
He just looked away, his jaw tight.
Dr. Shen was speechless for a long moment. He finally sighed, understanding the impossible position. "I... I can't say anything then. It's a father's worry. I understand that fear. But I'm afraid, that by separating them, Zhiyuan will hate you for it."
With that, Dr. Shen gave him a last, sympathetic look and turned to walk back inside, leaving Zhenlong alone in the yard.
Zhenlong stood there, the morning sun feeling cold on his skin. He stared at nothing, the same question pounding in his head, over and over.
Am I doing the right thing... or am I just making the same mistakes all over again?
Meanwhile Zhiyuan woke up feeling a deep, unusual peace. He blinked his eyes open slowly, a small smile on his lips.
Then he jumped.
"Ah!"
Yichen was sitting on the floor right beside the bed, his chin resting on the mattress, just... staring at Zhiyuan's face.
Zhiyuan's hand flew to his chest. "Why are you staring at me like that? It's scary!" he said, trying to sound annoyed, but his cheeks were turning pink.
Yichen didn't answer with words. He simply got up, climbed onto the bed, and lay down beside him. In one smooth motion, he wrapped his arms around Zhiyuan and pulled him close, burying his face in Zhiyuan's chest.
"I missed you," Yichen mumbled, his voice muffled against Zhiyuan's skin.
Zhiyuan chuckled, his heart doing a happy flip. "We were just a room apart. All night."
Yichen lifted his head just enough to look into Zhiyuan's eyes. His own eyes were soft and serious. "Did you sleep well?"
Zhiyuan nodded, smiling. "Yeah. I did."
A small, relieved smile touched Yichen's lips. He buried his face again, this time nuzzling into Zhiyuan's chest. The movement tickled, making Zhiyuan squirm and let out a quiet giggle.
The sound made Yichen look up again. He propped himself on one elbow, gazing at Zhiyuan with an intensity that made Zhiyuan's breath catch.
"You love me?" Yichen asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Zhiyuan's eyes widened. He looked away, his cheeks flushing a deep red. He was too embarrassed. He tried to frown. "No. I don't."
A slow, knowing smile spread across Yichen's face. He didn't argue. Instead, he gently pulled Zhiyuan closer and pressed a soft, firm kiss to his lips. When he pulled back, he whispered against them, "But I love you."
Zhiyuan's blush deepened. He turned his face to the side, hiding in the pillow. "Why are you telling me this so suddenly?"
Yichen hesitated. The shadow of his conversation with Zhenlong passed behind his eyes, but he pushed it away. He forced another smile.
"I'm just telling you because I want you to know," Yichen said, his thumb stroking Zhiyuan's cheek. "Whatever I do in the future... I'll do it just because I love you. Remember that, okay?"
Zhiyuan froze. The happy feeling faded a little. He turned back to look at Yichen, searching his face. "What do you mean? What will you do?"
Yichen's smile became a little forced. He leaned in and kissed Zhiyuan's forehead. "I mean... one day, if someone wants to take my life in place of yours... I'll give it to them without a second thought. That's... what I meant."
But deep down, they both knew he meant something else.
Yichen couldn't bear the questioning look in Zhiyuan's eyes any longer. He quickly sat up.
"Go freshen up," he said, his voice suddenly too bright. "Come down for breakfast. Dr. Shen made congee."
Zhiyuan nodded slowly, the smile returning but a little confused. "Okay."
Yichen leaned down and kissed him one last time a kiss that felt like a goodbye and a promise all at once. Then, before Zhiyuan could say anything else, Yichen turned and practically ran out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.
Zhiyuan was left alone in the sunlit bed, touching his lips, his heart full of love and a tiny, nagging seed of worry he couldn't quite name.
Minutes later
They all sat down for breakfast. The mood was serious. Dr. Shen and Zhenlong exchanged a look.
"Zhiyuan," Zhenlong began, his voice low. "There is one more thing we need to tell you. About your Aunt Ruifen."
Zhiyuan put his spoon down. "What about her?"
"It was her," Dr. Shen said gently. "All of it. The poison. The attacks. We believe she was also the reason... your father Wenhao died. We don't have the final proof yet, but we know."
The words hit Zhiyuan like a physical blow. He felt heartbroken, but a hot, sharp anger quickly rose to cover the pain.
"I should have known it sooner," he whispered, his hands clenching into fists on the table. "Yichen kept telling me to be careful. That she's weird. I just... I couldn't understand. I couldn't believe it."
He turned to look at Yichen, expecting to see his supportive gaze. But Yichen wasn't looking at him. He was staring blankly at his bowl, his mind clearly somewhere else.
Meanwhile, in Yichen's mind, a storm was raging:
'How do I do this? How do I make him fall out of love with me? Should I be cold? Should I ignore him? Should I pretend I don't care? It will break his heart. It will break mine. But it's the only way to keep him safe from my world...'
Zhiyuan frowned, pulling his attention back to the adults. "How do you both know for sure it's her?"
Dr. Shen sighed. "I know because Ruifen had always been jealous of Wenhao. Their whole lives. Then, after your grandfather died, she suddenly became very nice to him. Helpful. And then... everything started to go wrong. It makes sense, especially since..." He trailed off.
"Since what?" Zhiyuan pressed.
"Since she's not the real daughter of the Liang family," Dr. Shen said quietly.
Zhiyuan's eyes widened. "What? What do you mean, not the real daughter?"
Dr. Shen shook his head. "It's a long, old family story. Very messy. We will talk about it later. For now, the important thing is Ruifen."
Zhiyuan nodded, though he was burning with new questions. He turned to his father. "Dad... what makes you so sure? Did you have proof?"
Zhenlong's face darkened with old pain. He hesitated before speaking.
"Your father... Wenhao... he called me. Right before the accident."
Everyone at the table went still.
"He was on the road," Zhenlong continued, his voice rough. "He said, 'I've been getting followed. I don't know if I'll be able to make it to the company.'"
Zhenlong closed his eyes, remembering the panic in Wenhao's voice. "He told me, 'You have to go to the company. Get to the USB drive in the attached hidden room in my office. That USB has all the proof. Records of Ruifen's illegal work. Financial trails. And... some footage.'"
He opened his eyes, looking at his son. "Before I could ask him more... there was a sound. A horrible crashing sound. And then... the call went dead."
The silence around the breakfast table was heavy. The ghost of that last phone call hung in the air.
Zhiyuan looked from Zhenlong's grief-stricken face to Dr. Shen's sad one, and finally to Yichen, who was still lost in his own tortured thoughts, completely disconnected from the devastating story being told.
Zhiyuan stared at his father, the story painting a horrific picture in his mind. His own father, scared, being chased, desperately passing on a final message.
"And you... you went? To the office?" Zhiyuan asked, his voice barely a whisper.
Zhenlong nodded, his jaw tight. "I went immediately. I broke into the Liang Group that night. I found the hidden room he talked about. But the safe was empty. The USB was already gone."
"Ruifen," Zhiyuan stated, the name tasting like poison.
"Or someone working for her," Dr. Shen added. "She must have found out he was gathering evidence. That's why she had to act fast."
"The footage," Zhiyuan pressed. "What was on it?"
Zhenlong and Dr. Shen shared another look. This one was graver.
"We don't know for sure," Zhenlong admitted. "Wenhao only said 'footage.' But given the timing, and what happened... we have always believed it might have been proof of the setup."
The final piece of the puzzle slammed into place for Zhiyuan. It wasn't just business rivalry or jealousy. It was cold-blooded murder. Premeditated. His gentle father, killed for an empire.
The anger crystallized inside him, cold and sharp. The sadness was still there, but it was now fuel.
"So she has it. The USB. She has the proof of her own crime."
"Likely," Zhenlong said. "And perhaps there are more copies or hidden other evidence. That's why she's still searching his old office. That's why she's so desperate to find his 'treasure' the rest of the evidence. She needs to find and destroy it all to be truly safe."
Zhiyuan's CEO mind, sharp and strategic, clicked into gear. The grief and shock were pushed to the side. A target was now clear.
"Then we need to find it first," he said, his voice firm and clear. It wasn't a question. It was a plan.
He finally turned his full attention to Yichen, who was still staring into space, his food untouched. "Yichen."
Yichen didn't react.
"Yichen!" Zhiyuan's voice was sharper.
Yichen flinched, blinking as if waking up. "Huh? Yes? Sorry, what?"
Zhiyuan studied him. The distance in his eyes was new. And worrying. "We need a plan. To get back into the Liang Group. To find what my father hid before Ruifen does."
Yichen's response was slow, automatic. "Of course. Your safety is the priority. We'll secure the perimeter and—"
"I'm not talking about hiding," Zhiyuan interrupted, his gaze intense. "I'm talking about going back. To take back what's mine. To expose her. I need you with me on this. Fully with me. Where is your head right now?"
The question was a direct challenge. It hung in the air between them, cutting through Yichen's fog of guilt and fatalistic planning. He looked into Zhiyuan's determined eyes the eyes of the man he loved, who was ready to fight, not run.
Yichen's carefully constructed wall of "staying away" began to crack. How could he pull away when Zhiyuan was walking directly into the lion's den? How could he protect him from a distance if the battle was here and now?
He swallowed hard, the conflict tearing him apart. "I'm... I'm here," he said, but the words felt weak even to him.
Zhiyuan's frown deepened. He could feel the shift in Yichen, the withdrawal. It scared him more than any assassin had. The fight with Ruifen was clear. But the sudden, silent battle for the man beside him was one he didn't know how to fight.
After breakfast, Zhiyuan went upstairs to his room, lost in thought about the USB and Ruifen.
Once he was gone, Yichen approached Zhenlong. "Boss," he said quietly. "Can we talk?"
Zhenlong nodded and led him to a small room, closing the door. "What is it?"
Yichen stood stiffly for a moment. Then, with sudden determination, he walked over to the wooden table. He placed his right leg up on it, bracing himself.
"I'm ready," Yichen declared, closing his eyes tightly.
Zhenlong stared, completely confused. "Ready for what?"
"Break my leg," Yichen said, his voice tense. "Please. Do it now."
Zhenlong just tilted his head. "...Break your leg. Why?"
"So I'll be useless!" Yichen explained, eyes still squeezed shut. "If I can't even walk properly, Zhiyuan wouldn't want to stay with a useless guy, right? He'll lose interest. It's a good reason to push him away."
For a long moment, there was only silence. Then, Zhenlong started to laugh. It wasn't a mean laugh, but a deep, rumbling sound of pure disbelief.
"Woah," Zhenlong said, shaking his head and chuckling. "You are already plenty useless at this 'staying away' thing. Don't make it worse by being a cripple too. It's not worthy. And he'd probably just feel more sorry for you and stick closer."
Yichen opened his eyes, frustrated. The plan had seemed logical in his panic. He thought for another second.
"Then... break my arms," he suggested, a new desperate light in his eyes.
Zhenlong sighed a long, weary sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "You are really, truly stupid, aren't you? You only know how to fight and cause trouble. If you want Zhiyuan to stay away, use your brain, not your bones."
Yichen looked at him, desperate for an answer. "How?"
Zhenlong stepped closer, his voice dropping to a low, almost mischievous whisper. "Cheat on him."
Yichen froze. His entire body went rigid. "W-what? Cheat on him? I... I can't do that. We... I... am... no. No. No no no. I can't do that. It's... it's illegal."
"Cheating is not illegal, you idiot," Zhenlong said, rolling his eyes. "It's just morally bankrupt. And very effective for making someone hate you."
"But... but..." Yichen stammered, horrified. "I can't even look at anyone else. The thought makes me sick. It's impossible."
Zhenlong shrugged, a dark glint in his eye. He leaned in even closer. "Then there's always the more permanent solution. Cut off your Di—"
"NO!" Yichen yelped, jumping back and instinctively covering himself. His face was pale with terror. "I'll... I'll think about the cheating! Okay? I'll think about it!"
He didn't wait for another word. He turned and practically ran out of the study, slamming the door behind him.
Alone in the room, Zhenlong shook his head, a tired but genuine chuckle escaping him. The boy was loyal to a fault and loved his son with a depth that was both touching and tragically stupid. He had no idea how to let go, even when he thought it was for the best.
"Kids," Zhenlong muttered to the empty room, the ghost of a smile on his lips. "They make everything so difficult."
Yichen was walking down the hallway towards his room, his mind a chaotic mess of broken legs and impossible cheating scenarios, when Zhiyuan's door opened.
Zhiyuan stepped out, changed into fresh, comfortable clothes. "Oh, hey. I'm going for a walk around the gardens. Wanna come along?" he asked with a small smile.
Yichen's brain screamed at him. Say no! Say no! Say no! This is the perfect chance to start distancing yourself!
But his heart, and his mouth, betrayed him completely.
"Okay," Yichen heard himself say, his voice soft.
Zhiyuan's smile faded a little. He stepped closer, peering into Yichen's face he noticed how tired and disturbed yichen looked "Are you okay?" He reached up and pressed the back of his hand gently against Yichen's forehead. "You don't look good. Do you have a fever?"
The simple touch was electric. Yichen's knees almost went weak. He leaned into Zhiyuan's cool hand, his eyes fluttering closed for a second. "No, no fever. I'm fine," he mumbled, his heart hammering so fast he was sure Zhiyuan could hear it.
"You don't look fine," Zhiyuan insisted, his concern deepening. He let his hand drop to cup Yichen's cheek. "You look exhausted. You're getting dark circles... I'm sorry… I made you all so worried about me. You haven't been sleeping, have you?"
Yichen just stared at him, completely captivated by the worry in those beautiful eyes. He was supposed to be pushing him away, but all he wanted was to fall into his arms.
Zhiyuan misinterpreted his silence as fatigue. He took Yichen's arm gently. "Come on. You need to rest. A walk can wait. Let's get you to your room."
Panic shot through Yichen. "No!" he said, a little too sharply. He pulled back slightly. "No, not my room. Let's… let's go to your room instead. Or just sit in the garden. My room is… amm… messy."
Zhiyuan frowned, not buying it. "Since when do you care about a little mess? I've seen your room before." He was already turning and leading the way down the hall toward Yichen's door.
"Zhiyuan, really, it's not a good idea—" Yichen tried, scrambling for an excuse, but it was too late.
Zhiyuan pushed the door open.
The room was a disaster. It wasn't just messy it looked like a storm had hit it. Empty coffee cups littered the nightstand. Papers were everywhere scattered on the desk, piled on the chair, strewn across the unmade bed, some even on the floor.
"Wow," Zhiyuan said, his frown deepening as he stepped inside. "You weren't kidding. What is all this?"
His eyes scanned the room and landed on the papers on the bed. He walked over and picked one up.
Yichen's blood ran cold. "Wait, don't—"
But it was too late. Zhiyuan looked down at the paper in his hand. It was covered in Yichen's neat handwriting. But the words… the words were medical terms. Biology terms. Phrases like "intersex pregnancy," "post-miscarriage care," "hormonal changes," "Omega physiology."
Zhiyuan's hand began to tremble. He picked up another page. This one had a list 'Foods to avoid. Signs of infection. Recommended rest periods.'
He looked at another, which had a crude, hand-drawn diagram with notes about… anatomy.
Every single paper, every note, was a study. A deep, frantic, obsessive study about him. About his body. About what had happened to him. About how to care for him.
Zhiyuan slowly turned around, the papers clutched in his hand. He looked at Yichen, who was standing frozen in the doorway, his face pale with dread.
"Yichen," Zhiyuan whispered, his voice shaking with a mix of shock, pain, and something else. "What… what is all this?"