The chandeliers dripped with golden light, casting a regal glow across the banquet hall. Waiters glided between round tables, the clinking of crystal glasses mixing with the subdued hum of conversation. But as Zhu Zihan, the untouchable, calculating CEO of Zhu Empire, rose from his seat and made his way to the podium, the atmosphere shifted.
Conversations faltered. Laughter dimmed. One by one, all eyes turned to him.
He moved with a quiet authority that needed no announcement. Under the dazzle of the chandeliers, his sharp features were cut in stone, his expression unreadable, his aura commanding. He accepted the microphone with a light touch, his long fingers brushing against it before he straightened to his full height.
"Good evening, everyone." His voice was smooth, calm, yet carried the kind of weight that demanded silence. "Tonight, we are gathered here not just to honor another year in the life of my father, Zhu Zixuan, but to celebrate the legacy he has built. His wisdom and strength have shaped not only this family but the empire we now stand upon."
Polite applause filled the room. Zhu Zixuan inclined his head, lips curving with restrained pride. But Zihan's focus didn't waver. He wasn't here for sentiment.
As the applause tapered off, Zihan's fingers tapped once against the microphone, a subtle, rhythmic sound that drew attention. His expression shifted.
"But as we honor the past," his gaze swept across the hall before pinning itself on his father, then drifting deliberately toward the crowd, "it is also my duty to speak of the future."
The words dropped like stones in water. Murmurs rippled instantly through the hall. Faces leaned closer, ears straining. Even the women who had spent the night stealing glances at him straightened, anticipating lighting their eyes.
Zihan lifted his gaze, his eyes landing on Guo Min, cold, direct, and piercing. The hall seemed to exhale all at once.
"My engagement," he said with calculated calm, "has been decided."
The air shattered. Gasps, whispers, even a few muffled cries of dismay rippled through the elegant crowd. For years, Zhu Zihan had been the most sought-after bachelor in the city, aloof, untouchable, never allowing himself to be tied down. Families with daughters shifted in their seats, silent questions rising in their minds... Whose daughter? Whose house? Who had captured him?
Guo Min's fingers curled against her side as Zihan's eyes lingered on her one beat too long. For that fleeting second, it felt as though his declaration was aimed directly at her.
He didn't falter. His tone never wavered. "The woman I want as a wife…" His words carried across the room, clipped and deliberate. "She is not the traditional prim and proper lady you may expect. She is not bound by convention. But her strength, her ideals, her fire, they are enough to stand beside me and enough to carry the Zhu Empire with me."
A low gasp, followed by silence. His words painted a silhouette, one that didn't belong to the gentle, polished daughters of high society. One that felt dangerously close to Guo Min.
Then, a pause. The corners of his lips twitched into the faintest hint of amusement. "However…" He exhaled a soft chuckle, almost mocking. "She has not yet answered my proposal. And I intend to wait."
The hall burst into chaos again. Whispers surged like waves, families leaning into one another with furrowed brows and speculation: which girl would dare to decline?. Women who had dared to dream of him now wore expressions of devastation, their painted smiles cracking. The Zhu elders exchanged subtle, unreadable glances.
Zihan let the noise swell before he cut it clean with his final words. "The identity of my future wife will be revealed only when she accepts my proposal. Until then..." he inclined his head ever so slightly, voice turning cool, final, "enjoy the evening."
Without another glance, he set the microphone down and left the podium. Each step was unhurried, yet the weight of it echoed louder than the chandeliers glitter.
And in the hall, Guo Min stood frozen, her chest rising and falling too quickly. Her heart pounded so violently against her ribs it felt as though it was betraying her to the world. This man is going to give me a heart attack.
Her pulse still thrummed when she caught sight of movement on the far side of the hall. Li Yan, radiant in her emerald silk gown, had risen from her seat the moment Zihan descended from the stage. She crossed the marble floor with surprising haste, her eyes sparkling like a girl caught up in a secret.
"Zihan!" she called softly, though her excitement carried in her tone. She reached him just before he could be intercepted by curious guests. "Who is she? Tell me, who's the girl?"
Zihan looked down at his mother. For the briefest moment, his gaze softened, the mask of the cold, untouchable CEO slipping just slightly. His voice, however, remained composed. "You will see her when I decide to propose."
Li Yan blinked, lips parting, before her features settled into a playful pout. Sometimes, she wondered if she had raised a son, or a man who insisted on playing father to her.
"You're even hiding her from me?" she sighed dramatically, though her eyes gleamed with curiosity. "Fine then. Bring her to the Zhu Manor tomorrow."
She didn't linger for his reply. With practiced grace, she straightened her back, smoothed her expression into the polite, dignified smile befitting the matriarch of the Zhu family, and returned to her table. The warmth, the bubbly mischief she reserved only for her family, was gone in an instant.
Zihan watched her retreat with a faint curve of his lips, a shadow of amusement tugging at his otherwise impassive face. Then, as though nothing had transpired, he turned and moved through the crowd, shaking hands with business magnates and exchanging clipped pleasantries with investors.
When at last he reached the side of his closest circle Xiang and the others, he found the space strangely incomplete. Guo Min, who had stood beside Yufan only moments before, was gone. She had noticed his approach, felt the magnetic pull of his presence, and excused herself with a quiet word, slipping away before he could close the distance.
Zihan's gaze trailed toward the direction she had vanished, his jaw tightening imperceptibly. He did not follow. Instead, he raised his glass when greeted, his lips curving into a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.