Chapter 2: Where Shadows Linger
It had been exactly three weeks since Elena vanished without a word.
The sun no longer felt warm to Lucas Lu.
The once-lively corners of the Lu mansion now felt cold, even for someone who claimed he never cared. Her red backpack, the one she always carried like a second skin, was found abandoned near the school gate — zipped shut, spotless, and untouched as if Elena had just vanished into thin air. No footprints, no note, no goodbye. Only silence.
And silence, for Lucas, was unbearable now.
The police investigation went nowhere. The Huo family said little — her so-called father James Huo shed crocodile tears on TV, standing beside his mistress, Mei Lin, and her daughter Anya. Elena's elder stepsister Anya seemed to cry the loudest, but Lucas had seen the mockery in her eyes. She always had a twisted obsession with him, and she had hated how Elena followed him around.
After the death of Elena's grandfather and mother in the so-called car accident, Lucas had begun to notice the bruises Elena tried to hide behind her school sleeves. He never spoke of them — he knew Elena hated pity. But she would often show up at the Lu residence gate in the rain, trembling and hungry, clutching a small picture of her mother. Grandpa Lu had allowed her to stay anytime she wanted, calling her our little sunshine. Even on his deathbed, the old man had held Elena's hand and whispered, You must protect her, Lucas. She'll be your home someday.
And now, she was gone.
A Storm in the Boardroom
In the heart of Beijing's business district, the Lu Group stood tall — a skyscraper of power and influence. At just 17, Lucas had already begun attending board meetings at the side of his stoic father, Lu Zhenghao. Cold, brilliant, and commanding — Lucas was his mirror, but more untamed.
That morning, a disruption came. A new foreign investor arrived, claiming acquisition interest in Huo Industries — a dying company ever since James Huo began liquidating assets. The man entered with quiet authority, dressed in a tailored dark coat, silver streaks in his black hair, and storm in his eyes.
"Charles William," the receptionist whispered to the assistant. "From the European conglomerate Arvenis Holdings."
Lucas didn't flinch. But the moment their eyes met — something shifted.
Charles looked at Lucas for a long while, his gaze unreadable. Then, to everyone's confusion, he said calmly in accented Mandarin, "You look like someone she once talked about."
"Who?" Lucas asked coldly.
Charles gave a half-smile. "My daughter."
The room froze.
Lucas stood straighter. "You have no daughter in China."
"I do," Charles said, folding his hands. "She disappeared eight years ago. But I found traces of her last location. And I've come to reclaim what is mine."
The Wind Rises
At the edge of the old mountain temple where Elena used to place incense beside her mother's favorite flowers, Lucas stood alone later that evening. His phone buzzed again — another call from Anya, another empty apology and fake concern. He blocked her.
As dusk began to fall, fireflies danced around the shrine. He looked at them bitterly.
He remembered Elena's bright voice — "Look, Lucas! Fireflies follow people they love. They'll take you home if you're lost."
"Then take me to her," he muttered under his breath.
That night, the Lu household gathered under new tension. Charles William was staying in Beijing indefinitely. Though he did not say it aloud, Lucas could feel it in his gut — this man was searching for Elena, and he wouldn't stop until he found her. But why did he know her? Why did Elena never mention him?
And why... did Lucas feel fear for the first time?
Not fear of Charles. But fear of truth.
A Thorn in the Garden
Meanwhile, Anya Huo watched the television screen in their plush villa with burning jealousy.
"She's really gone," she hissed under her breath.
Her mother, Mei Lin, lit a cigarette lazily. "Don't get involved. Let ghosts stay buried."
"But what if she comes back?" Anya's voice cracked. "He'll never look at me."
Mei Lin glanced over her designer glasses. "Then we better make sure she stays a ghost."
In her lap sat Elena's red backpack — stolen from the school gate before the police arrived. Inside it was a small velvet box... and a locket with a photo of Elena and a woman with pale brown eyes.
Eyes Anya would never have.