The ballroom of the Shanghai World Financial Center shimmered like a diamond thrown into the night sky. At its center, swirling in the arms of her fiancé, was Mo Chen. At twenty-two, she was the darling of two empires, the only daughter of Ye Xia and Mo—living legends who had steered the world through crisis and into a new age of prosperity.
She was the "Golden Heiress," and tonight was her engagement gala.
Her dress, a masterpiece of liquid gold silk, was worth more than a suburban house. The pear-shaped diamond on her finger caught the light, casting rainbows. And her fiancé, Julian Thorne, was everything a storybook prince should be: handsome, charming, with old-money European elegance and a smile that promised forever.
"You're breathtaking," Julian whispered, his British accent smooth as velvet. "The whole world is watching us."
Mo Chen laughed, a sound like wind chimes. "Let them watch. I'm only interested in one person." She squeezed his arm, her heart full to bursting. She'd known Julian for three years, since they'd met at a climate summit in Geneva. His family's shipping conglomerate, Thorne Global, was a perfect match for the Yun-Mo alliance. It was a merger written in the stars, blessed by both families.
Across the room, her parents watched. Ye Xia, her beauty honed by time and power into a serene authority, stood beside Mo, whose intense gaze had softened only for his family. They looked proud, but a subtle tension lingered in the set of Mo's shoulders. Her older brother, Ye Tian, now a serious young man of twenty-five who was being groomed to take over the financial arm of the empire, gave her a small, approving nod.
Later, as the party wound down, Mo Chen found her mother on a quiet balcony overlooking the Huangpu River.
"Are you happy, my dawn?" Ye Xia asked, using the meaning of her name.
"So happy, Mom," Mo Chen said, leaning against the railing. "Julian is perfect. Everything is perfect."
Ye Xia's eyes, which held the wisdom of two lifetimes, searched her daughter's face. "Perfection is a fragile thing, Chen. Remember, the strongest foundations are built on truth, not just beauty."
"You sound worried," Mo Chen said, frowning.
"A mother is always worried," Ye Xia said with a soft smile, brushing a strand of hair from her daughter's face. "Just… promise me you'll always trust your instincts. Not your heart, not your head, but that little spark deep inside that tells you when something is wrong."
"Nothing is wrong, Mom," Mo Chen insisted, her youthful certainty a shield against her mother's quiet caution. "This is the beginning of everything."
Two weeks. In two weeks, she would be Julian's wife. The future was a golden, promised land.