The rain hadn't stopped since the night began.It drummed softly against the glass walls, like a whisper between them. The room still smelled of him…cologne and smoke and something dark beneath.She sat at the edge of the couch as her fingers pressed tight together.The mirrors around her still caught the fragments of her face. Her red eyes, her trembling lips, and her reflection multiplied until she didn't know which one was real.He had left her there after what happened earlier, saying nothing just walked out, but the door didn't lock.She told herself she only wanted to breathe and think but the silence stretched for too long.Curiosity and suspicion dragged her back to her feet. At the end of the room, a half-door that led into his study. Jianyu's world was made of rules like rooms you don't enter, things you don't touch, and questions you shouldn't ask but Yuyan for the first time wanted to break everyone of them.She slipped in.The study was different from the rest of the penthouse, it was colder and less human.Everything was clean and precise. On the desk, a folder lay open, with the edge weighted down by a glass of whiskey.It contained names, numbers, and a photo.Her breath caught. It was her but not a recent one like something from years ago, back when her father was alive.And under it, papers marked Zhao holdings private investigation. Her stomach twisted. How much did he know?She reached for the file but a shadow moved behind her."Looking for something, Miss Zhao?"His voice was quiet and low, almost gentle. But the air around her shifted instantly like a thick electric alive with danger.She froze as her fingers hovered just above the paper.When she turned, he was already standing in the doorway, no jacket now just sleeves rolled up and collar undone. His hair was still damp from the rain. He looked less like a man and more like a verdict."I.." her throat caught. "I just…"He crossed the room slowly, each step measured. "Curious?" His tone was polite and calm. "Or reckless?""I wasn't…""Lying doesn't suit you."He stopped a breath away as his height shadowed her and his scent filled the small room. One of his hands braced on the desk beside her and the other came to rest lightly on her wrist.Not rough just, gentle just, firm enough that she felt the heat of his skin through hers.Yuyan tried to step back but the desk pressed into her hips as the mirror him caught their reflections, like an endless copies of the same mistake. "Do you have a habit of reading what isn't yours?" He murmured.She swallowed hard. "I wasn't reading…""Say it!""Say what?""Say what you were doing?"His fingers tightened slightly as her pulse beat against his thumb. "I was looking…"His mouth curved into almost a smile but not quite. "At what?"The question shouldn't have felt like a touch but it did and her breath came shorter. "You're angry," she said quietly. "Should I be?"She met his eyes. "You left it open."He tilted his head. "You think I don't know when I'm being hunted, Miss Zhao?"The word hunted made something inside her twist."I wasn't…"He moved closer as his breath brushed her jaw. "You were. You didn't just think I'll catch you so soon."She could hear the rain again faint of the glass. Her heart pounded so hard he thought she could hear that too. "Jianyu…""Do you know what I do to people who lie to me?"His tone didn't rise but something dangerous triggered beneath it. Her back hit the desk as he stepped closer. He didn't touch her again, not yet. He just stood there close enough to make her feel his warmth and the faint tick of his pulse.Inside him controlled warred with desire. He wanted to scare her, to make her understand what lines not to cross.But watching her now… defiant and trembling, eyes bright with fear and something else… He felt the edge of blur.This woman had walked into his world like a storm. And he didn't know whether to destroy or keep her.
"Why were you in here?" he asked.She hesitated, then whispered. "Because I need to know who you really are."For a second, there was silence. But then he laughed softly and dangerously. "You think you'll find that in a file."She lifted her chin. "You hide too much."He moved even closer, his hand slid up from her wrist to her jaw, tilting her face toward him. "And you dig too deep."Her breath hitched.In the mirror, she saw it… the moment the distance vanished.His reflection towering behind hers, and his hand steady against her throat, and his eyes locked on her mouth.He spoke again, low and enough to burn. "If you insist on playing with fire…"His thumb traced the hollow of her throat. "…then learn how it burns."Yuyan didn't move, she couldn't because the air between them felt alive.Her pulse raced beneath his hand, every beat betraying what her mouth wouldn't say. He leaned in, close enough that his breath brushed her ear. "Tell me, Miss Zhao. Were you brave enough to look because you wanted the truth… or because you wanted me to catch you?"Her lips parted but no sound came out. The corner of his mouth lifted."That's what I thought."The tension broke, not with a sound, but with the smallest movement… his hand sliding from her jaw down to her collarbone, tracing the edge of her defiance. Her breath shook.He hadn't kissed her yet or done anything to be called violence or tendernss, but her whole body felt caught between the two.His touch was terrifying because she knew…when he decided to touch her, it wouldn't be by mistake. The rain grew louder as the city lights flickered against the mirrors, painting their reflections in gold and shadows. He said nothing more just stepped back a little, enough for her to breathe and for her to think it's over. Then his voice came again, lower this time. "Go back to the mirror room."She hesitated. "That wasn't a request."She moved slow with every nerve awake. Behind her, he picked up the file and set it aside. His hands were steady but his face was unreadable. But inside, the tension clawed at his ribs.By the time she reached the mirror room, she was shaking…not from fear, but from what fear had turned into.When he entered moments later, the look in his eyes told her this wasn't over.It was only the beginning.
The mirror room went quiet as if it stopped breathing. The rain outside softened as low hum hit against the glass.Inside, silence filled everywhere thick like electric. She sat at the edge of the couch eyes down, pretending to study the reflection of herself on the floor. He stood near the doorway still and unreadable as the light from the city glowed on his face. Finally, he spoke with a low voice. "Stand up."Her fingers tightened on the fabric of her dress. "I wasn't…""Yuyan."Just her name but it stopped her breath.She stood slowly, the distance between them stayed, but the air between them felt thinner.He walked toward her, each step he took was deliberate and measured. The way he once closed into a rival in a negotiation table. His eyes didn't leave hers. When he reached her, he didn't touch her, he only looked. "You think I wouldn't notice what you were trying to find?"There wasn't anger in his tone, it was something colder, like control. She swallowed hard. "You left the drawer open…"A small smile touched his mouth. "You should be smarter than that excuse."He reached out his hand and brushed a loose strand of hair from her face. The touch was too gentle for what came next. "You like testing me."Her heart ached once, then hard. "I don't…"He cut her off with silence as his hand moved down the side of her neck, slow and tracing the line of her pulse. "Your body says otherwise."She didn't like how true it sounded because every nerve burned under that calm. Her knees almost gave but she held his gaze."I told you that I don't like getting disobeyed," he murmured as his fingers curled to her wrist lifting it slightly. "But maybe you wanted to see how far you could push me."She breathed in sharply when he drew her hand to his chest. His heartbeat was steady but his breath wasn't. It came shallow and controlled. "Jianyu…"He shifted in close enough for his breath to touch her skin. "You broke my rule," he whispered. "So tell me what I should do with you now?"Her voice was barely there. "Whatever you want."His eyes darkened, not with surprise or anger but something else. "Be careful of what you offer, Miss Zhao."He moved closer, the mirror caught the both of them now.Her reflection kept trembling while his presence stood massively behind her. His hand found the lower of her back and she felt heat even in the thin cloth."Take a look at yourself," he said quietly. "This is what happens when you lie to me."Her reflection met his eyes on the mirror, it was breathless but wanting. The confession sat on her tongue but never made it out.He turned to her slight with one of his hand at her chin making her look at him. "This isn't anger," he said. "It's control."She shivered. "Then…what do you want?"He didn't answer, his hand ran down her arm, feeling the tightness of her muscles.His fingers stopped at her waist, her heartbeat quickened.He didn't move, his touch lingered as if it was a question. "Do you want me to stop?" He asked quietly. Her silence was its own answer. His control cracked, just a little. His forehead rested against hers for a moment, both of them caught between control and surrender."Then you'll have to learn," he murmured. "What punishment feels like when you ask for it."He turned his face up… there was a moment of stillness before the storm. Their reflection in the mirror sparkled like heat, like two people who had finally ran out of lies. And then just before the last boundary broke… he stopped. The pause burned more than any touch could. She opened her eyes to find his eyes fixed on hers, like it was searching for something."This isn't over," he said softly. He stepped back, she exhaled and trembled.The mirror still showed them. Two reflections locked in tension and a promise hanging in the air. Outside, the thunder kept rolling.