The moment he disappeared into his glass-walled office, the tension in the room barely eased.
Everyone exhaled quietly, releasing their long-held breath like survivors of a storm.
A young woman with nervous eyes, clearly a new hire, leaned toward the lady at the next desk.
"Hey… who is he?"
The woman didn't even look up. "You must be new here, right?"
The girl nodded quickly. "Yes."
The older staffer looked at her, moved slightly closer, and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. One brow raised. "You see that man who just walked in?" she whispered, eyes flicking toward the frosted glass. "That's Lin Zeyan, the CEO of Zenith Communication."
She leaned in a little, voice dropping like she was about to share a secret classified by the government.
"Not just any CEO, sweetheart. The devil god of the business world. He is twenty-four years old, the youngest child in the Lin family, but the oldest in terms of devilish power.
He is the kind of man who can make a whole boardroom of millionaires sweat just by raising an eyebrow."
The girl's eyes widened, and the woman nodded solemnly. "Mhm. His father has two sons and a daughter, but Zeyan is the one even the old man watches his tone with. Ruthless. Sharp. Cold as ice and devilish like Satan. He never lost a single deal. The kind of boss whose shadow has more authority than most directors."
The new girl blinked, shrinking back. "He's that scary?"
"Scary?" The woman let out a short laugh, shaking her head. "Honey, scary is a compliment. He's a demon in a suit. He runs the whole Zenith Group, from Zenith Communications to Zenith Tech, holds shares in Zenith Pharmaceuticals, and basically owns half of Midtown's luxury real estate. Forbes has listed him in the Top 10 Best CEOs under 30 for five years straight. No competitor has ever beaten him in anything. Not once."
The girl glanced toward the frosted glass door. "He's like a machine."
"That's an understatement," the woman whispered. "If he had a past life, he was probably a demon god sent to punish imperfection. The scariest part is that he has OCD. Everything must be in perfect order. Don't even think of lying to him because he'll catch you. He hates lateness. Hates noise. Hates excuses. One typo in your report, one missed comma, one hair out of place." She snapped her fingers. "You are jobless before your coffee gets cold."
The girl's throat bobbed, she swallowed hard. "That's scarier than a horror movie. Is he married?"
The woman let out a dry laugh. "Married? No one dares to date him. No woman, absolutely no woman in this world deserves such a ruthless man. Don't be fooled by his looks. I'm not gonna lie, he has the look, but his heart is the opposite of that look. Too cold. Too perfect. Too powerful. Too proud of himself. His father arranged dates with the daughters of the wealthiest families, but he rejected them all. Said none were good enough. Said they breathed too loud. One girl wore perfume, and he told her she smelled like a poorly ventilated flower shop. That date ended in three minutes. If there were a record for the man who's been on the most blind dates and still couldn't find a woman, or for the fastest failed dates, no one deserves both trophies like him."
The new hire's eyes widened. She clung to herself like she could feel his cold aura from across the room.
"He walks into a room," the woman went on, her voice dropping again, "and even the stock market listens. He predicts what to invest in and watches the stock of that company plummet. You want advice?"
"Yes, please," the girl whispered.
"Pray," the woman said simply. "Pray you never hear your name from his mouth. Pray you never have to explain yourself to him. And above all," she paused dramatically, eyes glinting, "pray you never leave fingerprints on his glass table. In one word, avoid him at all costs. When you see him, just take it as if you are seeing the gatekeeper to hell."
She turned back to her monitor like she hadn't just described a real-life supervillain.
The new girl sat frozen, traumatized, her eyes still fixed on the glass door.
…..
Inside the glass-walled office of Lin Zeyan, not a speck of dust dared to settle. Lin Zeyan sat behind his spotless desk, fingers gliding over the keyboard with mechanical precision. His gaze was sharp and calculating. Every document on the screen was absorbed and evaluated in seconds.
His phone vibrated once on the table. He didn't glance at it.
It vibrated again. Then again.
With a slight frown, he finally picked it up. The caller ID flashed Lin Jian.
He answered, voice cold. "Did you get drunk again or cause another mess?"
His brother's voice came through, breathless. "Zeyan, it's not about me. It's Dad."
"Dad?" Zeyan asked, lips curving into a tired grin. "Don't tell me this is about another blind date. Please, tell him to have mercy. I've already been on enough this week, I…"
"Dad collapsed," Lin Jian cut in sharply. "He fainted this morning and hasn't regained full consciousness. The doctor's here."
Lin Zeyan's spine stiffened.
"Fainted? How?" He instantly grabbed his jacket then said, "I'll be there in minutes."
He ended the call, stood, and buttoned his jacket with swift precision before snatching his keys from the desk.
His assistant appeared at the door. "Sir, do you want me to prepare…"
"No," Zeyan interrupted. "I'm going out. No need to follow. I'll drive myself."
The office buzzed with murmurs as he strode past, but he didn't stop.
A few minutes later, the sleek black Rolls-Royce roared to life, tires screeching as he peeled out of the company parking lot, racing down the highway, jaw tight, heart pounding.
This wasn't about business.
It was about blood.
The morning sun was just about to rise as Lin Zeyan sped down the highway, his hands steady on the wheel, his thoughts sharper than the wind slicing past.
Then, a single drop of rain hit the windshield.
He frowned, glancing up at the sky. It had been clear when he left the office—a flawless blue with no sign of clouds.
"Rain?" he muttered under his breath. "The forecast said nothing about this."
Another drop followed. Then another. Within seconds, the sky dimmed as if someone had drawn a curtain across the sun. The clear morning light turned silver-gray, and a strange chill crept through the air.
Suddenly, the bright day shifted into darkness. The sunlight vanished, swallowed by clouds that hadn't been there moments ago.
"I wonder how Dad is doing," Lin Zeyan said quietly, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. He didn't slow down, not even as thunder rolled across the sky and lightning cracked in the distance.
The rain fell harder. His tires screeched faintly against the slick asphalt, the sound echoing through the now-empty highway.