Hailey hadn't returned home since leaving the company that afternoon.
Her phone was off. Unreachable.
Ethan Yu paced in the living room, his usually calm demeanor fraying with each passing minute. He had already called her over a dozen times, and each attempt ended the same—straight to voicemail.
The sun had long since disappeared behind the horizon, and the darkness outside only intensified the pit growing in his chest.
Just as he grabbed his coat, about to storm out the door to search for her himself, his phone lit up.
Chi Xiyang.
Ethan answered without hesitation.
"She's in the hospital," Chi's voice was low and clipped, but serious. "Something happened."
That was all Ethan needed to hear.
He didn't even bother responding. The call ended with a sharp click as he dashed out the door and into the night, heart pounding like a war drum.
—
When Ethan arrived at First City Hospital, Chi Xiyang was already there, standing outside the hospital room with a face carved from stone. Inside, Jo Ning sat silently in a corner, pale and shaken.
Hailey lay on the hospital bed, unconscious. Her head was wrapped in white gauze, stained faintly red near the temple. The soft beep of the monitor was the only sound in the sterile room.
Ethan stormed in and rushed to her bedside, eyes narrowing as he took in her injuries.
"What happened?" His voice was dangerously low, his expression dark enough to freeze the air around him.
Chi Xiyang exhaled slowly, sparing Jo Ning a glance. "I haven't gotten all the details yet. But the doctor says her injuries aren't critical. She just needs a good night's rest."
Ethan's brows furrowed. "You don't know how she got hurt?"
"Ask her." Chi nodded toward Jo Ning.
Ethan turned to Jo Ning, his gaze sharp and cold.
It had been years since she'd last seen him in person, but the intensity of his presence had only grown stronger with time. As a child, she'd met him a few times through Chi Xiyang, and even then, he had felt… dangerous.
Now, that sense was overwhelming.
"Mr. Yu… Hello…" she stammered, standing awkwardly as if facing a judge.
"You're Jo Ning?" Ethan asked, voice clipped. "Why were you with Hailey? What happened?"
Jo Ning swallowed and quickly explained everything—how they had met on the plane, how they'd kept in touch, and how they had planned to visit their old university that day. Then, in careful detail, she recounted the attack.
She didn't leave anything out.
Ethan listened in silence, but his expression grew colder with every word. By the time she finished, his jaw was clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white around the bedrail.
Hailey had fought a would-be rapist. Alone. With only a flashlight. She could have died.
He closed his eyes for a brief second, trying to rein in the hurricane building in his chest.
She really doesn't know how to protect herself, does she?
If anything had happened to her…
He didn't dare finish the thought.
"Did you see the man's face?" he asked, voice like a blade.
Jo Ning shook her head, then hesitated. "I didn't get a clear look… but I think… I think I might know who it was."
Ethan's gaze snapped to her. "Who?"
"I suspect it was someone from my university… a classmate. His name is Wang Qiang."
That was all Ethan needed.
He turned to Chi Xiyang without missing a beat. "Call the police. I want that man found. Immediately. I don't care what it takes."
Chi nodded. "Consider it done."
He stepped out of the room, already dialing.
Minutes later, the police arrived, and Jo Ning and Chi Xiyang were asked to give statements just outside the room.
—
Jo Ning sat on the bench in the corridor, hands clenched tightly in her lap. She recounted everything again, this time to the officers—how she had known Wang Qiang, how he'd once confessed to her, how she had rejected him, never imagining he'd retaliate in such a vile way.
"I didn't think he'd go this far," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.
After the officers had left with their notes, the hallway grew quiet again. Jo Ning remained seated, the tension in her body refusing to ease.
Across from her, Chi Xiyang leaned casually against the wall, arms folded across his chest, his expression unreadable.
But she could feel his eyes on her.
Cold. Calculating.
She looked up—and met his gaze head-on.
It was like being doused in ice water.
There was no warmth in those eyes. No sympathy. Only sharp edges and unspoken judgment.
And… something else. Something colder than hatred—indifference.
Jo Ning's heart twisted. She tried to speak, her voice soft. "Brother…"
"Didn't I tell you," Chi Xiyang interrupted, voice like steel, "not to call me that?"
Jo Ning flinched, visibly.
He didn't look away. His eyes swept over her, slow and blatant.
She'd dressed casually that day—white T-shirt tucked into fitted jeans, sneakers on her feet. Her long legs were slim and straight, and her delicate frame was accentuated by the simple clothes.
His gaze was sharp. Not lustful. Not caring.
Just piercing.
Judging.
She shifted uncomfortably, as if the scrutiny burned her skin.
"I didn't mean to cause trouble," she said quietly, her voice barely above a breath. "I just wanted to spend some time with a friend."
Chi Xiyang scoffed. "You call that spending time? Getting her nearly killed?"
Jo Ning looked away, eyes brimming. "I didn't ask her to save me. I never thought—"
"That's the problem," he said icily. "You never think."
She bit her lip, pain flickering in her eyes. "You've hated me for years, haven't you?"
He didn't answer.
But his silence was enough.
She forced a bitter smile. "I guess I should've expected that. After all… what kind of brother lets his little sister rot without a single call for five years?"
Chi Xiyang straightened off the wall, walking away without a word.
Jo Ning sat in silence, her heart a knot of regret and sorrow.
Inside the hospital room, Ethan Yu still sat beside Hailey, never letting go of her hand.
"Stupid woman," he whispered under his breath, brushing a strand of hair from her bandaged forehead. "Why do you always have to be so brave…"
He leaned in, pressing a light kiss to the back of her hand.
"You're not allowed to scare me like this again. Do you hear me, Hailey Tang?"
Outside, storm clouds gathered. But inside that hospital room, one man was preparing to raze the world—if it meant keeping her safe.