Crafts Homes Executive Office – 11:45 PM

The notification lit up Lu Rowan’s phone. He reached for it absently, still half-immersed in the floor plans spread across his desk. But when he saw the sender, his hand froze.

Mei Chen.

He opened the message, eyes scanning the words once, then again, as if repetition might change them.

The Liangs are announcing my engagement to Mr. Shen this weekend. If your offer was genuine, we need to meet at the registration office tomorrow at 8:00.

Rowan’s breath caught. Just three hours ago, she had walked out of the café with fire in her eyes, furious at him for daring to suggest marriage. Now this? What had changed in those hours? What could have driven her from defiance to desperate resolve?

Arthur knocked lightly on the door, carrying a tablet. “Boss, it’s past midnight. You should—”

Rowan shoved the phone toward him. “Read this.”

Arthur’s brows knitted as he scanned the message. “Registration office? Tomorrow morning?” He looked up sharply. “She’s serious?”

Rowan leaned back, the message glowing like a brand in his mind. “Or she’s cornered. Either way, something happened tonight. Something I didn’t see.”

Arthur moved behind Rowan’s desk, already pulling up searches. “I’ll dig into the Liangs, Shen, anyone involved. But if she’s being forced—”

“Find out,” Rowan cut in. His tone was clipped, but underneath was something rawer. “If this is a trap, if they’re tightening the noose on her, I want to know how.”

Arthur typed furiously, but after several tense minutes, he exhaled. “Nothing. No announcements online, no whispers in the usual channels. It’s quiet—too quiet.”

Rowan’s jaw clenched. He hit the call button, dialing Mei. Once. Twice. The ringing echoed in his ear until it clicked to voicemail. He tried again, stubborn. Still nothing.

“She switched it off,” Arthur said quietly.

The silence between them was heavy. Rowan rose abruptly, reaching for his coat. “I’ll go to her.”

Arthur blocked the door. “Boss—don’t. Not like this. You storming into their home at midnight will only make things worse. You need a plan, not impulse.”

Rowan’s hands curled into fists. Every instinct screamed at him to act, to tear down the walls closing around her. But Arthur’s steady gaze anchored him.

“If she asked for 8:00 a.m.,” Arthur said firmly, “then meet her at 8:00 a.m. Don’t give her a reason to shut you out before then.”

Rowan forced himself to breathe. Slowly, reluctantly, he nodded.

Meanwhile – The Woods Apartments – Mei’s Room

Mei paced in circles, her phone abandoned on the desk, its screen dark. Her cheeks burned with the reckless words she had sent. What was I thinking?

She pressed her palms to her face. She had meant to seize control, to flip the board on her captors. But now the reality pressed down: Lu Rowan had her message. And she had turned her life into a gamble she might not win.

With a trembling hand, she switched her phone off. If he called, she couldn’t bear to hear his voice—not tonight, not when doubt gnawed at every corner of her resolve.

She sank onto the bed, her heart pounding with humiliation and fear, whispering into the silence: “What have I done?”

Crafts Homes Executive Office – 1:10 AM

Arthur had finally shut his laptop, ready to leave, when he noticed Rowan still at his desk, typing furiously.

“Boss, we already agreed. You wait until morning. Charging into this tonight will—”

“I’m not going to her,” Rowan interrupted, his eyes sharp, voice low with intent. “I’m preparing for tomorrow.”

Arthur frowned. “Preparing what?”

Rowan swiveled his screen toward him. On it was a document—property agreements, legal contracts, notarized drafts that could be filed in hours if needed.

“You’re… drawing up protections for her?” Arthur asked slowly.

“More than that,” Rowan said. He tapped the screen. “If the Liangs force this marriage, she'll be trapped. So I’m making sure the moment she steps into that registration office with me, there’s no loophole. No way for them to undo it. Once her name is tied to mine, they’ll never touch her again.”

Arthur blinked, realization dawning. “You’re creating a shield for her.”

Rowan’s expression didn’t soften. “I’m creating leverage. The Liangs want her under control. With me, she’s untouchable. That’s the only way out for her.”

Arthur leaned against the desk, watching him carefully. “Boss… can I ask you something without you throwing me out of this office?”

Rowan didn’t look up. “You can ask.”

“Is there a chance that you are in love with her Boss?”

The silence stretched. Rowan’s pen stilled over the page. For a long moment, only the hum of the city below filled the room.

Finally, Rowan set the pen down, his jaw tight. “That's nonsense, No.” His voice was firm, almost too firm. “This isn’t about love. It's a strategy. She needs a way out, I need freedom from my grandfather’s matchmaking. That’s all this is.”

Arthur studied him, unconvinced. “You’re drafting emergency contracts at one in the morning, ready to go to war with an entire family empire for her freedom… and you want me to believe this is just business?”

Rowan’s gaze darkened. “Arthur.” The warning in his tone was sharp, final. “She and I are helping each other. Nothing more.”

Arthur raised his hands in surrender but said nothing further.

Still, as he left the office, he couldn’t shake the thought: His boss was lying not to him alone but to himself.