In the Car - 10:15 PM

The mood in the backseat was comfortable as they drove away from the Lu family estate. Mei felt a quiet satisfaction at having navigated her first family gathering successfully, and Lu Rowan's hand rested possessively on her thigh—a reminder of how the evening would likely end once they reached home.

"You handled Grandmother perfectly," he murmured, his thumb tracing lazy circles on her leg. "She respects strength, and you showed her exactly the right amount."

Mei was about to respond when Lu Rowan's phone rang, cutting through the intimate atmosphere. He glanced at the screen and frowned.

"It's your uncle," he said, showing her Mr. Liang's name on the display.

Something cold settled in Mei's stomach. Mr. Liang had never called her directly, and certainly wouldn't call Lu Rowan unless something was seriously wrong.

"Answer it," she said quietly.

Lu Rowan put the call on the speaker. "Mr. Liang."

"Lu Rowan," Mr. Liang's voice was strained, barely controlled. "There's been an incident. Bai Liang... she's attempted suicide. Cut her wrists in the bathtub and we found her unconscious . We're at Shanghai General Hospital."

The words hit Mei like a physical blow. Whatever comfortable warmth had existed moments before evaporated completely, replaced by the familiar chill of crisis and guilt.

"We'll be there immediately," Lu Rowan said, already leaning forward to give Arthur the new destination.

As the car changed direction, Mei felt herself retreating inward a defense mechanism learned through years of surviving the Liang family's emotional storms. The woman who had charmed Grandma Lu and navigated high society disappeared, replaced by the quiet, careful girl who had learned to make herself invisible during family disasters.

Lu Rowan noticed the change immediately. Her posture straightened, her expression became neutral, and her hands folded carefully in her lap. It was like watching her put on armor.

"Mei," he said softly. "This isn't your fault."

She didn't respond, staring out the window with unseeing eyes.

Shanghai General Hospital - Emergency Department - 11:00 PM

The hospital's fluorescent lighting cast everything in harsh, unforgiving tones. Mr. Liang met them at the information desk, his usually immaculate appearance disheveled, his face gray with stress.

"She's stable," he said without preamble. "The cuts weren't deep enough. The doctors say it was more of a cry for help than a genuine attempt."

"Where is she now?" Lu Rowan asked, his arm protective around Mei's shoulders.

"Psychiatric evaluation. Mrs. Liang is..." Mr. Liang paused, his expression troubled. "She's very upset. Perhaps it would be better if Mei waited in the car."

"No," Lu Rowan said firmly. "We're here as a family. We stay together."

They found Mrs. Liang in the family waiting area, surrounded by several aunts and cousins who had arrived to provide support. The moment she saw Mei, her grief transformed into something uglier.

"You!" Mrs. Liang's voice cut through the subdued conversations like a knife. "How dare you show your face here!"

Mei stopped walking, her body going very still as every head in the waiting area turned toward them.

"Mrs. Liang," Lu Rowan began, but the older woman was beyond reasoning.

"You whore!" she shrieked, pointing an accusing finger at Mei. "You did this! My daughter tried to kill herself because of what you've done!"

The words echoed through the hospital corridor, drawing stares from other families and medical staff. Mei felt the familiar shame begin to creep up her throat, the automatic response to Mrs. Liang's accusations.

"You destroyed her life!" Mrs. Liang continued, her voice rising to near-hysteria. "Stole her opportunities, seduced her fiance and paraded around like some princess while my daughter suffered!"

"That's enough," Lu Rowan said, his voice carrying deadly quiet authority.

But Mrs. Liang wasn't finished. Years of resentment poured out in a torrent of vicious words. "I regret the day I took you in! You should have died with your parents instead of becoming a burden on our family! Everything you touch turns to poison!"

The cruelty of it throwing Mei's orphaned state in her face, wishing death upon her hung in the air like a toxic cloud. Several relatives shifted uncomfortably, clearly feeling that Mrs. Liang had crossed a line but they were used to it.

But the words that followed were even worse.

"At least when you lived with us, you knew your place!" Mrs. Liang spat. "You were grateful for scraps, content with nothing ! But now you've tasted wealth, haven't you? Now you think you're somebody special!"

The accusation hit its mark with surgical precision. Mei felt something crack inside her chest. It was not because the words were true, but because they voiced her own secret fear. Had she become someone different? Had tasting sweetness made her bitter about her past?

The woman who had once accepted Mrs. Liang's abuse in silence now lived in a penthouse, wore designer clothes, and had the protection of Shanghai's most powerful bachelor. The contrast was stark, and Mrs. Liang's words forced her to confront it.

"You've forgotten what you really are," Mrs. Liang continued with venomous satisfaction. "You're a nobody , an orphan we pitied. And now my daughter is lying in a hospital bed because she can't compete with your manipulations!"

"I said that's enough." Lu Rowan's voice had dropped to a register that made several people step back instinctively. "Arthur, get the car."

He moved to shield Mei from Mrs. Liang's continued verbal assault, but the damage was already done. Mei stood frozen, her face pale and expressionless, retreating into the protective numbness she'd cultivated during her worst days with the Liang family.

"Come on," Lu Rowan said quietly, his hand gentle on her elbow. "We're leaving."

As they walked toward the exit, Mrs. Liang's voice followed them. "Run away again! That's all you know how to do! But you can't run from what you are!"

In the Car - 11:30 PM

The drive home passed in complete silence. Mei sat pressed against the passenger door, as far from Lu Rowan as the confined space allowed. Her hands were folded tightly in her lap, and she stared out the window with the blank expression of someone who had retreated far inside themselves.

Lu Rowan watched her with growing concern. This wasn't the confident woman who had impressed his grandmother hours earlier. This was the broken girl he'd first encountered at Skyline Atelier; the quiet, careful and desperately trying to become invisible.

"Mei," he said softly when they were halfway home.

She didn't respond, didn't even acknowledge that he'd spoken.

He tried again. "You know what she said isn't true."

Still nothing. It was like talking to a statue.

By the time Arthur pulled into their building's parking garage, Lu Rowan was genuinely worried. Mei's withdrawal was complete she moved when directed, walked when guided, but there was no one home behind her eyes.

Lu Rowan's Penthouse - 12:00 AM

The moment they entered the apartment, Mei headed directly toward the hallway that led to her bedroom. Her movements were automatic, purposeful the behavior of someone seeking the safety of solitude.

"Mei." Lu Rowan's voice stopped her at the corridor entrance.

She paused but didn't turn around.

"We need to talk about what happened."

"There's nothing to talk about," she said quietly, her voice flat and emotionless.

"Like hell there isn't." He moved to block her path to the bedrooms. "You can't just shut down every time someone attacks you."

"I'm not shutting down," she replied, still not meeting his eyes. "I'm tired. I want to go to bed."

"Look at me." When she didn't comply, his voice became firmer. "Mei, look at me."

Finally, reluctantly, she raised her eyes to his. What he saw there made his chest tighten not anger or hurt, but emptiness. Like someone had reached inside and scooped out everything that made her uniquely herself.

"Here, we talk," he said gently but firmly. "We don't just shut people out when things get difficult. That's not how this partnership works."

"I can't right now," she said, and for the first time since leaving the hospital, emotion crept into her voice. "Can I get a time out? Because I don't even have words to say."

The request was so quietly spoken, so devoid of her usual careful politeness, that it caught him off guard. This wasn't defiance or manipulation this was someone at the absolute limit of their emotional capacity.

Lu Rowan studied her face, seeing the exhaustion that went bone-deep, the way her hands trembled slightly despite her controlled posture. Mrs. Liang's attack had stripped away weeks of progress, leaving Mei raw and vulnerable in a way that made his protective instincts roar to life.

"Okay," he said finally. "But not alone. If you need space, you take it in here, where I can see you're safe."

He gestured toward the living room, toward the comfortable sofa.

"I won't push for conversation," he continued. "But I'm not letting you disappear into that bedroom and spiral into whatever dark place Mrs. Liang's words are trying to drag you to."

Mei looked at him for a long moment, something flickering in her eyes gratitude, maybe, or relief that he understood her limits without making her explain them.

"Thank you," she whispered, and allowed him to guide her to the sofa.

She curled into the corner, pulling a throw pillow against her chest like armor. Lu Rowan settled on the opposite end, close enough to offer comfort but far enough away to give her the space she'd requested.

The silence that settled between them wasn't comfortable like earlier in the evening, but it wasn't hostile either. It was the silence of two people who had learned to share the same space while processing difficult truths.

Outside, Shanghai glittered in the darkness, indifferent to the small human dramas playing out in expensive apartments. But inside, Lu Rowan kept quiet vigil while Mei fought to find her way back from the place where cruel words had tried to send her.

The sweetness she'd tasted in their new life together had indeed made Mrs. Liang's bitterness harder to swallow. But perhaps, Lu Rowan thought as he watched her slowly relax against the cushions, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

People who had never known kindness could endure cruelty indefinitely. But once you'd experienced genuine care, genuine protection, the contrast made abuse intolerable rather than merely unfortunate.

Mei was changing, and maybe that change was exactly what she needed to finally break free from the prison her past had built around her.