Night fell quietly over the city, but the Lu family mansion was anything but calm. In a lavish sitting room filled with silence, Ying Xue paced nervously. Her fingers trembled as she clutched her phone tightly, redialing Xu Yingying's number over and over again. But there was still no answer.
"Come on, Yingying... pick up..." she whispered, her voice shaking.
After several more failed calls, panic rose higher in her chest, threatening to suffocate her. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Yingying never ignored her calls for this long, especially not at night. The thought of her precious niece alone, unreachable, filled her veins with ice.
Without a second thought, she turned and rushed down the hallway toward her husband's study. Her footsteps echoed through the marble floor. Her heart thudded louder than her steps as she flung open the heavy door of her husband's study.
"Ahan!" she cried out, desperation spilling from her lips. Her eyes, wide and frantic, searched for him.
