Jiang Zeyan returned the next day.
No suit.
No tie.
No armor.
Just a gray sweater, dark jeans, and a hesitance in his step that didn't belong to the CEO the world knew.
Yaoyue saw him from the upstairs window of the bookstore. For a moment, she debated pretending she wasn't there. She could hide behind the curtain. Let him wait. Let him wonder.
But then he looked up.
And in that second, she saw something rare in his eyes.
Not confidence.
Not calculation.
Just hope. Quiet and cautious.
She sighed, grabbed the second mug from her desk, and went downstairs.
---
The bookstore owner raised an eyebrow when she passed.
"Trouble in paradise?"
"Trying to figure out if it's paradise at all."
The owner chuckled. "Be careful. That one looks like he's trying."
"That's what worries me."
---
They sat upstairs again, by the same window.
Same spot. Different silence.
This one wasn't tense.
Just uncertain.
He held the tea she gave him like it was unfamiliar.
"Didn't think you'd actually come," she said.
"I almost didn't."
"Why did you?"
"Because yesterday wasn't enough."
She didn't look at him. "It never is, with you."
"I'm trying to change that."
She raised an eyebrow. "You're not exactly known for change."
"I wasn't known for caring about anyone, either."
She glanced sideways. "And now you do?"
He nodded.
It was that simple. That direct.
She looked away, heart tugging against her better judgment.
"Why?" she asked quietly.
"You challenge me."
"That's not a reason."
"You scare me," he admitted.
She blinked. "What?"
"You scare me," he repeated, more clearly. "Because I can't read you. I can't control you. You don't let me hide behind what I'm good at."
A long pause.
"And still," he added, "I want you in my life."
Yaoyue set her mug down carefully.
"That's the first honest thing you've said to me without rehearsing it."
"I've been rehearsing everything else," he said. "This... I couldn't fake."
---
They didn't talk about love.
It was too soon.
Too fragile.
But they talked about trust, the lack of it, the break in it, the possibility of rebuilding it.
Yaoyue told him she didn't want to be someone hidden or protected for convenience.
Zeyan told her he wasn't used to protecting anyone personally, but that he was learning.
She told him she needed space.
He told her he could wait.
Not forever, but long enough.
---
As the day faded into early evening, he stood at the door, not quite ready to leave.
She stood beside him, arms folded.
"Don't expect things to go back to normal," she said.
"I don't want normal," he replied. "Not if it means pretending again."
Another long pause.
Then she looked up at him.
"You're not going to kiss me, are you?"
"No."
"Good."
He hesitated.
"But I wanted to."
She looked at him, really looked.
And for once, didn't feel like running.
"Next time," she said.
And with that, she shut the door behind him.
Softly.
---
Back at the penthouse that night, Zeyan didn't sleep.
He stood at the window, overlooking the city he used to own without question.
Now, it felt different.
Because this time, he wasn't just protecting his company.
He was protecting her.
And anyone who thought they could hurt her again, leak her name, smear her past, undermine her worth, was about to find out who he was when he stopped pretending to stay silent.