LU CORPORATION – UNDERGROUND CONTROL ROOM – NIGHT
The screen flickered.
A black-and-white surveillance feed, grainy but unmistakable — the woman in the footage wore a long coat, hair pinned high, features veiled by a silk scarf. But Lu Quing didn't need her face to know who she was.
He stared at the screen, unmoving.
"Sir, the facial recognition scan was conclusive," the head of internal security said hesitantly. "It's her." He pushed his glasses up waiting for his boss to give him a praiseworthy compliment.
"...Li Anya," Lu Quing said quietly.
The room went silent.
No one dared ask how he felt.
No one dared breathe when his eyes began to glow faintly silver.
"Where was this taken?" he asked.
"West District. She entered through the old safe house channel. She's... not hiding, sir. She's leaving signs. It's like she wants to be seen."
He already knew.
Because Anya never did anything without a performance.
---
FLASHBACK – FIVE YEARS AGO
She had laughed easily.
Wore red scarves and read poetry.
He remembered her saying: "The world doesn't scare me. People do."
He had believed her.
But it wasn't true.
Li Anya didn't fear people. She used them. Quietly.
Beautifully.
Completely.
He'd seen glimpses of her real self — subtle cruelties, lies painted in sweetness, the way she isolated anyone who came too close to him.
But he'd ignored them.
Because he'd wanted to believe in love.
Until the crash.
Until the blood and wreckage and the burned diary page they found in her seat.
He had buried her with that illusion.
Not the truth.
And now — she was back.
---
LU VILLA – GARDEN BALCONY – NIGHT
Yueying sat curled on a lounge chair, the moonlight brushing over her skin like silk.
She was calm on the outside.
But her fingers clutched the pendant like a warning bell.
Lu Quing stepped onto the balcony, quiet as always. He didn't speak at first — just stood beside her, staring into the night.
"You appear to be loss in thought," she said softly.
He nodded. "Someone I thought was dead… isn't."
Her breath caught.
"A woman?"
"Yes."
She didn't ask more. Not yet.
But her heart twisted strangely.
Lu Quing turned toward her. "Her name is Li Anya."
Yueying looked up slowly. "You loved her?"
"I thought I did."
That answer was enough to slice the air between them.
She turned her gaze back to the sky.
"And now?"
He paused. "Now I realize… I never really knew her. I loved the version she wanted me to see."
Yueying's chest tightened.
She hated how beautiful her name sounded on his lips.
Hated that this woman — this ghost — could crawl back into their lives and change the air between them.
But she didn't say it.
Instead she asked, "Does she know about me?"
"She will." He said. "And that's what worries me."
---
SOMEWHERE IN THE CITY – SECRET LUXURY SUITE
Li Anya lounged on a velvet chaise, dressed in pale blue silk, her hair falling in perfect dark waves.
A mirror shimmered beside her, showing Yueying — fiery, radiant, young.
She sneered slightly.
"She's not even that beautiful," she muttered.
The silver-eyed man beside her said nothing.
"Did he really replace me with that?"
"You died," the man replied calmly.
Li Anya's gaze darkened. "I faked my death to protect him."
"You faked your death," he corrected, "to avoid being discovered after betraying him to the Crimson Order."
Li Anya rolled her eyes. "Petty."
She rose from her chair, walking barefoot across the marble floor, trailing her fingers along a velvet curtain.
"He doesn't know the full truth," she whispered. "He thinks I was just… manipulative. He doesn't know how far I went."
The man smirked. "And if he did?"
Her eyes gleamed.
"I'll remind him why he loved me."
She stepped closer to the mirror, touching Yueying's face in the reflection.
"And when she finally gives in to him — I'll take her blood and watch her suffer from the inside out."
---
LU CORPORATION – THE NEXT MORNING
Yueying stood by the coffee machine, staring into her cup longer than necessary.
She didn't ask questions.
But the name Li Anya lay in her head like a blade on her tongue.
Lu Quing entered the lounge.
She didn't greet him.
He noticed.
He stepped beside her, close enough to feel her tension.
"She's nothing to you," he said.
But Yueying gave him a look that said: You don't know what I feel yet.
Still — she nodded.
"I'm not jealous."
It was a lie.
But slow-burn jealousy was like fire in wet wood — it would smolder, quietly, until it sparked.
And when it did…
The whole forest would burn.
---
LU CORPORATION – EXECUTIVE RECEPTION – MIDDAY
The lobby was too quiet.
The usual rhythm of high heels, urgent typing, and espresso machines humming had slowed to a hush — as if the building itself held its breath.
Then came the click of designer heels on polished marble.
Li Anya entered like a storm dressed in silk — her figure lithe in a sapphire dress that hugged her perfectly. Hair in an elegant twist. Pearl earrings. She walked with poise, every move rehearsed, her lips curved in a smile meant to be both warm and disarming.
"Good morning," she said to the front desk receptionist. "I'm here for my 12:30 meeting with President Lu. I'm listed as Ms. Mei Lian."
The receptionist blinked, confused. "Ah—yes, Ms. Lian. He's expecting you. Executive elevator's on your right."
Anya smiled. "Thank you."
She didn't look back.
She didn't need to.
People always looked at her.
---
YUEYING – PROJECT FLOOR
Yueying had no reason to look up.
But something in her flared.
A pulse.
A warning.
She turned — just in time to see the woman step into the executive elevator, her back straight, her heels sharp.
Their eyes met for a fleeting second through the elevator's polished doors before they closed.
And that was enough.
Yueying's heart… stung.
She didn't know who the woman was.
But something ancient inside her whispered:
Threat.
---
LU QUING'S OFFICE – EXECUTIVE FLOOR
He stood by the window, hands clasped behind his back. His jacket hung untouched on the coat rack. His silver eyes were stormy.
The door opened.
Anya entered — poised, graceful.
He didn't turn.
She spoke first.
"You knew I would come."
"I hoped you wouldn't."
That made her laugh softly. "Still as cold as ever."
"And you're still as predictable."
She stepped closer. "You didn't stop me. That means part of you wanted this."
Now he turned — slowly.
His gaze met hers. Calm and measured.
"Part of me wanted closure. Not… this."
Anya tilted her head. "Closure from what? From loving me? Or from hating yourself for the accident?"
He didn't answer.
She stepped even closer.
"I know about her," she said, voice velvet. "The one with sacred fire in her blood. Yueying."
He stiffened.
"That name," she said, "doesn't sound mortal."
"Neither is she. She's no mere human"
Anya's smile faltered slightly.
But she recovered.
"Do you love her?"
The room fell into silence.
Then he answered — steady.
"I protect her."
"That's not what I asked."
He looked away.
And that was answer enough.
Anya's hands clenched by her side — barely noticeable, but there.
"Well," she said, smile returning. "Let's see if you still protect her."
---
PROJECT FLOOR – AFTERNOON
Yueying barely listened during the team meeting.
Aaron Li kept glancing at her. Even he could tell something was off.
"You okay?" he whispered after the meeting.
"I saw someone today," Yueying replied, her voice flat.
"She looked like a dirt wearing perfume."
Aaron blinked. "Cryptic."
She stood. "If I'm not back by lunch, tell them to hold my slot."
And with that, she walked toward the executive wing.
---
EXECUTIVE ELEVATOR – MOMENTS LATER
The doors opened on the top floor — and Yueying stepped out just in time to see the woman exiting Lu Quing's office.
Li Anya.
Not Mei Lian.
Not a stranger anymore.
Up close — her beauty was undeniable. Sharp, polished. But something about her felt wrong — too poised. Too perfect.
Their eyes met again.
And this time — Anya smiled.
"Ah. You must be her."
Yueying didn't reply.
Anya stepped closer, her perfume soft and expensive. "I've heard about you. The girl with fire in her eyes and a sword made of flame."
"You talk a lot for someone who doesn't belong here," Yueying said calmly.
Anya's smile didn't falter. "And you fall quickly for someone who's just an intern."
Silence.
Yueying's eyes glowed — just faintly.
Anya leaned closer. "He used to call me his salvation."
Yueying didn't move. "And now you're back to damn him?"
That made Anya blink.
Yueying stepped around her, toward Lu Quing's office, her voice low.
"Nice perfume. Smells like the past."
And the doors closed behind her.
---
LU QUING'S OFFICE
He looked up when Yueying entered.
"You saw her," he said.
"Yes."
Silence stretched.
"I wanted to tell you," he said. "I just…"
"You didn't know how."
He nodded.
Yueying walked to his desk, standing across from him.
"I need to ask you something," she said.
"Anything."
"When you look at her… do you miss her?"
He paused.
"I miss who I thought she was."
"That's not the same."
"No."
She swallowed hard.
"Then look at me."
He did.
Eyes silver. Haunted. Searching.
"Do you see me?" she whispered. "Or just another woman you want to save?"
His breath caught.
And slowly — he stood.
Walked around the desk.
And placed his hands gently on either side of her arms.
"I see you," he said. "Even when you try to hide."
The fire within her calmed.
But the jealousy?
It didn't vanish.
It simmered — deep and slow.
Because Yueying didn't just want to be seen.
She wanted to be chosen.
---
UNKNOWN LOCATION – NIGHT
Li Anya stood by a shattered window, watching Lu Corporation's building rise like a beacon.
The silver-eyed man stepped beside her.
"She doesn't trust you," he said.
"She doesn't have to."
Anya's voice was cold now. Empty.
"I'm not here to be trusted."
"I'm here to win."
---