THE REAL PROTEGE

Shi Min remembered his mother's words from last month — her smile subdued, her hand unconsciously hovering over her abdomen. "I'll tell your stepfather about this on our wedding night as a gift and surprise," Ling Li said with excitement.

Shi Min didn't answer at first. Instead, he threw the question back to his stepfather. "Why are you asking me?"

Four Eyes exhaled, his voice softer now but sincere. "I heard it. From your mother's thoughts. Right before everything fell apart." His brows furrowed as he tried to recall more. "She was trying to focus… to stay calm. But she was worried. About the baby. About what the stress would do."

Shi Min's eyes flicked to him for a brief moment before returning to the road, his jaw tightening with a quiet fury.

"How long have you had this ability?" he asked.

"Since the breakthrough," Four Eyes replied. "I was still adjusting… trying to understand how to manage what I hear. At first, I could only read people through touch — but now, it's… getting louder. I can hear other thoughts just by looking."

Shi Min let out a low breath. "Then you already know what's at stake."

"I do," Chu Yan answered.

"Then ask her yourself," Shi Min said flatly. "If she lets you."

There was a beat of silence before Four Eyes murmured, "Thank you, Shi Min."

A dry chuckle escaped Shi Min's throat — barely there, edged in disbelief.

"Don't thank me yet."

Their car turned sharply at the next intersection, the sea breeze curling through the opened sunroof, cutting the tension like a whetted blade.

"You'll have to explain everything to my mom. Every word. Every pause. Every thought you didn't say when you should have. You'll have to stand in front of her and make her believe you again."

Shi Min's voice turned steely, expression unreadable. "And if you lie—or falter — don't wait for Otako. You'll deal with me first."

They drove on in silence.

The cliffs curved into sight, revealing their mansion in the distance — its ancestral towers flanked by mountains and shrouded in rolling mist. It loomed like a citadel of refuge and reckoning all at once.

Inside those stone halls was the woman whose trust had once been a fortress.

And now, rebuilding it would take more than love — it would take war.

The fortress-like gates of the mansion loomed before them — ancient, iron-forged, and wreathed in the early hush of dusk. The ocean wind tangled the rose bushes along the outer walls, and somewhere within, the woman both men loved was searching for air between the cracks of heartbreak.

As the security personnel recognized the incoming vehicle and signaled to open the gates, Four Eyes suddenly unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door.

"Paps?" Shi Min turned sharply in his seat. "What are you—"

But Four Eyes was already stepping out onto the stone-paved path, the shadow of the towering estate reflected in his determined eyes. Without hesitation, he dropped to his knees.

PLOP!

"Paps," Shi Min called again, incredulous now, pulling open the passenger door. "What are you doing?!"

Four Eyes didn't flinch. His palms rested against his thighs, back straight, head bowed — but his voice, when it came, was clear and unshakable.

"I'll wait here."

Shi Min took a step forward, half-staggering between frustration and awe.

Four Eyes didn't look up. "I'll wait here, like this, until she comes out. Until she's ready. Until I'm someone she can look at again and not flinch."

The gates groaned open behind them, the road now clear, but still he did not move.

"I failed her, I failed your Mom," Four eyes said softly, the ache layered in every syllable.

"Not just today. Not just on the altar. I made her feel like she had to carry everything on her own. And now... she is. Again."

Shi Min stared at his stepfather, the wind brushing past both their coats.

"You think kneeling here will fix that?" he asked, voice lower, cracking at the edges.

"No," Four Eyes replied. "But I have to start somewhere."

He looked up — not at the castle — but at the balcony where her lights were still dim, her silhouette absent.

"I'll be here when she's ready. Or until my body gives way. But I won't run, not again."

Shi Min's fists clenched at his sides. He wanted to shout, to drag him back into the car, to storm into the castle himself and tear down the walls that now stood between them all.

But instead… he nodded once.

Then turned to the guards.

"Watch over him," Shi Min muttered. "It's going to be a long day."

Shi Min let him be, and he rushed into the mansion.

The halls of the Ling estate were quiet, not with peace, but with the heavy hush that follows a broken symphony.

Shi Min's footsteps echoed through the marble corridor, purposeful and fast, each stride slicing through the tension that still clung to the walls like smoke from a fire.

He passed the dining room, the music salon, the guest atrium — until he reached her chambers.

The door was ajar.

He didn't knock.

Inside, Ling Li stood beside her open wardrobe, dressed in slate-gray slacks and a fitted black jacket that clung to her like armor. Her hair was still pinned in soft waves from the wedding, but her face — bare of makeup now — was carved from focus and exhaustion.

She was folding clothes into a travel pack with military precision: undergarments, tactical outerwear, a sealed satchel of spiritual seals, and acupuncture needles. Her ceremonial jade ring rested on the nightstand beside a small black blade she hadn't worn since her last mission in Tibet.

Shi Min entered with a muted breath. "Mom."

Ling Li paused.

Her back remained turned, one hand tightening on the fabric she was folding.

"I'm leaving for Bayside Castle tonight," she said flatly. "Ren and Lily are staying here. The twins will remain at the penthouse until I return."

"Mom," Shi Min repeated, softer now.

She still didn't turn.

"Paps is outside," he said finally. "He's kneeling at the gate."

At that, Ling Li froze.

Slowly, she placed the folded jacket down. Her hands stayed pressed to the edge of the dresser, gripping the wood like it might splinter beneath her palms.