Lu Yuze was the lastborn, an unexpected late-life addition to a family that had considered itself complete. The Old Madam Lu had become pregnant years after declaring she was finished bearing children, giving birth to Lu Yuze when the sibling closest to him in age had already turned twelve years old. The other children had been born in quick succession, each about a year apart. But Lu Yuze had arrived over a decade after his nearest sibling, creating a gap that had always made him somewhat separate from the rest.
"Father and Mother have already tried reaching him," Lu Cheng said with barely suppressed frustration. "Multiple times. His secretary receives the calls and takes messages, but Lu Yuze never returns them. Our parents have no more access to him than anyone else does."
