Adrian stood in front of the board and did something spectacularly stupid: he burned an offer that would have saved a quarter of his company rather than let them leverage Mei's name. Investors muttered; Victor smiled as if tasting copper.
"Why?" Eleanor demanded later, furious that his pride risked their control.
"Because if anyone profits from her without her say, I'll burn the contract, the company, and my name," Adrian replied. The words came like a vow. For once he was performing for no audience but his conscience.
The public loved a story of selfless ruin. The stock dipped; the headlines cheered his gall. But the politics of sacrifice are never neat. Hannah posted a fake audio clip implying their marriage was an opportunistic ploy; angry comments fed tabloid clicks.
Renée's network combed the web for the leaked clip's source. One lead led them to a PR firm with a ghost account traced back to Victor. Another lead ended at a thrift shop where Mei's thrifted sketchbook had been purchased by a woman using an alias.
Mei, wrapped in a donated cardigan, watched the world trade her life like a commodity. She was furious—not at Adrian this time, but at the system that could grind two lives into headlines so easily.
Adrian hired a private security team and told them in blunt terms: "Find her. Do not touch her. Bring me proof." He added a second whisper of instruction—something he'd never asked of anyone before: Let her choose.
The investigator returned, breathless and uneasy. "She's not in the city," he said. "But she's been seen. She's been photographed. Someone's watching her from the cafe across from Renée's."
Adrian's hand closed around the photo of Mei walking along the boardwalk—three weeks ago. The other man in the photo wore a suit and a ring eerily similar to—his. A thrill cut through his ribs: the image's angle, its timestamp, and the knowledge that every truth here was like the face of a coin—two sides and heavy with consequence.
Cliffhanger: Victor leaks a false court notice suggesting Mei is the Liao heiress; the tabloid runs it. Renée calls Mei: the notice names a time for a preliminary legitimacy hearing in eight days.