---
Night settled over the city like ink poured over glass, and the apartment was quiet again. The rain from the past week had passed, leaving the air cool and tinged with the scent of distant flowers. Li Chen sat alone on the rooftop terrace, sipping warm tea as the city lights blinked below him.
He'd been watching it all unfold—how the women around him were shifting.
How they were beginning to revolve around him like moons pulled into orbit by something invisible.
His aunt, Su Ruyin, had begun to soften—no longer teasing from a distance, but leaning in close, brushing his shoulder when she passed. His cousin, Su Xiaoyan, now lingered longer in doorways, her eyes full of unspoken things.
And his mother…
He didn't let himself think about her right now.
Not tonight.
The breeze pulled at his shirt collar. His phone buzzed once.
> [Ding!] New Summon Incoming. Prepare to receive: "Zhao Yuwei" – Strategic Legal Consultant
Cover Identity: Director of Li Corporation's Discretionary Assets
Background: Widowed at 35. Ruthless in court, elegant in person. Now loyal only to you.
Interesting.
Li Chen stood, rolled his sleeves up slightly, and returned downstairs.
---
The following morning, Li Chen stepped out of the elevator into the lobby of a private high-rise in the city's financial district. A black luxury car waited outside, engine purring.
The door opened before he touched the handle.
Inside, she sat waiting.
Zhao Yuwei.
She looked nothing like he expected.
A woman in her mid-thirties, clad in a charcoal-gray pantsuit with a deep blue silk blouse beneath. Her hair was swept back in a low chignon. She wore no jewelry—only a slim watch and nude lipstick. Sharp cheekbones, soft eyes, but there was steel in her gaze.
"Mr. Li," she said, voice like warm smoke. "Shall we go?"
He nodded and stepped inside.
They drove in silence for several minutes before she turned toward him slightly.
"I've reviewed all assets placed under your name via the system's shadow network. My role will be ensuring none of it is ever traced—financially or legally."
"I trust you," he said.
"You should," she replied, lips curving faintly. "I exist to serve you."
There was something heavier in those words.
Not just loyalty. Submission.
He studied her, silent.
Then: "Are you married?"
"Was," she replied. "He died. Six years ago."
"Children?"
"One. She's twenty. Lives abroad."
He nodded slowly. "And you… why did the system choose you?"
"Because I understand power. And how to protect it. I've done things that would make most men lose sleep. But I never break."
Their eyes met.
Something passed between them.
Zhao Yuwei turned back to the window, her reflection ghosted across the glass.
Li Chen felt the stirrings of something new.
Not just desire.
But command.
---
By evening, Zhao Yuwei had secured the paperwork for a new property—a private villa by the sea, three floors, with its own dock and helipad. She handed him the deed while seated in his living room, legs crossed, posture perfect.
"You now officially own more than most provincial mayors," she said, voice low.
"I'm not interested in being seen," Li Chen said.
"Then you're dangerous in all the right ways."
She stood to leave but paused near him.
"I've handled billionaires. Made ministers tremble in courtrooms. But you… make me feel small. In the best way."
Then she walked away, leaving only her perfume and silence behind.
---
The house was quiet again.
Until later that night.
Xiaoyan tapped on his door just past midnight.
He opened it to find her wearing a silk robe, her hair slightly messy.
"I can't sleep," she whispered.
He stepped aside. She entered.
"I keep thinking about the way you look at people," she said, curling on his couch. "Like they belong to you."
"Maybe they do."
She laughed softly.
Then looked up.
"…Do you ever feel like you're becoming someone you weren't before?"
"All the time," he said, sitting beside her.
She leaned into him. Her breath was warm against his neck.
"I don't want to be saved from you."
He turned to her. "I'm not offering salvation."
"I know."
And then she kissed him—slow and aching, full of confusion and want.
But Li Chen pulled back this time.
"Not tonight," he said gently.
"Why?"
He brushed hair from her cheek.
"Because I want you to want it tomorrow. And the next day. Not just in the dark."
She stared at him, breathless.
Then she nodded.
And curled against him like something claimed.
---
Down the hallway, Su Mei stood silently behind her half-closed bedroom door, having seen everything.
Her hands trembled—not with anger.
With something worse.
She had been the first. She had surrendered.
And now she feared being forgotten.
But Li Chen knew.
He always knew.
And soon, it would be her turn again.
---
[End of Chapter 6]