"？" Ning Yunhuan's stomach twisted uneasily. Lan Jiu had always been an enigma, and now that Gu Yingxi had entered this restaurant, she had no desire to follow. But her slender wrist proved no match for his iron grip as he dragged her inside nonetheless.

Lan Lingshan moved with the effortless grace of a man who knew his own power. The emerald silk shirt clung to his frame like second skin, casting an aura of quiet opulence that could not be hidden even by his controlled demeanor. He stepped into the dining hall like a king returning to his domain - natural, inevitable. Yunhuan felt absurdly as though she should be bowing at his heels rather than trailing beside him.

The moment they crossed the threshold, eyes began following them. A sharply-dressed man in his fifties approached with brisk efficiency.

"You wanted to see her?" Lan Jiu's lips curved into a faint smirk that didn't reach his phoenix-shaped eyes - cold as winter ice and twice as dangerous. "Yunhuan, I'm helping you."

Her face flushed with both embarrassment and confusion as he pulled her past the reception desk toward the second floor dining rooms. The Japanese restaurant's cathedral-ceiling loomed overhead, its massive crystal chandelier casting prismatic light over private booths upstairs.

There by the counter, Song Qingyun's arm was draped possessively around Gu Yingxi's shoulders. Lan Jiu had promised to follow from a distance... why then did he stride toward them like an invading general? And worse - Gu Yingxi didn't even glance their way!

"I thought you hated me," Yunhuan muttered to herself, still being dragged along. "Aren't you supposed to be seeking revenge?"

Lan Jiu had never been one for subterfuge. When he plotted, it was out in the open - while others lurked in shadows. Yet now Gu Yingxi's eyes lit up like fireflies at his presence.

"La... Lanjiu-ge!" she gasped, her voice cracking with emotion. The man who had saved her from Li Yuxuan last time stood before her - the one who'd banished that monster with a few calm words and sent him packing to Nanling for good!

Tears welled in Gu Yingxi's eyes as memories flooded back: how she'd cried herself sick at the bathroom mirror, hugging the toilet like an anchor while wishing he would call... But after rescuing her from Li Yuxuan, why had he left her vulnerable again? When Xie Zhuoyin violated her that night...

"Lanjiu-ge, I..." Her voice broke as sobs escaped. She craved his pity yet feared his judgment - what if he looked at her differently now?

"Have you never called me this before?" Lan Jiu's tone was deceptively mild as he kept walking. He didn't even look back at the weeping woman behind them, and Gu Yingxi collapsed into silent agony.

Across from her, Song Qingyun suddenly forgot all about their earlier spat - if only she'd known, he would have swept her up in his arms long ago...

Lan Jiu's gaze flickered toward Yunhuan as they passed. The faint shadow of a threat lingered beneath his calm exterior, the corner of his eye darkening with barely concealed rage before softening into something dangerously tender.

"You called me Lanjiu behind my back," he murmured, remembering when she'd unwittingly used that name in their first encounter.