There was a noise at the door. Lauren Shaw opened her eyes and saw Yancy Shaw. She ran over with a smile and hugged him, "You're back."

Yancy Shaw ruffled her hair. "Yeah. Sorry for getting home so late."

"You’ve worked hard, hubby." She stood on tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Yancy Shaw chuckled softly, "You haven’t showered yet?" He glanced at the clothes she was still wearing.

Lauren Shaw scratched her head. "I just dozed off on the couch."

As she finished speaking, she sneezed.

Yancy Shaw grabbed her hand and was startled by how cold it was.

"Why are your hands so cold?" Lauren Shaw tried to pull back, but he tightened his grip, warmed her hands with his breath, rubbed them, then pressed them against his own stomach.

She meant to pull away, but once her fingers touched his abs, her hand had no intention of moving. Her fingertips slid gently over his lower abdomen, feeling warm and cozy.

Yancy Shaw pulled her into his arms and sat cross-legged on the sofa.

Lauren Shaw caught a faint scent of disinfectant on him, and thinking of what Mandy Snow had said earlier, she decided to tell Yancy Shaw everything.

"I’m the one who leaked news about Eva Snow," she confessed, gazing up at him.

"Just a few days ago, Eva Snow was nearly disfigured in Country F."

Lauren Shaw stared at him in shock. "Nearly disfigured?"

No wonder Mandy Snow had said what she did.

"How is she now?" Lauren Shaw asked. If things had gotten serious, she worried the Snow family might cause trouble for Yancy Shaw.

"I've already given Sean Snow her location. The Snow family has gone to fetch her."

By her reckoning, Eva Snow had been in Country F for almost a month. She wondered if coming back would finally settle her down.

A message popped up on her phone. It was from Vivian James.

[Lauren Shaw, thank you.]

Lauren Shaw blinked, momentarily confused—what was she thanking her for?

Seated beside her, Yancy Shaw caught a glimpse of her screen and explained, "Toby Ward's surgery was a success today."

Now Lauren Shaw understood. It was because of that. She quickly typed a reply.

[No need to thank me, I didn't do anything.]

It was Yancy Shaw who’d saved him, not her. There was no need to thank her.

The TV was on. An ad switched on the screen, and by coincidence, the spokesperson was Li Qiuchi. Seeing Li Qiuchi, her gossipy heart stirred again.

"Do you think Second Brother and Sister Qiu are really together?" she asked, snuggling in his arms, her fingers restlessly tracing circles on his stomach.

Yancy Shaw lowered his gaze to her and nodded.

"Then why hasn’t Second Brother brought Sister Qiu home yet? Mrs. Chen worries about Bryce Shaw’s marriage all day long—if she knew, she’d be over the moon."

"Shengsheng, not everything is as simple as it seems. Some things aren't about not wanting, they’re just about timing." Yancy Shaw’s mind was meticulous—the whole Shen family was like that.

"It's not that I don't want to—it's just not the right time."

He had felt that way about her, once. That was how, when the time was right, he finally won his beauty's heart.

—

"Sister Qiu, we’ve arrived," her assistant, Xiao Qi, reminded gently.

Li Qiuchi, resting with her eyes closed, opened them and said, "Get home safe." With that, she got out and walked toward the elevator.

Xiao Qi waited until she’d entered the building before driving off.

Li Qiuchi stood at the elevator, waiting. At this hour, the basement was almost deserted.

As the elevator came down, a sudden voice echoed, sending a chill down her spine.

"So, you moved here. Made me look high and low for you."

Li Qiuchi’s heart clenched. She looked toward the corner.

She recognized the man at once; her expression turned icy.

"How did you find me here?" Her tone bristled with loathing and hatred.

"Does it matter how I found you? Xiaoqi, I’m your only father! How could you just ignore me?"

This was her father, Li Guangliang. When she was a child, he was a drunk and abused her mother. When she was in high school, her mother finally fled, unable to take it anymore.

All these years, he’d barely cared for her. After she started college, she cut him off completely. As far as she was concerned, he might as well be dead.

But ever since she’d gotten famous, Li Guangliang kept scheming to squeeze money out of her.

Li Qiuchi wished more than anything she didn’t have such a father.

She looked at him with nothing but scorn. "Last time, I already gave you money. You said you’d never show your face again."

Li Guangliang chuckled. "That money from last time, I invested it for a friend—it hasn’t worked out yet. Give me another five million, and I promise you’ll never see me again."

Suddenly he grabbed her wrist. Li Qiuchi yanked her hand free, "What—you think I'm an ATM? Back then, didn’t you say I was dead to you? Why shamelessly come looking for me now?"

Seeing she wouldn’t give him money, Li Guangliang’s face twisted with rage. "You heartless little brat! I raised you all these years and you won’t spare a dime? You believe I’ll expose you to the press tomorrow?"

"Go ahead," she replied coldly. She really didn’t care.

Just as the elevator doors slid open, Li Guangliang grabbed her arm and cursed, "I raised you all these years, you ungrateful wolf!" (an idiom meaning someone ungrateful) He raised his hand to hit her.

Before the blow could fall, someone shoved him aside fiercely.

Li Guangliang turned to see a man he didn’t recognize. The newcomer radiated a cold, lethal aura.

"Are you alright?" the man asked, looking at Li Qiuchi. She shook her head, "I’m fine."

Li Guangliang swore, but Bryce Shaw’s chilling glare made him flinch.

Bryce Shaw’s fists clenched at his sides, rage flickering in his eyes, clearly ready to throw a punch, but Li Qiuchi held him back.

No matter how much Bryce Shaw wanted to hit him, Li Qiuchi’s words carried weight.

"Aren’t you leaving? Or do you want to see if he could really beat you to death?" Her icy voice cut the air. No matter what, he was still her father—she couldn't just stand by and watch Bryce Shaw beat him.

Li Guangliang took one look at Bryce Shaw, then turned tail and ran, only to be stopped.

"If I see you here again, I’ll break your legs." Bryce Shaw’s threat had Li Guangliang so scared he bolted out of there.

Li Qiuchi nudged him. Bryce Shaw had been shielding her tightly in his arms—a posture far too intimate.

He let go, but instead took her hand in his.

"How did you know I was in the basement?"

"Xiao Qi told me." Xiao Qi was the assistant he’d specifically assigned her. Calling her an assistant was a stretch; she was more like a bodyguard. After that incident with the obsessive fans, he’d insisted on hiring protection for her.

Xiao Qi was remarkably skilled—she hadn’t realized it herself at first. But at an event, someone deliberately tried to harass her. Xiao Qi had sent them flying with a single kick. That was when she learned: Xiao Qi was both an assistant and a skilled bodyguard.