From a shadowed balcony above the garden, Li Yan stood silent.
He hadn't intended to follow her. He told himself it was observation, not interest. That she was a potential threat, a variable in a world he controlled.
But he had watched her—really watched her.
First at the banquet, poised like a queen. Then with Feng Ju, cutting him down with grace. Then with her father—unbending, cold. But this…
This moment?
Crouched beside her brother. Eyes warm. Laughing softly under the moonlight.
It wasn't a mask.
It was the real her.
A girl who had once been foolish and blind.
Now reborn as a woman who could set the world ablaze.
Zhou stepped beside him, clearing his throat softly. "Boss, the report is ready."
Li Yan didn't take his eyes off her.
"Go on."
"She's been quiet for years. Obedient. Until two months ago, when she suddenly started changing—dressing differently, speaking up, cutting ties. She cancelled the engagement with Feng Ju and avoided all business her father arranged. Most interestingly—she's been independently contacting old allies of her mother."
Li Yan's brows twitched. "That's bold."
"She's also been secretly buying shares. Through dummy companies. Small amounts. But consistent. All Feng-related investments."
Now that made him smile.
She wasn't just rebelling.
She was building an empire.
"I want everything on her. Who she sees. What she buys. What she wears. Every breath, every step."
Zhou nodded, hesitating. "Sir… with all due respect, are you investigating her—or drawn to her?"
Li Yan gave him a cold look.
But it was tinged with something else.
Intrigue. Curiosity.
And just a trace of heat.
"She's not ready yet," he said at last. "But when she is… the whole city will kneel."
He turned away, coat fluttering like storm clouds behind him.
Below, Feng Xiao Xiao smiled softly at her brother.
She had no idea that a dragon had fixed his eyes on her phoenix wings.