Thirty minutes ago, the executive cafe on the first floor of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, Donghai City’s neon lights had just begun to glow, like countless wandering veins, slicing the night into shimmering stained-glass panels.
Gao Hongzhi set down his cup of black coffee—long gone cold—and tapped two absentminded fingers on the rim, producing a soft tap-tap sound.
Across from him, Baek Jeong-hun lounged lazily in his chair, twirling an unlit Cuban cigar between his fingers.
The faint fragrance of tobacco drifted between them.
The two had just finished discussing the final details of a cross-border acquisition: figures, equity splits, tax planning…
They’d gotten so caught up in the conversation that time had slipped away unnoticed.
Baek Jeong-hun glanced at his wristwatch—the Patek Philippe’s hands had moved forty minutes.
“Ah, it’s already this late.”
“The interview should have ended by now.”
“Congratulations, Brother Gao. Those two kids—ten to one, they both passed.”
“Thanks to your good fortune, thanks to your good fortune.”
“Speaking of which, the kids should have called once the interview was over. Probably too excited and forgot.”
“Well, let’s call and ask.”
So Gao Hongzhi pulled out his phone and dialed.
Beep—beep—beep…..
No answer.
He dialed again.
Still no answer.
Baek Jeong-hun noticed his expression and dropped his smile, taking out his own phone.
“I’ll try too. Xiaolin should be with Xiao Gu.”
He called his daughter’s number.
The same endless ringtone.
Once, twice, three times.
Still no answer.
The air suddenly grew quiet.
The jazz music from the cafe continued to flow softly, but now the melody sounded like funeral bells in the background.
The two men exchanged a look.
Both were fathers.
Neither spoke, but in the depths of their eyes, they saw the same thing—fear.
Gao Hongzhi swallowed hard, set his phone on the table, and lowered his voice.
“I’ll call Huo Sang.”
He dialed Sir Huo Sang’s private number.
The old man answered quickly, his voice a little hoarse, clearly just finishing a cigar.
“Hongzhi? What’s the matter at this hour?”
“Sir, is the interview over?”
Gao Hongzhi asked in fluent English.
“Of course, it ended twenty minutes ago. That young man was outstanding, no less than Bai Xialin. Hah, you know, I’d actually met Bai Xialin before at an academic conference—truly a remarkable child!”
Sir Huo Sang was about to go on and on.
Gao Hongzhi cut him off immediately.
“Bai Xialin’s father, Baek Jeong-hun, is with me. We called the kids, but no one answered.”
“Are you certain the interview ended twenty minutes ago?”
“Yes, absolutely certain.”
Sir Huo Sang realized something was wrong.
His cheerful tone gradually turned serious.
A three-second silence.
“Where are you?”
“We’re in the seventh-floor cafe of the Ritz-Carlton.”
“Go check the surveillance footage right away. Don’t worry, Hongzhi—the Ritz-Carlton is a five-star hotel. The security and cameras here are flawless.”
“I hope so.”
After hanging up, Gao Hongzhi, in his haste, even forgot his suit jacket hanging on the chair.
He rushed toward the elevator.
“Hongzhi!”
Baek Jeong-hun grabbed his own jacket with one hand and Gao Hongzhi’s with the other, following closely behind.
Five minutes later, Gao Hongzhi and Baek Jeong-hun stood in the Ritz-Carlton’s executive floor security room.
The air was thick with the smell of coffee grounds and the hot plastic of electronic equipment.
The faces of the two middle-aged men were as dark as leaden clouds before a storm.
“I’ll calm my girl down first.”
Gao Hongzhi called Gao Hongyi and told her that the principal would be having dinner with Gu Yebai.
Meanwhile, Baek Jeong-hun, his face grim, glared threateningly at the security guards as they adjusted the surveillance feed.
At the beginning: footage of them before the interview.
In the executive lounge, the crystal chandelier scattered golden light.
Gu Yebai and Bai Xialin walked side by side.
His custom dark gray suit was sharp—Gao Hongzhi had picked it himself; the shoulder line was straight, the tie impeccable.
The girl wore a violet evening gown, the hem swaying with her steps.
She smiled brightly and boldly, walking with elegant grace.
A perfect match.
The footage kept playing.
Frame by frame, they rewound.
The security guards in the room barely dared to breathe.
Then, a terrible image appeared.
A tall, thin shadow suddenly darted out from a corner—a cap, a black mask, an oversized hoodie.
No other distinguishing features.
He moved like a ghost.
He quickly covered Gu Yebai’s mouth and nose.
The boy struggled twice, then collapsed.
“Son!!!”
Gao Hongzhi roared.
His fists clenched so hard he wanted to smash the screen.
He had brought the boy from Linchuan to give him a good life, and this was happening.
Bai Xialin screamed: “Ah—! Xiao Gu Gu! Don’t touch him!!”
She lunged forward like a mother beast protecting her cub.
But the man’s other hand pressed a cloth over her face.
She flailed twice, then went limp, collapsing beside Gu Yebai.
The man moved cleanly.
He pulled coarse rope from his backpack.
He wound it around them, loop by loop.
First their arms—the rope pulled tight, their limbs pressed flush together.
Bai Xialin’s chest was compressed, her curves against Gu Yebai’s chest through the thin evening gown fabric.
The rope continued downward: three loops around the waist, then around the thighs.
The crook of her knee hooked the inside of his thigh, her body forced forward as if melting into his bones.
Last came the blindfold.
Then a burlap sack.
The man stuffed them inside like two lambs to slaughter.
He tied the sack shut.
He hoisted it up.
And disappeared down the hallway.
The whole thing took less than three minutes.
Dead silence in the security room.
“Xiaolin… Xiaolin…”
Baek Jeong-hun dropped to his knees as he watched the footage.
Tears streamed down his face.
Then a violent rage surged out of him, and he snarled through clenched teeth.
“That kidnapper must pay with blood…”
“Kill him!”
“We must kill him!”
Perhaps because he was too emotional, Baek Jeong-hun spoke in Korean.
The security guards understood nothing.
Gao Hongzhi’s knuckles were white, veins bulging, as if he wanted to crush something.
“What do they want?”
“Is it money?”
If it was money, any amount was fine, as long as the two children were safe.
Gao Hongzhi took a deep breath.
“Did the kidnappers leave any note or anything?”
The security guards all shook their heads.
“What the hell are you people here for?”
“How did you let a kidnapper into the hotel?”
Baek Jeong-hun grabbed a guard by the shoulders and demanded.
“My daughter!!!”
“Let’s call the police first, Baek.”
“Brother Gao… I…”
Baek Jeong-hun’s voice was dry.
“What is it, Brother Baek?”
“I think I have a lead…”
“Three years ago, Xiaolin rejected a fan’s confession. That guy started stalking her after that—sent her blood letters, threatened self-harm… I hired a private detective to handle it. I thought it was over…”
“His build… it’s similar to the one in the footage.”
“Both are tall and thin.”
Gao Hongzhi’s breathing grew heavy.
“So… it’s aimed at your daughter?”
Baek Jeong-hun closed his eyes.
“Maybe… also at your son.”
The two fathers exchanged a glance.
An invisible blade hung in the air above everyone’s heads.
Gao Hongzhi suddenly spoke, his voice terrifyingly calm.
“Pull all the hotel surveillance—including the underground garage, service entrance, and back door.”
“And—”
He paused, a flicker of menace in his eyes.
“Copy that footage for me.”
The guards scrambled to obey without a moment’s delay.
“I don’t care who did this.”
“I just want my son back in one piece.”
He stared at the final frame on the screen—the sack being carried away.
His fists slowly unclenched, then tightened again.
His nails had dug into his palms, drawing blood.
But he seemed to feel no pain.
Gao Hongzhi suddenly remembered that just before the interview, Gu Yebai had turned back and smiled at him.
That smile had been as clean as snow.
Now that child was stuffed into a sack, carried away like cargo.
Gao Hongzhi’s eyes suddenly felt hot.
He blinked hard, forcing the moisture back.
“Jeong-hun.”
“Yeah.”
“Call the police, and at the same time… give me everything you know about that crazy fan.”
“We can’t leave everything to the police. I’ll find them myself.”
“Even if I get hurt, or die, I won’t let them come for the kids.”
Baek Jeong-hun was silent for two seconds.
“Alright.”
The surveillance screen kept looping the footage.
Over and over.
Like a dull knife carving into the hearts of the two fathers.
At that moment, the night over Donghai grew even deeper.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom tore through the neon-dense Bund Avenue like a wild beast.
The speedometer needle was pinned at two hundred miles per hour.
The engine screamed as if about to explode.
It ignored traffic lights entirely.
Outside the window, streetlights were pulled into streaks of pale white, racing backward, as if the whole world was fleeing from her.
“Uncle Lin, faster.”
“Don’t drag your feet!”
“Miss, we’re in the city center… any faster and we’ll crash…”
“I don’t care if it’s the city center.”
The Ritz-Carlton Bund Hotel was only two hundred meters away.
Gao Hongyi’s eyes looked like she wanted to flay someone alive.
She had just called the principal.
The principal said the interview was long over and admitted he had no plan to have dinner with Gu Yebai.
Her father had lied to her again…
Never mind.
It didn’t matter.
Everything about her father could wait.
She just needed to see Uncle Baek now.
The Ritz-Carlton Bund Hotel—only two hundred meters away.
The parking lot barrier was still down.
Uncle Lin instinctively eased off the gas.
Gao Hongyi’s breath caught.
The next second, she lunged forward, grabbed the back of Uncle Lin’s seat with white-knuckled fingers.
“Go through it.”
Crack—the sound of metal twisting.
The barrier bent at a sick angle, like a broken spine, and flew sideways.
Gao Hongyi laughed low in the back seat.
She couldn’t wait a single second longer.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom’s brake lights went dark.
The tires screeched on the wet asphalt, leaving a long black scorch mark like a knife slash across the night.
The car shuddered to a stop at the hotel entrance.
She got out.
Gao Hongyi started running.
Her deep cherry-colored hair flowed behind her like a red sea in the night.
“My job… it’s over…”
The driver, Uncle Lin, stared at the damage he had caused.
He couldn’t help covering his head.
‘When did I start obeying Miss Gao Hongyi’s every command so obediently?’
‘I remember once, I had the chance to hear her play the piano. It was an incredible experience. Like I could die the next second and feel no regret…’
‘I always felt… that this young lady of the Gao family might one day grow into a terrifying monster.’
Clutching his head—bleeding from where he’d hit the steering wheel from the momentum—he began to doze off.
With his last bit of strength, he dialed 120.