Ethan rested his chin over his clasped hands, inclining his body a bit forward for better earshot.

"No matter how much I twist it around, whoever hired those four must also be behind the mess in Shanghai. I'm assuming they wanted me out of the picture so they could snoop around more freely."

​​

His blood was boiling in rage but he schooled his expression into a picture of calm. Although it was a futile effort hiding it from his wife.

It wasn't even that long after that attempted assault on her at the gas station, and now he learned that their house was invaded.

Thankfully, they weren't after her life.

But what if that wasn't the case? They managed to slip past security, snoop around in their office for hours without alerting anyone of their presence, then invaded their bedroom while she was asleep.

Ethan's heart was triggered by fear and anxiety.

They've gotten so close to her and their unborn baby. So close that they were practically breathing down her neck.

The Four Horsemen with their individual title as Uncrowned Leaders meant they have their individual strength. Their strength combine may not be equal to a Leader, but it would still exert a lot of effort if they fought.

Ethan's not underestimating Lillie's strength, but it was lucky that they're only searching for information, and that she caught them off-guard without having to spill blood and tiring herself.

As soon as they got back to the villa, Ethan will show those four a taste of his rage. He also won't forget about those who failed to secure his wife's safety.

Since even the Shadow Guards prove to be insufficient, they'll need to clean house and recondition the security.

Especially since they suspect that those four's informant was from the inside; a mole.

The one who makes things difficult for Lillie Bai and White Bird may or may not be the same person. They could be an entirely different entity.

"That may be the case. The only error to their plan was disregarding my capabilities." Lillie rubbed her growing stomach.

"I'm surprised you locked them up instead. I thought you wouldn't need to figure out who their employer was?"

"Their usefulness will be for other situations to come." Lillie supplied. "I would hate to waste such talents. Those four would prove to be useful within our grasp."

"Very impressive, just as expected of you," Ethan smirked wickedly. "What did you threatened them with?"

"Threaten is a strong word. It's more of...strongly swaying them in our favor. But it's pretty simple." Lillie mirrored his expression. "Ambitious people can't do what they want if they're dead."

Ethan let out a low laugh. He peered through his eyelashes as she sat across him, drinking a glass of mango juice and looking like an intimidating goddess. There's just something so incredibly sexy this wicked and devious side of her.

Although for him, all side of her is beautiful that he can't help but adore.

"Yesterday, Search and Intelligence Unit's reported back to me what they've found out." Lillie started. "As a result, we're now left with two suspects."

Ethan's attention was brought back to the present.

"As we established, the one who's been targeting me as White Bird was surely among the Underworld Leaders. It would take one of such status to have the capabilities to hide their tracks this efficiently."

"Qilin," Ethan affirmed.

"En." Excluding her and Black Tiger, the one she's most suspicious of was Qilin.

Both She Gu and Azure Tortoise—Ming Ting—are on hiatus. She Gu was too busy licking his wounds to try to sabotage her, while Ming Ting was steering away from active duty due to the risk of having her cover blown.

Lillie had met Qilin a few times. They barely interact and she hadn't seen him for over five years. Similarly, he rarely basks the Underworld his presence.

He also rarely attends the annual Royal Underworld Banquet—why do the Reapers even push on through the event when it's clear that the Five Leaders and the Thirteen Uncrowned Leaders don't exactly see each other eye-to-eye?

They never interacted for long enough to evaluate each other's character deeply. Nor had there been any serious disputes between their organizations.

Just small skirmishes and disagreements between their people—it's not outside the Underworld norm, really—but it doesn't result in for the heads of the organization to step in and proclaim war to seek retribution.

If neither tries to trample the other, then it won't give the other a reason to attack.

For those who personally met Qilin, their thoughts about him can be described in one word.

Manic.

The man's aura seems friendly and approachable. But a fair share of warning, don't let that fool you. He's the nastiest Demon there is.

Wearing a half mask that only covers the upper part of his face, you can see the smile that seems to permanently carve his mouth.

And just a few inches above, you can see a pair of coal-black eyes that exhibits unfathomable madness.

Qilin had been in the Underworld longer than the rest of the Leaders. Reports told her that he was once part of his predecessor's organization.

It may be more reasonable if it was him who hired Yifei and Gabriel to cause trouble for White Bird. Other than her wealth, she doesn't see any other reasons for him to make things difficult for Lillie Bai.

Lillie has a strong impression that whoever hired the Four Horsemen was the same one who's behind the incident at the gas station.

One of the Uncrowned Leaders and the man who's closest to being a Leader; Agni.

"Lastly, Agni's involvement in these recent adversities against me turned out to be undeniable. The spies I sent to tail Duan Qiqi's movements clarifies the allegations on him."

Agni's incredibly ambitious, and his hopes to attain an official seat among the Underworld Leaders wasn't a secret.

But he requires a substantially large amount of wealth, power, and influence to achieve his goal.

And what best option does he have other than to get a hold of one of the Elite Society's powerhouses?

Her Bai family had been frequent targets of people like him, but she manages to sweep them away permanently. But that doesn't mean that there won't be other fools who won't try.

As Lillie had mentioned before, Agni is an ambitious man. So it wouldn't be surprising if it was him who hired Vengeance to send a sacrificial lamb to attack her, or hired the Four Horsemen to raid the villa for clues of her connection to the Underworld.

The latter would be a good blackmail material—only if Lillie was an ordinary Demon.

Would finding of her identity as White Bird do him good? Well, if he publicized it, Sister Yaoyao, the Head Reaper, and her dear Senior Brother will make sure to erase his entire existence.

So the simple answer is no.

But the information that confirmed her suspicion that Agni was up to no good, was his secret affiliation with Duan Qiqi.

Her people had been tailing Duan Qiqi after her termination from the Empire; hence, led them to Agni.

Thanks to her carelessness, Lillie found out just how deep Agni had sunk his claws into her territory.

She will make sure he won't proceed further from that point.

With these complications, Lillie thinks it's high time that she should stop playing with her food.

"Ethan, what do you think about finally returning as Vermillion Dragon?"