Blush Nightclub, 02:00;

That night, the girl didn't return home to him, neither did she show up at her brothers'. She did what she always did in a situation like this. Went to a club to drown her sorrows in cocktails, alone.

As she sat over at one of the stools by the counter, in a corner, she stared at the fourth glass of Whiskey in her hands. The staff recognized the girl very well. The club came under Zhi's' and Lu'S private ownership, after all. Their bosses' precious sister couldn't face any discomfort while she was here. So the manager himself was on guard, round the clock, tonight.

Meanwhile, Xi Yuan watched the Six tigers walk around the Lu Family Mansion, panicked, calling every location they could think of where she might've gone to. The Youth Team NGO, malls, the MCO, even her favorite Ice-cream parlor. But nada. Nothing. Contrary to the Six men, Xi Yuan sat oddly calm on the satin blue chesterfield sofa, filling colors in little baby Alix's coloring book, the chubby girl staring at him with amazement. Even Xi Fang and Xi Ying were on the edge, but the man to whom his Xinghe meant the world was unaffected.

"Nope. She hasn't left City A.", Feng Mian strode in, approaching Zhi Al, "Security has been tight ever since Zixuan's attack. The police have been on high alert, as regulated by the Military. She hasn't crossed any toll plaza yet. Confirmed."

"What is she up to?", Ningtao sighed, staring at her phone screen, "Other than this 'At th wbjndvo' message about an hour ago, she hasn't texted anything. Is it possible that she is in some sort of danger, Mr. Lu?", the woman looked at her husband.

"I hope not.", Lu Wei shook his head, stretching his neck backward, tired. The family's worries were, at once, broken off by Lu Alix's loud giggles next. As they turned to look at the girl, they realized the coloring book's second page had been finished too.

"Are you okay, Yuan?", Zhi Bo crossed his arms, concerned. The Six men were way past blaming Xi Yuan for stuff like this. For them, he was family now. Nothing less. In fact, it wasn't just Rong Xinghe they were worried about at the moment. It was him too. They knew what their sister meant to this man. How could he not be bothered about her whereabouts then?

Xi Yuan turned to nod at the man, a wry smile across his lips, "I am.", he assured, "Uh... Sister-in-law...", he then turned to face Ningtao, "I'll go and make some tea for all of you. It's been a cruel night."

"The butler can do it, Yuan.", Ningtao sighed.

"Please. I insist.", Xi Yuan shook his head as he glanced at the Six tigers, getting up from the couch, "Also, don't worry about her. We'll know pretty soon where she's been."

Mo Zixuan frowned as he looked at Little Alix following behind Xi Yuan, akin to a little duckling, as he walked toward the Kitchen, "What do you mean?"

It was now that Xi Yuan's phone beeped with a message. The man stopped in his tracks, the little girl almost crashing into him, and pulled the phone out, reading the contents of the message. As a genuine smile came to his lips, he turned around to face the family, "She's at Blush Club.", he informed, "A transaction of 50,000 has been just made through my card.

"The Military Chief is either drinking too much, or she's being generous to every soul walking through the club's gates today.", the man added. Was this her kind of revenge? Spending his money? So adorable.

The Superfamily and the Xi twins: "..."

______________

The Blush Nightclub, 02:30;

Xi Yuan was right. As the man reached the location, the Six men after him, the manager greeted them with a bow. He then pointed towards the direction she had been sitting all the while.

"Military Chief did offer to pay for everyone tonight, President Lu.", the man informed Lu Wei, "We did inform her that she didn't need to, but she was so adamant, we couldn't refuse. Our apologies, Boss."

"Is she okay?", Su Rogguang inhaled sharply. Who cared about the goddamned money?

"She was, initially.", the thirty-something-year-old man answered, "But after some time, she started crying. She wouldn't tell any of us why. So we gave her some space. Maybe it was the alcohol."

"It wasn't the alcohol.", Xi Yuan shook his head, turning to look at Zhi Xi, "Excuse me." Eliciting a nod of approval from the girl's brother, the man reverted his gaze back at the manager, "If that's what she wants, tonight is on me. I'll pay for everyone here tonight.", he announced before making his way through the crowd to his girl.

There she was, in the shadows, in the dark, her head down on the counter table, shivering. She seemed so weak, so helpless, but safe thankfully. "Silly.", the man muttered under his breath, taking his overcoat off, covering her shoulders and arms with it.

"Yuan?", the girl turned to look at the man confused, trying to get up from her seat, "Hi."

"Hey.", Xi Yuan smiled as he helped her stand up. After every second, she was stumbling, leaning over him, and stepping over his shoes. But not once did she push him away. For some unknown reason, she'd missed him. Despite her anger, her pain, he was her addiction, her drug. She couldn't let go of him. She didn't want to, to be honest.

"Your money... spent.", the girl whispered into her darling's ear dizzily, trying her best to sound slick.

"I know. It's okay.", Xi Yuan replied, "You worried your brothers, by the way."

"I... mssged... Sis-in-law.", the girl furrowed her brows, "Yuan..."

"Hmm?"

"Take me home.", the girl said, her eyes closed.

And just like that, under the scrutiny of hundreds of eyes, the man leaned down and picked her up off the ground. As she buried her head into his shoulder, he carefully walked across the open terrace, to the exit. "I am taking her to my place.", he told Lu Wei.

"Tell me if you need something.", the man nodded, placing a soft kiss on the back of his kiddo's left hand, his heart at ease now that he knew she was fine.

Xi Yuan wasn't wrong, but she wasn't being unreasonable either. The Six men knew that. That was the reason they didn't say anything to him when they first got to know about what had happened earlier between them. Love was a complex thing.

Just because Xi Yuan came clean to her didn't mean she was bound to forgive him. Hiding truth, hiding reality, from the person you love, with the intent to protect them, had always been an easy choice. But it was still, a wrong choice, and with dire consequences.

And that was why, when the girl was lying on that hospital bed, in a critical state, after the train incident, even though the six men knew how her health could be affected adversely by it, they had decided to tell her the truth about the Rong family's involvement in that incident. She, of all the people, had the right to know that. Concealing truth could only drift the siblings apart then, and they knew it.

But Xi Yuan chose differently. No matter what one said, her reaction, her rage, her pain, was natural. She had every right to expect transparency from him because she had never given him anything less. She wanted to be equal. His equal. Not a China doll, that needed to be protected.

Side-by-side, she wanted to battle his demons the way he did for her. Was it so wrong for her to wish so?