"People see him as cold and ruthless, as the Frozen King who cares about nothing except money and power. But I know the truth. I know all his pain, all his loneliness, all the ways he's been broken by people who should have loved him. He's not cold, he's protective. He's not ruthless, he's desperate to keep safe the one thing in the world that matters to him."
Her voice dropped to something almost pleading.
"So when Uncle Cheng came in here acting like he had rights to me, acting like family meant something after they abandoned us for twelve years, I couldn't... I couldn't acknowledge him. Couldn't let him pull me back into that family that hurt Daddy so much, that would probably try to separate us or control us or use me as leverage against him."
Understanding crystallized fully in Shuyin's mind.
This wasn't just about protecting their current arrangement.
This was about protecting her father from the family that had tormented him for decades.
