The television flickered silently in the background, casting eerie shadows across the lavish sitting room. No one spoke at first — they simply stared.
Then the anchor's voice broke through the quiet:
*"Breaking news: Su Yiren, once known in the upper circle as the former heiress of the Su family, has reportedly gone missing from Yuexiang Private Hospital last night. The last recorded visitor to her room was Bai Heng—"*
Wen Qing dropped her teacup with a clatter, but no one flinched. All eyes turned to the screen, then to Bai Lanyue.
She stood near the French windows, frozen. The afternoon sun poured in behind her like a spotlight, but she looked pale beneath its warmth.
"She's… gone?" Her voice cracked, barely above a whisper.
Bai Shuren sat forward, hands clenched on his cane. "What do they mean, missing?"
Wen Qing scrambled to her phone, already scrolling. "Social media's flooded. People are asking who visited her last. And that clip—" she turned the volume up.
*"…the hospital records show her final visitor to be Bai Heng. No further surveillance has captured her leaving. Authorities are now investigating…"*
A sharp silence followed. Bai Lanyue finally turned around. "Why would Gege go there? He never mentioned anything to me."
"He may not have planned to," Bai Shuren said grimly. "Or maybe it was a last-minute decision."
"But why now?" Wen Qing whispered. "Why visit Su Yiren after all these years?"
"She was involved in what happened to Bai Zhiqi," Lanyue said slowly, eyes unfocused. "Maybe… he was trying to understand something. Or—"
She didn't finish. Her throat tightened too much.
Bai Shuren shook his head, standing slowly. "This is bad timing. The media just started forgetting about that scandal… and now this."
The atmosphere grew thick with unease.
Lanyue's fingers trembled slightly at her side. "You don't think… this has anything to do with what happened at the birthday banquet?"
"The veiled musician?" Wen Qing asked, brows furrowed. "You think she's connected?"
Lanyue didn't answer.
Wen Qing exchanged a glance with Bai Shuren, but neither voiced what they were thinking.
Too much was happening too fast.
First the staged reveal had failed. Then the girl vanished from the hospital. And now, the public was watching — again.
Lanyue stepped toward the television, watching a still image of Su Yiren's hospital room.
The bed was empty.
The IV was still hanging.
Like she'd vanished into air.
And Bai Heng's name, bold and cold, beneath it all.
"This will turn ugly," Bai Shuren muttered. "We need to prepare for questions. Where Heng went. If he spoke to anyone after. If Lanyue knew."
"I didn't," Lanyue said quickly. "He hasn't even returned my calls since that morning."
Her voice cracked with something unspoken — worry.
"He's not the type to run," she added, more quietly.
Wen Qing touched her shoulder. "We'll find him."
"But what if it's more than that?" Lanyue asked. "What if someone planned this… around me?"
Both adults turned to her.
"I don't know how, or why," she went on, "but it feels like everything that's happening is circling back to me. The veiled musician, the performance, now this?"
She looked suddenly younger in that moment. Not the elegant heiress everyone praised. Just a girl drowning in questions she couldn't ask aloud.
Bai Shuren walked over, placing a hand on her back.
"No one's blaming you, Yue'er," he said gently. "But we must be careful now. Keep your schedule tight. No solo outings. Until this settles."
Wen Qing nodded. "People online are already tying things together. If they find out Su Yiren's vanishing came right after the party—"
"Then we make sure they don't," Shuren said firmly.
Silence fell again.
But in the shadows of that grand estate, a seed of doubt had already taken root.
Not about Bai Lanyue.
But about what Su Yiren might have known—
And why she vanished the moment she was about to speak.