The alley felt smaller as Lu Chen stepped forward. He wasn't just a messenger; he was a trained fighter for the Lu family. He looked at Ethan's worn-out shoes and laughed.
"You've spent too much time mopping floors, Ethan," Lu Chen sneered. "Your muscles are soft. Your spirit is broken. Do you really think you can stop me?"
Lu Chen lunged. His movement was a blur, a professional strike aimed at Ethan's throat.
Ethan didn't move until the very last second. With a slight tilt of his head, he avoided the blow. Before Lu Chen could reset, Ethan grabbed his wrist. The grip wasn't human—it felt like a vice of cold steel.
"Soft?" Ethan whispered, his voice vibrating with a hidden power.
He twisted. Lu Chen gasped as he was forced to his knees. Ethan didn't punch him. He simply stood over him, looking down with eyes that held no emotion.
"You think the family sent you because they trust you, Chen?" Ethan asked, his voice calm. "They sent you because you are a 'disposable' cousin. If you kill me, they get rid of a rival. If I kill you, they get rid of a loose end who knows too much about their illegal accounts."
Lu Chen froze. "How... how do you know about that?"
"I am the one who built the encryption for those accounts before I was exiled," Ethan said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy, tarnished brass coin with a dragon engraved on it—the mark of the Lu family's inner circle. "I didn't just leave with nothing, Chen. I left with the 'backdoor' keys to the fortune. If my heart stops beating, those files go to the International Tax Bureau. Your branch of the family would be in prison by sunrise."
Lu Chen's face went pale. He realized he wasn't hunting a "fallen dragon." He was standing in front of a man who had a knife to the throat of the entire Lu empire.
"You're lying," Lu Chen hissed, though his voice shook.
"Am I?" Ethan leaned in closer. "Why do you think Butler Han is still answering my calls? Why do you think the Crimson Dragon deed was activated so easily? I'm not hiding from the family, Chen. I'm waiting for them to get comfortable so I can take it all back."
The silence in the alley was heavy. Lu Chen looked at Ethan and realized the truth. The man standing in front of him wasn't a "loser."
He was a king in disguise.
Lu Chen bowed his head. The arrogance was gone.
Lu Chen bowed his head. "The Capital... they told us you were a traitor. They told us you stole the North-Shore funds. But if you have the keys... then Marcus was the one who lied."
"He needed a scapegoat," Ethan said. "And you were going to be the next one."
Lu Chen shuddered. He looked up at Ethan, a new light in his eyes. "The Lu family treats me like a dog. If I go back and tell them I found nothing, they'll replace me. But if I stay... if I help you..."
"Then when I return to the Capital," Ethan said, "you won't be a 'disposable' scout. You'll be the head of the branch."
Lu Chen didn't hesitate. He dropped to one knee, pressing his forehead against the cold ground of the alley. "My life is yours, Young Master Ethan. From this day on, I am your shadow in the Lu family. Command me."
Diana Song had been standing perfectly still throughout the entire encounter. Her heart was racing so fast she felt dizzy.
Young Master? The Lu Family? The Capital?
She knew the name "Lu." Everyone in the business world did. They were a legendary family, a "hidden clan" that owned banks, shipping lines, and half the real estate in the Capital.
Ethan turned to her. The cold, terrifying mask he wore for Lu Chen didn't vanish immediately. For a second, Diana saw the man he truly was: Ethan Lu, the heir to a trillion-dollar throne.
"You're a Lu," she whispered, her voice trembling. "The 'Fallen Dragon' who vanished five years ago. That's why you knew about the tea. You were a prince in hiding."
Ethan walked toward her. He stopped a few inches away, the scent of the market groceries still on his clothes—a strange contrast to the power he now radiated.
"I am the man who saved you in that motel," Ethan said softly. "The rest... the name, the money... it doesn't matter. Not yet."
"It matters to the Lins!" Diana said, her eyes wide. "If they knew—"
"They can't know," Ethan interrupted.
"Especially not Rachel. Not until the scouts are cleared and the enemies are gone. If the Capital knows she is my weakness, she becomes a target."
Diana looked at him, a painful realization hitting her. Even after all this, his first thought was of Rachel.
"Lu Chen," Ethan commanded without looking back.
"Yes, Young Master?"
"Go back to the hotel. Report that the signal was a false alarm—a ghost in the system. Then, start tracking my cousin Marcus's personal expenses. I want to know exactly how much he's been stealing while I've been away."
"Understood," Lu Chen said, standing up and disappearing into the shadows.
Ethan looked at Diana. "Can I trust you to keep this secret, Diana? Not as a business partner... but as the woman from that night?"
Diana looked at the silver moon pendant in her hand, then at the man she had loved in her dreams for five years. She nodded slowly. "Your secret is safe. But Ethan... the dragon can't stay in a birdcage forever. Eventually, you're going to have to fly."
Ethan watched her leave, then he picked up his bag of groceries. He adjusted his cheap jacket, smoothed his hair, and walked back toward the Lin villa.
He had a war to win, but first, he had to go home and cook dinner for a mother-in-law who was probably waiting to scream at him for being five minutes late.