As Manager Li and Xiuying spotted Song Meiqi sitting on one of the leather chairs in the lounge with the hotel manager beside her, they immediately rushed to her side.
Manager Li frantically questioned where she had been and why she had not answered her phone, but Song Meiqi did not respond. Her lips were pressed tightly together, as though her mind was somewhere else entirely.
That was when Xiuying noticed that Song Meiqi was barefoot. Dark bruises circled her wrists, left behind by zip ties that had been fastened far too tightly.
Manager Li and Xiuying exchanged a glance as the same thought crossed their minds.
"Xiao Qi, what's wrong?... Why do you look like this?" Xiuying asked worriedly.
Song Meiqi fidgeted with her fingers before slowly looking up to meet their gaze. Her eyes were dull and lifeless.
"I was…kidnapped."
The words struck them like a bolt of lightning.
Without another word, Manager Li pulled out her phone and called the police.
As the night deepened, Song Meiqi, Manager Li, and a bodyguard arrived at District 4 Police Station in M City to give a formal statement.
Inside, white-painted walls surrounded rows of cubicles assigned to different officers. Because it was nearly midnight, only a handful of people remained. The station felt unusually quiet, while the occasional flicker of fluorescent lights cast faint shadows across the room.
With her head lowered and half her face concealed behind a mask, Song Meiqi seemed almost unrecognizable as she and Manager Li approached one of the officers handling the case.
The officer was a man looking like in his late twenties. With sharp features, a fit build, and a straight-backed posture, he carried himself with a quiet confidence and professionalism that made him seem far more dependable than the average officer.
His name was Officer Bai.
He looked up from his computer and met Manager Li's gaze before shifting his attention to Song Meiqi. His eyes lingered on her for a brief moment, assessing her carefully as though deciding how best to begin his questions.
Then, he continued with the procedure, starting with her name before moving on to the case.
"When did these anonymous messages start?" Officer Bai began.
"About two months ago... during our world tour concert," Song Meiqi replied. "In fact, I've been stalked for weeks. My team had to escort me home all the time and rarely allowed me to go outside alone."
"And you believe the man who sent you the messages, stalked you, and kidnapped you tonight is the same person?"
Song Meiqi nodded.
"Why do you think so?" Officer Bai asked.
"The way he spoke... it matched the messages I'd been receiving."
Officer Bai typed every word into the report, careful not to miss a single detail.
"And you said this man had an accomplice."
She gave another small nod.
"He called this person his brother."
Manager Li, seated beside her, looked at her worriedly. Just imagining what Song Meiqi had gone through at the hands of those men made her heart tighten. She gently patted the back of Song Meiqi's hand.
"Can you describe both of them?"
Song Meiqi blinked and looked away, trembling slightly as she tried to recall the details of what had happened.
"The crazy fan... he had a rugged face that made him look a little over thirty. His eyes were downturned, but there was something menacing about them..." She paused as another memory surfaced. "Ah... I remember. He attended our fan-sign event earlier. He was wearing our merch shirt under a rose-coloured jacket, and he was limping on one leg."
She knitted her brows.
"As for the other person, all I remember is that he was dressed in black and had half of his face covered."
Officer Bai nodded.
"Okay... One of our officers can help you create a sketch of the culprits' faces. However, due to the lack of evidence, it will be difficult to apprehend them immediately."
Song Meiqi pressed her lips into a thin line at the thought that the danger was not over.
Taking a slow, steady breath, she forced herself to compose her emotions.
"Thank you, Officer. I'll cooperate if you need me again."
She said before rising from her seat and walking over to the officer assigned to help create the facial sketches.
Afterward, she and Manager Li left the station together.
"Meiqi, we'll fly to Country J first thing tomorrow morning to catch up with the rest of the group," Manager Li said as they stopped just outside the station entrance.
Song Meiqi gave a small nod, keeping her head lowered, afraid that paparazzi might be waiting nearby with their cameras.
Manager Li glanced at her, her heart growing heavy. She knew the life of a celebrity appeared glamorous, but behind the dazzling lights lay sacrifices that few people ever saw.
"Don't worry..." Manager Li said softly. "We'll find them, and we'll make sure they face the consequences of what they've done."
But to Song Meiqi, those words offered little comfort.
The fear had already taken root deep within her.
Every time she closed her eyes, she was dragged back into that room—to the suffocating helplessness, the relentless fear, and the faces of the men who had robbed her of every sense of safety she had once known.
No promise of justice could erase the nightmare that now haunted her.
…
The next morning, while Song Meiqi, Xiuying, and Manager Li made their way to the airport for their flight to Country J, an entirely different storm was unfolding online.
Media outlets and social platforms erupted with discussions surrounding GL Holdings' ongoing controversy as the company's highly anticipated press conference drew closer.
What captured the public's attention most, however, was the announcement that the man stepping before the cameras would be none other than the rumoured heir to one of the country's most influential business empires—Wang Zi Rui.
Not a single member of the media had managed to capture his face since his return to H City a month earlier. The mystery surrounding him only fuelled public curiosity. Reporters relentlessly sought information from GL Holdings employees, giving rise to countless rumours.
Some described him as an arrogant and demanding executive with impossibly high standards, while others claimed he was cold, inaccessible, and impossible to please.
The wildest rumour of all was that his complete lack of interest in women meant he was secretly attracted to men—a theory that spread rapidly across social media despite having no evidence to support it.
Yet among the countless rumours, one story continued to resurface in nearly every news report.
Twelve years ago, the name Wang Zi Rui dominated the national piano competition, earning recognition as one of the country's most gifted young prodigies. Then, at the height of his growing international fame, he vanished from the world stage without explanation.
His disappearance coincided with what would later become the Wang family's greatest controversy, leaving behind a mystery that, even after twelve years, remained unanswered.
"When is it going to start?" one reporter mumbled impatiently after waiting for what felt like a long time. He wasn't the only one growing restless; several other reporters were beginning to lose their patience as well.
Just then, the side doors of the venue swung open, and Wang Zi Rui came into view.
With long, measured strides and a composed demeanour, he walked as though the flashes of cameras following his every step did not bother him at all.
But as he stepped onto the stage, some of the reporters frowned.
Dressed in a sleek grey suit, Wang Zi Rui wore a mask that covered the upper half of his face.