At precisely nine o'clock in the evening, Adrian Jiang stepped into the main hall of the old family estate.
"Dad," he greeted simply, without any preamble, his tone steady. "There's something I want to ask you."
Mr. Jiang, seated on the sofa with a newspaper in hand, turned to look at him.
For the past two years, Adrian had grown increasingly rebellious—one outrageous decision after another. He'd refused to join the company, abruptly broke off an arranged engagement, and stirred up public scandal by getting involved with a minor celebrity from an entertainment company.
This time, he went even further.
From the Mid-Autumn Festival until now—over two weeks—he had vanished without a word. Calls went unanswered, and he never returned home.
Mr. Jiang's face darkened, his tone reflecting his displeasure.
"If you didn't have something to ask me, were you planning on staying away indefinitely?"
Adrian's profile stiffened slightly.
He stepped closer but ignored the rebuke, heading straight to the question that had plagued him for days:
"The engagement between our family and the Shen family…"
His throat worked uncomfortably before he managed to ask the second part:
"Was it you and Mom who handed it over to my brother? Or did Ethan take it on himself?"
Mr. Jiang's mood had already soured. Now, hearing Adrian open with such a direct question about the engagement, he assumed it was yet another protest—another refusal to accept the family's decision, or perhaps even a rejection of Ethan stepping in.
His voice grew even more severe.
"What exactly do you expect us to do?"
"Throw away the ties between our families? Disregard years of friendship and simply annul the engagement?"
"Have you even considered what Elena would face if that happened?"
Adrian said nothing.
He only cared about one thing: "Was it a decision you two made? Or did Ethan volunteer?"
From upstairs, Mrs. Lin had heard the commotion.
She was halfway down the staircase when she asked that last question.
Gathering the shawl around her shoulders, she looked at the son, who hadn't returned home for over two weeks.
Before Mr. Jiang could respond, she cut in.
"What difference does it make?"
"Adrian, you and Elena grew up together. Your father and I always thought the two of you would be the ideal match—familiar, comfortable, bound by years of companionship."
"But your resistance to the engagement has only deepened these past two years. Your father and I had no choice but to reevaluate the arrangement."
She paused, descending the stairs slowly.
Countless memories came flooding back—times she had tried to talk to Adrian about the engagement, only to be flatly, even coldly, rejected.
She sighed deeply before continuing.
"I used to believe that there was at least some affection between you and Elena. Maybe not love, but friendship forged over ten years should have counted for something. That's why I kept trying to match you."
"But feelings can't be forced. Maybe that's the harsh truth."
"Forget it. Your father and I won't press the matter anymore. Over the past two years, you've grown increasingly distant from Elena—no calls, no visits. Whatever bond you two had, it's nearly gone."
"Forcing you into a marriage and turning you into enemies? That's not worth it."
Adrian's fists clenched tightly at his sides.
His lips were pressed into a bloodless line.
This was the answer he had longed for—yet now that he heard it out loud, his heart felt as if an invisible hand had gripped it tightly, choking him.
He didn't stay long.
Without another word, he left the estate and drove straight to Nocturne.
Inside the private room, Frank Fang and the others were just about to head out when they saw Adrian arrive. The timing caught them all by surprise.
They exchanged looks—brows raised, unspoken questions flickering in their eyes. Then, almost simultaneously, they turned toward the man now sitting in the dim corner, silent and expressionless, drinking alone.
A strange tension filled the room.
Sensing the mood, Frank made his way over and flopped down on the sofa across from Adrian, attempting levity.
"What's this? You missed the drinks at your dad's birthday party, so now you're catching up at Nocturne?"
Adrian didn't respond.
His gaze was lowered, lashes casting shadows over eyes that were darker than usual—cold and unreadable in the room's low light.
Frank glanced around at the others—Zane Feng, Silas Ji, and Yue Qi—all of whom were watching with equal unease.
They all knew Adrian had been MIA for over two weeks, and that if he was finally back tonight, he must've gone home.
And now, well past nine, he was here drinking alone.
Silas, guessing he'd probably been pressured again about marriage, walked over and clapped a hand on Adrian's shoulder, a sympathetic grin on his face.
"Let me guess—your mom's nagging about the engagement again?"
"I literally just got back from A Country, and even at my welcome banquet, my grandpa wouldn't shut up about marriage alliances. You've been at odds with your family for two years. If it's really that bad—"
Adrian let out a cold, humorless laugh, cutting him off.
"Oh, there's an engagement. Just not mine."
The room fell silent.
Silas blinked, caught off guard.
Then Adrian added, each word like a slap:
"The Jiang-Shen engagement… is between my brother and Elena."
Silas's eyes widened. "What the hell?"
Shock rippled through the group—disbelief etched on every face.
Except one.
Zane Feng, who had jokingly predicted this outcome just a few days earlier, remained silent, watching Adrian with an unreadable expression.
Yue was the first to speak, stunned.
"No way. That can't be true, right?"
Ethan Jiang had been abroad for years. He'd barely interacted with Elena. How could there be a marriage arrangement?
Adrian didn't respond. He just kept downing drink after drink.
The silence grew heavier, none of the others knowing what to say.
Even the usually talkative Silas and Yue fell quiet, unable to come up with a single word that would lighten the mood.
Only Zane continued to watch Adrian in silence—eyes dark and complex.
They were childhood friends, brothers in all but blood. So when Adrian drank in silence, they stayed by his side, drinking with him until nearly eleven o'clock.
Outside the estate, the moonlight mingled with the soft glow of garden lights, casting a silver haze across the stone steps of the main house.
Adrian returned home, his steps quiet as he ascended the front stairs.
Inside the brightly lit hall, he spotted Ethan sitting on the sofa, mid-call with Eric Chen, dealing with work-related matters.
Adrian's hands curled into fists. His eyes were unreadable, darkened by emotion.
"Ethan."
His brother, once the sole heir in charge of Jiang Group, took the reins early on—subduing the board with decisive power, modernizing the company, and expanding their reach far beyond domestic markets.
It was Ethan who had personally spearheaded their international expansion, building E.R. Group from the ground up—a commercial empire that now rivaled even their domestic crown jewel.
To Adrian, Ethan was both an ideal and a shadow.
A figure of power to admire—and a standard impossible to surpass.
Elena had always kept her distance from Ethan. She rarely asked about him, and what little impression she had was cold, remote, and unapproachable.
She didn't know what lay beneath that austere facade.
The ruthlessness that had forged empires from bloodless battles. The cunning it took to crush opponents overseas and build something that stood taller than anyone dared dream.
But Ethan, for all his calculated cruelty in business, never turned that sharp edge inward.
He protected the family—even distant relatives—with unwavering clarity.
And so, while no one dared to covet his throne at Jiang Group, they respected him, feared him, and obeyed.
Even Adrian—his own younger brother—walked a fine line between reverence and unease.
Still, Ethan had never forced his hand.
When Adrian refused to join the company, it was Ethan who called their parents from overseas, asking them to let him find his own way.
That's why Adrian's feelings were so tangled.
He admired Ethan deeply, but part of him still feared him—like everyone else.
Tonight, though, alcohol dulled that fear. And the thought of Elena becoming Ethan's fiancée—no, his wife—blurred all boundaries.
Ethan had just ended a call, fingers pressing into his temple from the long day's fatigue. He noticed Adrian's approach, and his tone, though calm, carried warmth.
"You're back."
"Still heading to South City?"
Adrian stepped closer. "Not anymore. Ethan, I need to ask you something."
It was late—just ten minutes to midnight.
Ethan paused mid-step on the way to the stairs. He set aside his laptop and turned, brows slightly raised.
"Go ahead."
Adrian's hand clenched tightly.
His gaze locked onto his brother's face.
His throat tightened, but he forced the words out: