Her Rebirth.

A week had passed since Amelia was captured, and she was beginning to accept the horrifying possibility that Kai might not be able to find her. He had no way of tracking her, no clue where she had been taken. If there was any chance of escape, it would have to come from her and her alone.

But there was one problem: Lilac refused to free her from the chains.

Instead, she took care of everything herself, feeding Amelia, bathing her, treating her like a fragile doll. At first, Amelia had resisted, clenching her jaw, turning her head, trying to assert some shred of control. But Lilac was relentless. By the third day, Amelia stopped fighting, too drained to keep pushing back. Lilac always managed to get the food down her throat, whether by coaxing or force.

Worse, Lilac began injecting her with some unknown drug, something that left her dizzy, weak, and barely able to stand. It was always right before she unchained her and led her to the bathroom, ensuring Amelia would be too feeble to resist.

However, since the first day, when Amelia had suffered a terrible stomach pain, Lilac hadn’t tried to kiss her on the lips again. The most she’d done was steal the occasional kiss on her cheek, gentle yet unsettling.

Lilac clung to her like a shadow. She cracked jokes, tried to make her laugh, filled the silence with one-sided conversations that Amelia refused to respond to. And when she wasn’t hovering, she painted.

Portraits.

Dozens of them.

Even now, Lilac sat perched on a wooden stool, her attention locked on the canvas in front of her. One hand held a palette, the other a brush that moved in long, slow strokes. She had been painting for over two hours, humming softly to herself like they were merely sharing a quiet afternoon in an artist’s studio rather than a prison.

Lilac set her brush down at last, eyes gleaming with satisfaction as she lifted the canvas from the easel. "It’s done," she said, voice tinged with excitement as she turned it around to show Amelia. "Do you want to see it?"

Amelia didn’t answer. She remained curled up on the bed, wrists still cuffed to the headboard, her face pale and distant. Her gaze didn’t even flicker toward the painting.

Lilac wasn’t discouraged. She carried the canvas closer and propped it up against the foot of the bed so Amelia couldn’t avoid seeing it.

The portrait was beautiful, almost haunting in its detail. Amelia was captured mid-gaze, her hair fanned out around her shoulders, eyes soft with melancholy. Lilac had painted her lying on a bed of white lilies, skin glowing under warm, golden light. There was a serenity to it, a false peace, as though she were a porcelain doll resting between moments of torment.

Lilac studied Amelia’s expression and pouted when there was no reaction. "Of course you don’t answer," she muttered, more to herself than Amelia. With a dramatic sigh, she plopped herself onto the edge of the bed, curling up beside her captive like a content cat.

She reached out and gently dabbed her paint-smudged finger against Amelia’s cheek, smearing a streak of blue across it. "But as long as you’re here with me," she whispered, her smile dreamy and soft, "then it’s alright. I can manage."

She lingered there a moment longer, her head tilted, then let out another sigh. "Well, I need to get some groceries," she said, lifting herself from the bed with a stretch. She turned and winked. "Wouldn’t want my angel to get hungry now, would I?"

Walking over to the nearby wardrobe, she pulled out a baggy shirt and cargo pants, discarding her stained blouse without shame and slipping into the new clothes.

She adjusted the hem of her shirt and turned back to Amelia with a bright smile. "Be good, okay? Stay put. Don’t try anything silly," she said sweetly, waggling her finger at her before stepping toward the door. "I’ll be back soon."

The door clicked shut behind her.

Silence fell, and it was heavy and suffocating.

Amelia exhaled shakily, the quiet making her heart race. If she had even a shred of chance, she would have made a run for it right now. But her limbs were still chained, and her body weakened by the constant drugs.

Just then, the door handle creaked.

Her breath caught in her throat.

She frowned. Lilac couldn’t have returned so quickly. Did she forget something?

The doorknob twisted again.

The door slowly creaked open—

And the figure that stepped in wasn’t Lilac.

It was Eve.

---

A week had passed since Amelia had been taken, and Kai found himself teetering on the edge of madness. Sleep had become a luxury he no longer tasted. His patience had also thinned into something volatile and dangerous, and he found himself snapping at the slightest provocation. All official duties in ED had been dumped onto his vice chairman so that he could focus on finding the one person he cared about.

Amelia.

After Kyle had passed him the coordinates to the abandoned rehab facility now converted into a private estate. Kai had rushed there only to find it empty. Further investigation revealed the estate had been purchased by Lilac five years ago. She had planned this. She had brought Amelia there first, fully aware that he would track her, only to move her again, somewhere more hidden, more unreachable.

Somewhere outside of Country A.

For the first time in years, Kai had tasted helplessness. His power’s reach only extended to Country A and parts of Country C. Lilac had taken Amelia beyond that, into uncharted territory. And so, Kai did what he never thought he would do, he set aside his pride and, with Ye Jin’s assistance, he reached out to underworld networks across neighboring countries, chasing down even the faintest whispers of Lilac’s presence. He searched everywhere she could have possibly gone in such a short time.

It was during one of those endless, sleepless nights when the door to his study creaked open.

Secretary Wen stepped inside, looking more like a ghost than a man. The last few days had been a torment for him. Kai had once summoned him in the middle of the night just to beat him to a pulp, needing an outlet for his spiraling fury. He hadn’t broken any bones, but he had made sure Wen would remember the pain. Even now, Wen walked with a slight limp, his eyes bloodshot from sleeplessness.

Kai’s eyes snapped toward him like a blade drawn from its sheath.

Wen flinched but didn’t retreat. He swallowed hard and said, "We found her."

The silence in the room became suffocating.

Kai’s body stiffened, and slowly he put down the cigarette that was between his fingers. Though he had once abandoned it for the sake of Amelia, now that Amelia was no longer here, he needed something to keep him in control of his raging emotions.

"Speak," he growled.

Wen lifted the tablet in his hand, turning it toward Kai. "The El Capano gang from Country I sent us this. One of their men snapped this photo."

On the screen was Lilac standing in the sun, a pink sundress flowing gently around her legs. She was smiling.

A cruel laugh escaped Kai’s throat. "So that’s where you went to hide..."

"She’s been frequenting a small duplex in the countryside," Wen added, swiping to show an image of a modest two-story home nestled between hills. "We’ve already confirmed she owns the property. One of their informants that has eyes on her says she almost never comes out from there."

Kai’s expression darkened, and he ordered in a commanding tone, "Prepare the jet. We’re going to Country I now."

Just a little longer, my butterfly, he thought. I’m coming for you.