Mo Tingfeng stared dazedly at her tear-streaked face, feeling strangely disoriented.

Since their first encounter, he had always seen her as a tough, unyielding woman. Even when he had cornered her in the nightclub, she had remained calm and unafraid, fighting back by hitting and stepping on him without holding back. When he was assigned to do community service at the “Ai En Home,” she ordered him around as if it were perfectly natural, completely unfazed by his family’s ties to the underworld.

Yet here she was, looking tearfully vulnerable, which stirred something in him.

“What are you doing here?” Her hushed, hoarse voice brought him back to reality.

He frowned, feeling a sudden annoyance at his lapse. “Just happened to be passing by.”

“Really?”

Yes, really! He glared at her. “So what’s going on?”

Chu Minghuan blinked, as if only just now returning to her senses, her face pale. “Xiao Ya is missing!” She unconsciously clutched his shirt. “Please, help me find her. She’s only five—if something happens, it’ll be awful!”

“Explain exactly what happened.” He used a calm tone to steady her.

“After dinner, the kids were in their rooms doing homework. Sister Hui finished bathing Xiao Ya and told her to wait in the living room to watch TV. But when she came out after tidying up, Xiao Ya was gone, and the front door was mysteriously open! Xiao Ya might have wandered off, or someone might have taken her.”

“Would she normally go out on her own?”

“No, she’s a very obedient girl. She doesn’t know the area well enough to go out alone.”

Mo Tingfeng furrowed his brows in thought, ready to respond, when his two bodyguards, Tiancheng and Xiaohuang, approached with curious expressions, noting their close, almost intimate stance.

“You alright, boss?” they asked, eyeing him oddly.

Mo Tingfeng realized he was still holding onto Chu Minghuan and quickly released her, putting on a stern expression to hide his embarrassment.

She, however, seemed completely oblivious, focused solely on Xiao Ya’s whereabouts.

“Do you have a photo of Xiao Ya?” he asked.

“Yes.” Chu Minghuan took out her phone and showed him a saved photo of Xiao Ya.

Mo Tingfeng handed the phone to Tiancheng and Xiaohuang. “Take a good look—this little girl is missing. Go check the nearby police station, ask the shops around here. See if anyone has seen her.”

Tiancheng and Xiaohuang exchanged uncertain glances.

“But boss, our job is to protect you.”

“I’m a grown man. Are you worried I’ll disappear too?” Mo Tingfeng snapped. Talking about needing protection in front of this woman was humiliating. “Go find her. Now!”

The bodyguards hesitated no further and went in opposite directions.

Chu Minghuan watched them leave, slightly dazed. “You bring bodyguards everywhere? How come I never noticed?”

That was because he’d always made them stay far enough back to keep out of sight.

Grinding his teeth, Mo Tingfeng dropped the topic, unwilling to dwell on his need for bodyguards, and instead asked, “Where are Xiao Ya’s parents? Could it have been them?”

Chu Minghuan was taken aback.

He explained, “If it were a stranger, she probably would’ve screamed, but the kids heard nothing. Whoever came for her is likely someone she knows…”

“It’s her mother!” Realization dawned on Chu Minghuan, and she gripped his arm in urgency. “Do you have a car? We need to find Xiao Ya quickly!”

After her parents divorced, Xiao Ya had lived with her mother.

At first, her mother had been caring and gentle, but six months ago, she met a man and became infatuated, even moving in with him.

To support him, she had followed his suggestion and taken up work as a hostess.

While she was away, the man would sometimes lose money gambling and vent his anger on Xiao Ya, beating and even burning her with cigarettes.

When her mother found out, she did nothing, unwilling to face the reality that she had fallen for a bad man, and even blamed Xiao Ya for being “disobedient.”

“…A neighbor finally noticed and reported the situation to social services. Xiao Ya was brought to us. Her father is working abroad in Southeast Asia, and we’re trying to get in touch with him,” Chu Minghuan explained as they drove.

The more he heard, the angrier Mo Tingfeng became, enraged at the man’s cruelty and the mother’s weakness in failing to protect her daughter.

“Xiao Ya was deeply traumatized. She wouldn’t speak to anyone at first, only curled up in the corner, clutching her worn teddy bear, a gift from her dad that she treasured. She wouldn’t let anyone touch it…” Chu Minghuan’s voice choked.

Feeling equally troubled, Mo Tingfeng pressed the gas pedal harder.

Arriving at the apartment building where Xiao Ya’s mother lived with her boyfriend, they were about to go upstairs when they heard a soft, anxious voice from the stairwell.

“Uncle, Mom told me to wait for her at home. Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you to see her.”

“But she said she’d be back soon…”

“Stop talking and come with me!”

The man’s tone was impatient, and Xiao Ya seemed frightened into silence.

A thought struck Mo Tingfeng, and he pulled Chu Minghuan back outside the building to hide behind a utility pole.

Soon, a tall, lanky man emerged, dragging Xiao Ya by the hand, a travel bag in his other hand as he looked around suspiciously.

A van parked nearby turned on its headlights, and a burly man stepped out, his beady eyes scanning Xiao Ya as if she were prey.

“This is the girl you mentioned? You’re sure her dad’s rich?”

“Yeah. I heard he’s returning to Taiwan soon. We’ll ransom her when he gets back.”

Hearing this, Chu Minghuan was livid and instinctively moved forward, but Mo Tingfeng quickly held her back.

“Stay here and wait.”

“But…”

“I’ll distract them; you grab Xiao Ya when you get the chance.”

Stunned, Chu Minghuan felt a car key placed in her hand. Before she could speak, Mo Tingfeng was already striding toward the men.

The men had just stowed the travel bag in the van when Mo Tingfeng approached. Recognizing him, Xiao Ya opened her mouth to call out, but he spoke first.

“Hey, do you know if there’s a barbecue place nearby?”

“What barbecue place? No idea!” the burly man replied, signaling to the lanky man to load Xiao Ya into the van.

Mo Tingfeng stepped in the way, blocking his path. “My friend said it’s a famous spot. Residents around here should know it.”

“I don’t know! Now get out of the way.”

“But didn’t you just come from that apartment over there?”

“I said I don’t know. Move!” The burly man shoved him roughly, but Mo Tingfeng used the momentum to stumble against the lanky man, causing him to lose his grip on Xiao Ya.

Taking advantage of the moment, he gently pushed Xiao Ya in Chu Minghuan’s direction.

“Xiao Ya, go find your Sister Huan!”