EVERGLOW

XXX. When everything falls into place

It took all of his willpower not to step harder on his accelerator. His speedometer was pointing right at the speed limit and the last thing he needed was to be stopped for a ticket.

Her voice filled the car as she answered on the first ring.

"Wang He Di."

"Madame Zhu. How did that get past you?" He tried really hard to say the words around gritted teeth.

"It's a private individual, posting thru a private blogsite. Stuff like that only get flagged when they go up. Legal is working on taking it down."

"I don't give a fuck how long it stays up. It's done the worst it could."

"Yue."

"I want that bastard in court." His knuckles paled as he gripped the wheel, wishing it was something else. A body part, preferrably. He'd had enough of the blasted gossip starters.

"On it. Now, give me one good goddamn alibi to release to the press! I've had enough of covering for your lying ass!"

"Zou Lin would take us to court if I told you. You swore you'd get us time off on emergencies."

"I was talking about life and death."

"This is one. Mine."

He waited as she tried to process what he was asking for.

"What are you trying to -"

"Two days. Just give me two days."

"You can't just go after her -"

"If you think I wouldn't, then you don't know me at all, Madame."

_______________________

He tossed everything he needed into his bag, grabbed his sneakers and a coat, and reached for his daughter.

"I'll get her back, I promise," he swore, looking at the baby's confused eyes, before he handed her back to her grandmother's arms.

"I saw the blog." He turned at Yang's quiet statement and saw a young impressionable man, hurting for his sister, willing to fight for her, but unsure of how to do it.

"None of it is true."

He could only hold his gaze, wasting precious minutes. But he knew he couldn't leave the boy and go after his sister without assuring him that he was no less worthy of her than when they'd first given her away.

"Get her back home, Dylan." It was her father who broke the silence. And when he met his eyes, he knew what it meant. His one shot at redemption.

It was time to walk over hot coals.

__________________________________

Madame Zhu stared at the buzzing phone in her hand. He had been unreachable since last night.

And he'd left her no choice but to persuade his director to rearrange his filming schedule. She'd had to use a few dirty cards involving information on a flirty production assistant's propensity to sleep with married directors, but never mind that. She had a contract to save.

Her talent was pulling another disappearing act.

The red light on her phone blinked at her, a mocking reminder of the calls she fielded because an errant actor couldn't even give her a decent excuse to build on. The unread emails in her inbox remained unopened. There was nothing she could give to any of them until she could talk to him. They needed to get their stories straight.

Stupid, impulsive boy. Did he really think he could just go to the airport, wave his yuans and demand for a ticket-.

And then she looked down at the printed photos on her desk.