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Chapter Text

---

The crystal chandelier above the ceremonial hall cast a cold, sterile glow over rows of stiff suits and forced smiles. Silk-draped chairs, silver petals, and wine-red carpets looked perfect - elegant and soulless.

Just like the bride standing at the altar.

*Orm Khornaphat* didn't move a muscle. Her hands were clasped neatly in front of her white lace gown - not out of grace, but habit. Control. Discipline. She had been taught since childhood that emotions were for the weak. That love was noise. That silence was power.

But even silence was wearing thin now.

The clock struck *4:18 PM*.

She was three minutes late.

Orm's jaw tensed. Her father sat in the front row, expression unreadable behind his gold-framed glasses. The guests whispered behind gloved hands.

Where was she?

Suddenly-

The grand oak doors burst open.

In walked *Ling Ling Kwong* - no veil, no heels, no apologies.

She was dressed in a black tailored suit, loose white shirt unbuttoned just low enough to tempt scandal. A silver chain glinted at her neck. Tattoos curled over her left hand. She looked like she'd just rolled out of a boxing ring and decided to crash a gala.

Orm's brows lifted - barely - but it was the equivalent of a gasp from anyone else.

Ling walked down the aisle slowly, confidently, her eyes fixed on Orm with a spark that dared her to flinch.

"I figured," Ling said, voice smooth as whiskey, "you'd appreciate a little suspense on your big day."

Orm didn't answer. She simply extended her hand - not in welcome, but instruction.

"Sign the contract," she said coolly.

Ling tilted her head. "No warm welcome? No 'I do'? You wound me, darling."

"Don't call me that."

"Noted." Ling took the pen and signed the marriage papers with a flourish. "But I reserve the right to call you whatever I want in bed."

Orm's lips twitched. "You're assuming there'll be a bed to share."

Their signatures were inked, their fate sealed.

The officiant, clearly uncomfortable, cleared his throat. "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you-"

"Let's skip to the part where we leave," Orm interrupted, already walking off the stage.

Ling chuckled softly. "Well, Mrs. Khornaphat, I must say-marrying you might actually be fun."

---

The ride to the Khornaphat estate was silent.

Orm sat with perfect posture in the black town car, her phone in hand, but not typing. Ling lounged opposite, legs slightly spread, one arm draped across the back seat like she owned it.

"You're quiet," Ling said, glancing at her. "Not even a 'thanks for showing up'?"

"You were late."

"I like to make an entrance."

"I like punctuality. I also like silence."

Ling smirked. "Opposites attract."

"We're not attracted. We're contractually bound. For twelve months."

"Plenty of time to make you fall for me."

Orm turned her head slowly. "You won't."

Ling leaned closer. "Challenge accepted."

---

The Khornaphat estate sat like a fortress - tall iron gates, marble staircases, white-walled halls lined with framed oil portraits of ancestors no one remembered.

Ling whistled low as they entered.

"Wow," she said. "I always imagined marrying rich would come with champagne and screaming in-laws. Not a library that looks like it eats souls."

Orm turned without looking back. "You'll sleep in the west wing. Jet can take the room across the hall."

"Aw. Separate rooms already?" Ling grinned. "And here I thought wedding night meant something special."

Orm stopped at the stairs. "Let's get one thing clear."

Ling raised a brow.

"This is a contract marriage. No touching. No flirting. No appearances beyond what's required. Stay out of my office. Stay out of my room. And stay out of my way."

Ling stepped in close, so close that Orm could smell her perfume - smoke and citrus.

"You can't seriously expect me not to flirt," she whispered. "It's my coping mechanism."

Orm met her gaze, steady and cold. "Then find a new one."

Ling clicked her tongue. "You're going to be so fun to break."

---

Later that night, Orm stood in front of the bathroom mirror, wiping off her makeup in practiced, sharp movements.

The wedding had gone off without a hitch - on the surface. But something was wrong. Off. She could feel it like static in the air.

Ling wasn't who she expected.

Her file had said "independent businesswoman, owner of a private security agency." Orm had assumed dull, polite, manageable.

Instead, she got swagger. Smirks. Secrets.

And she hated secrets.

She stared at herself.

You agreed to this, she reminded herself.

Because it protects the company. Because the scandal needed to die. Because your father said so.

She exhaled slowly, then turned off the light.

---

Down the hall, Ling sat on the bed in her room, a laptop open, screen flickering with encrypted files.

Jet appeared at the door, chewing gum. "You really married the Ice Queen?"

Ling smirked without looking up. "Legally, yes. Emotionally? She's still suing me in her mind."

Jet sat on the floor. "You gonna tell her?"

"No."

"You think she's part of what happened to Mom?"

"I don't know. But her father is."

Jet fell silent.

After a while, Ling closed the laptop and stared out the window at the moonlit garden.

"She doesn't trust me," she said softly. "That's good."

Jet frowned. "Why?"

"Because when she finally does... it'll hurt more when I leave."

---

Orm lay awake that night, eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

In her mind, she replayed the way Ling had smiled - too confident. Too calm. Like she already knew how this game would end.

But Orm had played with fire before.

And fire always burns out.

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

The sunlight poured through the arched windows of the Khornaphat estate like an uninvited guest. Everything about the house screamed cold elegance: marble floors, muted tones, and walls that echoed with emptiness.

Ling leaned against the kitchen island in a T-shirt and joggers, flipping through a bowl of cereal like it was classified intel.

She looked perfectly out of place - and perfectly unbothered.

Orm walked in, dressed immaculately in navy silk slacks and a white blouse. Hair tied into a flawless bun, not a strand out of place. She paused for a moment, taking in the chaotic image of her "wife" eating breakfast with one foot on the chair.

Ling didn't even look up. "Morning, Mrs. Khornaphat."

Orm's jaw tightened. "You're in my kitchen."

"I live here now, don't I?" Ling glanced up with a wink. "Thought I'd get cozy."

Orm walked past her, pulling open a drawer and retrieving her green tea tin like it was ritual.

"Let's set some things straight," she said calmly.

Ling munched her cereal. "Oh, this'll be fun."

---

They sat at the dining table, a long polished slab of dark walnut that seated twelve - though only two were ever present.

Orm placed a thin printed sheet between them.

Ling blinked. "You made a rule sheet?"

Orm didn't smile. "These are the boundaries of this arrangement."

Ling picked it up dramatically. "'No entering the east wing.' Is that where you keep your secrets? Or your soul?"

Orm ignored her. "You may come to public events with me when requested. You'll be compensated monthly for your appearance."

"Wow, such romance."

"No physical intimacy is required or expected. In fact, it's discouraged."

Ling raised her brows. "That's a shame."

Orm's voice remained level. "This is not a romance. This is reputation management."

Ling leaned forward, elbows on the table, eyes locked on Orm's.

"Say whatever you want, ice princess. But the way you looked at me last night? You felt it."

Orm didn't blink. "What I felt was regret."

Ling grinned. "Keep telling yourself that."

---

Later that day, Orm's office door shut with a clean, satisfying click. She sat behind her massive black desk, clicking through emails. Business partners, scandal control, press management. Everything was spinning faster than she liked - but at least inside her domain, she had control.

Until a notification popped up:
*\[Security breach detected - Main Wi-Fi access point]*

Orm's eyes narrowed.

She tapped into the feed and accessed internal camera logs.

There it was: footage of *Ling in the hallway last night*, pacing near the east wing - the restricted area.

And pausing, deliberately, in front of her private study.

Orm's lips thinned. She picked up her phone.

---

Ling was lounging on the library couch when Orm stormed in.

"No knocking? Tsk," Ling said without looking up from her book.

Orm threw a flash drive on the table in front of her.

"You accessed restricted halls."

Ling finally looked up, smirking. "I was just exploring my new castle."

"This isn't a playground."

"You keep saying that, but I'm having so much fun."

Orm stepped closer. "Break my rules again and you'll be removed from this house."

Ling stood, suddenly serious. "You think you scare me?"

"I think I should."

Ling's smile returned - slower, darker this time. "You don't. Not even a little."

For a moment, they stood chest-to-chest. The air between them thick with challenge.

Then Orm turned and walked away without another word.

Ling exhaled - barely. Her fingers twitched at her side.

She hadn't expected the CEO to have surveillance that sharp.

Orm wasn't just cold - she was dangerous when cornered.

And maybe that's why Ling didn't mind getting closer.

---

That night, Orm lay in bed, staring at the ceiling again.

Twice now, she'd let her temper slip. Twice, Ling had pushed a boundary and lived to smirk about it.

But there was something worse than the smirks.

It was how her heart beat just a little too loud when Ling leaned in.

Orm had spent years mastering her silence. Her stillness. Her composure.

And now someone had arrived in her life like a lit match tossed into a room soaked in gasoline.

Orm hated fire.

Because fire made things impossible to control.

---

** [ End of Chapter ] **

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

The charity gala glittered in white marble and golden chandeliers - a ballroom of Thailand's richest and most ruthless. Cameras flashed like lightning, and yet all eyes turned when **Orm Khornaphat** entered. Elegant. Untouchable.

Ling walked half a step behind her, smirking in an ink-black suit with no tie, chest partially exposed. Like a wolf among glass.

Orm barely acknowledged her presence.
"Smile," she whispered through clenched teeth.
Ling leaned close. "You're asking me to fake it? Thought that was your specialty."

Orm's jaw tightened, but she said nothing. Not here. Not in front of everyone.

---

#### 📸 *Paparazzi Chaos*

The flashbulbs exploded as the so-called "newlyweds" stepped onto the main stage. Orm kept her arm tense at her side. Ling, of course, looped her hand around Orm's waist.

"What are you-?"
"Relax, darling wife. They want a show, don't they?" Ling purred near her ear. "Let's give them something worth selling."

Orm didn't pull away. Couldn't. Cameras were watching.

But when Ling rested her chin lightly on Orm's shoulder during a group photo, she felt it - the tiny shiver that ran down Orm's spine.

---

#### 🥂 *The Past Returns*

An hour in, as Orm stood talking to a board member, a woman approached - tall, striking, and too familiar.

"Orm," the woman said sweetly. "It's been a long time."

Orm froze.

Ling's eyes sharpened.

"Sara," Orm said flatly.

"Oh? The famous *Sara*?" Ling strolled up, voice laced with poison-dipped honey. "You're even prettier than I imagined."

Sara smiled. "And you must be the... contract wife."

Orm's breath caught.

Ling tilted her head. "Is that what she told you?" She took a slow sip of champagne, then set the glass down and stepped closer to Orm, her arm circling possessively around her waist. "Because she tells me other things. In bed."

Orm's eyes snapped toward Ling - a warning flare.

Sara laughed awkwardly and left. But not before brushing her fingers lightly over Orm's arm.

Big mistake.

Ling grabbed Orm's wrist immediately after. "Did you sleep with her?" she demanded under her breath.

Orm jerked her hand away. "That's none of your business."

Ling's voice dropped, low and dangerous. "Everything about you is my business now."

---

#### 💥 *Back at the Car*

The ride home was silent - until it wasn't.

"Jealousy doesn't suit you," Orm said, staring out the window.

Ling let out a short laugh. "That woman touched what's mine."

Orm turned. "I'm not yours."

Ling's grin faded. "Not yet."

Their eyes locked - and for one breathless moment, it felt like they were both standing too close to fire.

---

#### 🖥️ *Back at the Mansion - Jet Texts*

As they stepped into the mansion, Orm headed toward her office. Ling stayed behind, checking her phone.

**\[JET]: u better watch Orm. her past's messy. I found something weird. talk later.**

Ling's jaw clenched. Her playful smirk gone.

She looked down the hall toward Orm's closed office door.

Orm might be cold.

But Ling? Ling was fire - and fire always burns what it touches.

---

**[ End of Chapter ]**

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

### 🔥 Bonus Chapter :
" Ling's Private Thoughts "

---

#### 📍Scene: Right after Sara leaves the gala

> (Not spoken aloud - just Ling watching Orm)

> She's standing too close to her past.
> Too calm. Too polite. Is that the version of her she gave Sara too? The perfect, polished CEO with an ice spine?
> No. No one else gets that look in her eyes when I call her mine.
> No one else makes her flinch like I do.
> She doesn't know it yet, but I'll be the one to burn down whatever pieces of her are still loyal to people like that.
> Even if I have to scorch myself with her.

---

#### 📍Scene: In the car, Orm tells Ling she's not hers

> (Orm looks out the window, trying to act distant - Ling watches her reflection in the glass)

> She thinks she can freeze me out. Pretend that what just happened didn't light a fuse between us.
> I don't care if this marriage was fake.
> That body beside me in bed is real. That pulse beneath her throat when I touch her - that's real.
> She can keep her rules. I'll break them all.
> Because if I can't have her heart... I'll take everything else she tries to hide.

---

#### 📍Scene: At the mansion, after Jet texts her

> (Ling stands outside Orm's locked office)

> She's hiding something. And not just from the world - from herself.
> She walks around like no one can touch her, like no one has ever gotten under her skin.
> But she let me in. For a second. Tonight.
> And that's all I need.
> She won't say it, but I already own something no one else has ever seen.
> Her fear. Her weakness. Her attention.
> She's not mine yet. But she will be.
> Even if I have to destroy everything that came before me.

---
*[ End of Bonus Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

The storm hits just after midnight.

Thunder roared above the Khornaphat estate as heavy rain slammed against the floor-to-ceiling windows. The power flickered twice. Then everything went black.

Orm stood still in her study, her hands frozen over documents she hadn't truly been reading. Only the faint blue glow of her laptop remained-before even that, too, died.

Silence. Then footsteps.

Not hers.

She didn't move. "Jet?" she called out cautiously.

"Nope," came a voice behind her, low and smug. "Wrong sibling."

Lightning cracked - just enough to illuminate Ling Ling Kwong leaning against the doorframe in that black silk tank top and loose slacks, looking like she belonged in chaos.

"Why are you always around during power failures?" Orm snapped, not turning.

"Maybe I *am* the failure," Ling said with a smirk, stepping closer, boots soft on the carpet. "Or maybe you just like seeing me in the dark."

Orm turned around slowly. "You're supposed to be on the east wing."

"I was," Ling said, now directly in front of her. "But your security sucks. I tripped two sensors just for fun."

Orm's nostrils flared. "You find this amusing?"

"I find *you* amusing." Ling leaned in, her breath warm. "All that elegance, all that distance-and yet here you are, stuck in the dark, standing still like a princess cursed by a blackout."

"I don't have time for games-"

"But you have time for me," Ling interrupted, softly.

A flash of lightning lit up the tension between them. Orm's breath hitched.

Ling stepped closer. "Do you always breathe like that when someone's this near? Or is it just me?"

Orm held her ground. "You're delusional if you think I'd be flustered by you."

"Oh, sweetheart," Ling whispered, voice dipped in honey and war, "you already are."

Another clap of thunder. This time, Orm stepped back-only to bump against her desk.

Ling didn't follow. She just smiled, slow and lethal.

"You should get used to this," she added. "Because we're going to keep crashing into each other... until one of us burns."

Orm's mouth parted, a retort poised-but then her phone buzzed. She glanced down.

**\[JET KWONG: security loop glitched. someone else tripped camera at back gate. check it.]**

Orm frowned. "Your brother just texted me."

Ling blinked. "Wait-you have Jet's number?"

"Apparently, he has mine. Uninvited."

Ling chuckled. "You'll like him. He's worse than me."

"Doubtful," Orm muttered.

Just then, a flashlight beam swept across the hallway. Ling turned her head. "Jet?"

The boy appeared in the doorway, hoodie up, silver laptop in one hand and a half-eaten energy bar in the other.

"You broke the kitchen lock," Orm said flatly.

He grinned. "Hi, CEO Ice Queen. I'm Jet. I break things. Like passwords. Cameras. And sometimes, people's trust."

Orm blinked. "Charming."

Ling clapped her hands. "He takes after me."

Jet slid onto the leather couch like it was his. "Anyway, I saw a blip. Someone else might've come through the east perimeter twenty minutes ago. Thought you'd wanna know."

Orm's sharp eyes snapped to Ling. "You said you were the only one."

Ling looked genuinely confused now. "I was. If someone else's here... they're not mine."

"Maybe they're watching you," Jet muttered. "Or both of you. Wouldn't be the first time."

Orm's jaw tightened. "That's not possible. This place is locked tighter than-"

Jet tapped his laptop and turned the screen toward them.

Static. Then a fuzzy figure darting past the back gate, blurry but real.

Lightning flashed again. Orm's spine stiffened.

"I'll have my guards do a sweep," she said.

"No," Ling said suddenly. "Let me."

Orm turned. "You?"

"I used to chase worse than this in heels and smoke." Ling gave her a look. "Let me handle it. You stay put."

"I'm not helpless."

"No," Ling said, stepping closer again. "But you're *mine*. And I don't share when someone's trying to hurt what's mine."

Orm froze. Her heartbeat thundered louder than the storm.

"You don't get to say that," she whispered.

"I already did," Ling replied, brushing past her with a wink. "Touché."

---

**[ End of Chapter ]**

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

Bonus Chapter :
Orm's POV : "The Ice That Cracked"*

---

Orm shut the door behind Ling.

The hallway was still humming with Jet's lazy whistling and the low buzz of security chatter, but in her study, it was silent again. Dark. Except for the soft flicker of emergency lights casting ghostly blue shadows across the floor.

Her hands gripped the edge of her desk.

She hated storms.

Not because of the rain, or the power outages.

Because storms reminded her she couldn't control everything.

And Ling Kwong was exactly that - a walking, grinning, chaos-born hurricane wrapped in swagger and cigarette smoke. The kind of danger you didn't see coming until your walls cracked open.

Orm exhaled sharply, trying to slow her breathing.

That woman had stepped close. Too close. Not just physically - emotionally. Teasing her, reading her, touching nerves that hadn't flinched in years.

> "You're mine. And I don't share."

Who the hell says that during a potential security breach?

She did.

Ling said it like it was a fact. Not a flirt. Not a joke. A *claim*.

And worse - for a second, just a second - Orm hadn't hated it.

She looked down at her own hand. It was trembling. She quickly clenched it into a fist.

"No," she whispered to herself. "Not her. Never her."

Ling was reckless. Unpredictable. Dangerous.

Orm had spent twenty-five years building control, layers of ice thicker than bulletproof glass. She couldn't afford cracks. Not for someone who came into her life on a contract.

But even as she said it, her gaze fell to the hallway where Ling had walked off into the dark, shoulders squared like she owned the night.

And Orm - for the first time - felt something terrifying curl inside her chest.

Warmth.

---

**[ End of Bonus Chapter ]**

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

Orm didn't like silence.
She only trusted it when she could control it.

But tonight, her house felt *too* silent.

She moved through the marble hallway barefoot, passing the dim-lit portraits of Khornaphat ancestors. Her steps were soundless, her expression still. But her mind was running, scanning - she could feel something was off.

The security logs showed the door to her **private office** had opened at 12:41 AM. Closed at 12:43.

No one had permission but her.

Her fingers hovered over the sensor pad as she reached the office.

Inside, the lights were off. But something was different.

The chair was turned slightly.

A file had been moved 3 inches to the left - she remembered where she'd placed it. That wasn't forgetfulness. That was *someone's hand*.

Orm turned sharply-

And found **Ling** leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window, bathed in moonlight, holding one of Orm's hard drives like it was a game console.

Ling's lips curved, slow and lazy.

> "You're late to your own party, CEO."

---

"Put that down," Orm said coldly, stepping inside.

Ling flipped the drive in her hand once, twice, like she was weighing it.

> "You should change your encryption. It only took me three tries."

"Who gave you clearance?"

> "What clearance? I live here now, remember?" Her smile sharpened. "And wives don't knock."

Orm crossed the room in three sharp steps and snatched the drive from her hand.

Ling didn't flinch. She just tilted her head, eyes lingering on Orm's tight jaw.

> "You're hiding something," Ling said quietly. "But worse-*someone's watching you*."

Orm froze. "What did you say?"

Ling turned to the wall where a framed abstract painting hung. She pulled it aside.

Behind it, where no one had ever been allowed to see - a small black **bug** sat in the corner, blinking green.

Orm's chest went still.

> "That's not yours," Ling said. "And it's not mine."

---

For once, Orm couldn't speak.

She *had* swept the office recently. Or thought she had. But this wasn't some cheap bug - this was military-grade. Hidden deep, only detectable by someone *expecting to find it.*

> "You're too perfect," Ling said. "You think control makes you safe. But control just makes you blind."

Orm turned slowly. "How long have you known?"

> "Since the day I got here. The glitch in your elevator system wasn't an accident. Someone's tapping you."

"And you didn't tell me?"

> "I didn't trust you." Ling shrugged. "Still don't. But this... this is bigger than your ego."

Orm stepped forward, eyes sharp. "Who are you really?"

Ling smiled again, but it was a tired one this time. The kind that came from too many secrets and not enough sleep.

> "Someone who's been in deeper shadows than this."

She brushed past Orm and stopped at the door. Paused.

> "Lock your doors better," Ling said without turning. "Next time it won't be me walking in."

And then she was gone.

Leaving Orm alone - and finally, truly, *scared.*

---

**[ End of Chapter ]**

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

It was close to midnight when Orm stepped into the underground parking lot beneath Khornaphat Tower.

The echo of her heels was the only sound.

Her driver had been called off earlier due to "security system maintenance." Strange. But Orm didn't wait for anyone - she hated delays more than danger.

She moved with elegance, her black heels clicking over the concrete. Sleek, poised, alert. Until her sixth sense - the one built from boardrooms and betrayals - flared.

She wasn't alone.

---

A figure stepped from the shadows behind the silver pillar.

Black hoodie. Mask. Gloved hands.

Too close.

Orm turned-

> "What do you-"

He lunged.

She staggered back as the man rushed forward with a stun baton raised - no time to scream, no time to reach for her clutch-

And then-

*Crack.*

A shadow collided with him from the side like a goddamn storm.

It was *Ling.*

Hair loose, in a leather jacket, fists already flying.

She grabbed the attacker by the collar, slammed him hard against the pillar.

Once. Twice.

He grunted. Tried to swing.

*Mistake.*

Ling ducked, drove her knee into his stomach, then smashed his hand against the wall until the baton clattered to the ground.

She didn't stop.

Her fist landed on his jaw. Again. And again. Blood spattered the pillar.

> "You think," Ling hissed between punches, "you can touch her?"

Orm stood frozen, heart thudding.

It wasn't just that Ling was violent.

It was the way she looked like she belonged in the violence - like it was second nature.

Like she'd kill this man if Orm didn't speak.

> "Ling." Her voice cracked.

Ling stopped. Barely.

The man was unconscious. Bleeding.

Ling turned to face Orm - chest heaving, knuckles red.

> "You alright?"

Orm nodded, slowly. Her gaze dropped to Ling's hand - torn skin, shaking from adrenaline.

> "You're hurt," she said quietly.

Ling blinked, like she hadn't noticed.

> "Doesn't matter."

---

They stood in silence, the car park now echoing only with breathing and distant traffic.

Ling looked down at the attacker's body, then back at Orm.

> "You walk around thinking your name protects you. It doesn't."

> "That wasn't random," Orm whispered. "Someone sent him."

Ling nodded.

> "They're escalating."

Orm stepped closer, lowering her voice.

> "Why do you care?"

Ling's jaw tensed. Her voice dropped low, firm.

> "Because you're still my wife. For now."

Orm's breath caught.

There was something in the way Ling said it - not teasing, not sarcastic.

Possessive. Fierce. Unapologetically hers.

---

Ling looked down at her bloody hand, then back at Orm.

> "You're going to need a new security team. Your father's probably the one who hired this clown."

Orm blinked. "What?"

Ling didn't elaborate.

She just wiped her hand on her jacket, pulled her phone, and made a quick call in Thai.

> "Clean-up. Lower level. One target, not fatal. Bring gloves."

Then she ended the call and looked at Orm again.

Softer this time.

> "Let's get you out of here."

Orm hesitated... then followed her.

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

Orm stood in her private study, sleeves rolled up, staring out at the rain-soaked Bangkok skyline. The city glittered under the storm, alive and unbothered - unlike her.

Behind her, Ling was lounging in the leather chair like she owned it. One leg propped, her black boots muddy from the earlier fight. She was nursing a beer she didn't ask permission to open.

> "You should get your hand stitched," Orm said flatly, not turning around.

> "You should get a real security team," Ling shot back, unfazed.

Orm turned.

> "Why did you follow me?"

Ling shrugged. "Call it a wife's instinct."

That word again. Wife.

Spoken so casually by a woman who didn't believe in love, didn't believe in anything but chaos and impulse - and yet there she was, bruised knuckles and calm fire, still watching over Orm like she meant it.

---

> "You don't have to protect me," Orm said, pacing toward her desk. "We both know this marriage is just paper. Transactional."

> "Right," Ling murmured. "Except paper doesn't bleed."

Orm flinched at the line.

Ling stood up, slowly. Closed the distance between them.

> "You want this arrangement to stay clean and cold, fine," Ling said. "But don't act like someone didn't just try to kill you. This thing isn't safe anymore."

Orm hesitated. For the first time, she wasn't sure if she was angry, scared, or... grateful.

> "So what are you proposing?" she asked.

Ling smiled. "That depends. What's your offer?"

---

Orm pulled a document from the drawer. Simple. Official. Another contract.

> "Protect me. For one year. Keep me alive, and you'll be free."

Ling raised an eyebrow.

> "I'm already not free, sweetheart."

> "You'll get enough money to disappear," Orm replied. "New ID, clean records. A fresh start."

Ling laughed. But it didn't reach her eyes.

> "You think I'm in this for money?"

Orm hesitated.

> "No," she admitted. "But I think you're here for revenge."

Ling's playful smile cracked. Just for a second.

Orm pressed on.

> "I don't know what exactly you're hiding, or what you want from my family. But I know you're not just some street fighter with expensive taste."

Ling stepped closer until they were nearly chest to chest.

> "You want me to stay and protect you?" she said, voice low. "Say please."

Orm blinked. Her spine straightened.

> "I don't beg."

> "Exactly," Ling said, leaning in with a smirk. "That's why I'm still interested."

---

They stared at each other for a long moment.

Then Ling reached for a pen, signed the new agreement without even reading it.

> "One year," she said. "I'll keep you breathing."

> "And after that?" Orm asked.

Ling leaned back.

> "We'll see if I still want to leave."

---

Orm watched her walk out of the room like it was her palace now.

But she didn't know-
Ling wasn't the only one digging into secrets.

Because behind that new contract, Orm had slipped a second copy into a different folder - the one tied to her father's confidential archives.

> If Ling was hiding something... Orm would find out.

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

The ballroom shimmered with crystal chandeliers and judgmental eyes. It was another charity event — another night of fake smiles, stale wine, and forced elegance.

Ling hated these things.

She stood by the open bar, black suit sharp, tie loosened just enough to break protocol. She scanned the crowd once, bored — until she saw *her.*

Orm descended the stairs like a storm wrapped in silk.

Her hair, usually pulled back, was loose. Waves of jet-black spilled past her collarbones. But it wasn’t her hair that made Ling pause.

It was the *dress.*

Red. Deep, rich crimson. The color of blood, fire, and defiance.

She never wore red.

---

Orm’s eyes met hers across the ballroom. Ling didn’t move. Didn’t smile. Didn’t blink.

And still—Orm’s steps faltered.

---

> “Did hell freeze over,” Ling murmured as Orm approached, “or did you wear that for me?”

Orm rolled her eyes. “It was the only one left in my size.”

> “Lie again,” Ling whispered. “See what happens.”

Orm’s cheeks colored — faint, quick, then gone.

---

They walked in together.

Everyone stared.

Paparazzi snapped photos. Some whispered. Others speculated.

> "Newlyweds, right?"
> "Arranged."
> "But look at the way she looks at her..."

---

At their table, Ling leaned back in her seat.

> “If you’re trying to distract me from your secrets,” she said, “it’s working.”

> “I didn’t ask for your attention.”

> “And yet you have all of it.”

Orm scoffed. But she sipped her wine faster than usual.

---

A man approached their table — smug, rich, reeking of old money and cologne.

> “Khun Khornaphat,” he said, bowing slightly. “A pleasure, as always.”

Orm stood politely. Ling did not.

> “And this must be… your bodyguard?”

Ling smiled slowly. “Wife.”

The man blinked. Awkward silence. Then a forced laugh.

> “Of course. Right. How… progressive.”

Orm didn’t correct him. But she didn’t smile either.

When he left, Ling leaned over.

> “You let people assume you’re still single?”

Orm’s jaw tightened.

> “You let people think you’re dangerous.”

> “Because I am,” Ling said, and let her fingers brush over Orm’s on the table.

> “And I’m married,” Orm said coldly — but she didn’t move her hand away.

---

Later, during speeches, Ling noticed something else.

Orm wasn’t just beautiful tonight.

She looked *vulnerable*.

She smiled too long. Her shoulders were too tight. She was *performing.*

Something was wrong.

---

When the event ended, Orm stepped outside first.

Ling followed, catching up near the parked car.

> “You wore red for a reason,” she said quietly. “What’s the message?”

Orm glanced over her shoulder. “Red is for war, not romance.”

> “Then why do I feel like you’re running from something?”

Orm stopped walking.

> “Because you don’t know when to shut up.”

> “And you don’t know how to ask for help,” Ling said, stepping closer. “But I’m here anyway.”

Orm’s breath hitched.

> “You shouldn’t be.”

> “But I am.”

---

The silence between them was thick. Like something about to shatter.

Ling reached up — slowly — and tucked a strand of Orm’s hair behind her ear.

> “You smile like it hurts,” she whispered.

Orm closed her eyes. Just for a second.

> “It does.”

And then she opened the door and got in the car — alone.

---

**[ End of Chapter ]**

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

The mansion was quiet — too quiet.

Ling came home late, her jacket damp from the storm, her steps unusually soft as she slipped inside. Orm wasn’t in the living room. The lights were off.

But one door was open.

The study.

---

Inside, Orm sat on the floor in a sea of paper files — her father’s archives. She looked up briefly, unsurprised.

> “Jet gave me your spare key,” Ling said. “Should’ve known you'd be digging through ghosts.”

> “I’m not afraid of them,” Orm replied.

> “You should be.”

---

Ling walked in and crouched beside her. She wasn’t here to fight tonight.

She reached for one of the folders — then froze.

The name on the top:

> *Operation LANTERN — Mei Kwong*

---

> “Where did you get this?” Ling’s voice dropped.

Orm hesitated. “It was hidden. In a locked drawer. I don’t even know what most of this means.”

But Ling did.

She’d seen that stamp before. The day her world ended.

---

> *FLASHBACK – Bangkok, 17 Years Ago*

Rain poured down like bullets.

Mei Kwong — beautiful, sharp-eyed, deadly — handed little Ling a compass with trembling fingers.

> “Run,” she whispered. “Hide. Don’t turn back.”

The building behind them exploded in flames.

Gunfire. Screams. Her mother’s blood on Ling’s face.

---

> *BACK TO PRESENT*

Ling stumbled backward, dropping the file.

Orm stood quickly. “What did you see?”

Ling didn’t answer — she walked to the wall, breathing hard, pressing her forehead to the cold glass.

> “She wasn’t a criminal,” Ling said. “She was trying to expose corruption inside Khornaphat Corp.”

> “You think my father—?”

> “I know he had her killed.”

---

A pause.

Orm stepped closer — carefully. “That’s why you agreed to the marriage?”

Ling turned, eyes burning.

> “Why else would I marry someone like you?”

The words were sharp. But they hurt both of them.

---

Orm’s face twisted — not with anger, but pain.

She looked at the documents again.

> “I didn’t know.”

> “You should’ve.”

> “He never told me anything.”

> “You still let him own you.”

Orm’s voice cracked:

> “You think I wanted any of this?”

Ling took a step forward — inches between them.

> “I think you’re so used to being cold, you forgot what it means to bleed.”

And for the first time since they met — Orm’s eyes filled with tears.

---

She turned away, shoulders shaking. Ling should’ve left.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she whispered, “I didn’t want to fall for you.”

Orm didn’t look back. “Then why does it feel like you already did?”

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

—

The door slammed open.

Orm looked up from her laptop, startled, just in time to see Ling stumble into the foyer, blood on her temple, a split lip, and one sleeve of her leather jacket torn to shreds.

> “What happened?” Orm’s voice rose, shocked — *worried* — as she stood.

> “Bad people. Worse timing,” Ling muttered, wiping her brow.

> “You were fighting again?” Orm snapped. “You think you’re invincible?”

> “I *was* winning.”

Her smirk faltered when her knees buckled.

Orm rushed forward, catching her before she hit the ground.

> “Idiot,” Orm whispered, breathless.

> “Takes one to marry one.”

—

### ❄️ 15 Minutes Later

Orm guided Ling into the guest bathroom and sat her on the edge of the tub. The silence was thick — heavy with something unsaid.

Ling winced as Orm tugged the jacket off her shoulder.

Underneath, the skin was bruised purple. A gash ran from her collarbone to mid-arm.

> “You need stitches.”

> “I need whiskey.”

Orm gave her a sharp look. Then, without a word, she left — returning with a first aid kit and a bottle of antiseptic. She knelt in front of Ling, hair tied back now, sleeves rolled up.

It was strangely intimate.

> “I can do it myself—”

> “Shut up,” Orm cut in.

> “Bossy.”

> “Bleeding.”

—

Orm cleaned the wound gently, but her jaw was tight, her movements controlled.

> “What were you doing?” she asked quietly.

> “Checking out a lead on the mole.”

Orm looked up. “Alone?”

Ling shrugged with her one good shoulder. “Jet’s too valuable to risk.”

> “And you’re not?”

> “Not really.”

That made Orm pause.

—

She reached for the bandages without saying a word, but her fingers trembled slightly. Ling noticed.

> “Hey,” Ling said softly. “I’m not trying to die. Just trying to find the truth.”

> “You don’t have to bleed for it.”

> “Someone has to.”

Orm pressed the gauze harder than necessary. Ling hissed.

> “That’s for being reckless,” Orm muttered.

> “Careful, CEO. You’re starting to sound like you *care*.”

Orm didn’t answer.

—

When she finished, Orm sat back on her heels.

Ling was watching her. Still. Quiet. Something vulnerable in her eyes — and for once, no teasing in her mouth.

> “Thank you,” Ling said softly.

Orm looked away. “It’s just first aid.”

> “Still.”

The silence wrapped around them, slow and charged.

Then Ling leaned closer, eyes searching Orm’s.

> “Why are you really helping me?”

> “Because…” Orm’s voice dropped. “Because seeing you hurt makes it hard to breathe.”

—

Ling’s smile faded.

And then — **Orm kissed her.**

—

No warning. No careful build-up.

Just soft, sudden pressure against Ling’s mouth. Hesitant, but real.

Ling froze — not because she didn’t want it. Because she *did*.

Because it wasn’t supposed to feel this warm.

It wasn’t supposed to feel like... home.

—

Orm pulled away a second later, eyes wide, lips parted.

> “I—I shouldn’t have—”

But Ling’s hand caught her wrist.

She didn’t pull her back. She didn’t speak.

She just… looked at her. For a long time.

> “You kiss like it’s the end of the world,” Ling murmured.

> “Maybe it is,” Orm whispered.

—

They didn’t kiss again.

But neither of them moved.

They sat like that on the bathroom floor — too close, hearts too loud.

The world outside was full of war.

But in that moment, it was just them.

Two women who weren’t supposed to fall.
Falling anyway.

—

### ☕ Later that Night

Orm sat in her office, replaying the kiss in her mind.

She touched her lips once, fingers trembling.

> *She’s dangerous,* Orm thought.
> *But I can’t stay away.*

In the guest room, Ling lay awake, staring at the ceiling.

The pain in her arm had faded.

But the way Orm had looked at her — *that* she couldn’t forget.

> *She kissed me like I mattered.*
> *That’s worse than any wound.*

—

**[ End of Chapter ]**

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

—

🌒 Midnight
Orm jolted awake to the sound of a soft ping.

Another email.

She reached for her phone, half-asleep — but what she read snapped her fully alert.

YOU LOOKED BEAUTIFUL BLEEDING IN THAT PARKING LOT.

Attached was a photo: her car, from two nights ago. Smashed side mirror. Her blood on the pavement.

Her breath caught.

Another ping.

TELL YOUR WIFE TO STAY OUT OF MY WAY.

—

💻 Jet’s Room – 1:10 AM
Ling stormed into her brother’s makeshift tech den. Jet was already half-awake, sipping energy drink like it was water.

“They’re escalating,” she muttered, tossing Orm’s phone on the desk.

Jet whistled. “Creepy font. Blood references. All-caps. Yep, stalker vibes confirmed.”

“Trace it.”

“Already did. Bounced through six dummy servers. Whoever this is… they’re smart.”

“Smarter than you?”

Jet grinned. “Not a chance.”

—

☕ Kitchen – 3:40 AM
Ling sat on the marble counter, swinging her legs idly as Orm entered.

Orm looked tired — but not scared.

She never looked scared.

“Your friend’s getting bolder,” Ling said quietly.

Orm poured coffee with a shaky hand.

“Do you think it’s the mole?”

“Either that,” Ling replied, “or someone who knows how to hide in plain sight.”

“Should I involve the police?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Ling slid off the counter and walked up to her — closer than necessary.

“Because cops leak. And if this stalker’s already inside your company… you’ll be feeding him your next move.”

Orm stared at her. “So what should I do?”

Ling smirked. “Trust me.”

Orm hesitated. Then, she nodded.

“Okay.”

—

📎 Later That Morning
At Khornaphat Corp HQ, Orm moved like ice: calm, cold, flawless.

But inside, she was shaken.

She passed Tasha in the hallway — her loyal secretary. But this time, Tasha didn’t meet her eyes.

Ling noticed.

“That’s twice she’s avoided you,” Ling whispered under her breath.

“She’s under stress. We all are.”

“That’s not stress,” Ling said. “That’s guilt.”

Orm frowned. “You don’t even know her.”

“I know liars,” Ling replied coolly. “I used to be one.”

—

📷 Surveillance Room – 1:45 PM
Jet showed Ling the footage.

“Tasha accessed your office files last Tuesday. At midnight.”

Ling narrowed her eyes.

“Why would a secretary need the CEO’s hard-drive logs?”

“No clue. But she also called a burner number registered to an alias tied to Anucha.”

Ling cursed softly.

“Still think she’s just stressed?” Jet teased.

“She’s going to make a move soon,” Ling muttered. “And we’ll be watching.”

—

🥂 Charity Event – That Night
Another function. Another smile.

Orm wore deep navy this time — elegant, guarded.

Ling arrived beside her in a sharp black tux-style suit. No tie, just undone buttons and a grin that could cut steel.

“We’re pretending to be happy tonight, right?” Ling whispered.

“No,” Orm replied. “We’re pretending not to be hunted.”

—

Midway through the night, Orm felt it.

The stare.

She turned slowly — and spotted a man with a drink watching her from the balcony. Unblinking.

As she took a step toward him, Ling grabbed her wrist.

“Don’t,” Ling said under her breath. “He wants you to chase him.”

“He sent the email.”

“I know. Let me handle this.”

Orm stared at her for a moment, then gave the smallest nod.

—

🍷 Balcony – 11:10 PM
Ling stepped outside, hands in her pockets.

The man stood still, sipping red wine like it was blood.

“You’re the dog, right?” he said. “The one protecting the ice queen.”

“More of a wolf, actually,” Ling replied calmly. “And you’re about five seconds from finding out why that’s bad.”

“She doesn’t belong to you.”

“No,” Ling said. “But I belong to her.”

And then she moved — fast, brutal.

She slammed him into the wall, whispered something in Thai he didn’t understand, and when she pulled away, he was pale with fear.

“Tell your boss,” Ling said, “next time I won’t let you walk away.”

—

🛏️ Back Home – 12:30 AM
Orm sat on the edge of the bed. She looked up when Ling entered, still tense.

“Is it over?” Orm asked.

“For tonight.”

Orm lowered her eyes.

“Why do you keep doing this? I know you didn’t marry me for love. I know you’re hiding things. So why stay?”

Ling didn’t speak at first.

Then she walked up slowly, knelt in front of Orm, and took her hands.

“Because someone is hunting you. And I can’t stand the thought of them getting to you before I do.”

Orm blinked. “That’s… not comforting.”

“It’s not meant to be.”

A beat.

Then Orm surprised her — reaching out to gently touch the side of Ling’s face.

“I trust you,” she said softly. “I don’t know why. But I do.”

Ling’s voice dropped. “Then don’t tell anyone about the emails. Not yet. Not even your board.”

Orm nodded slowly.

Their fingers stayed laced longer than necessary.

—

**[ End of Chapter ]**

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---
🌤️ Morning - The Kitchen
Orm stepped into the kitchen to find Ling already there - barefoot, bruised, and humming off-key while flipping eggs.

"You're cooking?" Orm asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I'm playing housewife." Ling smirked. "Thought I'd wear an apron too, maybe some heels, spice things up."

"Please don't."

"Why, scared you'll like it?"

Orm sat on the barstool, shaking her head - but her lips twitched.

Almost a smile, Ling noted. Getting closer.

-

🍵 Ling set down a cup of tea.
"Chamomile," she said. "Jet says it helps CEOs fake peace of mind."

Orm blinked. "You're thoughtful today."

"Don't tell anyone. It ruins my reputation."

They ate in near silence - the comfortable kind. Ling glanced at her occasionally, studying the tension in Orm's shoulders, the bruised fatigue under her eyes.

"Bad dreams?" Ling asked quietly.

Orm hesitated. "Yes."

"About the stalker?"

"No. About my father."

-

🥀 Flashback Revealed (in Orm's Dialogue)
"He didn't raise me to lead. He raised me to win."

"There's a difference?"

"Winning means destroying anyone who blocks your path. Even if they're family."

Ling listened quietly.

"He made me into a weapon," Orm added. "But forgot to teach me how to... feel."

Ling's voice was low.

"You're not a weapon, Orm. You're a woman they're scared of because you survived them."

A long pause.

Orm stared into her tea.

"Why are you really here, Ling? You didn't marry me for love. You don't care about money. So why?"

Ling didn't answer right away.

"Because I know what it's like," she finally said, "to be taught survival instead of kindness."

Their eyes met.

And in that gaze, something cracked open - raw and real.

"I protect what's mine," Ling whispered. "Even if it wasn't mine to begin with."

-

🧣 Later - Living Room
Orm was curled on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. She watched Ling pace while talking to Jet on the phone.

"No, I don't want guards. I want shadows. Cameras. Movement tracking."
"Yes, Jet, she's not allowed to die. Obviously."
"No, I'm not being emotional-shut up."

Orm chuckled quietly. "You're possessive."

"Damn right I am," Ling said. "You're expensive."

"So I'm an investment?"

"A dangerous one."

Ling plopped down beside her, and for a second, they just breathed.

"I meant what I said," Orm said softly. "Last night."

Ling tilted her head.

"I do trust you."

"Even if I lie?"

"Even if you burn everything down."

A pause.

"Because for the first time in years," Orm whispered, "I don't feel alone."

Ling went still.

"Don't say that," she said. "I don't deserve that kind of honesty."

Orm reached over and gently touched Ling's wrist.

"Maybe not. But you're getting it anyway."

-

🌙 Night - Ling's Room
Ling sat on her bed, shirt half-unbuttoned, staring at her old phone. A picture lit the screen - one of her as a teen, standing between two women with blurred faces.

"I'm getting too close," she muttered. "I was supposed to destroy this empire. Not fall for its queen."

She shut the screen off.

And whispered into the dark,

"Don't make me choose between revenge and her."

Because she already knew - if it came down to it...

She wouldn't choose revenge.

Not anymore.

-

**[ End of Chapter ]**

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

Orm had barely stepped out of the building when she noticed it.

Her driver's side mirror was angled differently. The window? Clean - too clean, like it had been wiped. She paused, eyes narrowing. The late afternoon sun cast jagged shadows across the parking lot. Silent. Still. Waiting.

Something was off.

She reached for the door, her fingers brushing metal, when she saw it - a single blood-red lily lying on the passenger seat.

Not a bouquet.

Just one.

Wrapped in black string.

Her throat tightened.

No note. No explanation. Just the flower and the knowledge that someone had gotten this close to her again.

She didn't scream. She didn't panic.

Orm Khornaphat didn't do fear - she turned it into silence.

But when Ling got the call five minutes later, her voice wasn't quiet. Not even close.

---

The door slammed so hard the marble vase in the hallway cracked.

Ling stormed into Orm's penthouse, eyes burning, fists clenched.

"Where is it?" she snapped.

Orm, still in her suit, raised an eyebrow from the couch. "You mean the flower or my self-control?"

Ling marched toward her, holding up a photo Jet had just sent - a shot of the lily sitting neatly on the car seat.

"That's not a warning," she growled. "That's a message. A personal one."

Orm set her tablet down. "I'm aware."

"No. You're not. If I hadn't sent Jet to bug your car this week, you would've driven off with that thing sitting right next to you."

"Ling, calm down."

"I am calm," Ling hissed. "This is me calm. You don't want to see me scared."

Orm's eyes softened - not with pity, but with something warmer. Almost... protective.

"I'm not afraid, Ling."

Ling stepped closer. "Maybe you should be."

They were close now. Ling could feel the heat rising off her own skin, the rage clawing behind her ribs. But underneath it was something far worse - fear. Deep, ancient, drowning fear. Because someone was playing a game with Orm's life, and Ling didn't know the rules yet.

And losing Orm - the idea of it - was starting to feel personal.

---

Jet's voice crackled through the intercom. "Uh, hate to interrupt your bonding moment, but we've got a bigger problem."

"Speak," Ling snapped.

"I just traced another signal. There's a listening device. In Orm's office. It's active."

Orm stiffened. "In my office? You mean-"

"I mean someone's been hearing everything," Jet said. "Meetings. Calls. Conversations with Ling. They're listening."

"Shut it down," Ling ordered. "Scramble every trace. And don't breathe a word of this to anyone, not even my mother."

"Already on it."

The line went dead.

Orm looked like she'd just been slapped.

Ling watched her.

"You okay?" she asked, softer now.

Orm nodded slowly. "This isn't just business anymore."

"No," Ling agreed. "It's war."

---

That night, they didn't go to their separate rooms.

They didn't say why.

Orm just stood in the hallway, hand on the doorknob to Ling's room, then turned and walked in.

Ling was already sitting on the edge of the bed, back to the door, holding her old phone again. When she heard footsteps, she didn't move - just asked, quietly, "Trouble sleeping?"

Orm answered by sitting beside her.

"Do you always shake when you're angry?" Orm asked after a moment.

"I only shake when I care," Ling said.

Orm stared at her. "Then you must be terrified."

Ling gave a broken sort of laugh, rubbing her face.

"I'm not supposed to be," she whispered. "I was raised to be the bad guy. The wildcard. The wolf they couldn't leash."

"Raised by who?"

Ling hesitated. She looked at Orm. Really looked.

And said, "By someone who never cared if I lived or died, as long as I got the job done."

Orm didn't say anything. Just leaned her shoulder into Ling's, gently.

They stayed like that for a long time. Not touching beyond that - just leaning into each other, breathing in sync.

---

Around midnight, Ling finally spoke again.

"If anything happens to you," she said quietly, "I will burn down every corner of this city to find them."

Orm turned to her.

"You really mean that."

"I do."

Orm studied her, eyes searching. "You don't even know if you like me yet."

Ling smiled faintly. "Doesn't matter."

"Why?"

Ling met her gaze, slow and steady. "Because I already know I can't stand the thought of you being hurt."

A long silence stretched between them.

Then, Orm reached out - not with the usual cold command she showed the world - but with something softer, trembling.

She took Ling's hand and said, "Then stay. Just for tonight."

Ling nodded.

And this time, when she climbed into bed beside Orm, she didn't flirt. Didn't tease.

She just wrapped an arm around her waist, buried her face in Orm's shoulder, and held her like she was the only thing in the world worth surviving for.

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

### *Bonus Scene – "The Ice Never Cried"*

---

The city hummed far below the glass windows of the penthouse, lights blinking like nervous thoughts in the dark. Orm Khornaphat sat on the floor, barefoot, a silk robe pooling around her legs like spilled wine. The office across the hall, her usual place of retreat, stood cold and unopened.

Tonight, she didn’t want logic. She wanted quiet.

But it wasn’t quiet inside her.

She held the red lily in her hand — the same one that had been left in her car earlier. Wrapped now in a paper towel to keep the dark ribbon from touching her skin. She hated how beautiful it looked. How delicate. How intentional. Whoever left it knew exactly what they were doing.

Orm could still feel Ling’s voice in her veins. “You’re not just a CEO. You’re a target.”
And worse: “No one touches what’s mine.”

No one had ever said that about her — not like that. Not with such rage. Such heat. Like she was something sacred.

She glanced over her shoulder. The hallway outside her bedroom was empty, though she knew Ling was awake. Probably sitting near the entrance, gun in reach. She’d offered to sleep on the couch — not because she wanted distance, but because Orm had looked too rattled to be near anyone.

Orm hadn’t refused. But she hadn’t agreed either.

She leaned her head back against the cool marble of the wall, closing her eyes.

A memory stirred. A forgotten one.

Her father’s voice — sharp, practiced — echoing in the vast Khornaphat estate when she was just ten.

> “Crying is for the weak, Orm. Ice doesn’t bend. It doesn’t break. It freezes everything that dares touch it.”

And she had believed him. Had repeated that mantra through every heartbreak, every betrayal, every sleepless night she spent building an empire just to earn his reluctant nod.

But tonight...

Tonight she wasn’t made of ice.

Because tonight, someone had broken into her world not with threats — but with a flower. And that had terrified her more than bullets ever could.

She pressed the heel of her hand to her chest. It hurt. God, it ached. The weight of her mask. The cracking beneath.

Orm stood slowly, walked to the bathroom, and turned on the tap. Cold water gushed into the sink, and she let her fingers drown in it, her breathing slow and tight.

Then, a voice.

Not outside — inside the mirror.

> “You never wanted ice, did you?”

Her reflection stared back. Pale. Composed. Hollow. Not the woman Ling saw.

The knock on her door was so soft it barely existed.

“Orm?” came Ling’s voice. No teasing. Just low concern.

Orm didn’t answer.

The door opened anyway.

Ling stepped in, barefoot, hair loose for once — no weapons, no walls. Just her. She didn’t approach. Just waited.

Orm met her gaze through the mirror.

“I was taught that crying made you weak,” she said softly, voice almost unfamiliar to her own ears.

Ling’s expression didn’t shift. She just walked forward and reached out — but not for Orm’s hand. For the lily. She took it gently, tossed it into the trash, and closed the lid with finality.

Then she said, “Your father lied.”

Just that. And it was enough.

Orm inhaled shakily.

Ling stepped closer.

This time, when her arms went around Orm’s waist, the CEO didn’t pull away.

She leaned in.

And let her forehead press against Ling’s shoulder.

The tears didn’t come in waves. They came quietly — like frost melting after a long winter. A single drop. Then another. Then stillness.

Ling didn’t speak. She just held her.

Like fire.

---

*[ End of Bonus Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

### 🕯 6:45 AM — The Calm Before the Storm

The morning was unusually quiet.

Orm sat in the sun-drenched kitchen, stirring her black coffee slowly, staring out the window but seeing nothing. Her fingers tapped the rim of the porcelain cup, rhythmic, controlled — except her mind wasn’t.

Ling walked in, barefoot, still in one of Orm’s oversized shirts. It looked dangerously good on her. Messy hair. Sleepy eyes. But she was already alert — too alert.

> “Jet’s call woke me up,” she said, skipping the greeting. “Check your phone.”

Orm reached over. Her inbox had exploded.

*Subject: LEAKED DOCUMENTS SHOW ORMPHA CORP'S SECRET INVESTMENTS*

> And right there, front page: a classified report about Khornaphat Corp investing in questionable offshore accounts… forged with Orm’s digital signature.

Her blood ran cold.

---

### 📎 7:05 AM — Private Office

> “How the hell did this get out?” Orm’s voice cracked as she scanned the document.

Ling leaned against the desk, arms crossed. Her voice was calm.

> “It wasn’t a random breach. This was planned.”

> “Planned by who?”

Ling raised an eyebrow.

> “We both know the answer.”

Orm clenched her jaw. “Tasha’s been with me for six years. She was with my father before that.”

> “Exactly.”

> “That doesn’t make her guilty.”

> “It makes her trained.”

A pause. The silence crackled like static between them.

> “So what now?” Orm asked finally.

Ling smirked, slow and dangerous.

> “Now we play her game. And beat her at it.”

---

### 🕶 9:30 AM — Khornaphat Corp HQ, Floor 47

Tasha looked polished as ever — high ponytail, red lipstick, navy pencil skirt. She greeted Orm like usual, as if the press hadn’t just started bleeding scandal.

> “Morning, ma’am. Your 10 AM board meeting’s confirmed. Shall I prep the slides—?”

> “Don’t bother,” Orm said flatly. “We’ll be talking about something else.”

Ling appeared beside her, all black blazer and subtle fire in her eyes.

> “Hello, Tasha,” Ling said. “Sleep well?”

Tasha blinked. “Fine, thank you.”

> “No nightmares?”

Tasha’s smile froze just slightly — barely a twitch.

> “None worth remembering.”

> “Interesting,” Ling said smoothly. “Mine involved rats crawling into expensive places.”

She held Tasha’s gaze just long enough to unsettle her — then walked away.

Orm followed, but not before she noticed the flicker of something in her secretary’s expression.

*Guilt. Or fear. Or both.*

---

### 🐍 11:10 AM — Jet’s Safe Lab

Jet spun his chair, holding up two photos side by side. Both featured digital logins to Orm’s corporate account — same user, same timestamp, *different IPs*.

> “She cloned your credentials,” Jet said. “Sloppy work, though. The signature didn’t encrypt right.”

> “So it wasn’t Orm,” Ling confirmed.

> “Not even close. But whoever did it wanted to frame her for corporate laundering.”

> “Why now?” Orm asked, arms folded.

Jet shrugged. “Pressure’s rising. Maybe they think you’re slipping. Or maybe you’re just in their way now.”

Ling leaned over Jet’s shoulder, voice low.

> “Send a false leak. Something juicy but fake.”

Jet’s eyes lit up. “Ah. Classic bait.”

> “We’ll see who takes it.”

---

### 🍽 1:30 PM — Private Lunch in the Executive Lounge

Orm sat across from Ling, barely touching her food. Her walls were up again — cold, elegant, distant.

> “You think I’m too soft,” she said suddenly.

Ling tilted her head. “You’re not soft.”

> “Then what?”

> “You’ve spent your whole life protecting a family that wouldn’t take a bullet for you.”

Orm stared at her. “And you think you would?”

Silence.

Then Ling looked her dead in the eye.

> “Without hesitation.”

Orm’s breath hitched — just slightly.

Then, as if on cue, a message pinged on Orm’s private tablet.

A reply to the bait email Jet had sent.

> From: *[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])*
> Subject: Re: Need confirmation. Uploading tonight.

---

### 🧨 6:00 PM — The Trap is Set

Jet and Ling sat together, eyes on multiple screens. Orm was pacing behind them, sharp heels echoing off the tile.

> “She’s accessing the fake server,” Jet confirmed.

> “Good girl,” Ling muttered.

> “Still want me to lock her out?” Jet asked.

> “No,” Ling said. “Let her finish. Then send the trigger.”

> “And after?”

Ling cracked her knuckles.

> “We’ll invite her for a private dinner.”

Orm turned.

> “You’re really going to confront her over wine?”

> “No,” Ling said. “Over truth.”

---

### 🥂 8:30 PM — The Private Rooftop

The night was breezy, warm. Ling arranged the table. Orm wore a silk navy blouse, loose hair, no jewelry. She looked disarmed — but her eyes were steel.

Tasha arrived, poised as ever. But her smile was too wide.

> “Thank you for inviting me,” she said.

Ling poured the wine. “Oh, you earned it.”

Dinner passed in small talk. Orm said little.

And then — the bomb.

> “The fake file you uploaded earlier tonight,” Ling said, slicing her steak, “led us straight to a burner account funded by Anucha’s shell company.”

Tasha froze.

> “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

> “Try again,” Orm said sharply. “Or I’ll call the board right now.”

Tasha stood, defiant.

> “You don’t have proof.”

Jet’s voice crackled from Ling’s phone speaker, sitting face-down on the table.

> “We have everything.”

Tasha’s expression shifted — from poise to panic.

> “You don’t understand—” she began.

> “You betrayed her,” Ling said, standing now. “You sold her out for scraps of power. And now you’ll watch it all burn.”

Orm’s voice was ice.

> “You’re fired. And you’ll hear from our legal team by morning.”

Tasha fled — rattled, broken, exposed.

---

### 🌒 11:00 PM — Back in the Penthouse

Orm stood on the balcony, silent.

Ling approached slowly, hands in her coat pockets.

> “You okay?” she asked.

Orm turned.

> “No.”

A beat.

> “But I’m glad you were there.”

Ling stepped closer. “I told you. You’re not alone anymore.”

Orm didn’t answer with words.

She reached for Ling’s hand. Twined their fingers together.

They stood like that, under the city lights, not speaking — just holding on.

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

### 🔥 8:00 AM — Morning Headlines

Orm sat in her office, pale and wordless as Jet’s screen filled with news articles.

> *"ORMPHAPHAT HEIRESS LINKED TO LAUNDERING RING — TIES TO CRIMINAL SYNDICATE EXPOSED"*

Photos of her. Doctored images. Red lines connecting her to Anucha, to black money.

> “They’re burying you in fiction,” Jet muttered, fingers flying across the keyboard. “Fake interviews, edited photos, even made-up employee quotes.”

Orm barely blinked.

Ling stood behind her, hands in her pockets, her entire posture ready to strike.

> “He moved faster than we thought,” she muttered.

> “Anucha?” Orm asked. Her voice cracked.

> “This is how he works. Firebomb the name, then come for the blood.”

Orm’s fists clenched.

> “How long do I have?”

Ling looked at her — really looked. At the dark circles under her eyes. The glassy calm masking the storm inside her.

> “Less than 24 hours. He’s not just killing your image. He’s planning something physical.”

Orm stared at the floor.

> “Let him come.”

Ling stepped forward.

> “No,” she said. “I won’t let him touch you.”

> “Why? You still haven’t told me why you’re doing this. Why stay? Why protect me?”

Ling knelt beside her slowly, one hand resting on Orm’s thigh.

> “Because I know what it’s like to be hunted by a man who thinks the world belongs to him. And I know what it means to have no one left to fight for you.”

Orm’s eyes flickered with something sharp — grief or recognition.

> “And because I want to be the one who walks into fire with you. Not behind. Not in front. With you.”

They stared at each other. Something shifted.

Something irreversible.

---

### 🪩 10:30 AM — Khornaphat Corp, Lobby

Orm descended the elevator, surrounded by stiff silence.

People stared.

Some whispered.

Ling trailed a step behind, black leather jacket, no smile, eyes locked on everyone’s hands — their movements, their phones, their intentions.

> “This isn’t a workplace anymore,” she muttered. “It’s a stage.”

Orm didn't respond. Her spine was straight. Her face — blank perfection.

But her hands were trembling.

---

### 🔒 11:00 AM — Orm’s Office

As soon as the door shut, Ling grabbed her wrist gently.

> “You’re shaking.”

> “I’m fine.”

> “Orm.”

That stopped her.

> “Don’t lie to me,” Ling said. “Not when it’s this loud.”

Orm let out a breath. Her eyes were glossy now, but she didn’t let them fall.

> “Do you know what it’s like to build something from the ground up just to watch men try to take it because they hate how you don’t flinch?”

> “Yes,” Ling said softly. “I do.”

They stood in silence. Then Orm stepped closer.

> “Then stay close today.”

Ling’s voice dropped.

> “I wasn’t planning to leave.”

---

### ⚠ 2:45 PM — The Attack

Jet’s voice crackled through Ling’s earpiece.

> “Ling. You need to move. Now.”

> “What is it?”

> “Orm’s car was rerouted by a fake GPS signal. They’re not heading toward the board. They’re heading toward—shit—an abandoned warehouse near the docks.”

Ling was already running.

> “I told her not to go alone,” she growled. “Get me the coordinates.”

Jet did.

Ling didn’t wait for backup.

---

### 🚨 3:10 PM — The Warehouse

Rain started to fall. Hard.

Inside the rusted building, Orm stood surrounded — four men in dark jackets. Not police. Not random criminals. *Anucha’s private dogs.*

> “Ms. Khornaphat,” one of them said. “We just want you to sign a little correction notice. Admit your guilt. Step down quietly.”

Orm stood tall, wet hair sticking to her cheeks.

> “I’d rather bleed.”

> “That can be arranged.”

She braced for the blow.

But it never landed.

Because suddenly — like a shadow made of teeth — *Ling was there.*

She moved with savage precision — one, two, three men down before they could even react. Steel baton. Silent fury.

The last man tried to grab Orm.

*Wrong move.*

Ling slammed him against the metal pillar and didn’t stop until he dropped like a sack of regret.

Orm was still frozen, breathing hard, hands shaking.

Ling rushed to her.

> “You okay?”

> “You—how did you—”

Ling was bleeding. A deep gash on her cheek. A split lip.

But she smiled.

> “Told you. Not letting him touch you.”

Orm stared at her like she was seeing her for the first time.

Then, suddenly, she swayed.

Ling caught her mid-fall.

---

### 🛏 4:10 PM — Safehouse

Ling laid her gently on the mattress. Her jacket was soaked. Her lip bled freely. But all she looked at was Orm.

Orm sat up slowly.

> “I’m fine,” she whispered.

> “You almost weren’t,” Ling snapped. “Don’t say that.”

Orm reached forward and gently touched Ling’s cut lip.

> “You got hurt.”

> “Better me than you.”

A long pause.

> “Why do you keep doing this?” Orm asked, voice breaking.

Ling sat beside her, finally letting herself exhale.

> “Because I wasn’t there when someone else needed saving. And I swore I’d never let that happen again.”

> “Who?”

Ling looked away.

> “Someone I loved. Someone I failed.”

> “Are you trying to make up for it with me?”

> “No,” Ling said. “I’m trying not to fall in love with you the same way I did with her — too late.”

Orm blinked.

> “And are you?”

Ling’s voice cracked.

> “I already have.”

A beat.

Then Orm leaned forward.

Slowly.

And kissed her.

Not soft. Not desperate.

*Real.*

---

### 🌙 6:00 PM — Later

They sat together on the floor.

Orm curled against Ling, both of them bruised, bloodied, but breathing.

> “If we lose everything,” Orm whispered, “would you still stay?”

Ling kissed her temple.

> “Even if you have nothing left... you’ll still have me.”

Orm nodded.

> “Then let it all burn.”

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

❤ Bonus Chapter –
" After the Kiss "

---

🛏 Safehouse Bedroom — 3:12 AM
Orm sat at the edge of the bed, her chest still rising and falling faster than she liked. Ling stood at the door for a moment longer, as if trying to calm something feral inside her. Then she moved—slowly, like approaching a wounded animal.

“You're shaking,” Ling said softly.

“No, I’m not,” Orm muttered. “I’m... cold.”

Ling stepped closer, her voice low.

“Lie to anyone else. Not to me.”

Orm didn't reply.

Instead, she reached down to take off her heels with trembling fingers. The adrenaline had faded, but the kiss lingered—burning under her skin.

Ling crouched down, gently touching Orm’s ankle. Orm flinched.

“Bruised?” Ling asked.

“It’s fine.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re okay.”

There was silence between them, thick and taut. Ling didn’t look up, just removed both heels carefully, placing them aside. Then she stood—and pulled Orm’s jacket down her shoulders, moving slowly, as if giving her the chance to say no.

Orm didn’t.

“You kiss me like you want me,” Orm whispered.

“I do.”

“But you don’t trust me.”

Ling exhaled through her nose.

“That’s because I want you too much.”

That admission hit like a match dropped in gasoline.

Orm stood, suddenly inches away.

“Then tell me why you're here, Ling. The truth. What aren’t you saying?”

Ling's gaze darkened—not angry, but scared. Her hands hovered just above Orm’s waist, trembling faintly.

“Because if I tell you,” she said, voice barely a breath, “you’ll stop looking at me like that.”

Orm’s voice was firmer now. “Like what?”

“Like I’m someone you could love.”

Orm’s heart thudded.

Then, without warning, Ling leaned in again—not for a kiss, but to press her forehead against Orm’s, their bodies barely touching, breath mingling.

“If I had met you under different circumstances...” Ling whispered, “...I would’ve worshipped you.”

Orm’s eyes burned.

“Then why do you keep pulling away?”

Ling pulled back. Her voice broke, just a little.

“Because I’m not the hero in this story, Orm.”

Then she turned—walked to the door—and paused.

“Sleep. Tomorrow, everything changes.”

And then she was gone.

Orm stood there, hands clenched, unsure whether she wanted to scream, cry, or chase her down the hallway.

Instead, she sat back on the bed—and whispered into the dark:

“Too late. I already do.”

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

—

🌤 Morning — Safehouse Kitchen
The sunlight was too soft for the storm brewing inside.

Orm moved quietly, spooning coffee into the filter, her eyes scanning the window like a soldier waiting for war.

Ling hadn't come back to the bedroom last night.

She hadn’t even texted.

But Orm didn’t chase her this time. No—this time, she was done being the one kept in the dark.

“You only run from what you're afraid to face,” Orm murmured to herself.

And right now, she was done letting Ling hide.

🔍 Jet’s Lab — 9:20 AM
“You’re early,” Jet said, spinning in his chair. “Usually takes two blackmail threats and a dead body to get you here.”

“Funny,” Orm replied, dropping her phone on his desk. “I want to know what Ling’s hiding.”

Jet blinked.

“You're serious?”

Orm’s voice was steady, but her eyes gleamed like glass just before it shattered.

“She knows who’s behind the stalker. She knows why he’s targeting me. And she knows exactly how deep this goes. But she keeps... shielding me instead of letting me in.”

Jet scratched his head.

“She’s scared.”

“Of what? Me?”

Jet looked up.

“Of losing you.”

🔥 Training Room — 11:47 AM
The thudding sounds of fists against sand echoed through the safehouse.

Ling was alone—gloved hands punching into the heavy bag with vicious rhythm. Her tank top clung to her skin, and sweat glistened down her spine.

She didn’t notice Orm until the door clicked shut behind her.

Orm stood still, arms folded, watching silently.

Ling paused.

“Came to spar?”

“No,” Orm said. “I came to fight.”

That made Ling turn—really look.

Orm's tone was too calm. Her face, too still.

“You kissed me. You held me. And then you vanished like I meant nothing.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Isn’t it?” Orm stepped forward, gaze sharp. “Tell me the truth, Ling. Why did you really agree to this marriage?”

Ling pulled off her gloves slowly, eyes unreadable.

“I gave you an answer.”

“And I didn’t believe it.”

Orm’s voice cracked.

“You know who's behind this. The stalker. The threats. My family. Your past. You’re threading all of it together and you won’t tell me. Why?”

“Because the minute you know,” Ling said quietly, “you’ll realize marrying me was the biggest mistake of your life.”

A silence fell.

Orm’s expression didn’t shift.

“Then let it be my mistake.”

Ling blinked.

“What?”

Orm walked up, slow and fearless, until they were toe-to-toe.

“I’m not made of glass. I don’t need protection. I need honesty. So stop shielding me like I’m a porcelain doll.”

“I’m trying to keep you alive.”

“You don’t get to make that choice alone.”

Orm reached out—and placed her palm flat against Ling’s chest.

“You think I don’t see the war inside you? I do. I feel it, every time you touch me like you’re afraid I’ll disappear.”

Ling closed her eyes. Her voice came out hoarse.

“There are things I’ve done... things you won’t forgive.”

“Try me.”

💾 Flashback File – Unlocked
That night, Ling gave her the file.

A USB drive. No words. Just a look that said: You asked. Don’t hate me for answering.

Orm watched it in silence.

Surveillance footage. Audio. Transcripts. From years ago.

Her father. A hidden syndicate.

And Ling—barely 19—breaking into a warehouse, saving a little girl, torching the place. A name whispered over and over: “Project Kharma.”

A list of names. Bribes. Deaths. Her father’s signature at the bottom of a leaked contract.

Orm didn’t cry.

But when the video ended, she whispered:

“So that’s why you married me.”

Ling nodded.

“To get to your father.”

“And now?”

Ling met her gaze, raw and trembling.

“Now... I don’t know.”

Orm stood.

“Then decide.”

Ling flinched.

Orm stepped close, tilting her chin up.

“Decide if I’m just collateral damage... or someone you want to burn the world with.”

Ling whispered:

“I want you.”

Orm leaned in, brushing her lips over Ling’s—

But stopped.

“Then earn me.”

She walked out, leaving Ling stunned, breathless, and suddenly terrified that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t the one holding the power anymore.

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

Bonus Chapter – “Before the Fall”

—

### ❄ Present Day — 2:21 AM

*Location: Ling & Orm’s Penthouse*

Jet was bruised. Not badly — just a faint line on his cheekbone, a rip on his hoodie — but Ice made him sit anyway.

She dabbed disinfectant gently, her fingers far too soft for someone with eyes so cold.

> “You let them get too close,” she said.

> “What can I say?” Jet smirked. “I like living on the edge.”

Ice didn’t laugh. She never did. But her hand lingered a second too long on his jaw before she pulled back.

> “You think this is a game?”

> “No,” Jet said, tone shifting. “But it was a trap. And Ling walked into it blind.”

> “Not blind,” Ice murmured. “Willing.”

He looked at her, sharp. “What do you mean?”

Ice didn’t answer.

She stood, walked to the window, and stared into the dark skyline.

> “There are things about your sister even you don’t know, Jet.”

> “Like what?”

> “Like how far she’s already fallen.”

—

### 🔥 Flashback — 6 Years Ago

*Location: Bangkok Slums – Abandoned Shrine*

The rain was relentless. It dripped through the cracks in the roof and down Ling’s spine.

She was twenty-three. Bare-knuckled. Bloody. Alone.

And she was about to make a deal with the devil.

A man in a pale suit entered the shrine. He didn’t give a name. Just a folder — and a warning.

> “You want revenge? You want to burn the Khornaphats from the inside?”

> “What’s the cost?” Ling asked.

He smiled.

> “You.”

Inside the folder was a single photo: a young Orm, barely 19, shaking hands with foreign investors.

Beautiful. Composed. Completely unaware that she was being marked.

> “Become what she trusts,” he said. “And when the time is right — gut her world.”

Ling stared at the photo.

She didn't flinch. But her hands trembled slightly as she nodded.

> “Fine.”

She signed the contract in red ink. Her blood. His terms.

And from that moment on, she was no longer just Ling Kwong.

She was a weapon. A spy. A traitor with a target.

Orm Khornaphat.

—

### 🧊 Back to Present – 2:32 AM

Jet stood frozen as Ice finally turned to him.

> “Ling didn’t just marry Orm for a fake deal. Or for business. There was someone else pulling strings long before this.”

> “Who?” Jet demanded.

Ice stared at him — her lips parted, as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t.

> “She made a deal,” she whispered. “And if Orm finds out...”

Jet swallowed hard. “It’ll destroy her.”

> “It might destroy both of them.”

Suddenly, the lights flickered.

Jet’s laptop pinged.

A new file. An untraceable source. No sender ID.

He opened it — and froze.

Video footage. From six years ago.

Ling. In the shrine. Signing the deal.

Orm’s photo in the frame.

Jet’s blood ran cold.

> “We have to stop this,” he said.

Ice touched his shoulder — not gently, not sweetly, but urgently.

> “No. We have to control this. Or Orm will be the one that bleeds.”

—

### 🥶 Cut To: Orm’s Office – The Next Morning

Orm sat stiffly behind her desk, eyes rimmed with exhaustion.

She didn’t know yet.

Didn’t know that someone she was starting to trust — maybe even care for — had once signed up to destroy her.

But the storm was coming.

And when it hit, nothing between them would be the same again.

—

*[ End of Bonus Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

—

### ☁ Morning Fog – Khornaphat Mansion, Private Study

Orm stood before her father, the USB drive clutched tightly in her hand.

He didn’t flinch as she slid it onto the table.

> “I know what you did,” she said quietly.

> “You don’t know anything,” her father replied, folding his arms. “You’re still a child playing at being queen.”

> “You sent Ling after me. Didn't you?”

Silence.

His jaw ticked. That was all the confirmation she needed.

> “You ruined every relationship I ever had,” Orm whispered. “Even this fake one—this one that started as a lie—I started to believe in. And now it’s rotten too.”

Her father said nothing. But his smirk was cruel.

> “The moment you showed weakness,” he said, “you lost.”

Orm's hands trembled.

But her voice was ice.

> “Then let’s see how weak I really am.”

She picked up the USB. “You underestimated me once. Don’t do it again.”

Then she turned and walked out — and for the first time, her father looked afraid.

---

### 🕳 Elsewhere — Abandoned Warehouse, Ling’s Old World

Ling sat alone on the floor, knees up, smoking a clove cigarette she hadn’t touched in years.

Jet’s voice echoed through the burner phone.

> “Someone sent her the video.”

> “I know,” Ling said flatly.

> “She hasn’t watched it yet. But it’s in her inbox.”

> “I said I know.”

Jet’s voice broke slightly. “Ling… once she sees what you did—”

> “What I did,” Ling snapped, “was keep her alive. Everything else is just noise.”

A pause.

> “So what are you going to do?” Jet asked softly.

Ling exhaled smoke and stared at the ashes falling into her lap.

> “Finish what I started.”

---

### 🥀 Evening – Orm’s Penthouse

Orm sat at her desk in silence.

The laptop was open. The email stared back.

*Subject:* Ling Kwong’s Deal — The Truth You Never Knew.

She hovered over it. Her fingers shook.

She clicked.

And watched.

Ling. Bloodied. Younger. Beautiful but hollow-eyed. Sitting with a strange man in a shrine. Signing something.

Then the man slid a photo across the table.

Orm’s photo.

> “Become what she trusts. Then destroy her.”

Orm didn’t move.

She didn’t breathe.

She watched the whole video without flinching. Then closed the laptop. Stood up.

Walked to the window.

And cried — not like a CEO, not like a Khornaphat.

Just a girl betrayed by the only person she ever let close.

---

### 🌩 Rainstorm – Later That Night

The door opened without warning.

Ling stood there, soaked to the bone, no umbrella, no umbrella excuses.

> “You saw it,” she said simply.

Orm turned slowly, her face unreadable.

> “Yes.”

Silence.

Rain pounding outside.

> “I didn’t mean for it to go this far,” Ling said.

Orm laughed — a bitter, cracked sound. “You didn’t mean to make me fall for you?”

> “I meant to protect you.”

> “You meant to gut me.”

Ling stepped forward. “I changed. Everything changed.”

Orm’s voice broke. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Ling lowered her eyes. “Because I didn’t want to lose the only real thing I ever had.”

Orm stared at her, trembling with rage and heartbreak.

> “Get out.”

Ling flinched. “Orm—”

> “GET OUT.”

Ling didn’t move.

> “You want to finish what you started?” Orm hissed. “Then finish it. But do it from a distance.”

The door slammed behind her.

---

### 🩹 Aftermath — Jet’s Apartment

Ling crashed on Jet’s couch, bloody knuckles, bruised soul.

Ice handed her a cold pack wordlessly.

Jet just looked at her, devastated.

> “So that’s it?” he asked. “You’re letting her go?”

> “I never had her to begin with,” Ling muttered.

> “She’ll hate you forever.”

Ling’s eyes burned. “I’d rather she hate me than bury her.”

Ice finally spoke.

> “You’re not the only one with secrets.”

Jet and Ling looked up.

> “There’s another player in this game. Someone who wanted that video to be seen.”

> “The man in the video?” Jet asked.

> “No,” Ice said. “Someone worse. Someone who wants Orm shattered.”

Ling’s eyes sharpened.

> “Then I’m going to stop hiding. I’m going to war.”

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

—

### 📢 *Khornaphat Corp — 11:00 AM | Press Conference*

Orm stood at the podium, pristine in a pearl white blazer, black heels, and a silence more lethal than any scandal.

Behind her: the board.

In front: journalists like sharks with perfume.

She took a breath, the mic clicked on.

> “I’ll speak now. And only once.”

Whispers died. Silence rose.

> “The rumors are partially true,” she said, her voice calm. “I married under contract. For stability. For corporate alliances. For protection.”

Gasps rippled.

> “But I did not plan… everything else that followed.”

Her voice cracked slightly.

She closed her eyes for a half-second.

Then opened them. Cold again.

> “Khornaphat Corp will not collapse because of private decisions. And anyone targeting my safety — or my name — will be dealt with legally.”

A camera shutter clicked.

But then… she faltered.

A split-second.

She stared at the crowd.

At nothing.

At the memory of Ling’s voice.

> “You deserve someone who protects your name without needing to use it.”

Her throat tightened. Her hand shook.

And suddenly—

Orm turned. Mid-sentence.

And walked off stage.

The press lost it.

Orm barely made it into the hallway before she slumped against the wall, heart racing.

Tasha ran after her, but stopped short when she saw her face.

Tears — silent and furious — had begun to fall.

> “Ma’am—”

Orm shook her head.

> “Cancel everything today. Just—cancel it all.”

She walked away before she broke down in front of her board.

---

### 🏍 *Meanwhile — Ling’s Side of the City, 1:24 PM*

The old bar had burned down years ago.

But Ling still recognized the alley.

She crouched near a rusted pipe, pulling out the photo Ice had sent her: Orm’s stalker on a motorbike, talking to a man with a cobra tattoo on his neck.

Ling knew that tattoo.

> “Panun,” she whispered. “I should’ve killed you the first time.”

She lit a cigarette. But didn’t smoke it.

Just stared into the flame.

Until a sound behind her.

Knife flick.

She turned — fast — and blocked the blade with her arm.

Panun grinned.

> “You came home.”

> “You’ve been stalking her?” Ling growled. “You really wanna die twice?”

He laughed. “You think this is about her? I’m here for you, ghost girl.”

> “Leave her out of it.”

> “Too late. She’s bait now. And baby—your leash is showing.”

Before he could stab again, Ling pulled a hidden pistol from her waistband and fired near his foot.

He froze.

> “Next one’s between your teeth,” she said coldly.

Panun smirked and backed away, tossing her a burner phone.

> “Use this. Call the number saved. Or she dies next.”

And then he disappeared into the smog.

Ling looked down at the phone.

The saved contact simply said: *"Snake Handler."*

Her hands trembled.

---

### 🕰 *That Evening – Orm’s Apartment*

The silence in the penthouse felt… wrong.

Orm stared at the piano. The untouched wine glass. The empty space where Ling used to toss her jacket, her knives, her presence.

She felt like a ghost in her own home.

Her phone buzzed.

A text from an unknown number:

> We both lost her. Now you lose something else. Check your office, Princess.

Orm’s eyes widened.

She called Tasha instantly. “Is security still active?”

> “Yes, but—ma’am, there was a breach on Floor 23. We’re reviewing now.”

Orm’s voice turned sharp. “Don’t review. Lock it down.”

—

### 🖥 *Jet’s Hideout — 9:30 PM*

Jet zoomed in on the footage. His jaw clenched.

> “Ling—this isn’t just about the stalker anymore. Someone planted a device in Orm’s office.”

Ling’s voice was steel. “What kind?”

> “Cyanide mist trigger. Under her chair.”

Ling didn’t blink.

> “Can you disable it?”

> “Already did. But this was a message, not a murder attempt.”

> “Meaning?”

Jet turned to her, serious now.

> “They want her scared. Alone. Vulnerable.”

> “She already is,” Ling whispered.

—

### 💔 *Later That Night – Rooftop Scene*

Orm stood on the rooftop, arms folded against the wind. Her hair loose. Her composure shattered.

She didn’t hear Ling approach — not until the familiar voice murmured from the shadows:

> “You look like you're about to jump.”

Orm flinched. Turned.

Ling stepped into the light, bruised and burned from the day's chase — but eyes soft.

> “Why are you here?” Orm asked, voice broken.

> “To tell you everything. No more lies.”

> “Too late.”

Ling stepped closer anyway.

> “Panun was my shadow for years. I thought I’d buried him. He’s the one who set this all in motion — my deal with your father, my fake identity, all of it.”

Orm said nothing.

> “He’s coming for you next,” Ling said softly. “Unless I kill him first.”

> “And if I let you back in,” Orm whispered, “what then? You lie again? You protect me into a cage?”

Ling’s voice cracked.

> “I don’t want to own you. I want to deserve you.”

Silence.

Then—

Orm stepped forward. Slowly.

Put a hand on Ling’s chest. Felt her heartbeat.

> “You said once you couldn’t stand the thought of someone getting to me before you did.”

> “Yeah.”

> “Then prove it.”

She handed Ling a flash drive.

> “My father’s next move. It’s encrypted. But you’re smart. Figure it out. Stop them. And maybe... maybe I’ll forgive you.”

Ling took it.

> “Not good enough?” she asked.

Orm’s lips twitched.

> “Nothing ever is with you. That’s what makes it real.”

—

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

—

### 🌑 2:12 AM – Hidden Safehouse, Outskirts of Bangkok

The storm outside rattled the tin roof, but inside, the silence was louder.

Ling shoved the door shut behind them, locking all four bolts with mechanical precision.

Orm didn’t say a word as she stepped into the dusty space — bare walls, a mattress on the floor, flickering emergency light. No windows. No distractions.

Just them.

And too many unsaid things hanging like knives in the air.

> “This is where you disappear when things get bad?” Orm asked softly, brushing dust from her sleeve.

Ling didn’t answer. She was already checking her guns, her backup phone, the perimeter.

> “You still think I can’t take care of myself?” Orm added.

This time, Ling turned. Eyes dark. Voice low.

> “I think someone tried to poison your lungs two hours ago. So yeah, I’m not in the mood for pride.”

Orm’s jaw clenched. But she didn’t move.

Ling finally sighed. “Sorry. I just—I saw your chair, and—”

Her voice cracked.

> “I thought I’d lost you.”

Those five words pulled the air out of Orm’s lungs.

She sat down slowly on the edge of the mattress, looking at her hands.

> “You didn’t,” she whispered. “But you almost did.”

Ling nodded. Quiet.

The silence stretched.

Then, Orm asked what had been burning in both of them since the rooftop:

> “Do you want me… or just want to save me?”

Ling stepped closer. One slow step. Then another.

> “I want to burn with you,” she said. “And I want to be the one you choose — not the one who hides behind a gun.”

Orm’s breath caught.

She looked up.

And whatever control either of them had been clinging to — snapped.

---

### 🔥 2:31 AM — The Fire Begins

The storm had swallowed the city whole.
Every drop of rain on the tin roof above them sounded like a heartbeat trying to outrun itself.

Ling dropped her jacket. No hesitation.

The fabric landing softly on the concrete floor.

Orm’s eyes followed the motion — sharp, searching — like she was watching a fuse burn.

Orm stood up — slow, elegant, dangerous.

> “No more lies,” she whispered.

> “No more walls,” Ling replied.

They stood there, inches apart, caught in the gravity of everything they’d buried for months.

Their mouths met hard — not soft or sweet, but urgent. Months of silence, of stares, of wanting without permission — all exploded in one brutal kiss.

Orm gripped Ling’s shirt, yanked her closer, and bit her bottom lip just enough to draw a gasp.

> “You started this,” she breathed. “Don’t you dare stop now.”

Ling shoved her gently back against the wall, eyes half-lidded with hunger.

> “You think I won’t ruin you, Khornaphat?”

> “Try me.”

She did.

Ling kissed her like she was drowning — like Orm was air.

Hands roamed. Heat built. Every layer of control peeled away with each button torn, each bruise kissed. Orm’s blazer hit the floor. Ling’s shirt was half unbuttoned, one sleeve off, tattoos barely visible under dim light.

> “Look at you,” Orm whispered, running a hand over Ling’s chest, eyes blazing. “You think you’re a weapon. But all I see is someone trying not to fall apart.”

Ling grabbed her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist.

> “I fall for you every time you breathe.”

—

Orm pushed her back onto the mattress. Climbed on top. Her long hair cascaded like silk shadows over Ling’s face.

They didn’t speak.

They didn’t need to.

The air between them cracked with silent promises.

Orm traced every scar on Ling’s body — like reading a secret language.

And Ling responded with reverence, with teeth, with fire in her mouth.

Clothes vanished.

The world narrowed.

Orm gasped — the kind that came from surrender, not weakness — when Ling’s fingers slid between her thighs, slow and certain.

She didn’t hide her moans.

Not this time.

> “Say my name,” Ling growled into her neck.

> “Ling—” she gasped, back arching.

> “Again.”

> “Ling.”

It wasn’t just sex.

It was war. Worship. Wild absolution.

Orm kissed the scar under Ling’s collarbone. The one from when she was seventeen. Ling tangled her hands in Orm’s hair and whispered something in Thai that made her shiver.

And when they finally collapsed against each other, bodies damp with sweat and heartbeat in sync, neither said “I love you.”

But both felt it.

So clearly, so violently — it didn’t need to be spoken.

Not yet.

—

### 🌒 3:22 AM — Afterglow

Orm lay against Ling’s chest, eyes half-closed. The storm had quieted outside, but inside, her heart still thundered.

> “You’re not staying, are you?” she asked quietly.

Ling kissed her temple.

> “Just for tonight.”

> “Why not forever?”

Ling froze.

> “Because I still have blood on my hands,”
“Because forever isn’t built for people like me.”
she murmured. “And you deserve to stand in the sun.”

> “I don’t care,” Orm replied.
> “we’ll build our own,”
“I just want to stand beside you.”

Ling looked at her — really looked.

Ling looked down at her — the woman she’d once sworn to protect, now the one she couldn’t imagine surviving without.
Her eyes softened, and for a moment, every wall she’d ever built faltered.

Then buried her face in Orm’s hair.

> “Don’t say that unless you mean it.”

> “I’ve never meant anything more.”

—

They didn’t sleep.

They just stayed.

Wrapped in each other’s shadows.

Waiting for morning.

Two hearts learning to rest.
Two souls wrapped in the soft ache of being seen.

And in that quiet hour before dawn, they didn’t need promises.

Outside, thunder rolled one last time.
Inside, the storm had finally found its calm.

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

🛏 Early Morning – Safehouse
Orm stirred.

The sheets were tangled around her waist. Her back arched slightly as she inhaled — slow, heavy — as if her body remembered what happened before her mind fully woke up.

And then…

She felt it.

A palm at her waist. Soft fingers idly tracing the curve of her hip.

Ling.

Still here.

Still warm.

Still hers — or at least, pretending to be.

Orm didn’t open her eyes at first. She let herself feel it.

“You’re not asleep,” Ling murmured behind her, lips brushing the nape of her neck.

“Neither are you,” Orm replied, voice low.

Ling chuckled softly, hand now moving lower, trailing fire along the silk edge of Orm’s nightshirt.

“Couldn’t sleep. Someone kept replaying in my head… everything from last night.”

Orm finally turned to face her, cheek against the pillow, hair tousled.

“You make it sound like a strategy session.”

“If it was,” Ling whispered, eyes glinting, “I won.”

Orm’s brow arched. “Cocky.”

“Confident,” Ling corrected, leaning in. “Unless you’d like a rematch.”

She kissed Orm’s collarbone — slow, reverent.

Orm didn’t reply. Instead, she slid a hand into Ling’s hair and tugged her closer. No hesitation this time.

The kiss was deeper now. Less frantic than the night before, but somehow hotter — because now they knew. Now they remembered how they fit.

Ling’s hand slid beneath the sheets, finding skin, tracing her thigh.

Orm gasped softly as fingers explored again — slower, more deliberate this time. Ling was learning her rhythm. Memorizing her.

“You feel different today,” Orm whispered against her lips.

“Different how?”

“Like you’re staying.”

Ling paused.

Something flickered in her eyes — not fear, not quite — but something close to it.

“I am. Until I can't anymore,” she said. “But today? I’m here.”

And then her mouth was on Orm’s again — not to possess, but to worship.

Orm’s breath caught as Ling slid between her thighs again, coaxing heat with the kind of patience that made time irrelevant. She didn’t rush. She didn’t demand. She gave — and gave — until Orm was trembling, until her hands clutched at Ling’s back, until her body gave in again and again under the storm.

This time, Orm didn’t hide her sounds. She didn’t bite her lip or turn away.

She let Ling see her break.

And that, more than anything, undid Ling.

Because this was no longer about dominance.

It was about devotion.

☕ Late Morning – Kitchen
The scent of strong black coffee filled the air.

Orm sat at the counter in Ling’s oversized T-shirt, hair messy, legs curled beneath her. She watched Ling move — bare feet, tattoos on display, lazy confidence in every motion.

“You cook now?” Orm asked.

“Bare minimum. Eggs, toast… pancakes if I’m flirting.”

“Are you flirting?”

Ling smirked. “I already got the girl. This is aftercare.”

Orm blushed faintly — rare and disarming.

Ling slid the plate toward her. “Eat. You need fuel. Last night wasn’t exactly gentle.”

Orm gave her a sharp glance. “It wasn’t rough. It was…”

She trailed off.

Ling tilted her head. “What?”

“It was… real. Like you weren’t pretending.”

Ling didn’t speak at first. She sipped her coffee.

“I wasn’t.”

“Then what are you pretending now?”

Ling sighed. “That I can keep you safe without falling apart.”

“Ling…”

“Don’t. Just eat.”

Orm didn’t.

Instead, she got up and walked over, taking Ling’s hand.

“You don’t have to pretend with me.”

Ling met her eyes.

And for once — for once — didn’t look away.

📱 Interruption – Jet’s Text
[JET]: “Found something. Surveillance log from Anucha’s townhouse. You’re gonna want to see this. ASAP.”

Ling exhaled.

The high was over. Reality had returned.

Orm nodded. “Let’s go.”

But as she turned to leave, Ling grabbed her wrist.

“Wait.”

Orm looked back.

“Last night… this morning… wasn’t just release for me,” Ling said. “It was choice.”

Orm blinked.

“I chose you,” Ling said softly. “Not just the fight. Not just the mission. You.”

And Orm — always composed, always cold — felt her throat tighten.

She didn’t say “I love you.” Not yet.

But she held Ling’s hand all the way to the car.

And that silence said enough.

🔥

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

Bonus Chapter —
Orm’s POV: “The Storm She Let In”

---

She hadn’t planned for this.

Orm Khornaphat knew how to forecast market collapses, manipulate boardrooms, and silence competitors with a single stare. She knew how to weaponize stillness, how to wear composure like a shield, how to endure being hated without ever once flinching.

But this…

This, she hadn’t prepared for.

Ling — in her bed, in her arms, in her bones — had moved through her like a slow fire. Not devouring. Not consuming. Just… changing.

Orm stared out the car window as the city passed in a blur of rain-washed streets and summer haze. Ling was driving, one hand lazily on the wheel, the other resting near Orm’s thigh — not touching, but close enough to remind her: I was just inside you this morning. I kissed the part of you no one else sees. And you let me.

Orm’s fingers twitched in her lap.

She should feel vulnerable.

Exposed.

She didn’t.

She felt… known.

And it terrified her.

Back at the safehouse, after they’d dressed and Ling handed her a steaming mug of coffee with two sugars (she remembered), Orm had watched her quietly.

There was something about the way Ling moved in her space — like she belonged there, like she didn’t care what Orm saw. That looseness. That freedom.

Orm had always viewed emotional control as currency. Never raise your voice. Never confess weakness. Never love someone more than they love you back.

But Ling didn’t barter affection.

She gave it. Stupidly. Fearlessly.

“I chose you,” she’d said. Right before the car. No games. No conditions.

And Orm had believed her.

That was the problem.

She didn’t believe in love at first sight. She believed in contracts. Arrangements. Leverage.

But whatever had happened last night — the way Ling had touched her like she wasn’t something to conquer but something to protect — that didn’t feel like strategy.

It felt like surrender.

And not hers.

Ling’s.

That was what shook her most.

Ling could have taken whatever she wanted. She had the body, the attitude, the chaos. But instead, she slowed down. She listened. She memorized Orm’s breath and reacted like it was a language she already spoke.

No man had ever looked at her like that.

No one had.

“She doesn’t belong to you.”

That man from the balcony. The stalker’s lackey. The one Ling had scared off with a threat that hadn’t needed weapons.

His words rang louder now.

Because the truth was… Orm didn’t belong to Ling.

But something in her wanted to.

And she didn’t know what to do with that.

What if she’s pretending?
What if this is part of her game?
What if you’re just another job?

But she didn’t believe that.

Not after the way Ling had held her afterwards. Not after the way she’d made tea. Not after the way she hadn’t asked for anything in return.

Orm leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.

“You okay?” Ling’s voice broke the silence, quiet but real.

Orm opened her eyes and turned slightly.

Ling didn’t look like a bodyguard.

She looked like someone trying to stay calm. Like someone waiting to be rejected.

And Orm — the queen of rejection — didn’t want to do that. Not to her.

“I’m okay,” Orm said softly.

“You sure?”

Orm reached over and slid her hand over Ling’s.

“I’m not sure of anything anymore,” she admitted. “But for some reason… I’m not afraid of that.”

Ling looked at her then — eyes sharp but soft at the edges.

“That’s enough for me,” she said.

And Orm believed her.

Again.

🖤 Orm’s Inner Shift:
She doesn’t label her feelings yet — but she knows they’re real.

She realizes she wants to be known, even if it scares her.

Ling isn’t a threat to her control. She’s the one person Orm wants to surrender to — in the quietest, most terrifying way.

---

*[ End of Bonus Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

### 📍Location: Ling’s Old Neighborhood — 1:14 a.m.

The car pulled up to the edge of the alley. The headlights cut across shattered glass and rusted staircases. This wasn’t the polished luxury of Orm’s world. This was Ling’s.

*Her past. Her hell. Her origin.*

Orm stepped out slowly, arms crossed against the humid night. Jet stood a few feet away, watching the entrance of a dilapidated building with a flashlight in one hand and a pistol at his hip.

> “You’re sure this is where the footage was taken?” Orm asked.

Jet nodded grimly. “The stalker isn’t random. He’s from here. Same crew Ling used to run with before she vanished five years ago.”

Orm flinched. “She never told me she ran in a crew.”

> “She didn’t tell you a lot of things.”

---

### 🔎 Inside the Abandoned Building

Cracked walls. Faint smell of gasoline and iron.

Jet pointed at a burned wall — graffiti layered over bullet holes. “That symbol? That’s The 9th Vow. Bangkok street gang. Ling was their youngest lead. They thought she was dead.”

Orm’s stomach turned.

> “Jet. Just tell me.”

Jet sighed. “Ling was using the marriage to get closer to your father.”

Orm turned to him, furious. “What the hell are you saying?”

> “The marriage contract? Your father approved it. Not for love. Not for PR. To protect himself from someone powerful targeting him.”

> “Ling.”

> “Bingo. She had a plan. To burn your legacy from the inside out.”

---

### 📍Flashback — Jet’s Surveillance Clip (Orm watches it silently)

> Ling in a warehouse. Hair tied back. Bloody knuckles.
>
> She’s talking to a man behind a metal cage.
>
> “Khornaphat will bleed first,” she says. “He’ll give me everything. Then I’ll take the daughter.”

> The daughter.

> Orm.

---

### ⚡Ormn’s Breaking Point — That Night, Back at the Safehouse

Orm didn’t scream.

Didn’t cry.

She just sat on the edge of the bed. Silent.

Ling came in moments later, hair wet from the rain, leather jacket over her shoulder.

> “Hey,” Ling said softly. “I brought your charger. You left it—”

> “Stop.”

Ling froze.

Orm stood slowly, her voice like frost on steel. “Tell me the truth.”

Ling’s gaze darkened. “What truth?”

> “Why did you agree to the marriage?”

Ling didn’t answer.

So Orm asked again.

> “Did you want revenge? Were you using me? Am I just another job?”

Ling stared at her — then stepped forward, slowly, like approaching a wild animal.

> “I wanted revenge,” Ling said. “At first. For my sister. For the life your father destroyed. I wanted to gut the whole Khornaphat name.”

Orm’s breath caught.

> “But I didn’t plan on you,” Ling whispered. “You were the crack in the plan. The one thing I didn’t see coming.”

> “So I was a weakness.”

> “No,” Ling stepped closer. “You were a reason to stop.”

---

### 🥀 Orm Snaps

Orm’s control shattered.

She shoved Ling back — hard.

> “I let you touch me. I let you inside me. And the entire time you were waiting for the right moment to destroy me?”

> “No! Orm, by the time I touched you — I’d already fallen.”

> “Don’t lie to me.”

Ling’s voice trembled for the first time. “I’m not.”

But Orm couldn’t hear it. Couldn’t feel it.

She turned and walked out — barefoot, no jacket, no plan.

Ling didn’t chase her.

Not yet.

---

### 💔 Cut to: Orm in the Elevator (Alone)

The steel walls reflected her like a stranger.

Her phone buzzed — a message from her father.

> “You’re safe now. I handled the Ling problem.”

Orm’s fingers curled around the screen.

> Handled?
> What the hell did that mean?

The elevator doors opened.

The next chapter had begun.

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

*Bonus Chapter – “Ashes of Trust”*

—

### 🌆 City Lights Don’t Warm You

The city looked different when your chest was hollow.

Orm stood under the weak glow of a streetlamp, its flickering light casting fractured shadows across the pavement. The world was still. Or maybe she had simply stopped hearing it.

She clutched her coat tighter around her body, but the night air still found its way in — slicing through her layers like it knew where she was weakest.

> Ling lied.

She whispered it like a confession to the cold.

It didn’t echo.

No sound ever did when the pain was real.

—

### 💬 "You're Not Mine. I Was Just Borrowing You."

The words hadn’t left her head all evening.

Ling hadn’t said them, not directly. But the truth had been loud enough — screamed from Anucha’s mouth, printed on those documents, soaked in betrayal.

Their marriage had never been a shield.

It was a sword pointed at her back.

Orm had been used. Played.

And the worst part wasn’t the betrayal.

> It was how badly she wanted it to be untrue.

How much of her heart still clung to the way Ling touched her — fiercely, like she was something worth holding onto.

Orm wrapped her arms around herself, walking with no direction. Every step felt like it took her farther from the woman she had been before Ling walked into her life with that reckless grin and shadowed soul.

> "I trust you."

> "Let me protect you."

> "You’re not alone anymore."

> Lies. Or maybe half-truths.

Was that worse?

—

### 📍 Coffee Shop – 12:19 AM

The barista looked startled when Orm stepped inside, soaked from a light drizzle, hair slightly messy, designer coat clinging to her like a shield. She didn’t belong in a run-down coffee shop at midnight.

But she didn’t belong anywhere anymore.

> “Americano,” she said quietly.

> “Rough night?” the barista asked gently.

She gave him a thin, practiced smile. The CEO smile. The one that never quite touched her eyes.

> “You could say that.”

She took her cup and moved to the farthest booth, near the window. Rain tapped against the glass in soft, anxious rhythms.

From here, she could see the skyline — tall, cold, shining with secrets.

Just like her.

—

### 🎭 Unmasking Herself, Quietly

Orm rested her head against the glass and let herself feel it — without interruption, without judgment.

The ache. The betrayal. The confusion.

And beneath all of it… the love.

That was the cruelest part. It hadn’t been fake.

At least not from her side.

She had fallen in love with a stranger wrapped in fire — a woman who spoke in riddles and protected with violence, who laughed in the face of power and made Orm feel like she was the fragile one.

> “I didn’t even know her,” Orm whispered into her cup.

Her reflection in the glass didn’t answer. It just looked tired.

—

### 🖤 The Quiet Flashbacks

Little things struck her like cuts under skin:

* Ling peeling mangoes with perfect precision, humming a song she never named.
* Ling resting her head on Orm’s lap during a lazy morning, fingers tracing the hem of her silk shirt.
* Ling whispering, “I’ve never had something this soft before.” Not love. Not safety.

And now she understood why.

> Ling had come into this marriage with secrets.

But she had left with pieces of Orm’s heart.

—

### 📞 Missed Calls

Her phone buzzed.

* 1 Missed Call – Jet
* 1 Message – Ling

> *“I can explain. Just say where you are.”*

Orm stared at the text for a long time.

Her fingers hovered above the screen.

But she didn’t reply.

> Not because she didn’t want to.

> Because she did — and that terrified her.

Because even now, with her heart shattered and walls rebuilt, part of her still wanted to see Ling’s face again.

Just once.

To ask: Was any of it real?

—

### 🌌 Outside Again – 1:08 AM

She walked to a nearby bridge. The city buzzed quietly behind her, uncaring.

Cars passed below.

And Orm stood there, looking over the edge, not with intent — but with exhaustion.

> “I was supposed to be stronger than this,” she whispered.

> “I wasn’t supposed to need anyone.”

That was her rule. Her armor.

But Ling had slipped inside, past every gate and wall.

And now, without her, Orm felt like a hollow queen ruling a dying empire.

—

### 📓 Final Thought Before the Storm

Orm took out her phone.

She didn’t type.

Just stared at the blank message box under Ling’s name.

Then finally, she wrote:

> “Was any of it real?”

She didn’t send it.

She saved it to drafts.

And walked away.

—

*[ End of Bonus Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

### 🕔 *5:43 PM — The Calm Before It Burns*

Orm stood in front of the boardroom window, watching the sun dip below the skyline. Orange light bled into her office like fire.

But her thoughts were ice.

The silence after Ling’s betrayal hadn’t brought peace. It had hollowed her. She had returned to being the untouchable CEO — sharp heels, perfect hair, unreadable face.

Yet nothing fit quite right anymore.

Jet hadn’t stopped texting.

Ling hadn’t stopped calling.

She hadn’t responded to either.

Because if she heard Ling’s voice, she might… forgive.

And Orm Khornaphat didn’t forgive betrayal.
Not even if she missed it like air.

Her assistant knocked. “Ma’am, your car’s ready.”

> “Thank you.”

Tonight was the annual investor gala — a dull, political maze of handshakes and masks.

She applied her lipstick with precision.

There was no room for cracks.

Not anymore.

—

### 🚗 *6:15 PM — Under the Surface*

She slid into the back of her company car. Tasha was in the front seat, not driving — that was unusual.

> “Change in plan?” Orm asked, coolly.

Tasha glanced back, too quickly. “Driver called in sick. I figured I’d—”

Orm’s eyes narrowed. Her instincts prickled.

> “You’ve never driven me before.”

> “Just trying to be helpful.”

> “Mm.”

Orm tapped her phone under her coat, silently messaging Jet.

> *Track my location. Don’t ask.*

Something was wrong.

She could feel it.

—

### 🩸 *6:32 PM — Crash*

It happened fast.

A sharp veer. Screeching tires. A thundering crack as the car slammed into the side rail of the bridge.

Airbags exploded. Metal bent. Glass shattered.

Pain. Blinding and sudden.

Orm coughed, dazed, tasting blood.

From the passenger seat, she saw Tasha unbuckle and slip out the driver’s side. Calm. Efficient. Like it had all been planned.

> “You...” Orm choked. “Why...?”

Tasha turned back, cold-eyed. “You should’ve stayed quiet.”

Then she was gone.

—

### 🔥 *6:34 PM — The Return of the Wolf*

A motorcycle screamed to a stop outside the wreck. Jet wasn’t the first one to arrive.

Ling was.

Helmet off. Hair wild. Boots hitting pavement like thunder.

She ran.

> “ORM!”

Seeing her in that crushed car nearly dropped her to her knees.

Blood on Orm’s cheek. Her leg twisted.

> “Don’t move,” Ling breathed, voice shaking. “Don’t f\\\*ing move.”

> “You—” Orm blinked through pain and fury. “How did you—”

> “Jet. He tracked you. I was already watching.”

> “Why? You’re done using me, aren’t you?”

> “Not done loving you.”

She yanked the door open, ignoring the glass that cut her arms. Orm was pale. Weak. Ling could feel her slipping.

Then—

A gunshot cracked through the air.

Another.

Ling twisted — shielding Orm with her body, dragging her out with one arm while pulling her own weapon with the other.

Jet arrived behind them, gun drawn.

> “Two shooters!” he shouted.

> “Get her out!” Ling barked.

Another shot. This one hit.

Ling’s shoulder snapped back with impact.

> “Ling!” Orm’s voice broke.

> “Keep your head down,” Ling hissed, dragging her behind a concrete divider.

She was bleeding badly.

Orm pressed her hand to Ling’s wound.

> “You’re insane,” she whispered.

> “Takes one to love one,” Ling rasped.

They locked eyes.

Even under chaos, their eyes still found each other.

—

### 🩹 *7:20 PM — The Storm Passes, But the Fire Remains*

The ambulance arrived. Jet subdued one shooter. The other vanished.

Ling didn’t go to the hospital. She refused.

Orm did — her leg wasn’t broken, but her body was bruised, her heart worse.

Hours passed.

Ling waited outside the private hospital, bandaged but pacing.

When Orm emerged in a wheelchair, her eyes landed on her immediately.

Silence.

Tension.

Then—

> “You could’ve died,” Orm said. Quiet. Raw.

> “So could you.”

> “And you would’ve let me?”

> “No,” Ling growled. “I would’ve traded places.”

Orm stared at her.

Then stood up from the chair. Slowly.

> “You don’t get to say that after what you did.”

> “I never meant to hurt you.”

> “But you did.”

> “And I will spend the rest of my life making it right — if you let me.”

Orm’s lips trembled. Just a little.

> “And if I don’t?”

Ling stepped closer.

> “Then I’ll still protect you. Even if you hate me.”

> “Why?” Orm’s voice cracked.

Ling’s voice was quiet now. Almost reverent.

> “Because I’m not your wife anymore, Orm. I’m your shadow. Your sword. Your home. Whether you want me or not.”

Orm didn’t respond.

She just looked away.

But Ling didn’t leave.

She stood guard.

Like she always would.

—

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

### 🌫 *Ling's Safehouse - 2 Days Later*

It was a sterile space. No color, no warmth.

Ling hated it. She hadn't meant to bring Orm here - not like this.

But hospitals weren't safe anymore.

And she couldn't bear the idea of Orm being somewhere she couldn't watch her breathe.

Orm hadn't said much since the crash. She'd let herself be moved, treated, stitched. But her eyes - cold, unreadable - made Ling feel like she was dying slowly in silence.

She stood now by the window, arms crossed.

> "You've been watching me sleep," Orm said flatly.

Ling didn't deny it.

> "You stop breathing sometimes," she replied. "I check."

A pause.

> "You don't get to act like my wife again."

> "I'm not."

Ling stepped forward.

> "I'm acting like the person who still wakes up scared you're gone."

Orm turned to face her finally. Sharp. Tired. Still stunning in her quiet rage.

> "Then talk. Start from the beginning."

Ling's heart dropped.

Here it was.

No more hiding.

No more half-truths.

Just everything.

---

### 📼 *FLASHBACK - Bangkok, 10 Years Ago*

A younger Ling.

Leather jacket. Bruised knuckles. Laugh like gunpowder.

She wasn't always like this.

She had been worse.

Jet was still in school. Their father was gone. Their mother was dying slowly in a borrowed hospital bed. Debt crushed them like cement.

And the people who kept offering help?

All wore Khornaphat suits.

That's how it started.

> "Sign this," the man said, dropping a contract on their tiny kitchen table.

> "What is it?" Ling asked, seventeen and furious.

> "Your mother's treatment. Covered. If you do a few jobs for us."

She'd signed.

And she had bled for them.

Courier work at first. Then surveillance. Then the kind of favors that left scars.

By the time she was twenty, she was a ghost. A fixer. A whisper in dark corners.

And one name kept popping up behind all of it: *Anucha Khornaphat.*

> "He's a god," Jet said once. "Untouchable."

> "Gods bleed," Ling replied.

-

### 🩶 *Back in Present*

Ling told it all.

How Anucha had used their family.

How Ling had once worked for him - until she saw the truth.

How she'd spent years building her own network to take him down.

> "Marrying you wasn't part of the plan," she said softly.

> "So why did you agree?"

Ling looked at her then. Raw. Shaking.

> "Because I saw you walk into that meeting room, all ice and rage and loneliness - and for the first time, I didn't want revenge. I wanted you."

Silence.

Orm blinked slowly.

> "You could've told me."

> "You would've shut me out."

> "You lied."

> "I loved."

Another pause.

Then Orm said something Ling didn't expect.

> "Do you still?"

Ling laughed - bitter and broken.

> "More than is good for either of us."

-

### 🕰 *Jet's Warning - The Next Morning*

Jet showed up with dark circles and a folder full of dirt.

> "We're close to cracking Anucha's offshore accounts," he said. "But the moment he smells blood, he'll burn everything."

He looked at Orm.

> "He fears you now. Especially with Ling at your side."

Orm's jaw clenched. "She's not at my side."

> "Yes," Jet said simply. "She is. Even if you don't take her hand, she'll still be standing there."

Orm looked down at the file.

> "You're saying I'm safer with her?"

> "I'm saying you've always been safest because of her. You just didn't know it."

-

### 🧊 *Khornaphat Tower - Confrontation*

Orm returned to the office for the first time since the crash.

Tasha had been arrested.

But the board? Still full of cowards.

An emergency meeting was called. They wanted Orm to step down.

She walked into that room in black.

Sharp-lined suit. Red lipstick like war paint.

> "I was nearly killed," she said calmly. "And you want to talk about optics?"

They stayed silent.

She slammed down the files Jet gave her - photos, phone taps, records.

> "Here's what's going to happen," she said coldly. "You're going to let me clean house. Or I'll take this to the press. And when I do - I will not protect any of you."

Silence.

Then nods.

Power was a language.

Orm had just spoken fluently.

-

### 🌘 *Nightfall - The Door Opens*

Ling didn't expect her.

So when the door to the safehouse opened at 9:17 PM and Orm walked in without knocking, Ling froze.

She was in sweatpants. No weapons. Just surprise and quiet hope.

Orm closed the door.

> "I don't forgive you."

Ling nodded. "I wouldn't either."

> "But I believe you."

That?

That almost broke her.

> "So here's what we're going to do," Orm said, walking closer. "You're going to tell me every piece of your plan."

> "Okay."

> "And then, when we're ready..."

Orm's voice softened.

> "...we're going to destroy the man who tried to ruin both our lives."

Ling blinked.

> "Together?"

Orm's eyes glittered like frost thawing under fire.

> "Together."

-

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

### 🕯 Setting: Anucha’s Gala – Midnight Noir Theme

A charity gala hosted by Anucha Khornaphat’s sister — a cover for laundering money, softening press, and showing off control.

The ballroom is carved from marble and gold. A chandelier sparkles like shattered starlight. Everyone’s masked. Everyone’s watching.

Orm walks in first. Midnight black gown, hair swept into a cruel bun. Diamond earrings shaped like daggers. Her mask: silver and sharp.

People part for her like she’s royalty.

Behind her, Ling follows.

She’s in blood-red velvet. No jewelry. Just a black mask and that devastating smirk.

They look like vengeance and temptation walking side by side.

And no one dares to breathe too loud.

> “Are you sure about this?” Ling murmurs, offering her arm like a devil with manners.

> “No,” Orm replies, placing her hand over Ling’s wrist. “But if we die, I want to look flawless.”

---

### 🎭 The Game Begins

Orm plays her part — charming, aloof, weaving through conversations with board members, politicians, and enemies in gowns.

Ling shadows her. Always five steps behind. Never far.

They pretend not to know each other beyond business.

But every time someone touches Orm’s arm…

Ling’s jaw flexes.

Every time someone flirts…

Orm meets Ling’s eyes across the room — long, sharp looks that say:

> “Jealous? Good.”

Their chemistry is a weapon tonight.

---

### 🕵 A Dangerous Reveal – Secret Contact

Jet poses as a waiter and slips Orm a flash drive during a toast.

Inside: photos of Anucha’s newest fixer. A woman named *Wiriya* — deadly, gorgeous, and once part of Ling’s inner circle.

> “She’s here,” Jet whispers. “And she’s hunting one of you tonight.”

Orm stiffens.

> “Who is she after?”

Jet hesitates.

> “Ling. Probably.”

> “What do you mean probably?”

> “She was… close to her. Once.”

Orm’s lips tighten. “Define close.”

> “Close enough to know where Ling breaks.”

---

### 🔪 The Assassin Appears

Ling sees her before anyone else.

Wiriya.

Jet-black suit. Platinum hair. No mask.

And a gaze that pins Ling like a knife to a wall.

Ling’s pulse stutters.

Not fear. Not desire.

Both.

> “She’s mine,” Ling whispers. “Don’t get in the way.”

Orm grabs her wrist. Tight.

> “If she touches you—”

> “She already has,” Ling interrupts.

Orm freezes.

Ling pulls away. Walks toward Wiriya like a wolf meeting an older predator.

---

### 🧨 The Confrontation (Ling vs. Wiriya)

They meet in a shadowed corridor behind the ballroom. Silk walls. Mirrors. No escape.

> “You look good,” Wiriya says. “Softer. Domestic, almost.”

> “I’m not yours anymore.”

> “Aren’t you?”

A blade flashes in Wiriya’s palm.

Ling catches it with bare hands — blood beads on her skin.

> “You shouldn’t have come here.”

> “You made me soft once,” Wiriya murmurs. “Let me return the favor.”

They fight. Brutal. Intimate. No wasted movements.

Ling wins — barely. She doesn’t kill Wiriya.

But she leaves her unconscious in the service hall. Broken. Bleeding.

And when she turns around…

Orm is there.

She saw everything.

---

### 🥀 The Breakdown

Orm says nothing at first.

Just walks to Ling, takes her bloody hands, presses her forehead to hers.

> “How much of you have I never seen?” Orm whispers.

Ling breathes out. Ragged.

> “All the ugly parts.”

> “They’re still you.”

A silence.

Then Orm says:

> “Let me see all of it. Even if it hurts. Especially if it hurts.”

Ling finally crumbles. Lets Orm hold her. No masks. No fight.

Just *two women who keep surviving in spite of everything — and somehow, still want each other*.

---

### 🔚 End Scene Tease

Jet texts them:

> *"Anucha knows. He’s making his move. We don’t have much time."*

Orm looks at Ling.

> “Let’s end him.”

Ling wipes blood from her palm and smiles.

> “Finally.”

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

### 🌃 Setting: Khornaphat Tower – After Midnight

Khornaphat Corp’s main building is asleep — or so it seems.

Security systems hum. Cameras blink. Guards patrol the lobby.
But high above, in the sealed executive floor, evidence waits.

And so does a trap.

---

### 🧨 Operation: Take Anucha Down

Ling and Orm have a plan.

Jet cracked the floor’s internal files — tonight, Ling breaks in.
Objective: pull the blackmail files Anucha used to silence the board, ruin competitors, and control Orm’s fate.

Orm stays behind as lookout. She’s never killed. Never crossed the line.

That’s Ling’s domain.

But tonight… that line’s about to blur.

---

### 🔓 01:10 AM – Break-In Begins

Ling moves like smoke.

Black leather. Hair braided tight. No gun — just knives, muscle memory, and rage.

She scales the outer wall like it’s a dance, slips through the server window, and lands silently in the boardroom.

Inside: encrypted drives, biometric safes, and one photo on the desk.

*Orm.*

Defaced. Burned at the edges.

Ling grits her teeth. “He really does want to destroy her.”

She begins the download.

Jet’s voice crackles in her earpiece.

> “Sixty seconds until remote alert trips. Make it fast.”

---

### 🚨 01:12 AM – Jet Goes Silent

Then — static.

> “Jet?” Ling says.

> Silence.

> “Jet, come in.”

Nothing.

She swears and yanks the drive mid-transfer.

Turns.

And finds *Tasha* blocking the hallway.

---

### 🐍 Tasha’s Betrayal – Full Reveal

Tasha isn’t scared anymore.

She’s armed. Confident. Cold.

> “You always thought Orm could never be touched. That she was too perfect, too distant. But guess what? Even queens fall. Especially when their dogs bite the wrong hand.”

> “You were his mole the whole time,” Ling growls.

> “No. I was his daughter.”

Beat.

> “Tasha Khornaphat. Bastard child. He raised me to be loyal, invisible. Until she took what was mine.”

> “She never even knew you existed.”

> “Exactly.”

Tasha lunges. Gun raised.

Ling dodges. A knife flashes.

They fight — violent, bloody, brutal.

Ling doesn’t hold back.

---

### 🧠 Meanwhile: Orm Makes a Choice

Jet’s location pops up on Orm’s screen —
*Captured. Parking garage. Bleeding.*
And someone’s heading upstairs. For Ling.

Orm doesn’t think. She doesn’t freeze.

She takes the emergency elevator and loads a gun.

For the first time, the heiress becomes a weapon.

---

### 🔫 01:25 AM – Orm Shoots

Ling is about to lose.

She’s fast, but Tasha knows her style. Learnt it. Studied her for months.

A bullet grazes Ling’s thigh. Another slams into the glass.

And then —

*BANG.*

Tasha gasps.

Falls.

Shot clean through the shoulder.

Orm stands behind her, shaking.

Gun still warm.

> “She would’ve killed you,” Orm whispers.

> “You… came for me.”

> “I always will.”

Ling grabs her arm.

> “First kill?”

> “I want to throw up.”

> “You will. Later.”

They run.

---

### 🧨 Jet Is Hurt — And the Clock’s Ticking

They find Jet tied up in the garage — blood on his temple, barely conscious.

Ling lifts him carefully. Orm holds the gun steady.

> “He’s coming,” Jet mutters. “Anucha knows everything now.”

Orm looks at the building above them.

> “Then we burn it all down.”

---

### 🚙 Escape – But Not Clean

They escape in Orm’s armored car.

But not without damage.

Jet’s unconscious.

Ling is bleeding.

Orm drives like a demon — silent, focused, furious.

And when they reach the safehouse, it’s Orm who pulls Ling into the bathroom, rips open her bandage, and says—

> “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

Ling smirks, weakly.

> “Jealousy suits you.”

Orm doesn’t laugh.

She leans in. Forehead to Ling’s. Breath warm.

> “You kill for me. Bleed for me. Protect me.”

> “Because I love you,” Ling says softly.

Beat.

> “Even if you don’t know what that means yet.”

Orm doesn’t speak.

But she doesn’t let go, either.

---

### 🧨 Chapter End

Jet groans awake on the couch.

Orm sits beside him. Gun in her lap.

Ling leans against the window, sipping whiskey, still in bloodied black.

They don’t sleep.

They wait.

Because tomorrow, the war starts.

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

### 🕘 Setting: Early Morning – Safehouse Apartment

Rain slams against the windows.

Ling hasn’t slept.

Jet lies unconscious in the other room, machines beeping faintly. The safehouse is dark, cold. Quiet.

Orm stands by the mirror, buttoning a charcoal suit. Her eyes are stormclouds.

> “You’re not going to the board like this,” Ling says from the couch, leg wrapped in gauze.

> “Watch me.”

> “You’ve been shot at. You held a gun twelve hours ago. You just shot someone, Orm.”

Orm pauses. Then:

> “And I’d do it again.”

Ling’s eyes narrow.

> “You think becoming like me makes you strong?”

Orm turns fully, face unreadable.

> “No. I think becoming myself finally makes me free.”

---

### 💼 Khornaphat Corp – Boardroom, 10:00 AM

The board had expected weakness.

A bruised heiress. Maybe tears.

Instead, Orm walks in wearing war.

Jet’s files are uploaded to the presentation screen. Names. Dates. Bribes. Murder orders. Blackmail.

Gasps fill the room.

> “Anucha used this company as his personal laundering machine,” Orm says calmly. “Every one of you who accepted favors, hush money, protection — resign now.”

A voice tries to challenge her — old, male, smug.

Orm silences him with one phrase:

> “We’ve already notified the Commerce Ministry. This is your only chance to leave without a prison record.”

One by one, they fold.

Orm becomes not just CEO.

She becomes a queen with claws.

---

### 🩸 Meanwhile: Ling and Tasha – Interrogation Room

Tasha is chained to a steel chair in the basement. A single bulb swings overhead.

Ling sits across from her, silent.

Blood still crusts her arm.

> “He’ll come for me,” Tasha mutters. “My father doesn’t leave loose ends.”

> “Neither do I.”

Tasha laughs — sharp, bitter.

> “You don’t even know what you’re protecting. Orm hates you. She told me.”

Ling doesn’t flinch.

> “She told me something else. Something she’s never said to anyone.”

Tasha tilts her head. “Oh?”

Ling leans forward, almost gently.

> “She said she trusts me.”

And then: “That’s why you lost.”

---

### 🧠 Jet Wakes – and Breaks

Jet wakes with a hoarse gasp. Ling rushes in.

> “Easy, easy. You’re safe.”

> “The files… did you get them?”

> “Orm presented them this morning. It’s done.”

Jet exhales, but doesn’t smile.

> “I should’ve seen her coming, Ling. Tasha. I thought I was better.”

> “She fooled all of us.”

> “Not you.”

Ling doesn’t answer.

Her hand tightens slightly around his.

> “You need to rest. We still have one more snake to cut.”

---

### 💔 Late Night – Orm Returns Home

It’s near midnight when Orm returns.

Ling is at the window, bandaged thigh stretched out, a tumbler of whiskey in her hand.

Orm closes the door gently.

> “How many stepped down?” Ling asks.

> “Five. Two cried.”

Ling chuckles once. Then:

> “I was worried about you today.”

> “I wasn’t.”

Beat.

> “That’s the part that scared me.”

Orm walks over, stands behind her. Close, but not touching.

> “What we did… what I did… I can’t undo it.”

Ling finally turns, eyes sharp but tired.

> “Do you want to?”

> “No.”

> “Then don’t apologize.”

Orm’s jaw clenches.

> “You keep doing that.”

> “Doing what?”

> “Letting me fall.”

> “And you keep climbing back stronger.”

---

### 🌧 First "I love you"

Ling sets her drink down.

Walks toward her.

Slow.

> “You’re not the same woman I married.”

> “Neither are you.”

They’re inches apart now.

No game. No smirking. No shield.

Just heat.

> “I think I hated you,” Orm whispers. “In the beginning.”

> “I deserved it.”

> “But now…”

She reaches up. Fingers graze Ling’s cheek.

> “Now, I hate how much I love you.”

Silence.

Lightning outside flashes blue across Ling’s face.

Her breath catches.

> “Say it again.”

Orm swallows hard.

But doesn’t look away.

> “I love you.”

Ling closes her eyes.

And everything breaks.

---

### 🔥 Love in the Storm

This time it’s Orm who leads.

Fingers in Ling’s collar. A push backward.

They kiss — no hesitation, no violence, only heat.

Orm on top, straddling her lap, hands in her hair.

Ling’s body finally melts, groaning low as Orm kisses down her throat.

> “You don’t have to protect me tonight,” Orm whispers, breathless.

> “I’m not,” Ling rasps. “I’m surrendering.”

Their bodies meet like a match to gasoline.

Clothes scatter. Nails scrape. Moans echo in the rain-soaked dark.

This is no power game.

This is two broken women finally letting go — into each other.

---

### 🖤 End Scene

Afterward, they lie tangled together, breaths slowing.

Orm’s head rests on Ling’s chest. Ling strokes her hair.

> “Do you still hate me a little?” Ling teases, voice soft.

> “Only when you smirk.”

Beat.

> “Then you’ll hate me forever.”

Orm hums sleepily.

> “Good.”

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

### 🌙 Scene 1: Morning After

Orm wakes in bed alone.

The rain has stopped.

Ling is sitting by the window, shirtless, scars bare, smoking silently. The light makes her look untouchable - and impossibly human.

Orm gets up, silently wraps her arms around her from behind.

> "Last night didn't fix everything," Ling murmurs.
> "No," Orm says. "But it made me want to fight for what's left."

---

### 🕵‍♂ Scene 2: Jet's Discovery

At Khornaphat Corp's digital vault, Jet goes back through old security logs. One file catches his eye - encrypted with layers of redacted code.

He hacks it.

And freezes.

The screen shows:
*"PROJECT LICH - Subject #9: Ling Ling Kwong"*
Date: 1999 - 2007
Sponsor: Anucha Khornaphat.

Jet's hand trembles.
Ling was part of a secret government-affiliated experiment involving children trained for black-ops intelligence. The data shows psychological manipulation, false family records, and... a kill switch.

He whispers:

> "Oh god... she doesn't know."

---

### 🕰 Scene 3: Orm's Past Returns

At the company gates - a black car arrives.

Orm steps out, in control.

Until she sees *her*.

*Mrs. Kanya Khornaphat* - Orm's estranged mother - steps out, dressed in temple whites, flanked by political guards. She's regal, cruel, and icy.

> "I see your lover's body has left its stain on you," her mother says flatly.
> "Still better than the stain you left on my childhood," Orm replies without blinking.

She demands Orm step down - to "clean the family name."

But Orm doesn't bow. She smiles coldly.

> "The only thing dirty here is your silence. You knew what Father was doing - and you let it happen."

Mrs. Kanya leaves, warning:

> "This city eats its rebels. Don't choke."

---

### 💔 Scene 4: Ling Learns the Truth

Jet returns to the safehouse and drops the file on Ling's lap.

> "Read this. Before you say I'm wrong. Just read it."

Ling's face pales as she scans the documents.
Each line peels her open - memories she buried.

* The foster homes
* The mysterious missions
* The "tests" that gave her nightmares
* Her own name... as an asset.

> "I wasn't... me?"
> "They built you. Then left you to rot."

Ling storms outside, rain or not.

Orm follows - barefoot, desperate.

> "Don't touch me right now."

> "Ling-"

> "Everything I thought was mine - even me - was bought by your father's money!"

Orm stands in the rain, shaking.

> "Then let's burn the money."

Beat.

> "I'll help you kill every piece of him still left in this city. Just don't walk away."

---

### 🩸 Scene 5: The Mission That Breaks Them

Jet says there's only one clean way to end Anucha's control.

They must split up:

* Orm will handle the legal side - expose the political network, use her board power.
* Ling must go into the shadows and take down the last physical records of "Project LICH" before they're moved - or she'll always be hunted.

But it's suicide-level risky.

> "You want me to leave her now?" Ling asks Jet.
> "No. I want you both to live."

That night, Orm helps Ling pack.

She buttons her shirt. Folds her knife into her holster.

Hands her a bracelet.

> "You hate jewelry," Ling says.

> "It has a tracker. If you stop moving for more than ten minutes, I'll come."

Beat.

> "You trust me?" Ling asks.

Orm doesn't blink.

> "With my life. And with my love."

---

### 🖤 Ending Scene: The Departure

Ling walks away, black bag over her shoulder.

Orm watches from the balcony.

Rain begins again, soft this time.

Jet steps beside her.

> "Do you think she'll survive this?"

Orm's answer is immediate.

> "She has to."

But the look in her eyes?

It says: If she doesn't, the world will burn.

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

### 🌘 Scene 1: The Asylum

The facility is a crumbling ex-military base buried outside the city — abandoned officially, but Ling knows better.

It’s midnight when she slips past the last perimeter alarm. Just her, her knives, and the soft ping of Orm’s tracker signal on her wrist — a silent heartbeat.

The place still reeks of bleach and metal.

She walks the halls she thought she forgot.

Rooms numbered like cages.

> *Subject 4: Deceased*
> *Subject 7: Transferred*
> *Subject 9: "L.L. Kwong" — Escape Risk*

She stops breathing.

Then opens the door.

It’s her old room.

Just a mattress on steel, chalk markings still scratched into the wall. Her height. Her kill count.

And taped on the mirror — a faded *photograph*.

Orm’s father, Anucha… standing beside a little girl with short black hair and bruised knees.

The little girl is smiling up at him.

It’s her.

> “He raised me like a dog,” she whispers. “And still had the audacity to take a photo.”

Behind her, a guard moves.

Ling doesn't hesitate.

Snap. Neck broken. No noise.

She keeps going.

---

### 🕊 Scene 2: Meanwhile, Orm’s Side

Orm sits in her office, reviewing legal binders, preparing to dismantle her father’s empire piece by piece.

But she’s not alone.

Her mother, Mrs. Kanya, walks in uninvited.

> “Still pretending your heart isn’t with a trained killer?”
> “Better than pretending I had one at all,” Orm replies coldly.

Kanya places a photo on the desk — *Orm as a child*, playing with Ling at a government-funded camp.

> “You don’t remember her, do you?” Kanya says softly. “She was brought in for observation. You were six. She was five.”

Orm stares at the photo.

Frozen.

> “They wiped the memories,” her mother says. “But your souls remembered. That’s why you can’t let her go.”

> “You let this happen?” Orm whispers.
> “No. I just didn’t stop it.”

Orm rises, voice steel.

> “I am not my father. And I am not your obedient daughter. This board, this company, this city — they belong to me now. You don’t get to shame me for who I love.”

---

### 🔥 Scene 3: Ling Finds the Archive Room

Ling enters the vault.

Stacks of folders. Dozens of drives. All labeled by code names and dates.

She pulls them one by one. Lights a fire.

Every piece of evidence she burns is another chain off her soul.

But then — a door opens.

And a familiar voice echoes.

> “You always did run from your leash too soon.”

Anucha’s right-hand man. Code name: “Phi.”

He’s older now. Scarred. But his eyes still gleam with cruelty.

> “You think love makes you strong, girl? It made you stupid.”

Ling drops her lighter.

> “No. It made me brave.”

---

### 🗡 Scene 4: Fight in the Fire

The facility burns.

Ash chokes the air.

Ling fights Phi in hand-to-hand — brutal, fast, desperate.

He mocks her:

> “Your little CEO won’t survive this game. Your name will be erased again.”

She stabs him in the thigh — hard.

> “Then I’ll write a new name. One she gave me.”

They crash through metal doors. Fire licks the ceiling.

Finally — she pins him.

> “Tell Anucha…” she whispers, knife to throat, “...he made the perfect weapon. But she turned me into a person.”

Slash.

She walks away.

---

### 💌 Scene 5: The Message

Orm stares at her tracker signal. It’s been moving nonstop for three hours.

Then…

It stops.

Her heart skips.

Then a vibration — a message pops up:

> *L: Phoenix status — reborn. Facility ashes. Coming home.*

Orm exhales.

And for the first time in days, she smiles.

---

### 🎭 Final Scene: Ling Returns

Late night.

Orm’s building. Security still tight.

Ling walks in — singed, blood on her arm, but alive.

Orm doesn’t speak.

She just walks forward, takes Ling’s face in her hands, and kisses her hard.

> “Next time,” Orm says breathlessly, “I’m coming with you.”

Ling chuckles, exhausted.

> “You’d look hot holding a gun.”

Beat.

Orm presses her forehead to Ling’s.

> “No more past. Just you and me. One fight at a time.”

> “Then let’s start with your mother.”

They both smirk.

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

🧊 Scene 1: The Boardroom Coup
Morning light cuts through the Khornaphat Corp glass tower. Orm walks in like a queen — composed, silk-black suit, quiet fury in her eyes.

Ling trails behind, dressed in a sharp navy blazer and jeans, leaning casually against the boardroom wall — a bodyguard who knows every secret.

Orm opens the meeting with confidence.

“As of this morning, I’m enacting Clause 9-A — full audit of offshore accounts. I have proof Anucha used company funds for paramilitary training and illegal tech smuggling.”

The room freezes.

Then: Uncle Veera stands. He claps — slowly.

“And you think this little tantrum will save your throne, niece?”

Orm narrows her eyes.

“This isn’t a throne. It’s a corporation. And you’re done.”

Veera smirks. Then pulls out a folder.

“Actually, dear Orm… we’re invoking Clause 12-B.”

She blinks. “That clause doesn’t apply unless—”

“—the bloodline is broken.”

Ling straightens.

Orm’s voice drops. “What did you do?”

Veera smiles.

“We leaked documents naming you mentally unfit. Psych evals. Emails. Fabricated, of course — but persuasive.”

“You forged—”
“We rewrote history. Like your father did so well.”

He drops the final bomb:

“Effective today… you are no longer the legal heir to Khornaphat Corporation.”

🧠 Scene 2: Jet’s Revelation
Back at the apartment, Jet is already digging.

His eyes widen. He spins his chair toward Ling.

“Bro. You’re not gonna believe this.”

“Try me.”

“Five years ago, Anucha legally adopted someone into the family. Secret clause. Not filed publicly. But it counts.”

“Who?” Ling asks.

Jet turns the laptop.

A document flashes.

Adoption Certificate — Legal Heir: Ling Ling Kwong

She goes still.

Jet whispers:

“You’re technically… Orm’s heir. Not the other way around.”

🕯 Scene 3: Confrontation at the Shrine Room
Ling and Orm meet in the Khornaphat ancestral shrine.

Tall ceilings. Incense smoke curling around family portraits — cold, judgmental eyes.

Orm is sitting in front of her grandfather’s urn.

“He would have killed you, too,” she says softly.

Ling kneels beside her.

“I always thought I was a weapon built by men like him. But maybe I was just… something they couldn’t control.”

Orm turns to her.

“You’re more than all of them combined. You’re the only one who never wanted power, and somehow — ended up with all of it.”

“I don’t want the company.”
“But you want me.”

Ling touches her cheek. Quiet, steady.

“Always.”

A moment of silence.

Orm swallows.

“We can’t win this unless someone dies. On paper, at least.”

Ling lifts a brow. “Who?”

“Me.”

🖤 Scene 4: The Fake Death Plan
Orm lays it out, precise and brutal.

“If I’m declared dead in a car crash — unrecoverable body — all assets transfer to my last legal heir. You. No contest.”

Ling’s voice sharpens. “You want to vanish?”

“Only for a while. Let the company heal. Let them think they won.”

Ling’s hands clench.

“I didn’t spend months protecting you just to lose you like this.”

Orm reaches for her hand.

“You won’t lose me. I’ll be watching. Just not… beside you. For now.”

Ling’s throat works.

“No contact?”

Orm presses something into her palm.

A gold ring.

“Only this. If you ever take it off, I’ll know you’ve stopped waiting.”

Ling closes her fingers around it.

“I’ll never take it off.”

🚙 Scene 5: The Crash
The car explodes at 2:14 AM on the edge of the city.

Orm’s driver is in on it. Fake dental records. Burnt body inside. Press leaks within minutes.

Khornaphat Corp mourns. Uncle Veera takes interim control.

And Ling — standing at the hospital gates in silence — lets a single tear fall as the crowd whispers behind her:

“The widow.”

“Wasn’t it an arranged marriage?”

“She never cried once.”

“Except now.”

💼 Scene 6: Ling Becomes CEO
A week later.

Boardroom.

Ling steps in, dressed in ceremonial black. No smile. No mercy.

“Effective immediately, I am assuming control as legal heir under sealed directive 8-G, approved by Anucha Khornaphat before his death.”

The board protests. Veera threatens lawyers.

Ling silences them with one sentence:

“You think I don’t know where all your offshore money really went?”

Dead silence.

Jet sends a mass email.

Every secret. Every wire transfer.

By the time they blink, Ling is seated at the head of the table.

“Meeting adjourned.”

💔 Final Scene: Alone in the Penthouse
That night.

Ling stands alone in Orm’s penthouse — now hers by law.

The city glows below.

She clutches the gold ring in her palm.

“You said you'd be watching. So watch me win this for us.”

Behind her, the camera light blinks — hidden surveillance, just for Orm.

A soft whisper on the wind.

“I’m still with you.”

Cut to black.

🔥

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

🖤 Scene 1: Ling, Now Queen
The penthouse feels like a tomb.

Ling stands barefoot, silk robe loose around her hips, staring down at the nighttime skyline of Bangkok. In her palm: Orm’s gold ring. Still warm.

Jet enters silently.

“The board’s begging for you to hold a press conference.”

“Let them beg.”

She doesn’t look away from the glass.

“Have you heard from her?”

“Not directly,” Jet says. “But… the camera light blinked again.”

Ling smirks — just a flicker.

“She’s watching.”

He hesitates.

“You okay?”

Ling turns — and for the first time, Jet sees it: not rage, not pain, not power.

Hunger.

“No. I want her back.”

🕯 Scene 2: Orm in Exile
Meanwhile.

Orm walks barefoot through a minimalist hideout in northern Thailand — tucked into the mountains. Her hair is longer now, unstyled. No jewelry. No suits. Just loose pants, linen shirt, and the ache in her chest.

A letter sits unopened on her desk: “From Ling”

She can’t bring herself to open it.

Instead, she replays footage on the hidden feed — Ling at her old desk, commanding the room like a queen. Cruel. Cold. Irresistible.

“She looks… just like I did.”

Orm’s voice cracks. She wipes it away.

“But her eyes still search for me.”

💼 Scene 3: Ling Controls the Empire
At Khornaphat HQ, Ling runs the empire like she owns it — because she does.

Veera and the old guard have been arrested. Shareholders love her. Media calls her the Widow Empress — stoic, ruthless, untouchable.

But she doesn’t smile.

Until one day… in a closed-door meeting, she ends with:

“As per final decision… I’m establishing a new private department. Security, R&D, and intelligence. Name it under a codename.”

Jet looks confused. “What’s the codename?”

Ling writes it on the screen:

Project: ORMK.

Jet blinks. Orm Khornaphat.

“You think she’ll come back?”

Ling shrugs.

“I’m not waiting. I’m building.”

💔 Scene 4: Letters They Never Send
At night, Ling writes her.

I sleep in your shirt.

I drink your coffee.

I smile when I yell at people because I know you'd find it sexy.

But none of them are you.

She doesn’t send it.

Orm writes her too.

I keep the cameras on, just in case you say my name out loud.

I nearly drowned last week because I was staring at the sky thinking of your laugh.

I see your hand on my throne and I want to kneel.

She doesn’t send it.

But they both feel it.

🥀 Scene 5: Reunion Setup
Jet gives Ling an encrypted message.

“It’s from the offshore lawyer. She’s ready to sign her death certificate. Completely vanish.”

Ling’s voice is cold.

“She thinks she doesn’t deserve to come back.”

Jet hesitates. “Do you… want her to?”

Ling stares out the window.

“No.”

Beat.

“I want to drag her out by the throat. I want to pin her down and make her say she’s still mine.”

“I want her to kneel.”

Jet swallows. “So... Thailand, then?”

Ling smirks.

“Fuel the jet.”

🔥 Final Lines:
That night, Orm walks outside under the moonlight, wind in her hair.

She whispers:

“If she finds me… I won’t run.”

A plane slices through the night sky overhead.

Somewhere above, Ling is coming.

And this time — she’s not asking for permission.

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜

Chapter Text

---

### 🌊 Scene 1: The Waterfall

Northern Thailand. Remote jungle.

The late sun filters through a lush canopy. The air smells like rain and crushed orchids. A waterfall crashes down into a stone pool, its mist shimmering gold in the light.

Orm kneels beneath it.

Her white shirt clings to her skin, soaked through, almost transparent. Her long hair streams down her back like ink. She’s been here for days — not hiding, not healing. Just existing. Letting the silence drown the guilt.

Then —

Crunch.

A footstep on the wet earth.

She doesn’t look. She feels it.

Ling.

A shadow. A storm. A heartbeat she swore she'd buried.

Orm turns her head — and everything inside her shatters.

> "You came."

Ling says nothing.

She stands there — soaked from the rain, black tank top clinging to her, jaw clenched, eyes like thunder. She tosses off her leather jacket without a word. Boots next.

She walks straight into the water.

---

### 🔥 Scene 2: Wordless Collision

Orm backs up slowly, breath caught. Her back presses to the moss-covered rock wall.

Water streams over both of them now, cascading like tension.

Ling stops in front of her, soaked and silent. The space between them trembles.

> "You think you get to vanish?" her voice is rough.

Orm’s voice is small, breathy. “I was protecting—”

> "You left me."

> "I had to—"

> "You lied."

> "You replaced me."

Ling's hands slam against the stone on either side of Orm’s head. She leans in close — nose to nose.

> “No one replaced you. I only ever saw you in every fight, every lie, every fucking time I stood in that boardroom and made them shut up — it was always you.”

Orm blinks back tears. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

Ling grits her teeth. “Then why do I feel like I’ve been bleeding since you left?”

Silence.

Then Orm whispers:

> “I’m still yours.”

---

### 💥 Scene 3: The Claim (Extended Scene)

That’s all it takes.

Ling grabs her face — not gently — and devours her mouth in a kiss that's all teeth and fury and heat. Orm gasps, then moans, her hands grasping at Ling’s soaked shirt, pulling her closer until there’s no space between them.

Orm tries to speak — but Ling doesn’t let her.

She pins Orm’s wrists against the rock wall, mouths her jawline, then down her throat.

> “You think you can disappear and come back like nothing happened?” she growls.

Orm pants. “I came back for you.”

Ling lets go of one wrist — and slides her hand down Orm’s body, slow, deliberate. Over her shirt. Under it.

Orm shudders when Ling cups her breast.

> “No bra?” Ling murmurs darkly. “You knew I’d find you.”

Orm’s breath stutters. “I hoped.”

> “Keep hoping,” Ling whispers — and bites her collarbone, just enough to bruise.

Orm’s legs go weak.

Ling catches her, one hand gripping her thigh, pulling it up around her hip. The other slides between them.

> “Still wet from the waterfall,” Ling says, lips ghosting over hers. “Or is this for me?”

Orm chokes on a gasp when Ling's fingers slide under her soaked panties.

> “Say it,” Ling commands, voice velvet-wrapped steel.

> “It’s for you,” Orm breathes. “Only you.”

Ling kisses her again — deeper, hungrier — and pushes one finger inside.

Orm moans sharply into her mouth.

> “You missed this?” Ling asks, curling it slow and deep.

Orm can barely breathe. “I dreamed about it.”

Ling slips in a second finger — smooth, confident.

Orm’s head hits the stone wall, eyes fluttering shut.

> “You begged in your dreams too?”

Orm moans. “Yes.”

Ling fucks her slow — steady, deep thrusts. Her thumb finds Orm’s clit, teasing in circles, until her knees are trembling.

> “Eyes on me,” Ling growls.

Orm opens them. Their gazes lock.

> “You belong to me,” Ling says.

> “I do,” Orm whispers, voice breaking.

Ling increases the rhythm — sharp now, relentless. The sound of slick skin, the roar of the waterfall, Orm’s ragged gasps all mix into one chaotic symphony.

Orm’s moans rise — desperate, breathless.

Ling kisses her again — one hand around her throat now, not squeezing, just owning.

> “Come for me.”

Orm does — body spasming, gasping, eyes wide and wet, clinging to Ling like she might break apart.

Ling holds her through it — doesn’t let her fall — whispering:

> “Mine.”

---

### 🖤 Scene 4: Aftershock

They sink together onto the mossy ground, bodies trembling, soaked in water and heat and months of missing each other.

Orm curls into Ling’s chest.

> “I never stopped,” she murmurs.

> “I know,” Ling says, softer now. “I felt it. Every damn day.”

She pulls Orm tighter.

> “Don’t you dare vanish again.”

Orm lifts her head, eyes still glassy.

> “Then don’t give me a reason to.”

Ling kisses her forehead.

> “Next time you try to run—I’ll chain you to our bed.”

Orm smiles faintly. “Is that a threat or a promise?”

Ling grins, wicked and soft.

> “Both.”

---

### 🌙 Final Lines: The Cabin

That night, in a secluded mountain cabin, Orm lies in bed — skin still glowing, hair still wet.

Ling stands by the window, shirtless, lighting a cigarette, looking like war and peace at once.

Orm watches her.

> “You really would’ve come for me no matter where I ran, wouldn’t you?”

Ling exhales smoke.

> “Even if it meant burning the world.”

> “You already did.”

Ling flicks the cigarette out, walks over, and climbs into bed.

She drapes her body over Orm’s, arms locking tight.

> “Then sleep. I’ll guard you this time.”

Orm smiles. “Good. Because I’m not going anywhere.”

---

*[ End of Chapter ]*

☆ U.A 💜