Chapter 1 (9): Light from Outside
### Jia's Perspective / Breathing
Inside the mansion,
time had stopped in this room alone.
--Or so it should have been.
"...Miss."
A whisper came from low to the ground.
The next instant, a shadow slender as a cat slipped in.
"Xiaomao...?"
"Shhh."
Xiaomao pressed a finger to her lips,
soundlessly checking behind her.
Then whispered, breath held:
"Word from the Li family."
Jia's heart leapt.
"Not directly. But--certain."
Xiaomao drew something small from her clothes.
A smartphone.
"The message is only this."
Xiaomao traced the words precisely.
"--President Li is safe. watch the television at ten."
That was all.
No comfort, no explanation.
But--
it was enough.
I took the phone with trembling hands.
The screen lit up.
For the first time in so long--light from the outside world.
Bussiness news alerts scrolled past.
《Longteng Group President Li Haotian
Emergency Press Conference Today at 10:00》
Xiaomao drew a small breath.
"...It's time."
I checked the clock.
9:58 AM.
The screen changed.
A sterile conference room.
Flashes.
Murmurs.
And--
A familiar face.
My husband, standing with straight spine,
his face stripped of emotion.
Alive.
A bit haggard, but lifting his face, looking straight ahead through the cameras.
For the first time in this house, I breathed.
