The Beginning

3 Years Ago

City A, China

"Is Young Master about to arrive? Shall I get everything ready for breakfast?" The old lady of the mansion situated not too far away from the city asked curiously through the landphone, a group of young servants surrounding her in anxiety. Her eyes looked like they were about to fall off any second. Hearing this, the young lady with a mysteriously striking beauty on the other end of the call passed a soft "No".

"In fact, Young Master isn't going to arrive home until noon. So Miss Zhi Ruo, don't worry about getting food ready in time. I'll let you know when we arrive." The woman smiled and cut the call with the servant, turning behind with a cold expression. A tall figure walked down the ramp stairs of the private jet behind her, attired in complete black. The sleeves of his blazer embraced his strong, sculpted arms perfectly that anyone would wish to look twice just for the sake of it.

"Master Ryu Sheng, Welcome back." A middle aged servant stood firmly on his feet beside the taller male and handed him a long black leather coat to keep him warm. Through the long locks that were falling over his master's eyes, he could clearly feel the coldness radiating off of him. Master Ryu wasn't a morning person and he loved everything black. It was his lucky colour... Even his mask was black, without any doubts. So he gladly stood still so that the servant put on the coat over his body and continued to walk behind him .

"Isn't it good to be back Ryu? I missed being here..." Lyra smiled, walking alongside Ryu at the same pace with her eyes focused ahead of her.

"I have nothing to miss here" Ryu replied, monotonous as he walked gracefully through the long line of guards aligned on both his sides, bowing at him with each step. Lyra rolled her eyes at that statement and continued to their car.

Such an extravagant entrance, it might seem to anyone that watched it. But Lyra knew how much it was worth to be the great Ryu Sheng or even she herself. His father didn't build up an empire by himself around half the globe just so they could have it easy , just sit around and watch things get done for them. When it came to getting things done, nothing frightened their enemies more than Ryu.

"Lyra, I need Devin on the line." Lyra nodded swiftly, getting into the backseat of the Rolls Royce Ghost as they sped off to a remote location. A place that was unknown to even most of the gangmates. Their secret torture house... They had some business to deal with there every now and then.

Now that they were all seated inside the car comfortably, with a train of black cars trailing behind them with ample distance, Ryu Sheng finally pulled down his mask and let his head bend back over the seat in exhaustion. Lyra looked at him concerned, but then the black tattoo that ran down his left eyebrows till under his cheekbone caught her attention again, distracting her. She wanted one too but then it would be so "unladylike" for her father.

"Are you Ok Ryu? You seem tired." She spoke, leaning to his side. He shook his head and straightened himself.

"Couldn't get enough sleep. I'll be fine." Lyra nodded to that and the call connected on her phone at the same time, a familiar voice echoing through the whole car's audio system.

"Welcome back Ryu Sheng. I have missed you for long brother." Lyra could see a light smile sprouting at the corner of Ryu's lips but even then it was incomplete. He was a distant man, almost unreadable at times...

"You too Devin. It's good to hear your voice again." Ryu replied, only to hear a light chuckle from the audio. Lyra smiled too but quickly got on with business.

"How's everything going on at Altec. I've heard we've got some trouble makers ahead of us." Lyra said, referring to her father's business empire which had withstood time and effort of the competition against so many larger companies.

"Oh yes we do have trouble alright." Devin smirked on the other line and continued. "This could be interesting too. You know the name... Lang Han."

Ryu seemed least bothered hearing the name. But Lyra knew there was nothing silly about it. There were some things Ryu didn't know about which dated back to years ago. Some things which were still kept a secret.