Sketchbook

The morning sun spilled across the marble floors of the penthouse, golden and soft — the kind of light that made everything feel like a memory before it even happened.

Ruoxi stood by the kitchen island, pouring warm milk into her son's favorite mug. Ruiyan sat at the table, swinging his legs, flipping through the pages of his sketchbook. He'd drawn a tall man beside a little boy last night, shaded with striking eyes.

"Is this your superhero?" she asked, smiling as she set the cup down.

Ruiyan blinked. "No… It's the man from the gallery. The one who helped you when your shoe broke."

Ruoxi's fingers froze on the cup handle.

Zeyan.

That was days ago — and yet the echo of that brief touch, his eyes, his voice… it still clung to her skin like a whisper that wouldn't leave.

"And why did you draw him?" she asked softly.

Ruiyan shrugged. "He looked like me."

After she dropped Ruiyan at school, Ruoxi sat in the driver's seat of her car and stared at the steering wheel. Her fingers trembled, her heart refusing to behave.

She didn't know this man.

But some part of her felt like she always had.

Was that madness?

Or something else?

When the knock on the window came, she jumped.

It was Zeyan.

Standing there again — too tall, too calm, too familiar.

"I waited," he said quietly when she rolled down the window. "Just… wanted to see if you'd let me ride with you."

"To where?"

"Anywhere you're going."

Her heart twisted.

She unlocked the door.

The moment they walked into the office building together, it was like dropping gasoline on dry gossip.

The receptionist's eyes widened. The elevator operator blinked. Two interns actually turned around and whispered behind their clipboards.

Ruoxi didn't flinch.

Zeyan walked beside her — respectful, silent, not touching her. But his presence was thunderous.

At the top floor, her assistant was already waiting — Mei, sharp in a navy blouse and high ponytail.

Mei raised an eyebrow.

Ruoxi gave her a look.

Mei smirked.

"So… we bringing mysterious strangers to work now?"

Ruoxi sighed, setting her bag down. "He's… a friend."

"Is he also the reason you've been staring at the same spot on the wall during meetings?"

"Mei."

"I'm your assistant and your best friend. I notice things. Like how your smile's been different since the gallery night."

Ruoxi hesitated. Then leaned in.

"I think I knew him before the accident. I just don't remember."

Mei's face softened. "You trust him?"

"I don't know why. But I do."

The calm was short-lived.

Just before noon, then arrived — tall, well-dressed, confident. Ethan Lu. A rising tech mogul and their business partner in an AI expansion project. He'd been visiting often lately — under the pretense of contract revisions, but his eyes rarely left Ruoxi's.

Today, he came with pastries and a signed file.

And then he saw Zeyan.

His smile vanished. "I wasn't aware we had another guest."

Zeyan rose from his seat in the lounge area, his movements deliberate.

Ruoxi stood between them, her voice firm. "Zeyan's here with me today. Just for a few hours."

Ethan looked him up and down. "And you are?"

"Someone who doesn't need to explain," Zeyan replied coolly.

The tension thickened.

Mei, who had entered with a cup of coffee, slowly backed out like a soldier sensing an impending explosion.

Ruoxi cleared her throat. "Ethan, thank you for bringing the updated documents. Mei will schedule our next review."

But Ethan didn't move. "You deserve to be around people who remember who you are, Ruoxi. Not someone trying to crawl back into your life with shadows."

Zeyan's jaw clenched.

Ruoxi stepped forward, her voice sharper than steel. "Enough. This is my office, not a battleground. If either of you wants to argue, do it outside."

That shut them both up.

Hours later, after Ethan left and the office fell quiet, Zeyan walked to the window overlooking the skyline.

"I didn't mean to complicate things," he said.

"You didn't," she replied, voice softer now. "It's just… I don't know who to believe. I don't know what parts of me are missing."

"You're still you."

She stepped closer.

"I feel like something in me remembers you. But it's buried so deep… and I'm scared if I dig too hard, it'll hurt."

Zeyan turned, pain flickering in his eyes. "Then don't dig. I'll wait. I'm not here to rush you. I'm here to remind you that you're not alone."

And maybe it was foolish, maybe it was dangerous — but Ruoxi whispered the words anyway:

"Then stay."