Yaya whimpered, groaning in pain. Her strength was gone and her pride was in tatters.
Ruyi stood over her, chest heaving, knuckles bleeding, one hand protectively resting over her stomach.
The bloodied silence stretched thin with fear lingering in the atmosphere.
Yaya lay crumpled against the far stall, her breaths wet and shaky, her lip split, and her face bruised. Ruyi stood over her, fists shaking, one hand pressed protectively over her abdomen.
Then—
SLAM.
The door burst open with a metallic crash. Lu Zi Zhen rushed into the bathroom to see what his mother was doing as the shadow guards had notified him. They couldn't interfere when it was just two women, and they knew Song Yaya was no match for her.
He narrowed his eyes gazing at the marble floor that was dyed red, at first worried but then calmed down. Who was his mother? Someone who could tackle a few trained assassins altogether.
"Momma... Look at you! You should have left this dirty work for the guards to handle!" He worriedly held her hands looking at those bruised knuckles. She lifted her hand closer to his lips and blew a cold breath across them cooling them down.
Ruyi's breath came in short bursts, fury still simmering beneath her skin, but her son's voice tugged at something softer within her, and she calmed down, regaining her rationality.
Lu Zi Zhen stood beside her, dark eyes flicking once toward the broken figure of Yaya, then returning to his mother's injured hand knuckles.
The concern in his gaze burned hotter than rage. He took out a silk handkerchief and gently wrapped it around her knuckles protectively.
"I always tell you to let my man do these kinds of tasks, but you never listen," he murmured, his voice low but tinged with that quiet authority he had inherited from her. "Your body can't take this kind of vigorous exercise and you know it!"
Ruyi didn't answer. Her hand hovered in the air for a moment before settling on his shoulder having calmed down. "She started it; it ain't my fault; I couldn't just ignore it." she nonchalantly responded. Her eyes flicked to Yaya, who whimpered again, her battered form twitching against the floor.
Lu Zi Zhen's face darkened. He moved slowly, straightening his coat with calculated grace as he approached Yaya. Each step echoed across the marble, heavy and deliberate.
"How dare you mess with my mother? How dare you raise your hand at her?" Lu Zi Zhen was getting closer when Gabriel rushed into the bathroom, and what he saw shocked him silly.
He lunged forward, attacking Lu Zi Zhen, but he swiftly avoided that incoming punch.
Gabriel's fist cut through the air, missing Lu Zi Zhen by breath.
Lu Zi Zhen ducked low with effortless speed, his body already twisting as he caught Gabriel's arm mid-swing, using his momentum against him.
With a sharp pivot, he slammed Gabriel into the nearest sink, porcelain cracking under the force.
"I don't hit amateurs," Zi Zhen hissed near Gabriel's ear, with his face grinning. "But for you, I will make an exception."
Gabriel roared and spun, elbowing Zi Zhen in the ribs. The blow connected, but Zi Zhen barely flinched.
He stepped back, shook his arm loose, then delivered a clean, precise jab to Gabriel's gut—once, twice, followed by a brutal uppercut that sent Gabriel stumbling backward into the stalls.
"Stop it! That's enough!" Yaya tried to cry out, voice hoarse from pain, but neither of them listened to her.
"Gabriel, stop! Don't fight!" She had seen how brutal Lu Wan Ruyi was and definitely Lu Zi Zhen was way more brutal than her. These two were definitely mother and son.