Transmigration; Married to My Ex-Fiancé's Uncle-Chapter 239; Kidnapping 12

"....can’t be here right now...."

"....felt the magic signature, knew it had to be you...."

"....different body, how could you possibly recognize...."

"....your essence, your fundamental energy, I’d know you anywhere regardless of physical form....."

Lu Yuze’s hands clenched into white-knuckled fists at his sides.

Different body. Her essence. Know you anywhere.

What exactly was their relationship? What kind of connection allowed someone to recognize another person despite a complete physical transformation? And why did Long Chen look at Shuyin like she was someone infinitely precious who’d been lost and miraculously found against all odds?

In the alcove, Shuyin was trying very hard not to let panic overwhelm her fragile control, her mind racing through worst-case scenarios and damage control strategies while her brother stood there looking at her like she’d returned from the dead.

Her brother. Here. Now. When she was standing in a hospital with a fresh corpse cooling in the examination room twenty feet away, and Lu Yuze was watching from the doorway, and everything was threatening to unravel catastrophically in ways she couldn’t predict or prevent.

"You can’t be here," she hissed, keeping her voice barely above a whisper even though she wanted to scream at him to leave, to run, to get as far away as possible before this situation got even more complicated. "You can’t recognize me in front of witnesses. You can’t acknowledge knowing me. You can’t..."

"Kailani," her brother said, and he was using the identity of Long Chen in this human world but his voice carried the rough emotion of family rather than business associate, thick with feelings he wasn’t bothering to hide. "It is you. I felt the magic when it was released, felt the killing intent and the signature that’s unmistakable even when you’re wearing a completely different form. Your fundamental essence hasn’t changed at all."

His hands came up toward her face, hovering in the air between them like he desperately wanted to touch her but wasn’t entirely sure if he was allowed or if she’d pull away. "We’ve been searching for three years and five years at sea, Kailani. Three entire years without a single trace, clue, or sign that you were still alive. Father has been beside himself with grief and rage. The entire kingdom has been mobilized looking for you, combing through human territories and following every possible lead....."

"Stop," Shuyin interrupted desperately, cutting off his words before he could say anything else that might carry to Lu Yuze’s undoubtedly sharp hearing. "Not here. Not now. I can’t explain everything in a hospital hallway, but you have to leave immediately. Right now. Before this gets worse."

"Leave?" Her brother’s expression shifted rapidly through confusion, hurt, and something that might have been anger at the suggestion. "I just found you after three years of thinking you might be dead or worse, after searching every corner of both worlds, and you want me to just walk away like we’re strangers?"

"Yes," Shuyin said with as much firmness as she could muster while her heart was racing and her hands were still shaking from the transformation aftermath. "Because I’m in the middle of something extremely complicated and your presence here will make it exponentially worse for both of us."

Her brother’s eyes narrowed with assessment that looked far too much like the predatory calculation she’d seen him use in their underwater kingdom when evaluating potential threats or rivals. "Who is that man? The one standing in the doorway watching us with an expression that suggests he’s actively considering multiple methods of murder?"

Shuyin didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know he meant Lu Yuze, didn’t need visual confirmation to feel the weight of that territorial stare burning into her back.

"My husband, contract husband," she said quietly, the words feeling strange in her mouth when applied to Lu Yuze while talking to her brother.

"You’re what?" Her brother’s voice rose sharply before he managed to catch himself and lower it again to avoid attracting more attention. "You’re married? To a human? Kailani, what in all the depths...."

"It’s a very long story," Shuyin cut in before he could build up momentum toward a full interrogation. "An extremely long and complicated story that I will explain in detail. Later. When we’re not standing in a hospital hallway with a corpse twenty feet away and my husband watching us like he’s trying to decide if you’re a threat he needs to eliminate."

Her brother glanced past her shoulder toward where Lu Yuze was undoubtedly still standing guard, his posture probably radiating controlled violence and barely suppressed jealousy. "He looks exceptionally possessive for someone in what I assume is a contract marriage of convenience. Does he know what you actually are?"

"Partially," Shuyin admitted, keeping her voice low enough that Lu Yuze hopefully couldn’t hear specific details even if he was straining to listen. "He knows I’m not human. He doesn’t know the specific details about the species or origin. And he definitely doesn’t know I’m a mermaid princess whose brother is currently pretending to be a human business magnate while building a corporate empire as cover for an investigation."

"Long Chen," her brother supplied with grim satisfaction. "I’ve been using that identity for the past three years specifically for searching. Built the entire business empire from nothing as cover for investigating your disappearance and tracking down leads across the human world."

Of course, he had, because her brothers had always been thorough to the point of obsessive when it came to family protection.

"I need you to leave," Shuyin repeated with desperate insistence. "Please. I’m begging you as your sister. I promise I’ll contact you soon. I’ll explain everything that happened. But right now, you being here is dangerous for both of us in ways I can’t fully explain in a hallway conversation."

Her brother studied her face for a long, weighted moment, his eyes searching for something she wasn’t sure she was successfully hiding. Then his gaze cut back to Lu Yuze, who was still standing in that doorway radiating barely concealed tension and territorial aggression.