She was someone who could stare down the Sea King himself without flinching.
Someone who could make even her own father hesitate at the threshold of her domain.
The sitting room had become a frozen tableau of tension, father and daughter locked in a silent standoff, one desperate to reconnect, the other absolutely determined to keep every wall firmly in place.
And caught in the middle was Lu Yuze, the mortal husband who somehow held the only thread of control over a celestial princess that even her own family couldn't grasp.
Long Tian's hand, which had been rising to reach toward his daughter, slowly lowered back to his side.
The joy that had lit his face moments ago was rapidly being replaced by confusion, hurt, and dawning devastation.
"Daughter," he said quietly, his voice carrying none of its earlier authority, just the raw pain of a father facing rejection he didn't understand.
"I've been searching for you for five years."
"Every single day."
