The skies over Empire City wept like a grieving widow, unleashing torrents of rain as if the heavens themselves couldn't bear witness to the sight unfolding in the grand plaza.
The rain blurred the edges of the towering skyscrapers, turning the sharp, unforgiving cityscape into a dreamlike haze. But in the center of it all, crystal clear under the glare of a hundred news cameras, one man knelt alone.
Leon Xu.
Empire City's king. Now—its most tragic fool.
The waterlogged plaza reflected his image—a broken man in a perfectly tailored suit, soaked through and through, his once proud shoulders hunched, his head bowed low.
His knees pressed against the cold, rain-slicked marble, and his hands… those hands that once commanded the fate of empires… were now clasped together in a desperate plea.
"Ella Lin…" His voice, low and raw with pain, echoed through the open mic system.
Every media outlet, every live broadcast across the world, had tuned in.
CNN: The King Kneels for His Queen.Weibo: #LeonXuBegsEllaLin Explodes to #1 Worldwide.YouTube Live: 10 Million Viewers and Counting.
High above, in the penthouse suite of Lin Global Empire, Ella stood before the floor-to-ceiling glass window, watching him.
She was a vision of cold, untouchable beauty—dressed in an ivory silk blouse and a sharp black pencil skirt. Her perfectly curled hair framed a face devoid of any emotion, but her trembling fingertips betrayed the storm raging inside.
Her assistant hovered nervously nearby.
"Chairwoman Lin, should we cut the feed? This is… unprecedented."
Ella didn't even glance back.
"No," she said coldly. "Let the world witness what it looks like when a man who once thought himself a god is brought to his knees."
Her heels clicked across the marble as she approached the intercom. With a single press of the button, her voice sliced through the storm and echoed across the plaza.
"Leon Xu."
The sound of his name from her lips made his head snap up. His eyes—red, bloodshot, desperate—searched the towering building for a glimpse of her.
"Do you remember the day you told me I was worthless?" Her voice was as sharp as a dagger, every word deliberate. "That I would never belong in your world?"
Leon swallowed hard, his lips trembling.
"I remember…" he rasped, the rain mixing with the tears he would never admit to shedding.
"And do you remember offering me one million dollars to disappear from your life?"
A collective gasp echoed through the reporters.
Leon's head dropped lower, his forehead nearly touching the rain-slicked ground.
"I was wrong…" His voice broke. "Ella… I've been wrong every day since you left. I can't… I can't breathe without you."
Ella's hands clenched into fists at her sides. Her perfectly manicured nails dug painfully into her palms, but she refused to show weakness.
"You didn't just lose me, Leon. You lost the right to ever stand beside me again."
The plaza fell silent except for the pounding rain.
Then, through the storm, Leon did the unthinkable.
He leaned forward… and bowed his head fully to the ground.
A billionaire. A legend. A tyrant.
Prostrating himself before the woman he had once thrown away.
The world erupted in chaos.
Social media crashed under the weight of trending tags.
#LeonXuBowsForLove#TheFallOfTheEmpireKing#EllaLinQueenOfTheWorld
But just as the cameras zoomed in to capture his humiliation, a new sound pierced through the speakers.
A soft, unmistakable sound.
A child's cry.
Ella froze.
Her assistant's eyes went wide.
And then the cameras captured it—Leon standing again, soaked and shaking, but this time… holding something in his arms.
A child.
A tiny, wailing infant, swaddled in a pale blue blanket.
The world seemed to stop breathing.
"Ella..." Leon's voice cracked through the speakers, his arms tightening protectively around the child. "Do you really think you can erase me… when I'm the father of the child you tried to hide from me?"
The plaza erupted into chaos. Reporters shouted over each other. Cameras zoomed in wildly.
Ella stumbled back from the window, her heart slamming against her ribs so hard she could barely breathe.
No one knew. She had hidden her pregnancy, even from the board. How did he—how did he find out?
Her trembling hand reached for the intercom again.
"Leon Xu!" she screamed, her composure shattering like fragile glass. "Bring my child back right now!"
But down below, Leon only held the child closer, his face drenched in rain and tears, his eyes shining with a terrifying, dangerous tenderness.
"Come and take him back yourself, Ella," he whispered, his voice barely audible but broadcast to billions.
"But be prepared… if you want him back, you'll have to come home. Back to me."
🔥 Chapter Ending Hook: