Isla Isari smiled as she walked towards Zhan, Yibo and her assistant Isko. She stopped in front of them and said, "I'm sorry that you seemed to get scared earlier. I was just worried about you because you suddenly turned so pale and looked like you were going to keel over at any moment. My driver had only come in case you really did fall over, Zhan."

With Yibo and Isko by his side, Zhan nodded. "It's okay. I was just feeling a little sick earlier, which was probably because I drank a little too much alcohol. Or drank too quickly. But I'm feeling much better now."

"I'm glad to hear that. I was really worried. Um Zhan?"

"Yeah?"

"Honestly, I was looking for you earlier because I wanted to talk to you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. And I'd love it if you and I could talk alone."

"I um..." Zhan thought. What should he answer now? Their plan had failed and she wasn't interested in Yibo one bit, she was still interested in him. If he said no now, the mission would be as good as lost. Zhan realized that if he wanted to help the agents complete their mission successfully, there was only one solution. He had to play the bait! Finally, knowing full well that he could get into big trouble with Yibo and Agent Nax, he said, "Fine, I agree." Zhan looked at Yibo, but he showed no reaction. Was Yibo too shocked? Or did he suspect what Zhan was up to? Isko didn't show any reaction either.

"Oh, I'm really pleased about that. I'd say I'll meet you in my library in half an hour." She said and left.

"I don't think she wants to hurt you. Not if she wants to talk to you in the library." Isko said and hurried after his boss.

Yibo looked at Zhan thoughtfully and nodded. "You want to play bait, don't you?" He asked.

"Yes, I do. I don't think there's any other way. She wants me and won't go for anyone else." Zhan replied.

"You're right. But do you realize how dangerous that is?"

"Of course I realize that. But Yibo, I know that this is the only and best chance."

Yibo's cell phone beeped. He read the message. "Agent Nax writes that she doesn't like the fact that you decided to take the bait on your own authority, but that she is very grateful to you."

"I don't know if I'll do it well. But I really want to help you. So I'll help myself and Isko too."

Yibo stared at Zhan, put his hand on a button on his jacket and asked Zhan: "Why is this Isko so important to you? You keep talking about him. And I have to tell you honestly, it's starting to annoy me."

Zhan looked at Yibo in astonishment. "What's wrong with you? Isko is also a victim of that woman."

"Isko this and Isko that. Zhan, can you please stop talking about him all the time?"

"I don't talk about him all the time."

"You do realize that you're giving him false hope, don't you?"

"In what way?"

"Well, he's totally into you. Otherwise he wouldn't take the risk and warn you. And he wouldn't have confided in you. If you continue to be so devoted to him, he'll eventually think that you could imagine more with him after all!"

"Oh, I would never approach him like that! Isko is..."

"Stop it! Stop it already."

"But I..."

"No. Don't!"

"Isko is..."

"Zhan! You'd better stop."

"But..."

"No, no, no. Stop now. Understand?" Yibo asked. Zhan nodded and suddenly laughed. Yibo looked at him blankly at first, but then had to laugh himself.

"Thanks for the distraction. I'm really feeling much better now."

Yibo nodded: "You're welcome." He said, not understanding what Zhan meant at first. Because the truth was that he was really annoyed by Zhan talking about the target's assistant so often. It annoys him every time Zhan just says his name. And he hates the fact that Isko is now surely some kind of hero in Zhan's eyes, all because he stands behind Zhan and even volunteered a few things that might help Yibo and his colleagues.

"You know what Yibo?" Zhan asked, snapping Yibo out of his thoughts.

"No, what do you know?"

"I think you and I could become really good friends." Zhan said with a wonderfully broad smile.

"Sure." Yibo replied, thinking sadly that this would probably never happen. Because as soon as the mission is completed, they will have to go their separate ways again. The agency's statutes demand that Yibo break off contact with everyone he met during a mission and forget about them. Actually, Yibo never had a problem with this, because no one he had dealt with in his previous missions had become close enough for him to regret not being able to see them again. But as far as Zhan was concerned, he wasn't sure if he could just leave him behind. But he couldn't explain it to himself.

"What's going on? Are you worried about me because I'm about to meet that woman alone in the library?"

Startled, Yibo realized that he was lost in thought again. He shook his head quickly to get rid of the thoughts and said: "I think she really just wants to talk. And if something does happen, it will be like before. Agent Nax will contact me and I'll be with you right away."

"I trust you. And I trust that Agent Mode is on for you now and Idol Mode is off."

"Don't worry, I'm right here and I won't let anything happen to you."

"Very well. Shall we have a glass of champagne before I go to the library?"

"Sure." Said Yibo. They waved one of the service staff over, took two champagne glasses and drank the champagne. Then Zhan straightened his clothes, which wasn't really necessary, and made his way to the library.

The driver, who Zhan thought he knew was called Ray, was standing outside the library door. But he didn't really care what his name was. He didn't like him and certainly never would, and he showed him that. He glared angrily at the driver, put a hand on the door handle and opened the door. He stepped into the library, where Mrs. Isari was already waiting for him.

Mrs. Isari was sitting in a wing chair, holding a thick, large book in her hand. When she saw Zhan, she smiled and placed the book on a small table next to the wing chair. "Come over here. Sit down." She said, pointing to another wing chair next to her.

Zhan entered the library and went to her. He sat down in the wing chair, which was more comfortable than it looked, and asked: "So? What do you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, I'll get to that in a moment. First, let's have a little conversation. I want to find out more about you."

"Mhhh, good. What do you want to know?"

"Tell me about your childhood. What were your parents like? Did they treat you well?"

Zhan had no idea why she wanted to know that, but decided to talk about it openly. After all, he had to keep her believing that she could trust him. "Well, my parents were great. They always treated me like a little prince and tried to give me everything I wanted. I had a very happy childhood. I grew up in the biggest city in the world. In Chongqing. We only had a small apartment. But it was nice and cozy. I had lots of friends."

"Okay, good. But now your parents live in the country, don't they?"

"Mhm. Around the time I started my studies, my parents received a letter from a lawyer. He informed them that they had inherited a country house from one of my father's uncles, who was unknown to us, and that they had inherited enough money that they no longer had to go to work. They moved into the country house and have been living a quiet, secluded life there ever since."

"And you never thought about moving in with them after you finished your studies?"

"No. I moved to Beijing and initially worked for a large graphic design agency. But I always intended to start my own business. So I moved into a small room in the student dormitory and saved my money as best I could until I had enough equity and only had to apply for a small loan so that I could start my own business."

"Back to your parents. Would you say you're similar to them?"

"No. But that's not possible either."

"And why not?"

"Well, they adopted me when I was about two months old."

"Oh really? Did they tell you that? Or did you find out on your own?"

"They told me. Actually, they never made a secret of it."

"And did you ever try to find out who your birth parents are?"

"Um, no. Not really. I had a very happy childhood and I still have a fantastic relationship with my parents."

"You never felt the urge to search for your roots?"

"No, I haven't."

"Do you know anything about why you're not with your biological parents?"

"Mhhh, my parents were told that I was probably the child of a surrogate mother. But the people they paid to carry their child backed out shortly before the birth. They still paid her, but they didn't take me. Nobody knew why. The surrogate mother kept me with her for a few weeks, she probably hoped the couple would change their minds, but then she is said to have handed me in to a youth welfare office. And they immediately found a couple who wanted to adopt me. My parents."

"That sounds pretty far-fetched. Do you think that was really the case back then?"

"I don't know that. But as far as I know, my parents did some research at the time. But they never found out anything. Nothing useful, anyway."

"I see."

"You know, my parents really love me a lot and never let me feel that I wasn't their biological child."

"That's good. How come they didn't have any children of their own?"

"My mom got pregnant shortly after she got married. But when she was six months pregnant, she had an accident. When she was climbing a ladder at home to take down the curtains, she suddenly got dizzy, fell off the ladder and into a glass table. She lost the baby and couldn't get pregnant again."

"That's terrible. Why didn't she let your dad do it?"

"Yes. It was terrible for her. For both of them. Mom said Dad was on a three-day business trip and she wanted to surprise him with some new curtains. They were curtains that my father really liked. But they couldn't afford them. But when Mom went back to the store for a few other things, she saw that the curtains were 50% off. She didn't think twice and bought them. But after she lost her baby, she threw the curtains away. They never hung on the windows. She said she couldn't bear to look at them because she would always be reminded of the loss of her baby."

"I can well understand that. And then you decided to adopt?"

"After five years, they made the decision. They made an application and after a lot of back and forth, they got the approval after about 6 months. Four months later they were contacted and informed that there was a baby they could look at and adopt. Dad said as soon as he saw me he wanted me. He loved me like a son from the moment he saw me. And mom supposedly took me right out of the crib and said she wanted to take me home right away."

"As if it was predestined, wasn't it?"

"Yes, you could say that. A week later they were able to pick me up and take me home. My grandma told me, when she was still alive, that my parents didn't leave my side for the first few weeks and even slept in front of my crib. My grandparents then bought them something that they could attach to their double bed and I slept very close to them. And you know what's really unbelievable?"

"No, what?"

"After just three days, my mom's breasts were producing milk! She was actually able to breastfeed me. Unbelievable, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Mom said that this strengthened the bond between her and me."

"I believe that. It must have been the best feeling for your mom."

"Mmm, she said that too. And Dad always said that DNA doesn't determine who my parents are, but the love we have for each other."

"Now I understand very well why you had such a happy childhood. With parents like that, your childhood must have been wonderful."

"My childhood was really wonderful."

"This question may be a little too personal, but I hope you can answer it for me anyway."

"Okay, what question?"

"How did your parents react when you told them you were gay?"

"How did you know I was gay?"

"Oh, let's just say I have a sense of it."

"When I told my parents, they hugged me and told me that they didn't love me less because of it, they loved me even more."

"Wow. So they were very empathetic. But why did they love you even more for it?"

"Yes, they were empathetic. Dad explained that they love me more because I had the courage to admit it to them. And because they know that I will probably face a lot of rejection in this country just because I'm gay. But by loving me even more than before, they hoped that I would cope well with the rejections."

"Have you ever experienced rejection because you're gay?"

"No. Not really. There was the odd one or two who had that strange look. But no one ever said anything negative to me about it."

"I'm really pleased about that. I..." She stopped as the driver came into the library. "What is it?" She asked the driver. He came up to her, whispered something in her ear and she got all frantic. She stood up, turned to Zhan and said, "We'll have to continue our conversation another time. It looks like we have uninvited guests who are causing trouble. Please go to your companion and leave the villa."

Zhan didn't even get a chance to reply as she hurriedly left the library. And just as Zhan was about to go in search of Yibo, he came and said, "Come on. We're getting out of here." Zhan nodded to him and followed Yibo outside, where the agent was sitting in the fake cab waiting for them.