(Once again, this chapter will be in Sabine's and Yanshi Hima's Point of view from the past. If you do not support the LGBT+ community and you decide to stop reading this story, I'll respect your decision. Please do not post any hateful comments. With that said, please enjoy the chapter☺💖)

Yanshi Hima's POV

It was time for me to sign the official contract to start my job, working for the prince of China who is an absolute jerk. Of course, the prince of China won't see me personally. He'll most likely send someone else in his place like a temporary assistant. He's done it before in countless of events that he deems unworthy of his presence.

I was told I was going to be taking a private jet to New York City and I will be signing the contract on the private jet. I am at the airport right now in California, waiting to be called when it is time to go to the private jet.

Just as if on cue, my phone rings in my back pocket. I grab it and asnwer the call.

" Mr. Yanshi, please go to the main front desk and say these specific words. " Golden dragon, take flight." The person on the phone said.

" Okay." I said and ended the call. I walked up to the main front desk as directed and noticed that there were only two other people, thankfully. I waited for about 25 minutes, and when it was my turn, I wasted no time.

" Hello, how can I help you." The person on the other side of the desk asked politely. I looked her in the eyes and repeated the words I was told to say.

" Golden dragon, take flight."

They gasped and quickly tried to cover it up with a slight cough.

" Follow me, sir." I flinched as they used that pronoun. They walked out from the back of the desk and motioned me to follow. I silently followed them, dragging along my suitcase behind me.

" Here we are sir, but first I will need to verify your identity and check your belongings for anything that might be hazardous." They said. I looked at them in literal bewilderment.

" Here is my verification of who I am and why do I have to do that whole process of checking my belongings again?" I asked. They sighed after they checked my verification and made sure I was the right person.

" Look sir. This is part of my job and especially since I'm dealing with a very private,not to mention wealthy, client, and I have to make sure that there will be no harm or illegal activity within this encounter with you." They said seriously. I sighed in understanding their situation. I don't want to cause them any problems for their already stressful enough job.

" Alright, I understand. Here." I said, handing them my suitcase. They gave me a small smile and I watched as they carefully checked everything I had. After they were done, they looked at me and as if knowing what they were going to ask me, I raised my arms stretching them out to the side and let them do what they have to do. After that process was done and nothing was found, I was finally able to go to the private jet.

" Thank you sir for cooperating. Enjoy your flight!" They said after they walked me to the private jet. I forced a smile and nodded.

" Thank you, have a wonderful day!" I said as I watched them walk away. I honestly can't stand it when people call me he/him pronouns. I usually correct people, but I can't anymore...at least not now since I'll be taking on a job working for the prince of China. If word got out to him that I was correcting people about my pronouns even before signing the contract, he'd probably deny me the job or rip up the contract and I won't be able to hopefully see Sabine again. I can't let that happen. I just have to control myself until after my job is done.

I walked up the stairs to the private jet where I was met with, what I had expected, a temporary assistant. I rolled my eyes, but walked up to them.

" Hello Mr. Yanshi. I was the one who called a few moments ago. I am a temporary assistant for the prince." They said. I nodded and shook their hand firmly.

" May I know what your name is?" I asked them. They shook their head.

" My name is not important. What is important is this contract." They said as they pulled out a contract from within a binder that they held. I nodded and went to grab the contract so I can read over it. Before I could touch the contract, my wrist was grabbed harshly. I looked up at them and they smirked at me.

" The prince just wants you to sign the contract." They said. I squinted my eyes at them.

" So if I'm being cheated on or conditions had been added, I won't know?" I asked, stone cold. They shook their head.

"  I will tell you the new conditions if they have been added, you just have to sign the contract." They said. I sighed in exasperation. I can't say no, because this might be my only way to see my sister, Sabine, again.

" Fine. Tell me about the possible added conditions." I said and they nodded.

" Well, this contract is not temporary. This contract will be maintained for as long as the prince deems it should last. If the prince decides to end the contract after the work is done and he finds no reason to keep you, there will be no consequences and you will continue to live a somewhat normal life. You will be payed 10 million dollars for your job. If you do well and the prince finds another reason for you, he will increase your pay to 20 million dollars. It will continue to increase as long as you work for him and complete your job properly. You also HAVE to follow his first condition of using the pronouns of the gender you were born as, the whole time you work for the prince. Is that understood?" They said and I couldn't disagree about anything even if I wanted to. I nodded and held out my hand for a pen. They handed me a pen and I grabbed it. They opened the contract and pointed all the places where I needed to sign.

After that was done and over with, I was finally told my assigned job. Who I was investigating for the prince.

" You will be investigating Esmé Juliard, maiden name Tailor. Find out everything about her and her family. We already have an apartment ready for you to live in while you are investigating the family. It is close to their estate." They said. I rolled my eyes and nodded.

" Consider it done." I said as I slumped on the sofa-chair. They looked at me in satisfaction and put away the contract into their binder.

" Now will you allow me to sleep as we head off to New York City?" I asked in an annoyed tone. They nodded and I immediately got comfortable and went to sleep after, of course, putting on my seat belt in order to keep me safe through out the journey.
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Once the jet landed, I went into business mode. The whole idea of being a private investigator is to go incognito/to not be seen as I do my job. The quieter and sly I am, the quicker the job will get done.

" Mr. Yanshi, it's time to leave and commence your job." The temporary assistant said. I nodded and walked got out of the jet with my suitcase. The whole airport process was a blur for me. Before I left the jet, the temporary assistant gave me the keys to my new apartment, the address to my new apartment, and a card with 10 million dollars in it. They also gave me some cash in order to pay for a taxi.

I immediately went to grab a cab, and once I was successful, I made my way to my new apartment. I payed the taxi driver more than enough for the lift and exited the taxi once I made it to my new apartment building. I entered the building and I walked to the front desk, signing into the room I will be staying at. They quickly got me set up and took me to my room. Turns out I was given the presidential suite and the employee was very kind to me, probably because of that fact. I entered the room with the key I was given, which was a card key. I was also given a 6 digit password at the front desk if I forgot or lost the card key. If I do lose the card key, I can just buy a replacement, but it will cost a lot of money since I will be living in the presidential suite and well, wealthy people can pay it without a problem. Guess I'm wealthy now with 10 million dollars on the card I was given. I mean as a private investigator who is one of the best in the business, I never had problems financially. When I was younger, is a different story.

" Alright, to commence the investigating process. First I have to look up the basis of this Esmé Tailor/ Juliard. Who is she? What is her background? I have to find everything about her." I said loudly to myself as I took out my laptop from my suitcase.  I immediately began to look her up on everything that was known and popular. I took a bunch of notes on a notepad, that was a complementary gift from the suite, about Esmé Juliard/ Tailor. Finally, I was done taking a ton of notes and going over it.

The Juliards are a family who had a successful jewelry company for generations and they are looking to expand it. Esmé Tailor was a middle class young woman who was ambitious and wanted to live the high class life. She met Baron Juliard on accident and she quickly noticed his wealth. She seduced him and made Baron fall in love with her, having a one-night stand. She turned out to be pregnant with his child which forced her to move into his home and marry him. His parents did not approve, but it was too late. Once the Baron married, he would be the heir of the Juliard fortune.

Later Baron found out that Esmé had incredible ideas to expand the business. Her idea was to expand into the fashion brand by designing clothes that will make the jewelry shine even brighter. Her idea was shot down at first, but then she showed Baron her skills in tailoring suits and dresses, fitting her maiden name perfectly. Soon enough they executed the plan and it became a huge hit. The clothing Esmé made was mesmerizing to the public and it in fact did make the jewelry shine unbelievably brighter than before. Even so, Esmé Juliard was never seen by the public eye.

Once the child was born, they were also hidden from the public. Nobody knows what the child's name is even 'til this day. The Juliards never took a day off however, making the public wonder if the child and wife are even real.

In the contract that was given to me by the prince, it states that Esmé and the prince were going out together during the period after the child was born. Turns out the prince of China fell in love with Esmé and they slept with each other. Esmé was not aware of the Prince's true identity which showed that she truly cared about him, but not enough to choose him over Baron who was rich. Esmé never told the prince that she was married to Baron Juliard and every time the prince asked about Esmé Juliard, she would laugh it off and say that it must be someone with a similar name. One day she stopped calling him and stopped showing up in front of him. He has a suspicion that Esmé Juliard is his Esmé.

Well corrupted prince, she is in fact the same person. How pitiful for you. Esmé was being unfaithful to her husband Baron Juliard. She had an affair with the prince for months and suddenly disappeared. She has a child with Baron but seems unhappy with the relationship if she decided to have an affair with the prince.

" Now let's see what she's been up to since then." I said to myself and began to quickly work, planning on how I will investigate her private life in her estate.

After I was done planning, it was time to put my plan into action.
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( The next day)

After walking around the estate, I figured out the lay out and possibilities that were available. In order to investigate the inside of their home, such as the front gigantic gate and the passcode or the security behind it, it had to be done. Also, I find it strange that there are no human security guards even though it is a HUGE residence that they own. They don't have any security cameras around the estate, except the few outside the gigantic gate. It seems quite odd that the only ones who come out, are Mr. Juliard, Esmé Juliard, and who I assume is their chef or butler.  like they don't want people to see what's going on inside...

Of course I understand it would be difficult to see through the tinted windows, but I own a device that is disguised as normal glasses, not tinted, that will digitally clear out the tinted windows and allow me to see through it. I've noticed that their is a tall bush covering up a window in the back that leads to the kitchen. I hid behind the bush and looked through the window. This is where I can see two people other than the Juliards. One of them is what I again assume is the chef or butler (maybe both?) and the other one is a maid. They are  wearing a maid uniform and they have short, dark brown hair. I haven't seen their face at all, but they are taking care of two infants. They are usually with the babies and I rarely see Esmé Juliard or Baron Juliard come into the kitchen. I don't believe the children belong to Esmé and Baron Juliard. I believe they are the children of the maid and butler/chef. That or the infants are in fact the Juliards, but they are negligent towards them. 

I can't be too sure, since I've only been watching them for a day and I will have to go back today, but this time, I will grab my listening device. I could have used it from the beginning, but I needed to make sure, how many cameras and people were around. How many people actually live there....

I stealthily made my way around the estate and back to where I hid yesterday behind the tall bush. I made sure to bring my hearing device which looks like an MP3 player that can stick onto walls of any type. By sticking it on the walls, it helps the listening device locate sounds and voices through the wall it is stuck on at that moment. To be even more careful, it can be used with headphones or earphones and effectively transfer even the slightest whisper/mumble clearly to you.

I stuck the device on the wall and connected my earphones to the device. I already had my glasses that can see through tinted windows on and took out a notepad and a pen to take notes of what they said, who said it, and so on.

" Ms. Chi, you are in charge of watching the babies until My husband and I return from work as always." Said who I assume is Esmé Juliard. So the two infants really are Esmé and Baron Juliard's children. I quickly wrote that down without looking down at the notepad.

" Yes Madam, anything else?" Said a familiar voice, but I couldn't quite put a name to it. I looked at the person who was facing the floor while bowing slightly. They had a slightly french accent.

" No, other than your everyday work schedule, nothing new." Esmé said and walked away. I can hear her heals clank loudly on the marble floor and I decided to take off my earphones for a bit. I then put them back on and I wish I didn't take them off at all, because the cook/butler walked in and addressed the maid with a familiar voice. The maid now has their back faced towards the window, now facing the cook/butler.

" I know Tom...the Juliards really don't deserve to be parents in the first place if they don't even give their children the attention they need. Marie just turned 1 year old a few day ago and is already learning how to speak short sentences, although with a lot of stuttering and babbling but still. I wanted to quit, but now I can't, especially now that I'm so attached to these little ones."  The maid said turning around 90 degrees in order to face the infant in the crib and 1 year old whose name is Marie, playing with the lace on the blanket that is hanging out of the un-identified infant while sitting down on the clean marbled floor in her light green onesie with purple and blue polka dots all over.
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I stayed there for a while, writing down anything I found necessary or helpful. So far I only got that Mrs. Juliard and Baron Juliard have another secret child that wasn't on record. I wrote down that there may be a possibility that the infant is a child from infidelity. It may be Baron's biological child, but considering Esmé's past information, that may not be the case. I wrote down that there may be a possibility that the infant is a child from infidelity. It could be the corrupted prince's child or someone else, depending if Esmé had more affairs with another person other than the corrupted prince. There doesn't seem to be a lot going on in the family.  Just your average case of infidelity in a rich household and child abandonment, but I can't get involved because there are workers taking care of them. I'll have to report this back soon, but I'll stay a bit longer. I haven't gotten anything about my sister Sabine.

I put everything away and got ready for bed, hoping that I'll find Sabine tomorrow.