With that view in mind she set her scene, she chose her clothes with care, applied her makeup with a practiced hand, and let a bit more of her glamour slip.

Her skin became seductively iridescent as she let more of her true self show. Her claws, horns, and teeth remained masked and she nodded at the finished work in the mirror.

She didn’t bother to check the sleeping figure, nothing had changed, there was no masking it if he was awake. Taking the bottle of wine, a brand she had noticed Lei Zhao loved, she walked out of her room.

The cool rays of the early evening sun suffused the house with a warm glow, Yue Yan marched through the house regally, carefully. Strutting through the rooms as if she was a queen and this was her domain, she hungered for that power and when she dispatched Yan Mei it would be.

She walked to the back quarters and dismissed everyone. From the housekeeper to her own live-in nurse, everyone was dismissed with a few curt instructions.

Like so much sheepishly they disbanded, almost catatonic in their need to do as she desired. A little push of compulsion into her words had them forgetting that she was not the lady of the house, that she was just a guest and had no right to order them around.

However, she wasn’t doing it out of the goodness of her heart to spare them, she had half a mind to compel them to fight to the death among each other, the power just boiling under her skin almost demanded it. But she really didn’t need them there, only the major players would witness this stage of the game.

When she was satisfied that the last person had driven off, plucked two wine glasses from the kitchen and placed them right beside her bottle of choice red wine, and waited for Lei Zhao to come home.

He burst into the house with an aura of energy that she could have felt blindfolded. Even from a distance, the force of his emotions played like lightning on her skin. Yue Yan smiled and waited for him to find her, Lei Zhao had a habit of scouring the house looking for his wife the moment he came home from work.

She wasn’t afraid that Yan Mei would burst in anytime soon though, she had sent enough calamity to keep her occupied until very late.

Lei Zhao burst into the kitchen with the enthusiasm of a small boy, but his smile dipped slightly when he found her sitting there and not his beloved wife. He smiled at her, but it was a tamer version of what he would offer his wife, and that annoyed her immensely.

”Hey Yue Yan ” he called with a smile as he walked into the kitchen, his enthusiasm somewhat curbed

”Hey Lei Zhao , how was work today?” She returned in the same vein, her smile stilted

”Really good, got a lot done. Enjoy your day off?” he inquired conversationally as he moved to the huge fridge nestled in a corner of the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of water from it.

Yue Yan watched him intently, wondering when he would notice that the house was unusually silent; that it should be bustling with more bodies. “Just something I needed. I was able to make plans and put them in motion.” She informed him with a sly smile

”That’s a productive day then” he commented before chugging the contents of the bottle and disposing of it in the trash.

”Sure. Hey, Lei Zhao ”

”Yeah?” He turned to her with his eyebrows raised

”We need to talk.”

He stalked to the table and took a seat, after removing his suit jacket and placing it on the back of his chair he paid her full attention. “I hope those plans of yours do not include moving out just yet.”

”Oh, I’ve come to the realization that I’m here to stay, at least for a while none of you would let me leave, not yet at least” she informed him with a smile that he returned innocently, unaware of the undertones in her sentence

”Good good, that would just break Yan Mei’s heart, if you left so abruptly” He replied

”What about you?” She asked

He shrugged, “Same.”

”Lei Zhao . I got this for you” she indicated the bottle of wine between the two of them. It was a testament to his trust that he picked up the bottle, glanced at the label, and smiled before frowning.

”Tell me you didn’t spend your hard-earned money on this” there was playful censure in his voice.

She played along, her eyes rounding innocently as she looked up at him in feigned confusion. “It’s a gift”

”It’s not my birthday?” He returned with a playful frown

”No, I just wanted to thank you for….” She never got a chance to finish, she had wanted to thank him for being there for her, what she really meant was making it too easy for her to achieve her aim in more ways than one.

”Stop. Don’t even think about it, you’re my oldest friend and my only regret is that I didn’t know you were alive all these years” his voice veered sharply from playful to a slight tone of despair and guilt, she reveled in it

”Technically I didn’t know it either so we are on the same side. Take the wine Lei Zhao , I know you love it.” She prompted, her smile impossibly wide

*It’s fine wine.*

*The chef has…” she gestured vaguely “prepared it if you’re want to drink now” the compulsion filled the room but she shouldn’t have bothered, the words were barely out of her mouth before he got off the chair and plucked a corkscrew from its perch in the wall and returned to the table.

The cork came free with a low pop and Lei Zhao wafted it under his nose twice before dropping it and picking up the wine glasses.