In Yoko's eyes, everything transformed so quickly. The vibrant event scene, the colorful costumes, and lights slowly faded, and colors began to disappear. In her gaze, all that remained were white, gray, and black. The whole world soon vanished, leaving only a sorrowful monochrome.

That wasn't all; the sounds around Yoko seemed to be erased from her mind. A boundless sense of emptiness spread, silent yet powerful and instantaneous.

A lively world suddenly went dark in Yoko's sight.

Yoko mechanically finished her speech and went to her seat, her throat tight and bitter, leaving her speechless. The surrounding sounds seemed to cut off completely; only a few words spoken by Ninestar's staff managed to register in her mind.

Nhan was unconscious.

Faye left with Danny.

It was Danny, who had been there, watching and planning everything.

Danny was behind it all.

As if falling into a swamp, every worst feeling pulled at Yoko, leaving her unsure how to react to anything. The sense of unreality made Yoko unable to believe it.

Faye was taken away?

Is this a joke? She was just here, right here.

Danny? How could it be? She was the one who, from the very beginning, always told Faye and me to hug, to hold hands, wasn't she?

Her hands clenched tight, digging into her skin until it bled. But Yoko remained silent. It was precisely because of her silence that everyone thought she was in shock. No one dared to say anything, only letting her sit still. No one dared to leave Yoko alone, so the entire Ninestar team quickly left the stage and escorted Yoko into the waiting room.

Wan immediately updated Thien. Thien, upon hearing the news, cursed furiously over the phone. She was just a moment away from the scene, yet something still happened. The crucial matter now was to investigate what happened to Faye. Thien also demanded that at least two people stay close to Yoko, ensuring nothing happened to her.

Yoko sat on the sofa in the middle of the room, her beautiful red evening gown, snow-white skin, and flowing black hair making her look like a quiet princess. But this princess was strangely empty, like a porcelain doll, staring blankly around.

Then Yoko slowly picked up her phone and dialed the number she always knew by heart. Yoko called Faye.

Only cold beeps answered Yoko; no calls went through. Then, like a stubborn child, Yoko called and called more, call after call, her heart starting to beat faster. She called many times, but all her actions were futile, unable to connect. Yoko then switched to texting.

Where are you?

Where did you go?

Can you come back here to me?

Faye...

Where are you, are you joking with me?

Message bubbles filled the chat window, but it was just a cold chat, with no reply.

The world remained gray, the sounds nothing but stray hums, without melody, without resonance.

"Has everyone gone to find Faye yet?"

Suddenly Yoko spoke, looking at the people around her. She stood up, looking seriously at each person. From Nhan to Wan...

"Why are you all still here? Go find Faye. She said she'd be back, why isn't anyone looking for her?" For the first time in her life, Yoko raised her voice in a challenging tone, then she looked at Min, and the others in the room.

In response, she only received awkward, worried, and even pitiful glances.

"Why isn't anyone looking for her? Why did you let her go!!" Yoko was almost losing control. She frowned, taking a step as if to go outside.

She wanted to find Faye. Everyone must be joking with her; how could Faye just vanish? How could she be taken away? Just a moment ago, she was right here. Yoko went to the room door, opened it, intending to go out, but was blocked by Assistant Nhan.

"Yoko, she's not here. Everyone has searched everywhere."

"Let go of me!!" Yoko was furious, struggling frantically from Nhan's grip.

But just as she opened the door to leave, Thien also rushed in from outside. Thien and Nam had arrived. Both their eyes were extremely serious and worried.

Upon seeing Thien and Nam, Yoko was like a drowning person clutching at a life raft. She grabbed their sleeves, gripping tightly.

"Thien, come with me, I want to find her. Everyone is joking with me, aren't they? She can't be taken away so easily..." Yoko couldn't hold back anymore; her tears began to fall. She couldn't stay calm anymore: "...She's in danger! Thien, blockade all routes, find her..."

Nam's heart felt bitter as she looked at Yoko. Everything happened too quickly, mysteriously and inexplicably, and no one was prepared to react to this incident. Nam stepped forward to support Yoko, preventing her from falling.

"Yoko, Faye... has left here," Nam struggled to inform Yoko of the situation.

"What did you say?" Yoko struggled.

Thien stood right beside them, her face still concealing anger over Faye's departure, mixed with worry for Yoko. Both Nam and Thien realized that Yoko was not well at all.

"Yoko, you need to calm down right now..."

Saying this, to Yoko's astonished gaze, Thien took out her phone.

Right on the phone was a recently posted social media update, an image of Faye leaving the auditorium through a side door. Yoko realized this had just happened.

Leaving the waiting room, Faye went straight out through the side door. Outside the main hall, many fans were standing. This video clip was also filmed by a fan. Faye Peraya appeared, beautiful and radiant. Although her smile wasn't as bright as usual and her eyes lacked light, she was still dazzling with her ethereal beauty. She waved to fans when she saw them recognize her; though she said nothing, she politely stopped to bid her fans goodbye.

And at this moment, Yoko realized that Faye wasn't alone in the clip. Right beside her was... Danny. She had brazenly stood right beside Faye, with no need to hide or conceal herself. She simply and openly left the venue with Faye.

The clip ended with the backs of Faye and the other person.

Faye was gone.

"Faye's not okay. This isn't really her." Yoko immediately said. Just one look, and she could tell Faye wasn't okay at all. How could Faye calmly leave like that?

"Yoko..."

"Faye was forced to leave, don't you see?" Yoko lost her composure, wanting to break free from Nam and Thien to go out and find Faye no matter what.

Thien tried to restrain herself; both she and Nam understood how unstable Yoko was at that moment.

"Faye might have been hypnotized and taken away by Danny. You need to stay calm now so everyone can deal with the problem."

Yoko's face flushed with anger, wanting to struggle free from Thien and Nam's restraint to go outside: "How can I be calm? Faye is in danger, Faye isn't okay, not okay at all..."

"I know something happened to Faye, and we will investigate this and report it to the police. You need to calm down and understand that Faye's life isn't in danger right now. It's just that Faye has left with Danny. And the important thing right now is to immediately start investigating and tracking their whereabouts..." Thien slowly explained.

"No, let me go with you all." Yoko immediately protested.

"Yoko, right now, Thien and I will handle things further and go to the police station to work. You need to stay calm; the company will take you home. You being like this doesn't help at all!!" Nam snapped, trying to make Yoko sober up.

Faye was Nam's best friend. At this moment, Nam was just as worried about Faye as anyone else. But Yoko losing her composure like this truly didn't help.

Nam's shout made Yoko partially sober up. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably, her eyes distraught, worried, yet helpless. Yoko looked at Nam, then at Thien. She suddenly realized how worried they both were for Faye. Everyone was trying to restrain themselves to go find Faye. Yoko's loss of composure wouldn't help at this moment.

Silent for a moment, letting tears roll down her cheeks, Yoko whispered,

"To Faye's house... Take me to Faye's house."

...

Emptiness is an undefined feeling. Sometimes, looking at an empty apartment, you feel an encroaching void. But sometimes, surrounded by people, you feel no one at all, because there's a void in your heart that cannot be filled.

A void in space can be filled with objects. A void between people can be filled with countless different relationships. A void in the mind can be filled with knowledge, reason, and a worldview. But a void in the heart can only be filled with blood, with emotions, and with love.

Right now, Yoko felt only a boundless emptiness spreading, a sense of absence that couldn't be filled. This was Faye's house, but she wasn't here. Yoko sat on the living room rug, quietly dwelling on the negative thoughts that were spreading. Yoko sat like that in the darkness, waiting for hours for any news from Thien and Nam.

Except for the heartbreak, the feeling of her heart being squeezed, making it hard to breathe, and the repeating images in her mind, there was nothing else. Faye's words seemed to echo right in her ear:

Are you hungry? After the event, I'll cook noodles for you when we get home.

Your hands are too cold.

Don't worry, you'll win the award.

You did it, you're so good, you're the best.

Yoko, I love you.

I'll be right back, okay?

"Liar..." Yoko blurted out: "Liar, you're not coming back here to me."

Something happened to her, she's not here anymore.

Why Faye, why her?

Don't you hate me? Why didn't you kill me instead?

At this moment, alone and with no one beside her, no longer having to pretend she was fine, Yoko Apasra looked at the dark space around her. The heartache, which she thought had reached its limit, flared up again and consumed her soul. How could a heart that was still working, still beating, and unharmed, hurt so much, as if someone had cut it with a sharp knife, and now it was bleeding.

Tears began to break their dam once more, drop by drop.

"Don't leave me, please don't let anything happen... Faye... Please don't leave me..."

Yoko cried. It started with silent tears, gradually turning into sobs and then loud weeping. And then the entire space was filled only with Yoko's heartbreaking cries.

No one heard it, no one knew how heartbroken Yoko was at that moment, and no one witnessed Yoko's tears. It was as if someone was squeezing her heart, reminding Yoko that even if her heart were truly cut and bleeding, it probably wouldn't hurt this much. Yet no one understood, no one knew how heartbroken she was by Faye's departure.

That night Faye left, the luxurious penthouse apartment was filled only with heartbreaking sobs. Yoko Apasra, still in her red dress, stunningly beautiful, lay on the living room rug, crying until she passed out.

No one beside her, no one to wipe her tears, no one to comfort her.

The free and happy princess was, in just one night, imprisoned.

But this was only the first day.

The first day of Apasra's life truly without Peraya.

The first day Yoko Apasra was forced to grow up.

Faye Peraya left under normal circumstances but so unexpectedly that no one could react in time or believe that something had happened to Faye. On the day of the event, Faye interacted with fans, chatted a few words, and then left. Following the building's CCTV and surrounding areas, Thien investigated Faye's direction of travel.

Danny walked calmly beside Faye, with no sign of coercion or force. The two got into a black car and drove away. That car went to a train station. Faye wore a long coat, a mask, and a hat so no one would recognize her. Both boarded an express train, and their trail was lost from there.

That night, Thien and Nam had to work frantically, contacting their connections to track Faye's whereabouts. But the search area was too wide, so both were doing their best. The difficulty was that Faye didn't resist and showed no signs of being forced, so it was impossible to report it as a suspected kidnapping.

Thien's industry contacts also sighed and shook their heads. They could only help Thien by using their networks to search for Faye, but they couldn't publicly look for someone who had 'voluntarily' left like that.

Even Faye and Yoko's fans didn't know what happened. Everything was normal right before the event. Near the end of the event, Faye left with some staff members. Yoko then accepted the couple's award alone and cried. After that, they only saw Yoko being escorted out of the event, her eyes red, without even greeting the fans.

All the fans were bewildered and worried, not understanding what happened. Some were so worried that they stayed in the center, discussing and waiting, when they saw a group of police officers appear, working with the organizers to extract event footage that very night. The police even questioned a few fans about Faye's state when she left. This made the fans even more uneasy.

Then, rumors began to circulate, a shocking piece of news that no one could believe or accept.

Faye Peraya left. Faye Peraya abandoned Yoko Apasra and left.

This news appeared and spread like wildfire across dry grass. Because no one could explain why Faye would leave at such a crucial moment. No one understood, and no one knew the full story, so the news exploded horribly. Everywhere, from social media sites to newspapers and forums, everyone discussed this incident.

Faye's family, upon receiving the news, also couldn't believe it. Nam, Faye's closest friend, was also one of the most composed people at that moment. Nam took responsibility for informing Faye's adoptive mother of the news. But contrary to the expected worry, Nam received surprising news. The day after she disappeared, Faye had texted her adoptive mother, saying she was fine, so her mother shouldn't worry.

A mother's intuition told Faye's mother that Faye was not okay. But that same intuition told her that Faye's life wouldn't be in danger or that she wouldn't be harmed. So when Nam came to report the news, despite being very worried about Faye, she was able to hold on during this difficult time.

Faye's disappearance was also a fatal blow to Ninestar and Galaxy. Faye and Yoko were an extremely popular artist duo on an international level; they had many international fans, and now almost every country was discussing this matter. Many plans had been made for the two of them beforehand. But Faye's disappearance caused all these collaborative plans to be disrupted and postponed indefinitely. Ninestar even had to contact its parent company, Galaxy, to jointly handle this major issue.

But of all those affected by Faye's disappearance, no one was affected as severely as Yoko Apasra.

Yoko quietly returned to her apartment. And then locked herself indoors for two consecutive weeks. She didn't contact anyone, living aimlessly, trying to wake up each day only to realize she was living in a world without Faye.

And Yoko's withdrawal, her complete silence, caused fans worldwide to erupt.

They frantically searched, not understanding what was happening, nor why things turned out this way.

Didn't everything seem fine the day before?

This crisis was beyond anyone's imagination. The silence and disappearance of Faye and Yoko left no one peaceful or happy, plunging everyone into prolonged anxiety and unanswered questions.

Where did Faye Peraya go?

And Yoko Apasra, why was she so silent?

Crisis spread throughout everyone's minds.