1 I was in a rush to catch a flight for an international conference, but the TSA agent stopped me dead in my tracks. “Ma’am, our scanner is picking up some unidentified metal on your person. We’ll need you to step aside for a secondary screening.” A spike of anxiety hit me, but I understood the procedure. I fumbled through my pockets and finally found a stray coin I’d forgotten. But just as I was about to move on, she stopped me again. “Your shoes have rather thick soles. They’ll need to be screened separately.” Another twenty minutes evaporated as my shoes were turned over, prodded, and scanned before finally being returned. My departure time was now dangerously close. I grabbed my suitcase, ready to sprint to the gate. But the agent, her face fixed in the same plastic, corporate smile, pointed to the cast on my arm and stopped me for a third time. “Ma’am, for flight safety, we’ll need to conduct a further inspection of your cast…” … “Why didn’t you check it all at once? I’m going to miss my flight!” I finally snapped, my patience worn to a thread after being repeatedly pulled from the line. “How do you even inspect a cast? My arm is broken! This isn’t something I can just slip on and off!” But my anger was met with that same infuriatingly calm, plastic smile. “I’m sorry, Ms. Morgan, but we have to follow protocol.” “Please cooperate with airport regulations. We’re just doing our jobs. Please don’t make this difficult for us.” As she spoke, she ran a handheld scanner over my arm. Beep. Beep. Beep. The alarm blared again. “I’m sorry, but you’ll need to come with us to a private screening room for a more thorough check.” I had already glanced at her name tag. Tina. Of all the agents, she was the one giving me the hardest time, her focus on me feeling less like procedure and more like a personal vendetta. I could feel the malice radiating from her, and I refused without a second thought. “I refuse. I’ve never heard of inspecting a medical cast! You’re deliberately targeting me!” My outburst caught the attention of other passengers, and a few spoke up in my defense. “She’s right, you’ve been checking her for ages. She hardly looks like she’s smuggling contraband.” “I’m on the same flight. We’re really cutting it close! Can’t you make an exception?” “Yeah, this seems like you’re going way too far.” Tina just offered them a hollow smile. “Going too far? I’m not sure what you mean. I’m just following the rules. Can any of you personally guarantee there’s nothing hidden in Ms. Morgan’s cast? Can you take personal responsibility for her if she becomes a threat on foreign soil? If just one of you is willing to sign off on that responsibility, I will let her go right now.” The crowd immediately went silent. I gritted my teeth and tried to walk past, but two security guards materialized, blocking my path. Just then, a different sentiment rose from the other passengers on my flight, their own patience wearing thin. “Just cooperate with them so we can all get moving!” “We’ve been waiting here forever! My time is valuable too!” “If I miss my business deal because of this, are you going to pay for it?” Defeated, I let the guards lead me to the small, sterile room. I braced myself for more harassment, but I wasn’t prepared for Tina’s first command. “Alright, you can start undressing. Please cooperate with the investigation.” I froze. The door clicked shut, leaving me alone with Tina and a few other female guards. What followed was a methodical, humiliating search. They made me strip down completely, not even allowing me to keep my underwear on. I had to bite back waves of fury, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. When they were finally done with my body, I presented the hospital documents for my arm, proving the cast contained surgical steel pins from the fracture. Tina scanned the doctor’s report and handed it back, her lips pulling into a smirk that didn't reach her eyes. “You’re cleared to go. Sorry for the… inconvenience, Ms. Morgan.” I was seething. I jabbed a finger at her name tag. “Tina, is it? I’ll remember you.” She just gave me that robotic smile again. “You’re welcome to. If it helps you remember the airport’s dress code next time, then by all means, remember me.” “Now, we’ll need to escort you through the main security check one more time.” I shot her a venomous glare, pulled my clothes back on, and stormed out to go through the screening process again. I thought it was just a formality, but as a series of sharp beeps pierced the air, Tina once again stepped in front of me. 2 “What now?!” Seeing her infuriating face again, I felt like I was about to lose my mind. But Tina just kept smiling. “One moment, Ms. Morgan. You dropped this.” I stared as she held out my handbag. Had I misjudged her? Was this a moment of actual helpfulness? I took the bag, a flicker of confusion cutting through my anger. But as I turned to leave, she spoke again. “I’m very sorry, but according to regulations, we still can’t let you pass.” I was so stunned by the sheer audacity that I burst out laughing. “And what is it this time? You’ve already searched every inch of me!” Tina shrugged. “The physical inspection was clear, that’s true. However, your case is… unusual. Given the multiple alarms, it’s beyond my authority to clear you. Every one of your screenings has been logged in the system, so I’ll have to report this to my supervisor. You can leave once he gives the all-clear.” I could practically hear the plane’s engines spooling up on the tarmac. I took a deep, steadying breath. “I told you, this is a business trip! A crucial one! If I miss this flight, my company could face massive losses. Are you prepared to compensate for that?” Tina’s expression remained placid, unmoved. “If you attempt to force your way through security, you’ll be breaking federal law. That’s a situation far beyond my control.” I forced myself to ask through clenched teeth, “And when is your supervisor arriving?” She held up a hand in a ‘stop’ gesture and pulled out her phone, tapping the screen a few times. “I’m filing the report now. Please be patient.” But as I watched her, she just kept tapping, a blank expression on her face. My own anxiety spiked. In a flash of impulse, I snatched the phone from her hand. She was scrolling through a celebrity gossip site. She wasn’t filing any report. “What is the meaning of this? You’re doing this on purpose! You want me to miss my flight!” I pointed at the screen, my voice rising as the last of my composure finally shattered. “From the moment you saw me, you’ve been targeting me! The endless checks, and now this!” “Tina! I don’t even know you! We have no history, no reason for you to hate me! Why are you doing this to me? Are you going to tell me that scrolling through gossip is also part of your ‘protocol’? Can you stand there and take responsibility for a single word you’ve said to me?!” Her jaw tightened, her own mask of calm cracking for a second. I saw her clench and unclench her fists before she smoothed her features back into that plastic smile. “Ms. Morgan, please don’t bring your personal emotions into this. I assure you, my supervisor has been notified. As for my phone, that is my personal property. Your actions are incredibly rude.” She took a step closer, her smile fixed but her eyes burning with venom. She spoke in a low, biting whisper. “Don’t you think?” I closed my eyes, taking one last shot. “How long until your supervisor gets here?” Tina glanced at her watch, a look of mock contemplation on her face, before giving me an impossible answer. “Oh, I’d say… about three hours.” 3 “Are you kidding me? My flight is boarding right now! You’re doing this deliberately, aren’t you?!” I roared, but Tina just gave me a helpless-looking smile. “I’m sorry, Ms. Morgan, but my hands are tied. My supervisor is currently at a training conference overseas. With the time difference, he probably hasn’t even seen my message. You’ll just have to wait.” Her calm, indifferent tone was designed to drive me insane. I felt a wave of despair wash over me. I had no idea what cosmic bad luck I’d stumbled into lately, but nothing was going right. Two nights ago, I was walking home late from work when I saw a group of thugs harassing a young woman. I intervened. I’m not a fighter, but I managed to create enough of a scene to save her. In the process, I ended up with a broken arm. Then, before I was even discharged from the hospital, my boss forced this international conference on me, making me sign a do-or-die contract: land the deal, or pay the company a fortune in damages. And now this. My one chance to get there, sabotaged by a rogue TSA agent. How did this happen? I was the one who did the right thing, who saved someone. Why was I the one being punished? My mind raced, connecting the dots. Something felt deeply wrong about all this. I looked Tina dead in the eye. “I demand to speak to your supervisor’s superior. I don’t care who it is. I have to be on that flight today, no matter what.” Tina just shook her head. “Ms. Morgan, you’re just a passenger. You don’t have the right to speak directly with our upper management. The only solution is to wait for my supervisor’s approval. Otherwise, none of us can take that responsibility.” I lunged forward and grabbed her by the collar of her uniform. “When is this going to end?! What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Let me through, now!” Her eyes met mine, and a real, triumphant smile finally broke through the plastic facade. “Ms. Morgan, please calm down! Violence won’t solve anything.” Her words made me pause. I realized the security guards had closed in, forming a tight circle around me. My actions, my words… I was becoming unhinged. I was about to let her go, but she suddenly clamped her hand around my wrist, her voice dropping to a whisper only I could hear. “Stella, that’s right, I am targeting you. Your little brain has probably figured that much out by now, hasn’t it?” “And I’m telling you, as long as I’m standing here, you won’t be getting on any flight today.” I stared into her vicious eyes, realizing she was deliberately pushing my buttons, trying to make me snap. “...What did you say?” Just then, the final boarding call for my flight echoed through the terminal. On pure instinct, I tried to shove her away. But she anticipated it, grabbing my arm and shouting for everyone to hear. “What are you doing? Are you trying to breach security?!” She clung to me like a leech. “Let me go!” I yelled, my voice frantic. “You’re doing this on purpose! None of you can be trusted!” I finally ripped my arm free, my blood boiling. I turned, fully intending to make a run for it, but I caught a flicker of pure anticipation in Tina’s eyes. I stopped in my tracks. It hit me like a physical blow. She wants me to lose it. In front of everyone. My outburst had drawn a huge crowd. They were whispering, filming me with their phones. Some were even live-streaming. “Look, someone’s causing trouble! Trying to force her way through security with contraband!” “Hey everyone, I’m live at the scene! You can see the standoff happening right now!” “Rumor is she has a bomb! Can’t confirm, but it’s what everyone’s saying!” In the few moments I’d been silent, the narrative had completely twisted. I was no longer the victim; I was the threat. “So that’s your game,” I hissed, glaring at Tina. This woman was dangerously manipulative. “You want me to make a scene, to get violent, so you have an excuse to detain me!” Tina put on a perfect mask of confusion. “Ms. Morgan, I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I would advise you not to escalate this situation.” She and the guards formed a wall in front of me. She smiled gently. “Because if this gets any bigger, the police will get involved. And then it will be out of the airport’s hands entirely. You understand, don’t you?” I looked at the growing crowd, at the sea of phones all pointed at me, and I finally understood. This wasn’t just a random act of malice. This was an ambush. 4 My mind flashed back to the rescue. As the thugs ran off, their leader had shouted a threat over his shoulder. “You bitch! You have no idea who you just crossed! She belongs to the Young Master! You stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, and he will make you pay!” I hadn’t thought anything of his "Young Master" comment at the time. But now, it was clear. This was his revenge. And whoever this “Young Master” was, he had enough power to orchestrate this entire nightmare. I took a step back, a knot of real fear tightening in my stomach. This wasn't some street punk. This was someone with connections, with power. This entire business trip was probably part of their trap. Seeing me hesitate, Tina’s eyes flashed with impatience. She decided to needle me again. “It’s a real shame this has happened. And according to the message my supervisor just sent, it looks like his arrival might be delayed even further.” She put on a show of sympathy, as if she were on my side. “Why don’t you just let us open up the cast? We can take a look, and then everyone can be on their way.” Before I could respond, a message from my boss lit up my phone. “What the hell is going on, Stella? Why haven’t you boarded yet?! I’m telling you, if you blow this deal, you’ll be paying us back according to the contract!” I hung up, feeling like the whole world was closing in on me. But the more they pushed, the more certain I was that this was a setup. I ignored the flood of angry texts from my boss and abandoned any hope of making my flight. To everyone’s surprise, I walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. Tina was stunned for a second, then her voice rang out. “Ms. Morgan! Just because you refuse to cooperate with our inspection doesn’t mean you can throw a tantrum and stage a sit-in!” I couldn’t believe she was twisting it again. Before I could even react, the security guards, who had clearly been waiting for their cue, swarmed me, pinning me to the ground. “What are you doing?! Let me go!” I screamed, struggling against them. One of the guards deliberately kicked my casted arm. An explosion of white-hot pain silenced me. As Tina shouted that I was assaulting her security personnel, fists rained down on me. “You… you monsters!” I choked out. The commotion drew an even larger crowd of onlookers, all of them fed the same false story. “That’s the woman who was carrying explosives! Now she’s attacking the guards!” “It’s true! I saw her grab the female agent’s uniform earlier!” “This is terrifying! Who is she? What was she planning to do on the plane?!” I spat out a mouthful of blood as the tide of public opinion turned completely against me. They dragged me back into that little black room, a gauntlet of pointing fingers and flashing cameras all the way. Thud. The door slammed shut. I gasped for breath, and as my vision cleared, I saw a man sitting in a chair, watching me. He was dressed in expensive, flashy clothes, his hair a shock of bleached blond. “...Who are you?” I managed. He smirked. “Your name is Stella Morgan, right? You know, you really should have learned to mind your own business.” “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Adrian Zhao. You ruined my plans, so now you get to deal with the Zhao family’s payback.” Seeing the deep-seated resentment in his eyes, I knew instantly. He was the one behind the thugs. This entire, elaborate trap—from the airport fiasco to the public humiliation—was all his design. He wanted me to suffer physically and be saddled with a crippling debt from my company. All because I saved that girl. “Pah!” I spat defiantly, glaring at him. “So you’re the kind of coward who hides behind cheap tricks. Who do you think you are? Even if you’re powerful, I don’t believe for a second you’d dare to kill me.” My defiance seemed to amuse him. He let out a short laugh, stood up, and walked over, grinding his shoe onto my cast. “Who am I? I’m the heir to the Zhao Corporation fortune! A worthless little insect like you? I could crush you without a second thought.” He punctuated his sentence with a sharp kick to my stomach. A wave of nausea rolled through me, and I swallowed hard against the bile rising in my throat. Tina scurried forward and knelt to wipe a speck of dust from his shoe with a tissue, which she then tossed onto my chest. “Our company is 70% owned by the Zhao Corporation, Stella. You picked a fight with the wrong people. Isn’t it time you learned some remorse?” Before she even finished speaking, the guards closed in, cracking their knuckles. My eyes widened in terror. I scrambled backward. “Stay away from me!” At that exact moment, the door was kicked off its hinges, and a furious voice roared through the room. “Stop!”
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