Rhys suffers from a mysterious illness—each attack leaves him gasping and paralyzed. During an episode at a bar, drunken Serena stumbles into him, their fates tangling in the haze of alcohol. Upon waking, Rhys finds his symptoms inexplicably eased, realizing she holds the key to his cure—but all he recovers is her jade pendant. He dispatches assistants to scour the city for its owner. Meanwhile, Serena returns home to her mother’s furious interrogation—only for shadowed hands to shove her mother off the balcony. She watches, helpless, as blood blooms across the steps.