PATH OF THE SHADOW

FRIENDS OR WATCHDOG

The forty-second floor had returned to normal by nine in the morning.

That was what made Lin Wei uneasy.

People were walking between cubicles with coffee cups in their hands. Printers were producing reports. Phones were ringing. Assistants were carrying documents toward the executive offices. The giant digital clock above the reception desk continued counting the seconds as though nothing unusual had happened.

But Lin Wei knew better.

Something had changed.

She sat at her desk with her hands folded together, staring at the empty space where her employee badge normally rested.

Manager Zhao had taken it less than an hour ago.

Her official access to the financial archives had been suspended.

An investigation had been opened against her.

And somewhere inside the building, someone had classified her as a high-risk employee.

She kept thinking about the document that had appeared on the forgotten workstation.

LIN WEI — INTERNAL RISK CLASSIFICATION: HIGH.

PHASE TWO: BEGIN.

Who had created it?

And what exactly was Phase Two?

She had managed to photograph the screen before it disappeared, but the image was incomplete. The system had automatically closed the document after several seconds, leaving her with only a partial identification code.

She zoomed in on the photograph using her phone.

The code began with three letters:

CIR.

Then came six numbers.

She had never seen the classification system before.

"You're staring at that picture like it owes you money."

Lin Wei immediately locked her phone.

Zhang Yu stood beside her desk.

He had a paper cup in one hand and a tablet tucked beneath his arm.

"Don't do that," he said.

"Do what?"

"Look innocent. You're terrible at it."

Despite everything, Lin Wei almost smiled.

Almost.

"You shouldn't be standing here."

"I know."

"Manager Zhao specifically told you to stay away from me."

"I know that too."

"Then why are you here?"

Zhang Yu pulled a chair closer and sat down.

"Because I'm beginning to think I made a mistake."

Lin Wei lowered her voice.

"What kind of mistake?"

"Helping you."

She studied him.

"Do you regret it?"

"No."

His answer came immediately.

"Then what?"

"I underestimated how organized these people are."

He placed the tablet on her desk and opened a document.

"I spent the last hour checking the security logs."

Lin Wei leaned toward the screen.

"Did you find the person who accessed the archive?"

"Not directly."

"Then what did you find?"

Zhang Yu rotated the tablet toward her.

"Three months ago, someone created a hidden administrator account on the financial network."

Lin Wei frowned.

"Hidden?"

"It doesn't appear on the normal employee directory. It doesn't appear in the regular security dashboard either."

"Who has access?"

"That's what I'm trying to determine."

He scrolled through several lines of technical information.

"The account has something called CIR clearance."

Lin Wei's eyes widened.

"CIR."

"The same code from the document."

Zhang Yu nodded.

"Corporate Intelligence and Risk."

"Is that an official department?"

"Not exactly."

Lin Wei looked confused.

"Then what is it?"

"A restricted internal security division."

"Why have I never heard of it?"

"Because ordinary employees aren't supposed to."

Lin Wei leaned back.

"What does CIR do?"

Zhang Yu hesitated.

"Officially? Internal threat assessment."

"And unofficially?"

"Employee surveillance."

The words settled heavily between them.

Lin Wei glanced around the office.

The cameras mounted on the ceiling suddenly seemed much more noticeable.

"So they've been monitoring employees?"

"Probably."

"How long?"

"I don't know."

"Does the chairman control it?"

Zhang Yu's expression changed.

"That's the question we shouldn't be asking without evidence."

Lin Wei understood.

The chairman's name had appeared on the offshore accounts.

Now a secret internal intelligence division had surfaced.

The pieces were beginning to connect.

"Show me the archive access log again," she said.

Zhang Yu opened the record.

"Look at the timestamp."

23:37:12

Lin Wei frowned.

"What?"

"The person who accessed Archive Room 4 used your employee credentials."

"I know."

"No. Look at the security camera."

He opened another file.

The video showed the archive corridor.

A woman walked toward the archive door.

She was wearing a dark coat and carrying a handbag.

Her face was partially hidden.

Lin Wei stared.

"That's me."

"Exactly."

"But I wasn't here."

"I know."

The video continued.

The woman approached the door, scanned an employee badge, and entered.

Five minutes later, she came out carrying a folder.

Lin Wei felt a cold sensation move through her body.

"They made a recording of me."

Zhang Yu nodded.

"That's not the worst part."

He opened another video.

This time, the footage showed the corridor from a different angle.

A man stood near the emergency staircase.

He watched the woman enter the archive.

Lin Wei recognized him immediately.

"That's Mr. Gao."

Lu Zhenhua's personal assistant.

Zhang Yu nodded.

"He was here at 11:36."

One minute before the fake Lin Wei entered the archive.

Lin Wei stared at the screen.

"So he was supervising it."

"Maybe."

"You don't sound convinced."

"Because there's something else."

Zhang Yu paused the footage.

A second man appeared in the background.

He stood near the elevators.

His face was barely visible.

But the badge clipped to his jacket was clear.

CIR.

Lin Wei felt her stomach tighten.

"Who is that?"

"I don't know."

"Can you enhance the image?"

"Already tried."

The screen displayed the enlarged face.

It was still too blurry.

But the person appeared to be wearing an executive-level security pass.

Lin Wei stared at him.

"Can you trace the badge?"

"I tried."

"And?"

"According to the system, that badge doesn't exist."

Silence.

The office suddenly felt too small.

Someone had created a fake identity, cloned Lin Wei's credentials, removed financial evidence, and operated inside a supposedly secure corporate building.

This was no longer an accounting problem.

It was an organized operation.

Lin Wei looked toward the executive corridor.

"Zhang."

"Yes?"

"If we tell the police, what happens?"

He looked at her carefully.

"Without hard evidence, they may see it as an internal corporate dispute."

"What if I show them the transaction records?"

"They'll ask where you obtained them."

"The encrypted drive."

"Which was created using company data."

Lin Wei understood.

They could accuse her of stealing confidential information.

She could become the criminal instead of the whistleblower.

Zhang Yu lowered his voice.

"And if the people behind this really have influence inside the company, reporting it openly could tell them exactly what evidence we have."

Lin Wei looked at him.

"Then we need another way."

Before Zhang Yu could answer, his phone vibrated.

He checked the screen.

His face immediately changed.

"What?"

He stood.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone accessed my apartment."

Lin Wei froze.

"What?"

"I just received a security notification from my building."

"Was anything stolen?"

"I don't know."

He grabbed his jacket.

"I need to check."

Lin Wei stood.

"I'm coming."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because if someone is watching us, they may be expecting us to leave together."

Lin Wei stared at him.

He was right.

"Call me when you get there."

"I will."

Zhang Yu walked away.

Lin Wei watched him disappear into the elevator.

For several minutes she remained at her desk.

Then she noticed something.

A small envelope had been placed beside her keyboard.

She hadn't seen it before.

Her pulse quickened.

She looked around.

Nobody appeared to be watching.

She picked it up.

No name.

No stamp.

No writing.

Inside was a photograph.

Lin Wei's breathing stopped.

It was a picture of her leaving the Hengsheng Tower the previous evening.

She was standing outside the metro station.

The photograph had been taken from across the street.

On the back, someone had written:

YOU SHOULD HAVE STOPPED AFTER THE FIRST WARNING.

Lin Wei's fingers tightened around the photograph.

Then her phone vibrated.

A message from an unknown number appeared.

Your friend is not as safe as you think.

She immediately called Zhang Yu.

No answer.

She called again.

Still nothing.

A minute later, another message arrived.

Ask him about the server room fire.

Lin Wei stared at the words.

Server room fire?

What fire?

She looked toward the sixth-floor elevator indicator.

Zhang Yu had told her yesterday that he had been working on the sixth floor.

Rebuilding the internal firewall.

Was that really what he had been doing?

She opened the company intranet and searched historical incident reports.

Nothing.

She tried another database.

Still nothing.

Then she searched the building's maintenance records.

Her screen loaded slowly.

A report appeared.

Incident: Electrical Fire — Server Infrastructure Room 6F.

Date: October 14, 2024.

Lin Wei's eyes widened.

October 14.

The same date appearing in the restored financial logs.

She opened the report.

The incident had been classified as accidental.

One server rack had reportedly overheated and caught fire.

No injuries.

No significant damage.

But one line near the bottom caught her attention.

Data recovery incomplete due to permanent storage corruption.

Lin Wei's heartbeat accelerated.

That couldn't be coincidence.

The offshore routing transactions had begun appearing around the same period.

And now a mysterious server fire had destroyed records on the exact date the financial trail had become active.

She leaned back.

For the first time, she wondered whether Zhang Yu had known about this all along.

Her phone rang.

Zhang Yu.

She answered immediately.

"Where are you?"

His breathing was heavy.

"Don't talk."

Lin Wei froze.

"What happened?"

"Someone is following me."

"Where are you?"

"I'll explain later."

"Zhang—"

"Listen carefully."

His voice dropped to a whisper.

"Do not trust anyone in Hengsheng."

The call ended.

Lin Wei stared at the phone.

A few seconds later, a new message arrived.

This time, there were only four words.

INCLUDING ZHANG YU.

Lin Wei slowly lowered the phone.

She didn't know what frightened her more.

The possibility that Zhang Yu had betrayed her...

or the possibility that someone wanted her to believe he had.

Across the office, the security camera quietly rotated in her direction.

And somewhere inside Hengsheng Tower, someone was watching.