Chapter Eight : The Man From Her past.
1137 Words
The storm outside WeiTech Tower intensified.
Lightning slashed across the sky, illuminating the darkened boardroom for only a second before plunging it back into shadow. The power outage had swallowed the entire floor in darkness.
Zhang Mei stood frozen.
The man standing at the doorway looked exactly as she remembered tall, calm, and unsettlingly confident. Rain dripped from his coat onto the polished marble floor.
Guo Ren.
A ghost from her past.
Someone she had buried deep in memories she never wanted to revisit.
Liang Wei stepped forward slightly, positioning himself between Zhang Mei and the stranger.
His voice was calm but cold.
"And you are?"
Guo Ren smiled faintly.
"Someone who knows your wife very well."
Zhang Mei's heart tightened.
Liang Wei's gaze sharpened instantly.
The tension between the two men became thick enough to suffocate the room.
Guo Ren stepped inside, closing the door behind him. The sound echoed heavily in the dark room.
"You've done well for yourself, Mei," he said casually, glancing around the luxurious boardroom. "Marrying the most powerful tech CEO in the country… very impressive."
Zhang Mei finally found her voice.
"What are you doing here?"
Her tone carried no warmth.
Only warning.
Guo Ren shrugged slightly.
"Business."
Liang Wei turned toward her briefly.
"You know him."
It wasn't a question.
Zhang Mei nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Liang Wei's eyes moved back to Guo Ren, studying him like a potential threat.
Which, Zhang Mei knew, he absolutely was.
The emergency lights flickered on faintly, casting dim red shadows across the room.
Guo Ren walked toward the long conference table like he owned the place.
"I came to congratulate you," he said.
Zhang Mei crossed her arms.
"Cut the nonsense."
The smile on his face widened slightly.
"You were always direct."
He leaned against the table.
"But since we're being honest… I'm here because things are about to get very interesting."
Liang Wei spoke again.
"Start making sense."
Guo Ren tilted his head.
"Wang Xiao."
The name hung in the air like poison.
Zhang Mei's expression hardened.
"What about him?"
Guo Ren chuckled quietly.
"You really don't know, do you?"
Liang Wei's patience was thinning.
"If you came here to waste our time ?"
"I came to warn you."
That stopped them both.
Zhang Mei narrowed her eyes.
"Warn us about what?"
Guo Ren's tone dropped.
"The war that's about to destroy WeiTech."
Silence filled the room.
Rain pounded harder against the windows.
Liang Wei folded his arms.
"You expect us to believe you're suddenly concerned about our company?"
Guo Ren's eyes flicked toward Zhang Mei.
"I'm not concerned about the company."
A pause.
"I'm concerned about her."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Liang Wei's jaw tightened.
Zhang Mei stepped forward before the tension escalated further.
"What do you know about Wang Xiao?"
Guo Ren studied her for a long moment.
Then he said quietly,
"He's not just attacking WeiTech."
Zhang Mei felt her pulse quicken.
"What do you mean?"
Guo Ren looked directly at Liang Wei.
"He's targeting Zhang Mei."
Liang Wei's expression darkened.
Zhang Mei's voice sharpened.
"Explain."
Guo Ren pushed away from the table and began pacing slowly.
"You remember the shipping empire your family built."
Zhang Mei nodded.
Her family's business had once controlled a massive portion of international trade routes.
But after a series of internal conflicts and betrayals, the empire had fractured.
"What does that have to do with Wang Xiao?"
Guo Ren stopped walking.
"Everything."
Liang Wei leaned slightly forward.
"Keep talking."
Guo Ren's voice became more serious.
"Wang Xiao isn't just a rival CEO."
Zhang Mei's heart thudded heavily in her chest.
"He's connected to the people who destroyed your family's empire."
The words hit like a bomb.
Zhang Mei's mind spun.
"That's impossible."
Guo Ren shook his head.
"No."
His eyes were deadly serious.
"It's very possible."
Lightning flashed again outside the window.
Liang Wei glanced at Zhang Mei.
For the first time since he met her, he saw something unfamiliar in her eyes.
Fear.
Guo Ren continued quietly.
"Years ago, when your family lost control of the shipping routes, certain investors stepped in."
Zhang Mei remembered.
Her grandfather had mentioned it once.
Shadow investors.
People who had quietly bought pieces of the empire.
"Those investors now control several corporations."
Guo Ren paused.
"And one of those corporations belongs to Wang Xiao."
The realization hit Zhang Mei like ice water.
"He planned this."
Guo Ren nodded.
"Not just the corporate attacks."
He looked directly at her.
"The marriage too."
Zhang Mei's stomach twisted.
"What?"
Liang Wei's voice dropped dangerously.
"Choose your next words carefully."
But Guo Ren didn't hesitate.
"Wang Xiao expected Zhang Mei to marry someone powerful."
He paused.
"Someone exactly like you."
The room fell silent.
Rain thundered outside.
Zhang Mei tried to process the information.
"You're saying… our marriage was part of his plan?"
Guo Ren shrugged slightly.
"Let's just say… you walked exactly where he wanted you to walk."
Liang Wei suddenly laughed quietly.
But there was no humor in the sound.
"So he thinks he can manipulate us."
Guo Ren looked at him calmly.
"He doesn't think."
A pause.
"He knows."
Liang Wei stepped closer to him.
Their eyes locked.
"You seem to know a lot."
Guo Ren met his gaze without flinching.
"I know enough."
Zhang Mei stepped between them before the tension exploded.
"Why are you telling us this?"
Guo Ren looked at her softly.
"For old times."
She shook her head.
"No."
Her voice was firm.
"You never do anything for nothing."
Guo Ren smiled slightly.
"Still sharp."
He walked toward the door.
"But believe me or not… the next attack is coming soon."
He opened the door.
Then paused.
"And this time… it won't just be about money."
Zhang Mei's heart pounded.
"What do you mean?"
Guo Ren looked back at her.
His expression suddenly serious.
"Someone close to you will get hurt."
The door closed behind him.
Silence swallowed the room.
Zhang Mei stood still for a long moment.
Then she whispered,
"This isn't good."
Liang Wei stepped closer to her.
His voice softened slightly.
"We'll handle it."
She looked at him.
For the first time since their chaotic marriage began, the distance between them felt smaller.
Danger had a way of forcing people closer.
Lightning flashed again.
And suddenly Liang Wei's phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
His expression changed instantly.
Zhang Mei felt a chill.
"What is it?"
He slowly turned the phone toward her.
A breaking news alert flashed across the screen.
"Emergency WeiTech's primary data center has been breached."
Zhang Mei's heart dropped.
Liang Wei's voice was dangerously calm.
"Wang Xiao just made his next move."
And somewhere in the city…
A man watched the news with a satisfied smile.
The real game had finally begun.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD