The CEO's Contract Bride

Chapter 21: The Check-In

Ava didn't cry.

That was what scared Ethan the most. After Vivian's cruelty — your father screamed — Ava had gone silent. She sat on their bed, staring at nothing, the photograph of her father clutched in her hand.

"Ava." Ethan sat beside her. "Talk to me."

"She's trying to break me." Ava's voice was flat. "If I cry, she wins."

"She's not going to win." Ethan took her hands. "Listen to me. Vivian is locked in the east wing. She can't hurt you. She can't hurt the baby."

"She's already hurt me." Ava looked at him, her eyes dry and burning. "She killed my father, Ethan. And she enjoyed telling me about it." Her voice cracked. "What kind of monster does that?"

"The kind we're going to destroy." Ethan pulled her into his arms. "I promise you, Ava. On everything I have. She will pay for your father. For all of it."

Ava leaned against him, and finally — finally — the tears came. Silent, shaking sobs that wracked her whole body.

Ethan held her through it, his own eyes wet. He'd fought corporate battles, hostile takeovers, enemies with billions. But he'd never felt as helpless as he did holding his crying wife, unable to undo twenty-two years of pain.

When her sobs quieted, Ava pulled back and wiped her face.

"Okay." She took a shaky breath. "Okay. I'm done crying." Her eyes were fierce. "What do we do now?"

David laid out the situation in Ethan's study.

"Vivian's check-in calls." He pulled up a log. "Every six hours, like clockwork. 6 AM, noon, 6 PM, midnight. Encrypted, routed through proxies — but we've been monitoring since we confined her."

"Can we trace where they go?" Ethan asked.

"We're trying. The encryption is military-grade." David frowned. "But here's the interesting part: the calls are short. Under thirty seconds. It's not a conversation. It's just... a signal. Proof of life."

"So if she misses one—"

"Then whoever's on the other end assumes she's compromised." David nodded grimly. "And we don't know what happens then. The girl, the other Phoenix members — it could trigger anything."

Ethan paced. "So we can't cut her off. We can't arrest her. We just... watch?"

"For now." David hesitated. "But sir, there's something else. I've been thinking about what the Broker wrote. 'Phoenix isn't one person. It's a group.' Vivian claims to be Phoenix. But if she's the leader, why does she need to check in? Leaders don't report. They receive reports."

Ethan stopped pacing. "You're saying she's not the leader."

"I'm saying she might be a leader. Or she might be reporting to someone above her." David pulled up another file. "Think about it, sir. The electronic voice on the phone — the one that called itself Phoenix. Did it sound like Vivian?"

Ethan thought back. The voice had been distorted, inhuman. But Vivian's voice — sharp, cold, distinctly female even through her cruelty. The phone voice had been... neutral. Deliberate.

"No," he said slowly. "It didn't sound like her."

"Exactly." David leaned forward. "Which means there's someone else. Someone above Vivian, or beside her. Someone we haven't met yet."

"Which brings me to Zhou Weimin," David said, pulling up another file.

"What about him?"

"He's still in the city." David showed a hotel registration. "Checked in three days ago under his real name. The Grand Meridian Hotel, suite 1204. He's not hiding, sir. It's like he wants to be found."

"Or he wants us to think he wants to be found." Ethan rubbed his temples. "What do we know about him?"

"Former Gu Group board member. Resigned twenty-two years ago, one month after Lin Guoqiang's death." David scrolled. "After that, he vanished from public records. No company affiliations, no property, nothing. Until three days ago."

"A ghost for twenty-two years." Ethan's eyes narrowed. "And now he suddenly appears, visits Ava's mother, rents a car, checks into a hotel under his real name." He looked at David. "He's making a move. The question is: whose side is he on?"

That evening, Ava found Ethan on the terrace.

"You've been quiet," she said, sitting beside him.

"I'm thinking." He took her hand. "About your father. About what David found."

"What did he find?"

"Lin Guoqiang was an auditor." Ethan's voice was careful. "He was reviewing the Gu Group's accounts when he died. David pulled the old files — most of them are sealed, but..." He paused. "There are gaps, Ava. Entire quarters where the records just... stop. Like someone deleted them."

"Vivian," Ava whispered.

"Probably." Ethan squeezed her hand. "Your father found something in those gaps. Something worth killing for."

Ava was quiet for a moment. Then: "I want to learn."

"Learn what?"

"Everything." She turned to face him. "I don't want to just sit here while you fight for us, Ethan. I want to help. Teach me what to look for. Let David show me the files." Her eyes burned. "My father died for the truth. I'm not going to hide from it."

Ethan wanted to refuse. To keep her safe, wrapped in cotton, away from all of this.

But he'd learned his lesson. Ava wasn't someone to be protected by being kept in the dark.

"Okay," he said. "Tomorrow, David briefs you on everything."

She smiled — small, but real — and leaned her head on his shoulder.

They sat in silence as the sun set, his hand on her belly, hers on his.

"Ethan?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think..." She hesitated. "Do you think my father would be proud of me?"

Ethan turned her face toward his. "Ava. Your father died trying to expose the truth. And here you are — carrying his grandchild, fighting the same fight, refusing to break." His voice was thick. "He wouldn't just be proud. He'd be in awe."

She kissed him softly, tears on her cheeks.

Then Ethan's phone rang.

Unknown number.

He exchanged a look with Ava, then answered.

"Mr. Gu." An old man's voice, calm and measured. "This is Zhou Weimin."

Ethan went rigid. David, listening through the earpiece, started tracing immediately.

"How did you get this number?" Ethan demanded.

"That doesn't matter." Zhou paused. "What matters is that I know what Vivian is planning. And I know how to stop her."

"Why should I trust you?"

"You shouldn't." A dry chuckle. "But Mr. Gu, we have a common enemy. And I have something you need." Another pause. "Meet me tomorrow. Alone. The botanical garden, noon, by the lotus pond."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then in five months, Vivian takes your child." Zhou's voice turned grave. "And Mr. Gu... she's not bluffing about the rest of Phoenix. I've seen what they do to people who stand in their way." A beat. "Ask your wife's mother. If she ever wakes up enough to tell you the whole story."

The line went dead.

Ethan stared at the phone.

Ava grabbed his arm. "What did he say?"

Ethan looked at her — at her frightened, determined face — and made a decision.

"We meet him." His jaw tightened. "But not alone. David's team will be everywhere." He pulled her close. "And Ava... whatever he tells us about your father, about Vivian — we face it together."

"Together," she whispered.

But as Ethan held her, staring out at the dark garden, one thought chilled him:

Zhou Weimin knew about Ava's mother. He knew she might "wake up enough to tell the whole story."

What did he know that they didn't?