Chapter 38 – The Hacker Revealed
The night stretched into a heavy, agonizing silence.
At midnight, the medical team confirmed Xiao Xi had finally stabilized, but she remained fragile and unconscious.
Gu Yanzhou never left the ICU waiting room.
While he watched her sleep—ghost-pale and fragile beneath the clinical white sheets—his tech team worked feverishly, eventually using a brute-force counter-attack to momentarily expose the origin of the rogue admin terminal.
A single name appeared on the confidential screen.
Gu Yanzhou's breath stopped, the air thick and choking in his lungs.
"...Zhou Meilin."
His cousin.
His mother's favorite heir apparent, known for her sharp mind and ruthless business acumen.
His chief rival for control of the board.
His assistant swallowed audibly.
"She has access to every department, President Gu.
She could easily manipulate Ms. Xiao Xi's finances, manage the media leak, and even access the deep core of the servers without being detected."
A wave of icy, lethal fury unlike anything he'd ever felt surged through Gu Yanzhou.
He understood the motive now: eliminate Xiao Xi, eliminate his weakness, and seize control of the company.
It was a perfect, cold-blooded power play.
"Why?" he whispered, the question directed less at his assistant and more at the universe that had twisted family into assassins.
As if answering, a text popped up on his personal, encrypted phone—a direct message from Zhou Meilin, who was clearly watching his movements.
She's ruining your career, Yanzhou.
Your reputation is stained.
I can help you fix it—if you stop protecting her.
Ruin her before she ruins you.
It's simple business, Cousin.
Gu Yanzhou's hands shook violently, not with fear, but with righteous rage.
He typed one reply, his fingers punching the screen:
If you ever touch her again, Meilin, I will destroy you.
I will dismantle your life piece by piece until nothing remains.
He threw his phone aside, the brittle plastic casing cracking against the wall.
Then he returned to Xiao Xi's bedside, the dim room filled with the quiet rhythm of the medical machines.
He sat silently, gently brushing her hair back from her forehead.
The battle lines were drawn.
"I won't let them hurt you, Xiao Xi," he whispered, his voice a solemn, unbroken vow.
"Not anymore.
Not ever.
I will burn down my entire family and this entire world for you if I have to."