Chen Hao arrived on a Tuesday.
Wanyin was in the middle of a 10 a.m. strategy session when Li Xin knocked and entered, face carefully neutral.
"Director Gu, there's a visitor in reception. Mr. Chen Hao. He says it's urgent and personal."
The room went still. Eight pairs of eyes turned to her.
She kept her expression blank. "Tell him I'm in a meeting. He can wait or leave a message."
Li Xin hesitated. "He said he'll wait."
Wanyin nodded. "Close the door."
The meeting continued, but the energy had shifted. Whispers started the moment she left the room at noon.
She found him in the executive lobby, leaning against the reception desk like he owned the place. Tall, handsome in that polished way that had once made her heart race. Designer suit, perfect smile, eyes that used to look at her like she was the only woman in the world.
Now they looked at her like a prize he'd already won once and wanted back.
"Wanyin," he said, voice warm. "You look… exactly the same."
She didn't smile. "What do you want?"
"Can't an old friend drop by?"
"We're not friends."
He tilted his head. "We were more than that."
"Were."
He glanced around. Employees pretending not to watch.
"Perhaps somewhere private?"
She led him to a small meeting room. Closed the door.
He didn't sit.
"I'm in town for the tech conference. Heard you're living with the new CEO." His smile was sharp. "Interesting program."
She crossed her arms. "Get to the point."
"I have a proposal. Partnership. Your distribution network, my new AI platform. We could dominate the market."
"We?"
"You and me. Like old times."
She laughed, cold. "You mean like when you stole my code and built your empire on it?"
His expression didn't change. "That was business."
"That was theft."
He stepped closer. "You were too soft then. I made you hard. You should thank me."
She didn't move. "Leave."
"Not yet." He pulled out his phone. "I have something you'll want to see."
He showed her a screenshot. An email from an anonymous account to a competitor—her schedule, her notes on the Q3 campaign, details only someone close to her would know.
Li Xin.
"You're behind this."
He shrugged. "I'm resourceful."
"What do you want?"
"Drop the immersion program. Publicly. Say it's inappropriate. Resign from day-to-day operations. Come work with me."
She stared at him.
"Or?"
"Or the board finds out their golden boy rigged company policy for personal reasons. And your reputation? The woman who slept her way to the top." He smiled. "Again."
She felt ice in her veins.
"You're bluffing."
"Am I?"
He left the phone on the table. Walked to the door.
"Think about it. You have until Friday."
He left.
She stood there for a long moment.
Then picked up the phone.
Called Ye Beichen.
"He's here."
Silence on the line.
"I'm coming up."
He arrived five minutes later.
Read the screenshot.
His face was stone.
"He's threatening both of us."
She nodded.
"What do you want to do?"
She looked at him.
"I want to destroy him."
He smiled, slow and dangerous.
"Then let's."
They spent the afternoon planning.
False information to feed the leak.
A counter-proposal to draw Chen Hao in.
Legal on standby.
By evening, they had a plan.
Back at the apartment, she poured wine with shaking hands.
He took the glass from her.
"You don't have to do this alone."
She met his eyes.
"I've always done it alone."
"Not anymore."
She didn't pull away when he brushed a strand of hair from her face.
Twenty-five days left.
And for the first time, she wasn't sure she wanted them to end.