Wanyin didn't sleep.
She sat at the dining table until 2 a.m., laptop closed, wine glass empty, staring at the city lights. The decision about Li Xin circled in her mind like a shark.
Mercy. Justice. Or the third option Ye Beichen had suggested—pay for the treatment, bind Li Xin's loyalty, send a message to whoever was pulling the strings.
It felt cold. Calculated.
Exactly like something she would have done three years ago.
Before she learned that cold calculations left you alone.
At 6 a.m., she was in the kitchen when Li Xin arrived early—unusual for her.
Li Xin's eyes were red. She'd been crying.
"Director Gu," she said, voice small. "Can we talk?"
Wanyin nodded toward the small meeting room off the executive floor.
They sat across from each other.
Li Xin didn't wait.
"I know you know."
Wanyin said nothing.
"It started six months ago," Li Xin continued, words tumbling out. "My mother's diagnosis. The treatment in America. Two million yuan. I couldn't… I applied for loans, asked family, nothing. Then an email came. Anonymous. They knew everything—my mother's hospital, the exact amount. They offered to pay. In exchange for information."
Wanyin's voice was quiet. "How much have you given them?"
"Schedules. Meeting notes. The Q3 revisions. Nothing critical. I told myself it wasn't harming you."
Wanyin leaned forward. "It was."
Li Xin's tears fell. "I know. I'm sorry. I was going to stop after the last payment. I swear."
Wanyin studied her.
Three years of loyalty. Late nights. Weekends. The only person who had ever seen her cry after a failed deal.
And now this.
"Who contacted you?"
"I don't know. Encrypted email. Crypto payments. No name."
Wanyin believed her.
She stood.
"Pack your things."
Li Xin's face crumpled. "Please—"
"You're fired."
Li Xin sobbed.
Wanyin walked to the door. Paused.
"Your mother's treatment will be paid for. Full amount. No strings."
Li Xin looked up, stunned.
"Why?"
"Because I know what it's like to be desperate. And because I can afford it."
She left.
In the hallway, Ye Beichen was waiting.
"You heard?"
He nodded.
"Mercy," he said.
"With teeth."
He smiled, small. "My favorite kind."
That afternoon, the payment was wired anonymously to the hospital in America.
Li Xin left with a severance package big enough to start over.
And a non-disclosure agreement that would bury her if she ever spoke.
Wanyin sat in her office, staring at the empty desk where Li Xin had worked.
She felt… nothing.
And everything.
Ye Beichen appeared at her door that evening, takeout in hand.
"Dinner?"
She looked at him.
"I fired her."
"I know."
"And paid for the treatment."
"I know."
She stood. "I hate that I did the merciful thing."
He set the food down. "You did the smart thing."
She stepped closer. "What's the difference?"
He met her eyes. "The difference is you're still human."
She laughed, bitter. "I haven't been human in years."
He reached out, brushed a strand of hair from her face.
"You are to me."
The air between them shifted.
She didn't pull away.
Twenty-four days left.
And for the first time, she wasn't counting down.
She was counting on him.