The boardroom was full.
Too full.
Executives. Legal. IT. Finance. Faces stiff with fatigue and suspicion. The kind of room where careers ended quietly—unless someone made noise.
Chen Le Xin sat at the far end of the table, spine straight, hands folded tightly in her lap. Fourteen hours without sleep had sharpened everything. Every sound felt too loud. Every breath is too deliberate.
Liu Kai Ying stood.
Not seated.
Standing.
That alone shifted the atmosphere.
"Before we discuss whether this project survives," Kai Ying said calmly, "we need to address why it nearly didn't."
A director frowned. "Senior Manager Liu, we're short on time—"
"You'll give me five minutes," Kai Ying cut in.
Her voice wasn't raised.
That was worse.
She tapped her tablet once. The screen behind her lit up.
System logs.
Access trails.
Time stamps.
"Over the last twenty hours," Kai Ying continued, "this project was sabotaged three times. Not by error. Not by incompetence. By intent."
A murmur spread across the table.
Chen Le Xin's pulse pounded.
Kai Ying's gaze moved—slowly—until it landed on one person.
Zhao Ming.
He stiffened. "This is a serious accusation."
"So is this," Kai Ying replied.
She swiped.
A highlighted log appeared.
"Administrative access rerouted at 01:42," Kai Ying said.
"Authorization approved by a department head override."
She turned slightly. "Care to explain why your credentials were used?"
Zhao Ming laughed, sharp and defensive. "You can't prove I was at the terminal."
Kai Ying nodded once. "You're right."
Another swipe.
Security footage appeared.
Zhao Ming's face drained of color.
"02:11," Kai Ying said. "You left your office after hours. Badge access confirms it. Cameras confirm direction."
The room went dead silent.
Le Xin stared at the screen.
Kai Ying wasn't just prepared.
She was surgical.
Zhao Ming leaned forward, voice rising. "Even if I accessed the system, that doesn't prove sabotage. I was reviewing—"
"Don't," Kai Ying said.
One word.
Flat.
Final.
She stepped forward, palms resting on the table.
"And don't insult everyone in this room by pretending this was coincidence," Kai Ying continued, blue eyes ice-cold. "You altered vendor dependencies, corrupted audit trails, and resurfaced sealed performance records."
She turned her head slightly.
"Records that had nothing to do with risk," Kai Ying said. "And everything to do with humiliating my project manager."
Le Xin's chest tightened.
Zhao Ming snapped, "You're protecting her."
Kai Ying's jaw clenched.
"No," she said quietly. "I'm correcting you."
She straightened fully now.
And the anger—real anger—finally surfaced.
"You lost your proposal last quarter because it was weak," Kai Ying said. "Not because Chen Le Xin exists. And instead of improving, you chose to poison the system."
Her voice sharpened.
"You endangered a multi-million contract! You attempted to manufacture failure! And you assumed I wouldn't notice?!"
She paused.
That pause crushed him.
"You were wrong."
Zhao Ming stood abruptly. "You can't fire me on assumptions—"
Kai Ying didn't even look at the board.
"You're terminated," she said.
The words fell like a guillotine.
Effective immediately.
Zhao Ming laughed once, hysterical. "You don't have that authority—"
Kai Ying finally raised her voice.
"Yes," she said sharply. "I do."
The room froze.
She leaned forward, eyes blazing.
"And if you think for one second that I'll allow internal politics to destroy people who actually work," Kai Ying continued, "you've misjudged me far more than this project."
She turned to legal. "Escort him out. His system access is revoked. File the report."
Zhao Ming opened his mouth—
Security was already at his side.
As he was dragged away, his eyes flicked to Le Xin.
Spiteful.
Defeated.
Gone.
The door closed.
Silence followed.
Kai Ying exhaled slowly.
Then turned back to the board.
"The sabotage has been neutralized," she said, voice steady again. "The rebuild is eighty-seven percent complete. We need twelve more hours."
A director cleared his throat. "And if we don't grant it?"
Kai Ying didn't hesitate.
"Then you can fire me too," she said.
Le Xin's head snapped up.
Kai Ying continued, unwavering. "Because I won't sacrifice competent people to protect rot."
The board exchanged looks.
Finally—
"Granted," the director said. "Twelve hours."
Kai Ying nodded once. "Good."
The meeting adjourned.
Outside the boardroom, the hallway was empty.
Too quiet.
Le Xin stopped walking. "You didn't have to do that."
Kai Ying turned. "Yes, I did."
"You put your position on the line."
Kai Ying looked at her—really looked at her.
"You were never the problem," she said.
Le Xin swallowed. "Then why did you let me think I was?"
Kai Ying didn't answer immediately.
Her shoulders dropped—just a fraction.
"…That's on me," she said.
No excuses.
No defense.
Just truth.
Le Xin felt something shift violently in her chest.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
But something cracked.
"We still have twelve hours," Le Xin said quietly.
Kai Ying nodded. "Then we finish it."
They walked back toward the office side by side.
Still sharp.
Still exhausted.
But now—
When Liu Kai Ying stood between Chen Le Xin and the world—
She didn't hesitate.
And that changed everything.
---
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