Chapter 21When we got to the café Tang Jun was already there, sitting at a corner table. He'd aged in just a few months with new lines around his eyes, gray threading through his hair despite being only thirty. He stood when we approached, and Lin Yue saw something unexpected in his face."Yue," he said, his voice cracking slightly. He started to hug her, then stopped, uncertain of his welcome.Lin Yue closed the distance and hugged him anyway. He felt thinner than she remembered."You look terrible," she said."So do you." "Li Feng. Thank you for coming."I positioned myself where I could see the entrance and exits so he could see the entrance and exits. Old habits from a timeline where I learnt paranoia the hard way."Where's Mother?" Lin Yue asked. "I know she sent you.""She's not here, I came alone." Tang Jun saw her skeptical expression. "I swear. She wanted to come, and wanted to stage some big confrontation, but I told her that would only make things worse.""And she listene

Chapter 23The funeral felt like a play instead. I was pissed but couldn't do much.Tang Mei stood at the front, draped in black and accepting condolences like some trainer performer. Classic bitch syndrome. Her eyes were dry and she didn't look like a grieving widow because she'd cried her tears in private and now showed the world only strength.My wife watched from the second row, with me beside her. For two days, she barely slept despite all my efforts. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his final moment, the way his hand had gone limp in hers, the way the life had simply drained away. At least that's what she told me."Your mother hasn't looked at you once," I whispered as the priest kept saying words I didn't understand."I know. She's pretending I don't exist." Lin Yue gripped my hand tighter. "It's easier for her to erase me than acknowledge I'm here."Tang Jun approached during a lull in the receiving line. He looked hollowed out, like someone had scooped away everything

Chapter 25The betrayal came from someone I least expected.It was a Tuesday morning, two weeks after Tang Mei's ultimatum expired. I arrived early to find Chen Fang's desk empty which was unusual, as she was always the first one in.Later that day, she still hadn't arrived which made us panic so much, her husband tried calling her phone repeatedly but it went straight to voicemail.We were about to start business for the day when we discovered that something wasn't adding up."The client database is gone," Wei Lin said, her voice shaking with disbelief. "Every client name, contact information, contract detail, payment history all are completely wiped from our servers.""How did this happen?" I screamed."She had admin access," Zhou Ming said numbly, staring at his screen. "I gave it to her. She said she needed it to handle support tickets.""There's more," Xiao Wei added grimly. "Our development roadmap. Feature specifications. Pricing strategies. All the documentation we kept in the

Chapter 27He called on a Thursday evening, his voice strained with exhaustion."Yue, I need to see you tonight please , It's important."She put the phone on speaker because we were both working late, preparing evidence for the lawsuit. "What's wrong?""Not over the phone. Can you meet me? Same café as before. I just need one hour, I promise."After he hung up, she looked at me with worried eyes. "He sounded desperate.""It could be a trap. Your mother using him again." I said flatly "Don't say that. What if he needs help. He's still my brother, you know. Whatever's happening between me and Mother, Jun is caught in the middle."We arrived at the café forty-five minutes later, our security guard waiting outside in the car. He was already there, slumped in a corner booth and boy did he looked terrible. He had lost a good amount of weight, had dark circles under eyes and his hands trembled around his coffee cup."Jun?" Lin Yue slid into the booth across from him. "What happened to you?

Chapter 29After five long minutes, the recording ended.The courtroom erupted and I couldn't breathe. That wasn't...they'd never said...how could..."That's not real!" Lin Yue screamed. "That's fabricated! We never said any of that!""Your Honor," Liu Xia said desperately, "this is obviously doctored. Voice synthesis technology...""Are you accusing Mr. Tang Jun of fabricating evidence?" The judge asked."I'm saying the recording has been manipulated! If we can get an expert...""You had your chance to verify evidence before filing emergency motions." he turned to Elite's legal team. "Does the defense have anything to add?"Elite's lead attorney stood smoothly. "Your Honor..." I zoned out again, my mind reeling to how far I had come.The gravel sounded once and I jerked back to reality."I've heard enough. This is one of the most baseless cases of witness tampering and attempted fraud I've seen in twenty years on the bench.""Your Honor, please..." Liu Xia begged."Mrs. Liu, your cli