Chapter 27 – The PhotographThe deeper they went—The heavier the air became.It wasn’t just the dust anymore.It wasn’t just the silence.It was something else.Something that made every step feel like it mattered more than it should.Ethan moved ahead again, his pace steady, his direction almost instinctive now, even though he still couldn’t explain it. Sofia followed closely, her phone in hand as she quietly documented everything—walls, symbols, footprints, even the faint wiring that ran along parts of the structure.“This is too organized to be abandoned,” she said softly, her voice low but certain. “Someone’s maintaining sections of this place.”Shen Fei didn’t respond immediately.Her attention had shifted.Focused.Sharp.She stood in front of a large bookshelf, her gaze scanning it carefully, not the books themselves, but the structure behind them.“…Something’s off,” she murmured.Ethan paused, glancing back at her.“What is it?” he asked.Shen Fei stepped closer, her fingers

Chapter 27 – The PhotographThe deeper they went—The heavier the air became.It wasn’t just the dust anymore.It wasn’t just the silence.It was something else.Something that made every step feel like it mattered more than it should.Ethan moved ahead again, his pace steady, his direction almost instinctive now, even though he still couldn’t explain it. Sofia followed closely, her phone in hand as she quietly documented everything—walls, symbols, footprints, even the faint wiring that ran along parts of the structure.“This is too organized to be abandoned,” she said softly, her voice low but certain. “Someone’s maintaining sections of this place.”Shen Fei didn’t respond immediately.Her attention had shifted.Focused.Sharp.She stood in front of a large bookshelf, her gaze scanning it carefully, not the books themselves, but the structure behind them.“…Something’s off,” she murmured.Ethan paused, glancing back at her.“What is it?” he asked.Shen Fei stepped closer, her fingers

The city didn’t know it yet, but Ethan was coming.Not in a flashy way, not on some news headline. Just quietly. Subtle whispers that somehow carried weight.“Shen Fei, this is… unusual,” said one old partner over the phone, his voice unusually polite. “Mr. Carter… I mean, Ethan… is returning?”Shen Fei didn’t flinch. She had expected this. “Yes. He’ll be in town soon. Prepare the documents and have your questions ready.”There was a pause. A faint click of a pen. “Of course… of course. We’ll be ready.”She hung up, barely letting the satisfaction show. To anyone else, it might have seemed like a small, bureaucratic call. To her, it was the start of the tide shifting.Ethan leaned back in the seat of the armored car, watching the cityscape blur past. The suit pressed comfortably against his shoulders, his hair exactly where it should be. Everything felt… right.Sofia glanced at him from the passenger seat. “You know… people are already… nervous. You haven’t even walked into a room yet

The car slowed.Not abruptly. Not dramatically. Just… smoothly. Controlled. Like everything else about this moment.“We’re here,” Shen Fei said from the front, her voice calm but carrying weight.Sofia leaned forward slightly, practically pressing against the glass. “This is it?”Ethan didn’t answer immediately. His gaze was fixed ahead, steady, unreadable.Glass. Steel. Height.The building stood like it owned the skyline, sunlight bouncing off it like it was showing off on purpose. People walked in and out like they had somewhere important to be.Normal.But not for long.“…Yeah,” Ethan said finally, voice low. “This is it.”Sofia swallowed. “Why does it feel like we’re about to start something huge?”Ethan smirked faintly, not looking at her. “Because we are.”The convoy came to a complete stop.For a second, no one moved.The air felt… tight.Then Shen Fei spoke again. “Final reminder. You walk in first. Say little. Observe everything. Let them react.”Ethan nodded once. “Got it.”

The moment the boardroom doors closed behind them, the tension did not disappear.It followed them out into the hallway, settling into the space around them like something heavy and unfinished. The glass walls reflected their figures as they walked, but the calm, polished environment felt completely at odds with what had just happened inside.Sofia let out a slow breath as she walked beside Ethan, her shoulders relaxing slightly now that they were no longer under the direct scrutiny of the board. Even so, her eyes kept drifting back to him, studying his expression carefully as if she were trying to understand something she could not quite put into words.“Okay,” she said finally, her voice steady but filled with restrained tension, “I need to ask you something, and I need you to actually answer me this time.”Ethan did not stop walking, and his expression did not change. “That depends on what you are asking.”Sofia frowned slightly, clearly unsatisfied with that response. “The way you