The Return of the God level Son in Law

Chapter Six: A Storm Begins to Stir

By morning, the city was boiling.

My name—Li Tian—had torn through the social and financial networks of Jincheng like wildfire. What started as whispers had turned into headlines. Not just on the gossip sites, but in the serious outlets too.

“Who Is Li Tian? Silent Husband of Zhang Heiress Outbids City Titans at Charity Auction.”

“Dragon Holdings CEO Exposed? Sources Say the Mysterious Billionaire Lives in Zhang Family’s Villa.”

Everywhere I looked, i saw news alerts, private finance groups, encrypted business chatrooms,my name was on everyone’s lips.

But not the name they feared.

Not Dragon King.

Not yet.

I would let them circle.

Let them bite at shadows.

The deeper I buried the truth, the more dangerous I became.

****

Zhang Meiling slammed the newspaper onto the table. Her eyes were wide with greed.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” she snapped. “You have money? Influence? You own Dragon Holdings?!”

I sipped my tea calmly.

She lunged forward. “You let us humiliate you for years while you were secretly sitting on an empire? Why?”

I looked her in the eye.

“For the same reason you just called me ‘you’ instead of ‘that thing.’”

Her lips tightened.

Zhang Deshun leaned forward now, his voice lower, slicker. “Tian, my boy, we… misunderstood you. We were hard on you, yes, but we were protecting our daughter. Surely you can understand.”

Xue’er watched from across the room, silent.

As always, her eyes weren’t loud but they saw everything.

I set my cup down and stood.

“I didn’t come back to be praised,” I said calmly. “I came back to clean house.”

Meiling’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”

“You can keep your name, your faces, your pride. I want none of it. But the moment you think of using me to fix your mess, or gain favor with your old cronies…” I stepped closer, voice dropping to a whisper, “...remember I own the roof you sleep under. I can take that too.”

I turned to leave, then paused.

“Oh—and the jade sculpture is being donated to the National Museum. Not because of charity, but because I don’t need trophies to prove anything.”

I didn’t look back.

****

Later That Day at my private lounge.

Duan Yu was waiting, standing at attention near the glass wall. Behind him, the city pulsed with energy. Tower cranes. Neon signs. Traffic that never stopped.

“Your name is all over the city,” he said.

“I know.”

“They’re digging. Trying to find your history.”

“They won’t.”

“Not unless The Circle wants them to.”

I turned slowly.

He held out a letter.It was not digital. Not emailed.

Paper. Hand-delivered. Wax-sealed in black.

My fingers brushed the envelope, and even before I read the contents, I knew.

They were watching now.

The Circle didn’t operate through headlines. They moved through legacy. Family names etched into the foundations of nations. Men who controlled elections without stepping on stage. Women who bought islands like groceries.

Their invitation always came as a warning.

Not a welcome.

I broke the seal and scanned the single line written inside.

“The balance must be preserved. You have three days to choose your seat, at the table, or beneath it.”

I folded the paper and slid it into the fireplace.

It burned like silk.

Duan Yu’s voice was careful. “What’s your move?”

“Wait,” I said.

He blinked. “Wait for what?”

“For them to think I’m hesitating.”

****

Zhang Xue’er’s P.O.V

I found him on the rooftop.

Same place as always. Same quiet power. Same silence.

Only now… I couldn’t pretend not to care.

He stood with his back to me, looking over the city as if he owned it.

Because, in truth… he might.

“You really aren’t who I thought you were,” I said softly.

He didn’t turn around. “You thought I was beneath you.”

“No,” I said quickly. “I mean—yes. At first. But not lately.”

I stepped beside him.

The wind caught his hair.

The skyline reflected in his eyes.

“When we got married, I thought you were nothing but a burden my grandfather forced on me. I hated that he gave you to me without asking. I hated you for existing.”

I saw his jaw tighten.

“But… these last few days, I’ve realized something worse.”

He finally looked at me.

His eyes were dark and unreadable.

“I never even tried to know who you were. I just… accepted the mask.”

We stood in silence for a moment.

The city murmured below, with fast cars whizzing past at every second.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

He didn’t respond right away.

“Don’t apologize,” he said.

I blinked.

“Not unless you mean it,” he added.

My heart stumbled.

“I do,” I said. “I think I always will.”

His gaze held mine a second longer than it should have.

And then… he walked past me.

But I felt it.

The shift almost like a tide changing.

Like a fuse lit, burning toward something that could never be undone.

****

UNKNOWN LOCATION

“Who authorized the message?”

A woman’s voice, sharp as glass.

“The Board,” a man answered. “They see his movement as unpredictable.”

“He’s unstable,” the woman said. “A risk to everything we’ve curated for thirty years.”

“He’s too visible,” the man replied. “If he doesn’t join us, the world will recognize him. And then the governments will remember.”

The woman fell silent.

Then she whispered:

“Send the first reminder.”

****

Back in Jincheng

The explosion woke the whole street.

A flower shop three blocks from the Zhang villa was ripped in half by a pressure bomb planted in the gas line. No casualties because there weren’t supposed to be.

It was a message.

I arrived within minutes, standing across from the wreckage in a black coat, unblinking as smoke curled into the night sky.

A child sobbed in the background. Police sirens wailed. Reporters began to circle.

Duan Yu appeared beside me, grim-faced.

“No known ties to us. But this location was a meeting spot. We bought it last week under one of the shell fronts.”

“They’re probing,” I said. “Testing how I’ll react.”

“What now?”

I turned and walked away.

“We send a message back.”