The saying goes, “The higher the road, the higher the devil,” right? When bad people compete to be the worst, there’s no need to get too angry.
Huo Ai lowered her head and picked up the camera lens on the table.
It was just the size of a fingernail, yet it was the weapon that ruined her career.
She was never afraid of competition from her peers, nor of being bitten back by the underworld.
She didn’t trust her partners, so she always treated them with polite courtesy.
Even the professional smile on her face was hard to remove.
But now, she was brought down by the woman she had repeatedly doubted.
She could only blame herself for seemingly ‘trusting’ Dong Enyu in the end.
People are emotional creatures, after all.
Perhaps the sight of the woman lying on the stretcher, covered in blood and weak, made her waver.
Little did she know, risking her life to gain trust would lead to such an outcome… How laughable, truly laughable.
“I didn’t expect you to take over the Chairman position so quickly,” Dong Enyu said, sitting back in her chair and relaxing against the backrest.
Huo Ai gently pinched the lens in her hand, her gaze fixed on it.
“I had no choice.
Haijiao is facing bankruptcy.
It wouldn’t make sense not to do something.” Her tone was as flat as if she were saying that without working overtime, the job couldn’t be completed.
There was a hint of helplessness, a touch of fatigue, but no trace of resentment.
“Even if you have money to spare, you still have to save face when the defense line you’ve painstakingly built is breached, right?” In high society, people are numb to money but particularly sensitive about face.
Huo Ai always looked down on others, so she must be unwilling to let go of Haijiao for this reason, right? “But the company you built up was destroyed by me.
Even though you humbled yourself to be second, worked hard to run goods, monitored the flow of money, and put so much effort into Coral Reef Group, it was destroyed by me… no, by you.”
Dong Enyu was merely stating the facts.
Using dirty tricks to boost her reputation, Haijiao’s downfall was all thanks to Huo Ai’s many unspeakable deeds.
In hindsight, it was truly ironic.
“Since you’ve had your laugh, isn’t it time to stop?” Huo Ai closed her eyes, letting the pinhole camera roll off the table.
“Even though I made things difficult for you in many ways, I still provided you with food and shelter for a while.
There’s no need to eliminate me.” There were both debts and favors.
Although she had done things to harm the woman, she had also saved her.
When Dong Enyu was kicked out by Wutang, she had taken her in with a purpose… For the sake of that slight favor…
“I’ll stop with Haijiao,” Dong Enyu shrugged and added, “but the reports won’t stop.”
Huo Ai frowned at her words.
“I’m actually curious.
Just before entering the building, I saw two cars parked outside,” Dong Enyu tilted her head, her eyes narrowing into slits, and the smile on her lips was anything but kind.
“Which company is so righteous? Haijiao is half-collapsed, yet someone still comes to visit? It must be a close partner, right?”
Dong Enyu emphasized the words ‘close partner,’ causing Huo Ai to stare at her with a serious expression.
“You…” Huo Ai was unsure and puzzled, not knowing how to respond.
But Dong Enyu gave her a way out.
“Stop hiding.
Let’s talk openly,” Dong Enyu said, her back to the door of the side room, as if she had eyes on the back of her head and could see what was inside the half-open door.
Her calm words made Huo Ai tremble slightly, her gaze fixed on the woman, not daring to look at the side room.
Just one glance, even a slight one, and she would lose.
Silence.
An indescribable silence filled the room…
“Such a coward,” Dong Enyu chuckled after a while.
“I’m not a monster that eats people.
Isn’t it uncomfortable to eavesdrop from behind? Come out, or I’ll get angry.”
Her eyes darkened, and Dong Enyu was running out of patience.
She had settled matters with Haijiao, and now it was time to deal with another issue.
Huo Ai seemed to hold her breath.
After hearing Dong Enyu’s words, she immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, her shoulders slumping.
“She knows more than we do,” Huo Ai murmured to herself, shaking her head, knowing that the truth couldn’t be hidden.
This sentence was more effective than ‘open sesame.’ The half-open wooden door of the side room creaked, and a slender figure emerged from the dark room.
Dressed in a simple, elegant yellow dress, she exuded a pure aura.
Her light-colored eyes blinked, lacking the usual gentle smile, reflecting only slight fear and disbelief.
She was Huo Ai’s partner and Dong Enyu’s former oasis, Mu Lin.
“So, how much do you know?” Huo Ai rubbed her temples, feeling a headache.
Not only was she caught, but Mu Lin was also trapped?
Dong Enyu smiled, gesturing for Mu Lin to come over.
She heard Huo Ai’s doubts and openly stated, “As much as you want.” How arrogant was that? But she wasn’t joking.
The truths being gradually uncovered even made Dong Enyu’s blood boil.
Perhaps she had a premonition that she was holding a big fish, but she didn’t expect it to be such a significant catch.
Mu Lin clasped her hands tightly, nervously approaching the desk.
“Enyu… I…”
“A year and three months ago, a major shooting incident occurred at the Suweian port,” Dong Enyu interrupted Mu Lin, not looking at her, but speaking softly as if telling a bedtime story to a child.
“At midnight, the Xufeng, loaded with smuggled arms, arrived at the port.
The entire transaction was armed, with the container’s value approaching ten million.
The seller was the renowned Fanar company, and the buyer was the local big shot.”
The more Huo Ai listened, the darker her expression became, while Mu Lin’s face turned pale, her lips trembling slightly.
“It was said that this transaction was a ceremony to celebrate the successful succession of Fanar’s heir.
But things didn’t go as planned.
Just as the main character was stepping off the ship in high spirits, bang!” Dong Enyu blew a breath, slowly opening her eyes, her gaze falling on the pouring rain outside the window.
“A bullet pierced through the forehead, and the body fell into the sea from the deck.
When it was retrieved three days later, it was bloated, and the face was unrecognizable, having been eaten by fish.”
The report ended there, short and concise, even less detailed than a report of an unknown homeless person dying on the street… An inconspicuous event.
Yet it was tied to a significant plan in progress, which was why Dong Enyu brought it up.
She turned her gaze to Mu Lin, smiling.
“Since then, Fanar has been silent, as if time has stopped,” Dong Enyu brushed her cheek, adjusting to a comfortable position.
“Without financial income, how could there be money to invest in overseas subsidiaries? Tracing back from the foreign company you worked for led me to this interesting discovery.
Your fiancé also gave me a lot of inspiration.
Do you remember the first time the three of us met? Rick seemed to have taken time out of his busy schedule to come over, constantly mentioning parts trading on the phone, which caught my attention.”
The upstream of the foreign company, Rick’s business…
“You mentioned that he has always had business dealings with your family,” Dong Enyu took a breath, speaking calmly.
“If that’s the case, finding out the partners of the company Rick took over would reveal your identity, right? Fanar indeed came to a halt, but the company established as Utopia gradually stabilized.”
A snake sheds its skin, and she viewed the transformation of the same company as such.
Shedding ‘Fanar’ to become ‘Utopia.’
Mu Lin was speechless, unable to meet Dong Enyu’s gaze, only looking at Huo Ai, seeking help.
“What else do you know? Spill it all,” Huo Ai swallowed, speaking heavily.
“Not surprising for the only daughter of the Mu Family, raised behind the scenes and well-protected,” from the moment she saw Mu Lin’s clear eyes, she knew the woman wasn’t pretending.
She had no need to disguise herself.
Apart from not telling the truth, Mu Lin was just like this, as innocent as a lamb.
But her identity raised sharp spikes, coated with poison.
“Your father must have prepared more than just Rick as a backup for you, right? It seems Huo Ai is also familiar with you.
If Huo Ai were a man, would your father have betrothed you to the Huo family? After all, compared to Rick, who started with a parts factory, Huo Ai’s large enterprise would be more beneficial to your Utopia, wouldn’t it?”
The malicious assumption made Huo Ai glare coldly at Dong Enyu, while Mu Lin was drenched in cold sweat.
But she was merely making bold assumptions and carefully verifying them.
Before achieving her undercover goal, the woman lay in the thorns, gasping.
Now, she was here to confirm these assumptions.
Huo Ai exhaled all the air from her lungs.
When she closed her mouth, the woman raised her eyes, regaining her usual calm gaze.
Dong Enyu was right.
The woman undoubtedly had strong evidence in her hands.
“Enyu… did you always… know?” Mu Lin trembled, as if standing naked in the winter, almost fainting.
From this angle, the woman could see the slightly moist corners of the other’s eyes.
“I was just guessing, but apparently, my intuition was spot on,” Dong Enyu waved her hand, speaking lightly.
“But isn’t it interesting? The three of us were connected by fate, yet none of us discovered the others.
You played the role of Manager Huo, while you pretended to be a low-level employee in a foreign company.
In hindsight, it was truly foolish.
What a pointless disguise.”
The truth seemed distant, yet it was always nearby.
“Indeed,” Huo Ai chuckled a few times, finding it absurd herself.
“When I requested payment from Utopia, Mu Lin was so surprised to hear your name from the secretary.
I even thought, could you have connections overseas? Little did I know these rotten affairs were happening domestically.
Truly worthy of Dong Enyu.”
The Fanar heir was shot, but it was just a stand-in who died.
Under the guise of a celebration, it was actually to lure out the organizations opposing Fanar, those arms dealers who had long been displeased with Fanar’s dominance.
After the incident was reported, Mu Lin went overseas.
Her identity was always protected, even when collaborating with Utopia, Huo Ai had never heard of Mu Lin going overseas until Dong Enyu was shot, and everything surfaced.
So, was that why they wanted to remove Dong Enyu from her partner position? To pull her off the front lines, or to prevent her from contacting ‘others’? Besides the people from Wutang…
Was Mu Lin also involved?
Huo Ai looked at her childhood friend across from her, who resembled a white rabbit, suddenly feeling lost.
Dong Enyu noticed and merely pursed her lips, smiling lightly.
