Chapter 5
1656words
Jason pushed open the door, bringing with him the crisp morning air. He faltered momentarily when he saw the whiteboard.
"We need to talk," Emily said without turning, her marker pointing directly at his name.
"About what Shaw told you?" Jason's voice remained steady.
Emily turned to face him. "Why didn't you tell me about your brother?"
The room fell so silent that the air conditioner's hum seemed deafening. Jason moved to the window, his profile outlined in gold by the rising sun.
"Raymond, my brother, joined your father's company two months before you lost him." His voice dropped. "Your father mentored him, treated him like family. Until that three-million-dollar discrepancy appeared."
Emily's grip tightened around the marker. This was all new information.
"Everyone was quick to blame Raymond for the embezzlement. Only your father insisted on a proper investigation." Jason turned, his eyes revealing a pain she'd never witnessed before. "But before it was completed, your father died. While in prison, Raymond received an anonymous letter claiming your father had set him up. A week after his release, he jumped from Westbrook Bridge."
Emily's chest constricted. Her father would never frame an innocent man—of this she was certain.
"When I first sought you out, yes—I wanted answers about what really happened." Jason stepped closer. "But things changed."
"How can I believe that?"
Jason pulled out his phone and played a recording. Through background noise, a gruff voice said clearly: "That Jenkins kid was just the fall guy. Damn shame what happened…"
"Who's speaking?" Emily asked.
"Shaw's driver. Took me three months of surveillance to get this." Jason pocketed the phone. "Emily, we're after the same person."
Morning light now flooded the room. Emily studied Jason's face, searching for deception, and found none. She decided to take the risk.
"All right." She erased the question mark beside his name. "We work together."
Over the next forty-eight hours, Emily launched Phase Two of Operation Storm. She reached out to everyone Lucas and Shaw had damaged over the years. Mark Porter responded first—a building materials supplier Lucas had nearly bankrupted through a hostile takeover three years earlier.
They met at a secluded teahouse outside the city. Porter arrived first, nervously turning his cup in circles, eyeing Jason suspiciously when he walked in.
"This is Jason Johnson. He's with us," Emily assured him.
Porter nodded curtly. "Lawrence has Shaw's backing. You really want to take on that kind of firepower?"
"If we weren't serious, we wouldn't be here," Emily replied, sliding a folder across the table. "These are upcoming projects Lawrence is bidding on. Thought you might want first crack."
Porter flipped through the pages, his eyes widening. This was his shot at redemption.
Similar meetings took place across the city. Emily tailored her approach to each person's specific motivations—offering some financial incentives, others revenge, still others protection. Some provided insider tips, others media connections, others legal support. Day by day, an invisible alliance formed around her.
Meanwhile, Lucas launched his counteroffensive.
Tuesday morning, tax auditors showed up at Emily's office with a search warrant, demanding three years of financial records. Her staff exchanged nervous glances while her CFO visibly paled.
Emily calmly escorted them to the conference room. Before handing over any documents, she discreetly activated her phone's recording function.
"Director Wang," she remarked casually, "I heard your son just started at Shaw Industries?"
The auditor's hand froze mid-reach. "What are you implying, Ms. Anderson?"
"Just making conversation." Emily smiled pleasantly. "Shaw's known for their rigorous hiring process. Your son must be quite talented."
Halfway through the inspection, Jason Johnson "happened" to visit with a media friend. Under the cameras, the inspectors' attitude noticeably softened.
That afternoon, an article titled "Entrepreneur Faces Targeted Inspection?" quietly went online. Though no names were mentioned, the accompanying image was clearly Emily Anderson's company building.
Public opinion began to question the inspection. Lucas Lawrence's team quickly had the article taken down, but the seed had already been planted.
On Wednesday, more fierce attacks arrived. Emily Anderson's largest client suddenly terminated their contract, citing "incompatible values" as the reason. Shortly after, the bank notified her that credit lines were being tightened.
Inside the company, employees were anxious. Emily called an emergency meeting and announced the activation of their contingency plan—signing a strategic cooperation with an allied company, which would perfectly compensate for the lost orders. The employees breathed a sigh of relief, unaware that this contract was obtained by Emily using insider information provided by Mark Porter.
"He's testing our resilience," Emily analyzed to Jason Johnson that evening at the safe house. This apartment was provided by Mark Porter and wasn't registered under either party's name.
Jason Johnson pulled up the surveillance footage, "And he's looking for evidence that you broke into the office."
In the footage, Lucas Lawrence's men were searching Emily Anderson's office, focusing on her computer and filing cabinets.
"Good thing we were prepared." Emily sipped her coffee. Important documents had already been moved, and the office computer contained only processed surface information.
But one thing was unexpected—Lucas had assigned people to follow Jason.
Late Thursday night, Jason noticed subtle scratches on his door lock when returning home. He immediately evacuated and met Emily at their predetermined location.
"They're starting to suspect you," Emily said, examining the equipment Jason brought.
"More likely they're trying to find you," Jason replied while adjusting the counter-surveillance device. "Simon Shaw is cautious and wouldn't easily move against media personnel."
The device suddenly emitted a soft buzz. They exchanged glances—this safe house wasn't safe anymore.
They parted ways, agreeing to meet at the backup location. Emily Anderson circled around three times to confirm no one was following her before entering an old residential building. This was a property her father had purchased years ago, one that even Lucas Lawrence didn't know about.
In the hidden compartment of the study, she found the notebook her father had left behind. The leather cover was already mottled, with the inner pages densely recording business transactions. In the last few pages, "New Beginning Project" and the character "墨" (Ink) appeared frequently.
Her phone vibrated, with Jason Johnson sending an encrypted message: "Lucas will attend the industry summit tomorrow night, office will be empty."
The opportunity had arrived.
Friday at 8 PM, the summit began on schedule. Emily confirmed through inside sources that Lucas was at the venue, then disguised herself as cleaning staff and used a key card to enter his office. This access card was duplicated through Mark Porter's connections and could only be used once.
The office was more minimalist than she had imagined, with almost no paper documents to be found. Emily put on special gloves and first checked the computer—it required dual-factor authentication, but she was prepared for this.
USB drive inserted, automatically running the cracking program. While waiting, she carefully searched every drawer. In the hidden compartment of the bottom drawer, she felt a hard object.
It was an encrypted hard drive.
At this moment, the computer finished cracking. Emily Anderson quickly browsed through, most were normal business files. But in the encrypted partition, she discovered a folder named "New Beginning."
The copy progress bar moved slowly. Suddenly, footsteps and conversation came from the hallway.
"Why did Mr. Lawrence come back again?" It was the security guard's voice.
"To get some files." Lucas Lawrence's voice was very close.
Emily immediately unplugged the USB drive and hard drive, then slipped into the wardrobe in the rest room. Through the crack, she saw Lucas walk in, heading straight to the desk.
He opened the drawer, and froze the moment he discovered the hard drive was missing.
"Is something wrong, Mr. Lawrence?" the security guard asked at the door.
Lucas was silent for a moment, "Nothing, I found the file."
As he left, his gaze seemed to sweep across the direction of the wardrobe. Emily held her breath until the footsteps faded away.
An hour later, she safely returned to the base. The hard drive decryption would take time, so she first checked the contents of the USB drive.
Inside the "New Beginning" folder were complete materials on the collaboration project between Lucas Lawrence and Simon Shaw. One subfolder made her heart race—it was labeled "Anderson Enterprise."
It contained detailed records of how they had short-sold Anderson Enterprise shares seven years ago, fabricated debt, and bribed auditors. The last file was meeting minutes from the day before her father's death, with participants: Lucas Lawrence, Simon Shaw, and... Jason Johnson's father.
Emily Anderson collapsed into her chair. So Jason had also concealed this—his father had been Simon Shaw's lawyer and participated in the siege against Anderson Enterprise.
The truth was like a dull knife, slowly cutting through her memories. Her father's final embrace had been unusually tight when he said: "Jade, no matter what happens, you must live well."
Now she understood—those were his last words.
Rain started falling outside the window, droplets tapping against the glass, like countless memories knocking on the door of her heart. Emily Anderson clutched the notebook her father had left behind and made a decision amid the sound of rain.
This game was no longer just about revenge, but a pursuit of truth. Even if she ultimately discovered that everyone was wearing masks, she would tear them off with her own hands.
At that moment, the hard drive completed decryption. The notification sound was exceptionally clear in the silent room, like the horn of fate.
Emily moved the mouse and clicked on the first file. The storm was approaching, and she was already standing in the eye of it.
