My Ex-Boyfriend's Name Was in the Chairman's Will - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

On the way back to Haicheng, I opened the contents of the memory card on my laptop. Aside from the financial ledgers, the most critical piece of evidence was a surveillance clip.

In the video, my father was standing by a window holding a folder, as if waiting for someone. A few minutes later, Pan Yuming appeared. The two of them engaged in a heated argument. Judging by their movements, my father slammed a stack of documents against Pan Yuming’s chest. Pan Yuming reached out to grab them but failed; instead, my father shoved him away.

Then, another person entered the frame.

Fu Mingzhang.

I stared at the screen, my entire body turning cold.

Fu Mingzhang stood between the two men and said something, but the surveillance had no audio. After that, my father seemed to have finally reached a point of utter disappointment; he turned around to leave. Fu Mingzhang didn’t stop him, but Pan Yuming suddenly chased after him and grabbed his arm.

The video cut off there.

“Where’s the rest?” My voice was hoarse.

“It was deleted,” Luo Yuncheng said. “This was likely just a partial backup that Yuan Anhe didn’t have time to copy in full back then.”

I stared fixedly at the final frozen frame.

The moment Pan Yuming grabbed my father, the expression on his face wasn’t panic-it was ruthlessness.

I closed the laptop and didn’t speak for a long time.

It was already nine in the evening when we pulled into the hotel’s underground garage. My steps were a bit unsteady as I got out of the car. I only whispered, “I want a drink.”

He said, “Okay.”

I drank one glass after another. Luo Yuncheng only pressed his hand over mine when I reached for the fourth.

“That’s enough.”

“It’s not enough.” I stared at my glass. “I only found out today that it wasn’t that no one could help my father before he died. It was that someone clearly could have helped, yet they let him walk away alone in the end.”

“What about you?” I asked. “What are you using to atone?”

“I never thought about atonement,” he said. “I just want to give the truth about your father back to you.”

A surge of intoxication hit me, and my chest felt uncomfortably tight. I simply stood up and walked out. Luo Yuncheng followed me and caught my arm at the entrance to the emergency stairwell.

“Song Yucheng.”

“Don’t touch me.”

“You’ve had too much to drink.”

“I’m perfectly sober.” I stared at him. “Luo Yuncheng, I really want to know right now-when you left eight years ago, did you think for even a single second about what would happen to me?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. “I did.”

“But you still left.”

“Because I was more afraid that you would die.”

I froze.

The motion-sensor lights were the only things on in the stairwell.

“I was afraid you’d end up like your father-doing nothing wrong, yet being backed into a corner with no way out,” he said. “If you hate me, at least you’re still alive.”

My heart jolted. I reached out, grabbed his collar, and kissed him fiercely. Luo Yuncheng was only stunned for a split second before he pinned me against the wall and kissed me back.

I was the first to pull away, panting. I leaned my forehead against his shoulder, my voice raspy. “Don’t get the wrong idea.”

“I won’t.” Luo Yuncheng’s breath brushed against my ear. “I know you’re still angry.”

“Of course I’m angry.”

“Then stay angry.” He reached up and lightly touched my face, his movements restrained to the point of being tender. “Until the case is fully investigated, I’ll take whatever you throw at me.”

I simply closed my eyes and rested my forehead against the side of his neck, not moving for a long time.