It was a quiet weekend morning with no particular plans. Ever since being discharged from the hospital, Elena Shen had not seen Aurel Shen again. After a restful night, she rose late, stretched lazily, and strolled around the courtyard with Tuantuan.
Having circled the garden twice, she made her way to the Shen Group headquarters.
Like always, she took the private elevator to the top floor. Yet, the moment she stepped out, a subtle unease in the atmosphere brushed against her senses.
Not far ahead, Auden Zhang stood in the corridor holding a folder. Her gaze kept flitting toward the chairman's conference room, her hesitation palpable—she seemed to want to enter, yet something held her back.
Just as she turned, torn between decisions, her eyes caught sight of Elena stepping out of the elevator. Her expression shifted quickly, and she rushed over.
"Miss Elena, what brings you here?"
"I had nothing else planned today. Thought I'd come see my brother," Elena replied casually. Her eyes swept toward the direction Auden had been pacing earlier. "Is my brother in the conference room?"
As she spoke, she moved to walk forward.
Auden hesitated, stepping slightly in front of her, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know how.
Noticing the conflicted look on her face, Elena paused. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Auden bit her lip and remained silent for a moment. In the end, she seemed to realize this was not something she could keep hidden. With a deep breath, she said:
"It's... between President Shen and Vice Chairman Hubert Shen."
She didn't know the full details, only what little had been circulated among the employees. Choosing her words carefully, she added:
"President Shen seems to be planning to strip Vice Chairman Shen of his board membership. It's already impacted several departments. Tension between the two is growing."
Elena frowned. "Uncle Hubert?"
Auden nodded gravely.
The crease between Elena's brows deepened. Why would her brother suddenly try to remove their uncle from the board?
There was no point in asking Auden further—she clearly didn't have all the answers. So Elena simply looked toward the conference room. "Are they both inside?"
"Yes, Miss Elena," Auden confirmed.
Without another word, Elena strode purposefully down the corridor.
She approached the heavy doors of the conference room, hand reaching for the handle—only to freeze as a heated argument from inside reached her ears.
The voice of her once-gentle and kind Uncle Hubert, now laced with unbridled fury, rang out in fierce accusation:
"I've given decades of loyal service to this group, Aurel Shen! What right do you have to cast me out on a whim?"
Inside, the long conference table was surrounded by board members who kept their heads down, each desperately pretending not to exist, praying to avoid the fallout.
At the head of the table sat Aurel Shen, calm as a frozen lake. His uncle glared at him with unmasked rage, every trace of his former warmth now twisted into seething betrayal.
Unmoved, Aurel replied, "Uncle, this is a board decision. I ask that you abide by it."
A chair clattered violently to the floor.
Everyone flinched—except Aurel.
"Board decision? Don't insult my intelligence!" Uncle Hubert roared. "This is your doing, and yours alone! You may carry the Shen name, but don't forget—you're merely an adopted son. You have no true bloodline in this family. What gives you the right to control Shen Group?"
He pointed a trembling, furious finger. "Now that your father is gone, this company should be mine—his own brother's—not yours, an outsider with no real claim!"
The words hit like a slap.
Aurel might not have Shen blood, but he had been acknowledged by both Father and Mother Shen as their son. He held the legal rights to the family's legacy—just as Elena did.
Moreover, during the years of crisis, it was Aurel who had hauled the Shen Group back from the brink of bankruptcy, bearing its burdens alone when others fled.
Without Aurel Shen, there would be no Shen Group today. For Uncle Hubert to speak so callously, so dismissively, sent chills through even the most cowardly of board members.
But the mask had already slipped. The old pretenses were gone. Uncle Hubert was no longer hiding.
After all, what did he have to lose when he stood to be cast out?
"People might not know your past, but you do. You've lived in this house for a few years, used our name, and now you really believe you're the heir to Shen Group?" he spat. "Let me remind you, your name is Pei, not Shen!"
The conference room fell into stunned silence.
No one dared to move, nor breathe too loudly. Cold hostility laced the air like smoke.
Only Aurel remained unaffected—cold-eyed and expressionless, staring at the man who had finally revealed his true self.
"So you admit it, then?" he said quietly. "That you were the one who sent the anonymous email to Ethan Jiang before Mid-Autumn?"
Without waiting for a reply, Aurel tossed a document onto the polished surface of the table.
The loud thud it made against the wood rang in everyone's ears.
He narrowed his eyes, voice ice-edged. "And as for the board's decision—shall I list the real reasons you're being removed, Uncle? Here, in front of everyone?"
He rose slowly, facing Uncle Hubert's trembling, wrathful form.
"Ten years ago," he said, his voice dangerously calm, "the night of the storm—shall we revisit what you did?"
Uncle Hubert's pupils contracted violently.
Aurel chuckled darkly. "You covered your tracks well, I'll give you that. But no secret stays buried forever."
"And all your years of so-called loyalty—what was that but a cover for your ambition?"
Just outside the door, Elena staggered back, her hand flying to her chest.
Ten years ago… that stormy night…
The words struck her like a blade. Her mind roared with static, her pulse thundered in her ears.
Inside, Uncle Hubert finally snapped, slamming the table with both fists.
"You dare twist the truth, Aurel Shen? You shamelessly slander me and claim the throne with lies?"
His rage shattered any remaining illusion of family.