"What ulterior motive could I possibly have?" Hubert Shen pointed a trembling finger at Aurel Shen, his voice thick with righteous fury. "I am your father's own brother! When he was alive, we were the closest of kin. I broke my back to protect what he spent his lifetime building, all to keep it from falling into the hands of an outsider with hidden agendas!"
His voice rose with indignation. "And what about you, Aurel Shen? A mere adopted son, clinging to power for years, purging loyal employees as if this company were your personal domain. Tell me—what's your real motive?"
Before the echo of his accusation could fade, Hubert's voice turned colder still. "Pei Sheng died during a partnership with one of Shen Group's subsidiaries. Isn't that why you've held this grudge against the company all these years? You've been using my brother's legacy to exact your revenge. Aurel Shen—no, Pei Shen—you should be the one expelled from the board, not me!"
"Uncle!" Elena Shen pushed the door open with a sudden force.
Her face was pale, but her eyes blazed with resolve as she crossed the room, positioning herself firmly by Aurel's side. "That's enough. You've gone too far. My brother was acknowledged by our parents in front of the entire family. He is as much a Shen as I am—and he is the rightful heir to this company. Anyone can leave, but not him."
Her sudden appearance shifted the atmosphere in the conference room entirely.
The tension had been unbearable—so many secrets laid bare, so many lines crossed. The board members had stood frozen, unsure how to navigate the storm brewing between nephew and uncle.
But now that Elena had arrived, they all rose to their feet in unison, bowing slightly with respectful deference. "Miss Shen."
Hubert Shen stared, momentarily stunned by the sight of Elena standing so resolutely beside Aurel. Then, the disbelief on his face twisted into deeper rage.
He laughed bitterly, shaking with fury. "So that's what this is? The two of you plotted this together? You orchestrated all of this just to drive me out?"
Sweeping the documents off the table with a loud crash, his face contorted into something cruel and unrecognizable, far removed from the benevolent elder he once pretended to be.
Just before storming out, he cast one final glance toward Elena.
"Elena Shen, I am your blood uncle, yet you choose to stand by someone with no ties to your lineage! Do you even know who he truly is? Do you know his father died in the same 'accident' that took your parents? Do you know why he stayed in the Shen family all these years? What his true intentions are?"
"You're letting someone who holds a grudge against your family run this company. Fine. I'll sit back and watch you burn Shen Group to the ground!"
With that, Hubert left in a storm of fury.
No one in the room dared to breathe.
Elena's fingertips dug into her palms, trembling. She didn't look at anyone else—only spoke in a steady voice.
"Gentlemen, the meeting is over. You may all leave."
The board members obeyed and filed out in silence.
Once alone, Elena turned to face Aurel, who had been watching her quietly all this time. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but before she could, he spoke first.
"Shall we talk in the executive office?"
She nodded without hesitation.
Neither Jason Fang nor Auden Zhang followed them in. Once inside, with the door shut, Elena turned to Aurel, her voice low but urgent.
"Brother, what did you mean by 'that rainy night ten years ago'? Was it really an accident that took our parents? Or was it… orchestrated?"
Aurel had known this question would come.
He opened the lowest drawer of his desk and pulled out a confidential file, handing it to her. As she opened it, he began to speak.
The tragedy of ten years ago was both accident and design.
The man behind it all—was Hubert Shen.
It began over a decade ago, when their father announced his intent to name Elena, not Hubert, as the heir to Shen Group. From that moment, a seed of resentment took root in Hubert's heart.
He had always craved the sole command of the company. Having calculated their father's values—his devotion to family, his trust in kin—Hubert had spent years portraying himself as the loyal younger brother while others in the family fought like jackals over scraps.
The strategy worked. While the others were slowly pushed to the margins of the company, Hubert quietly secured his place as the second-in-command, just beneath their father.
But ambition knows no satisfaction.
Realizing that the Shen family had no male heirs, Hubert saw his chance. In private, he began referring to himself as the rightful chairman.
But one night at a family dinner, everything changed—when their father casually mentioned that Elena would inherit the company once she was older.
That single sentence shattered Hubert's years of scheming.
From that point on, he began plotting their father's death.
The Shen estate had always been open to him. With the trust he'd built over the years, there were no defenses. He exploited that, transferring a large sum of money to a staff member who maintained their father's car, instructing him to sabotage the brakes.
And the man did it.
But on the night of the trip, their parents didn't take that car.
The plan had seemed to fail—until a freak accident struck anyway. A cargo truck, its driver having suffered a sudden medical episode, lost control on the rain-slick highway and collided head-on with their vehicle.
Aurel's voice remained calm, but Elena's fingers trembled as she read the files.
To cover his tracks, Hubert smuggled the bribed employee out of the country, leaving no trace behind.
In the aftermath, he had thought the company would fall into his hands—but he had miscalculated. The Jiang Group intervened at a critical moment, and though Elena was too young to lead, Aurel—only seventeen at the time—stepped up.
He fought back against a board filled with vipers and brought Shen Group back from the edge of collapse.
Hubert's ambitions were thwarted. But he never gave up.
Instead, he embedded himself deeper into the subsidiaries, quietly siphoning secrets and consolidating power, waiting for another opportunity.
Now, standing in the president's office with the weight of ten years bearing down on her, Elena's expression darkened with every page she turned.
The room was silent.
Aurel thought of Hubert's final words—sharp, calculated, cruel. Though filled with venom, they held a certain undeniable truth: by blood, Aurel was not a Shen.
And he feared—feared what Elena would believe. Feared that after all they'd been through, she would let doubt win.
If that happened, he would relinquish everything. The company. The name. The bond.
"Elena," he said quietly. "Hubert wasn't wrong—we're not related by blood. I'm not a born Shen. But there is no feud between the Peis and the Shens. My father's death was an accident. I've never held a grudge."
"In fact, if not for your family taking me in, I would've died that winter. The Shen family… gave me a life. Gave me love. That is something I will never forget."
He looked into her eyes.
"I just need to know what you believe."
But before he could finish the next sentence, Elena interrupted him.
Her voice was soft, but resolute. Her words carried more weight than anything she had ever said.
"Brother, maybe we don't share blood—but you are my family. You're the child our parents acknowledged again and again. You've been my brother since I was three, ever since we appeared on the same household registry."
"We are family. We always will be. And now that Mom and Dad are gone, you can't abandon me too, not because of what someone else says."
The clarity in her voice cut through the haze of his doubt.
And Aurel felt it—that fear, that choking uncertainty—disappear like mist in the morning sun.
He stepped forward, gently wiping away the tears that had spilled down her cheeks.
And just like that time in the hospital overseas, he made her a solemn vow, one that held the weight of his entire world.
"I won't," he said. "Never."
"I'll always be here for you, Elena."