CHAPTER 16: THE DEAL THAT SHATTERED SILENCE
The echo of Xuan Qi's heels against the marble floor didn't just cut through the silence—it *shattered* it. Every board member froze as she halted before Wei Jie's seat, the CEO's throne that once held their shared dreams. Now, her reflection glared back at him from the polished table, a warped queen in a blood-red suit.
Wei Ji," her voice was silk wrapped around a blade, "Did you know silence has a price?" She slid a document toward him. The header bled black ink: **ACQUISITION PROPOSAL: TIANHENG GROUP**.
His knuckles whitened on the armrest. Ten years ago, he let her walk away to save her. Today, she returned not for love—but to buy his empire, and with it, the truth he buried.
*Clause 4.1 detonated the past:*
**"Full disclosure of all sealed records pertaining to the Shanghai merger incident (2015)."**
A choked gasp rippled through the room. *That* incident—the one that forged her into a tycoon, and broke him into a man of shadows.
She leaned down, her whisper a venomous caress only he could hear:
**"Sign it, or I'll tear your silence apart with my bare hands."**
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### **🔥 MEMORY FLASHBACK: RAIN & FIRE**
As Wei Jie's fingers brushed the paper, the boardroom dissolved—
*Rain lashed the skeletal remains of the QI Textile Factory, 2015. Xuan Qi's 19-year-old self crumpled in mud, watching orange tongues devour her parents' legacy. Wei Jie stood rigid under a black umbrella, his driver holding her back as she screamed.*
*"**Wei Jie! Look at me! Was our love cheaper than this land?!**"*
*He turned away. His voice cut colder than the rain:*
***"Forget me. It's better this way."***
*The lie tasted like ash. He'd just discovered his mentor, Chairman He, ordered the arson to force the merger—and threatened Xuan Qi's life if Wei Jie interfered.*
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### **💣 BOMBSHELL: PHOTO LEAK**
The memory shattered as his assistant burst in, drenched in panic.
"Sir—the media… they leaked *this*!"
An iPad slammed onto the table. Tabloid headlines screamed:
**"TIANHENG HEIR AT QI FACTORY INFERNO: SECRET LOVER OR ARSONIST?"**
The photo: 19-year-old Wei Jie standing by a burning warehouse, Xuan Qi's parents' protest banners at his feet. *Timestamp: 7:03 PM—three hours before the fatal explosion.*
Xuan Qi's mask cracked. "You… were there *that night*?" Her vengeance blueprint crumpled.
Wei Jie seized the moment. He ripped the acquisition draft in half.
"You want truth?" His laugh was hollow. "Then ask why your father's last call was to *my* private line—begging me to get you out of Shanghai that night."
He flung a burner phone at her feet. Onscreen: a voice recording labeled **"QI BAIZHOU FINAL WARNING: 2015/10/17"**.
Thunder cannoned outside the windows.
---
### **🎬 CLIFFHANGER: THREE EXPLOSIVE REVELATIONS**
Xuan Qi's blood ran cold. Her father's voice hissed from the phone:
***"Wei Jie, the factory's rigged! Get Qi out before 9 PM, or Chairman He's men will kill her too—"***
Static swallowed the words.
Wei Jie's eyes locked onto hers, pain stripped bare:
"I broke us to save you. Now tell me, Xuan Qi…"
Torn contract shreds snowed around them.
**"…who pays for this silence?"**
The boardroom doors blasted open.
**Armed police flooded in.**
"Wei Jie, you're under arrest for the murder of Qi Baizhou and conspiracy to commit arson."
Handcuffs clicked around his wrists—
—as Xuan Qi replayed the recording.
*"…Chairman He's men will kill her too—"*
*But Chairman He died in a car crash three months ago.*
***So who gave the kill order?***