.

Bodyguards increased — Wen Ran only realized this a few days later. He put his backpack by his leg and asked the driver: 'Uncle, did Gu Yunchi add more bodyguards for me?'

'That's right.' The driver adjusted his earpiece. 'He was supposed to come back last Tuesday, but over there... he really couldn't get away, so he arranged more people.'

Last Tuesday, the day after the phone call. He didn't know what urgent matter brought Gu Yunchi back, nor what it had to do with the extra bodyguards. Wen Ran asked: 'Is there danger lately?'

'He told us to keep a tight eye on you.' The driver said, starting the car.

Made to sound like a prisoner, Wen Ran was baffled. Since that phone call, he'd sent Gu Yunchi a goodnight message almost every night, but Gu Yunchi seemed busy — sometimes no reply, sometimes just a 'mm' in the early hours.

At Preparatory School, barely settled in his seat, Tao Susu burst in, dropping her backpack while sitting down, whispering: 'I found something out.'

Since learning what kind of crazy, twisted family Wen Ran lived in, she'd insisted on helping investigate. She'd even gotten him four or five of the latest model bugs, so he could place one where needed — might get unexpected results.

He didn't dare scatter them carelessly. Two days ago, when the cleaners came, Wen Ran used the excuse of helping Aunt Fang inspect their work and slipped one under Chen Shuhui's nightstand. Unfortunately, Chen Shuhui had only come back to sleep one night and hadn't made any calls, so he hadn't picked up anything yet.

'What is it?' Wen Ran asked.

'When Chen Shuhui was a junior, she studied abroad at a music academy for a year, lived in a fancy apartment off-campus. Guess what.' Tao Susu's voice dropped even lower. 'Gu Chongze was working at a Boqing Group branch at the time and lived in that same building for a few months.'

Wen Ran froze. Tao Susu immediately pulled out her mobile phone: 'This is the music academy's paper, a concert by the school orchestra. There's a photo — I spotted someone in the audience who looks a lot like Gu Chongze. Look.'

She zoomed in and held the phone up to Wen Ran. He looked down — a scan of a paper newspaper, zoomed into a corner of the audience section. In the very last seat, a blurry-faced Alpha in a shirt — same angle, same fuzziness. Wen Ran thought of that photo that broke not long ago. Even with over a decade between them, that profile almost perfectly overlapped with the Alpha in front of him. No question, both were Gu Chongze.

'Here — the paper says it plain as day, Chen Shuhui was first chair cello, so she was on stage.' Tao Susu grabbed Wen Ran's arm and shook it a few times, excited: 'They must have known each other way earlier, that's why they ended up working together later.'

Through the shaking, Wen Ran stared at the image without moving, dazed: 'Maybe more than just knowing each other.'

Hiss — second time tonight he'd zoned out and burned his fingertip with the soldering iron. Wen Ran flinched his hand away on reflex and immediately squeezed on some burn cream. He wasn't very familiar with soldering and electronic chips, learning as he went. The components were so tiny that progress was slow and he kept getting burned.

High heels clicked downstairs, getting closer, passing his door and heading the other way. Chen Shuhui was home.

Wen Ran blew on his finger, picked up the soldering iron, kept going. Before long he was coughing again from the nasty fumes of melting solder, had to stop once more, got up and stuck his head out the window for fresh air.

Opening the door to air it out might help — Chen Shuhui probably couldn't be bothered anymore with him fiddling with models. But Wen Ran didn't want her to see he was making a birthday gift for Gu Yunchi, so he kept it shut.

His throat itched worse from coughing. He gulped down some water and felt better. Wen Ran wiped his mouth, sat back in his chair. His mobile phone rang — he thought it was Gu Yunchi, grabbed it right away. It was Wen Rui.

'Is your mom home?'

'Just got back a bit ago.'

'Got it.'

He hung up after that. Wen Ran could tell his voice was heavy — figured he'd probably found something and was coming back to confront Chen Shuhui.

Maybe another answer would come to light tonight. Wen Ran's heart hammered. He turned off the soldering iron and started waiting.

Over twenty minutes later, Wen Rui came home, went straight upstairs and knocked on Chen Shuhui's door. The door slammed shut with a bang.

Wen Ran pulled out his earphones, put them in, opened the app on his mobile phone. The moment it connected, he heard Wen Rui's voice: '...Read them all, then tell me — is it true.'

The sound of papers being flipped. Chen Shuhui barely glanced at them before speaking after just a few seconds: 'So that's why you've been so busy lately — digging up this stuff.'

'Chen Shuhui, are you crazy? Dad barely dies and you start moving assets, just to tank the company so you can justify begging the Gu Family for a marriage alliance. Do you have any conscience at all? Shengdian Group was Dad's life!'

'Don't lecture me about conscience over some cheater.' Chen Shuhui said coldly. 'Has Shengdian Group's collapse affected you at all? Aren't you still living the young master's life, never suffered a single hardship?'

'If you hate Dad, divorce him, take his money, trash his name — whatever you want.' Wen Rui said, word by word. 'But why did you have to team up with Gu Chongze to kill him.'

Dead silence filled the air. Chen Shuhui was a little surprised, a little disdainful: 'You even guessed that.'

Hearing Chen Shuhui admit it with his own ears, Wen Rui's breathing suddenly grew heavy: 'You can actually do something like this. You two are vicious.'

'What about Li Qingwan.' He asked. 'Did you kill her too.'

Wen Ran gripped his earphones and stood up unconsciously. His breath and heartbeat both stopped — only his ears straining to catch every sound inside.

'Don't know.' Chen Shuhui's tone was disgusted.

'When she showed up in Capital City a few years ago, didn't you have people tailing her? Killing one person or two — no big difference to you, right?'

'Gu Chongze told me she ran off, no one knows where. I wasn't planning to take her life — just as long as she had the sense to never show up again.'

Wen Rui suddenly laughed: 'Fair enough. One life is already enough to put you and Gu Chongze away.'

'What do you mean — call the police? Wen Rui, you're the one who's crazy?!' Chen Shuhui finally couldn't sit still. 'Get this straight — it was Wen Ningyuan who got involved with Li Qingwan and had an illegitimate child. Do you know what I felt when I saw the hotel surveillance and the paternity test?!'

'So you killed someone! You turned a perfectly fine Beta into an omega, forced a kid to grovel like a dog!' Wen Rui gritted his teeth. 'Chen Shuhui, are you and Gu Chongze even human? Why don't you just go die?'

'Who are you cursing? Did you really forget who's your real dad?'

Wen Ran gripped the edge of the desk, hunched over and exhaled sharply — he had his answer. The first card.

He'd always wondered why Chen Shuhui and Gu Chongze started working together ten years ago. Turns out it wasn't just ten years, and it wasn't just working together.

'The one who raised me is my dad.' Wen Rui said suddenly, calm. 'Eighty percent of my life, Wen Ningyuan was there. Gu Chongze? He shows up after my dad dies, says he's my real dad, and then your plan kicks off. Even me — I'm just a card in it.'

'Because you knew Gu Chongze was being watched by Gu Peiwen and couldn't have kids, so the moment you found out you were pregnant, you immediately agreed to marry into the Wen Family. You deceived Wen Ningyuan, gave birth to a child that wasn't his. When you call him a cheater, why don't you think about what you did — something just as filthy?'

'I'm seriously starting to wonder — was my dead brother Wen Ningyuan's son, or Gu Chongze's?'

A sharp slap. Chen Shuhui's breath trembled: 'Say that again, I dare you.'

'So you know what it feels like to have mud slung at you. You better be damn sure Dad actually cheated with Li Qingwan.' Wen Rui scoffed. 'To think I'd end up with parents like you and Gu Chongze. I'm the one who should be dead.'

Chen Shuhui strained to keep her voice down: 'Why don't you think about it — once it's done, Boqing Group will all be yours. We fought for this for you. Who else could give you this?'

'Don't flatter yourselves. Saying that kind of thing is disgusting. You wanted fame and fortune — I don't want anything from the people who killed my dad.' Footsteps slowly sounded, Wen Rui's voice grew more distant. 'I won't go back to Boqing Group. I'll stay at Shengdian Group. As for you two — look out for yourselves.'

The door closed. Wen Ran took off his earphones, rubbed his face, walked over and opened his door, looking puzzled: 'Brother, what happened?'

'You're right to want to leave.' Wen Rui paused in front of him. 'A normal person couldn't stay in a family like this.'

Wen Ran said nothing, watched him go down the stairs and leave the house.

Her biological son's break with her barely affected Chen Shuhui. In her eyes, Shengdian Group was a sacrifice — it would collapse completely one day. And Wen Rui couldn't possibly give up a business empire like Boqing Group to start from scratch. He'd come back to her eventually.

Something happened during this period. Last year, the city government began planning a total overhaul of West City, kicking off a massive bidding process. The project reportedly involved cooperation on a new Air Force Base. Countless companies fought tooth and nail to bid. After a bloody competition, only the Gu Family and Wei Family reached the top — and in the end, Boqing Group won the project.

The Gu Family and League Chairman Lu Chengyu had been tight partners for years. In the early days, every time Lu Chengyu ran for office, Gu Peiwen backed him with massive funds. Boqing Group couldn't have reached where it is today without Lu Chengyu's support. But the League's various factions gradually couldn't tolerate Boqing Group's dominance. So Lu Chengyu married into the Wei Family, elevating them — publicly, to check Boqing Group and ease the discontent.

But public is public. Behind the scenes, it's hard to say whether the Chairman still leaned toward the Gu Family, or was deliberately keeping distance. Either way, the Wei Family lost this bidding round.

At this point, the Wei Family's desire for revenge against Boqing Group reached its peak. These past few days, there'd been rumors of a bid leak during the process, directly pointing out that Boqing Group had been tipped off about the reserve price in advance. The industry was buzzing, rumors flying everywhere.

Boqing Group only issued a brief clarification once and did nothing after. Wen Ran knew this was Gu Chongze's call, but didn't understand why he'd let it go. Uneasy, he felt there was more to it than met the eye.

Today was Tao Susu's little kangaroo's birthday. Chen Shuhui had already told him he had to attend some Evening Banquet tonight, so Wen Ran couldn't make it to the party. He bought a small cake, stuck a candle in it, and held a video call in the classroom to celebrate with the little kangaroo early.

Song Shuangang stood behind as a backdrop. Tao Susu threw her arm around Wen Ran's shoulder, holding the cake with him, excitedly explaining to the little kangaroo that Wen Ran was throwing him a birthday. But the little kangaroo on the other end of the camera just lay there coldly, not even glancing at her.

After they split the small cake, Wen Ran stuffed the half-burned candle and lighter into his backpack, and after school got in the car to head to the hotel for the Evening Banquet.

Whose Evening Banquet — no idea. Why Chen Shuhui wanted him there — no idea. Knowing nothing, Wen Ran spotted Wei Lingzhou in the banquet hall, and Tang Feiyi, whom he'd only met once briefly at Huyan Mansion long ago.

Gu Chongze was there too. Apart from Wen Rui, Wen Ran realized that members of all four families — Gu, Wen, Tang, Wei — were gathered here tonight.

He also unexpectedly ran into He Wei, who seemed a bit down lately. He Wei greeted him, they chatted a bit, then asked: 'Did Yunchi tell you he's traveling abroad?'

'Mm.' Wen Ran nodded, watching He Wei's expression. Worried he'd be hurt knowing Gu Yunchi was traveling abroad with Lu Heyang without him, he added: 'But he might have other things going on this time — not necessarily just travel.'

Surprisingly, He Wei wasn't hurt. Instead, a flicker of mild sympathy crossed his face, then he smiled: 'Okay, got it.'

He tilted his chin toward Wei Lingzhou and Tang Feiyi: 'You know those two, right? Last time you got kidnapped — most likely their doing. They've been fighting Boqing Group hard lately, so watch yourself.'

'Did Tang Feiyi also bid on the West City project?'

'He didn't, but he's got a lot of shady businesses in West City — underground clubs, some secret warehouses. The moment the Gu Family got the project, they'd cut off all his points and lines in West City. Of course he'd hate that.'

'Got it, thanks.'

'No problem, stay safe.' He Wei patted his back and went elsewhere.

Wen Ran felt He Wei's attitude was strange — couldn't quite put his finger on it, something like regret and pity. He didn't understand where that came from.

A sudden urge to message Gu Yunchi. So Wen Ran did it, opened his mobile phone and asked: Are you coming back?

The Evening Banquet began. Wen Ran sat down with Chen Shuhui, snuck a peek at his phone mid-way, and saw Gu Yunchi had replied surprisingly fast: Landing in an hour

If not for holding back, Wen Ran would have almost jumped up. Deep down he knew that once Gu Yunchi was back in the country, some things would reach the moment of being exposed, laid bare. He'd prepared himself for it — but he still couldn't control the joy at the thought of seeing Gu Yunchi.

Wen Ran: Can you let me know when you're home? Thanks [heart]

Gu Yunchi: No

Wen Ran: Great, thanks [rose]

Wen Ran put his phone away and kept eating. Chen Shuhui slid a room card over: 'When you're done, go wait in this room.'

'Wait for what?'

'Didn't you want to leave? The conditions aren't about the will anymore — different terms now. We need to talk.' Chen Shuhui leaned back in her chair, eyes fixed straight ahead at the stage amid the noise.

'Okay.' Wen Ran put the room card in his jacket pocket.

After the wedding ceremony ended, Wen Ran got up with his backpack and walked out of the hall, running right into Tang Feiyi coming in — apparently just off a phone call. As they faced each other, Tang Feiyi stared at him for a few seconds, an evil, eerie look. Wen Ran's heart suddenly surged with intense unease.

In the elevator, he messaged Gu Yunchi again: Almost an hour — landing yet?

No reply yet. Wen Ran stepped out of the elevator, two bodyguards following. He opened the room door. The bodyguards did a quick check before leaving the suite, spreading out to both ends of the hallway.

Wen Ran sat on the sofa for a while. His mobile phone didn't ring, but he heard the door lock click softly. He looked up — no one came in, no other movement.

Something felt off. Wen Ran unlocked his mobile phone and suddenly saw the status bar showed no signal.

Signal jammer in the room — Wen Ran jumped up and rushed to the door. He grabbed the handle but couldn't open it — the lock had been locked by the system. He slammed the door hard, shouting: 'Open up! Help me open the door!'

The hallway was silent. The two bodyguards were most likely being held off. He could only hope the others would arrive soon. Wen Ran rushed back to the sofa, dug out the lighter from his backpack, dragged over a chair, climbed up, lit some tissues, and stretched his arm up toward the smoke detector.

Ten seconds later, a piercing high-decibel alarm went off. Ignoring the flames licking his hand, Wen Ran lit another stack of tissues. Once the sitting area was full of smoke, he jumped down from the chair, ran over, coughing as he banged on the door: 'Fire! Help!'

Some things are easier done through other people's hands — that was Gu Chongze's line. Wen Ran remembered it now. He understood.

Using the West City project to provoke the Tang and Wei families' revenge, but not facing them head-on — instead, steering the conflict toward Gu Yunchi. Leaking Gu Yunchi's secret to Wei Lingzhou and Tang Feiyi, letting them do whatever they wanted to him.

If he wasn't wrong, they probably knew how lethal a Susceptibility Period was for Gu Yunchi. A heaven-sent, bloodless way to kill — just trigger Gu Yunchi's Susceptibility Period, and everyone could reap the rewards.

The second card was this.

Once something happened to Gu Yunchi, even the most biased will had nothing to do with him. Chen Shuhui and Gu Chongze could then push Wen Rui forward, let Gu Peiwen know he had another grandson.

The worst part — he himself was the trigger for Gu Yunchi's Susceptibility Period. Those three vials of blood drawn during the physical exam could easily be used to extract high-concentration Pheromone, forcing Gu Yunchi into his Susceptibility Period.

Wen Ran didn't dare think further. His mind was already too scrambled to process anything else — he just wanted to punch a hole through the door with his fists and claw his way out.

Amid the alarm, the door shuddered a few times and burst open. Wen Ran was knocked to the floor, couldn't feel any pain. He braced himself against the wall, swaying as he stood up, couldn't see who it was, gasping hard, voice hoarse: 'Take me... take me to Gu Yunchi...'