Contact Su Hua

"Also, Xuan, my SIM card is damaged, and I can't log into WeChat. I'll contact you with a new WeChat account," Su Hua added.

Cheng Da pinched his throat and nodded emphatically, "Mhm."

As soon as Su Hua hung up, her icy gaze fell back on Jiang Qing.

Jiang Qing looked utterly bewildered. "President Su, what's wrong?"

Why was President Su staring at her with such a terrifying expression?

She hadn’t done anything wrong, had she...?

"You seem very concerned about Xuan?" Su Hua suddenly remarked.

Jiang Qing: "!!!"

So that was it!

This was not a misunderstanding she wanted to have!

"No, no, no!" Jiang Qing hurriedly denied. "President Su, don’t misunderstand. I was only concerned about Young Master Lin because if he hasn’t recovered by the day after tomorrow, the plan you arranged won’t proceed smoothly, right?"

Only then did Su Hua withdraw her cold stare from Jiang Qing.

The day after tomorrow—it truly was an important day. The dance she had practiced would finally be put to use.

Jiang Qing let out a long sigh of relief.

Thank goodness she was quick-witted.

Otherwise, she might not have survived President Su’s scrutiny.

Su Hua returned to her seat, added Lin Xuan on WeChat, and then closed her eyes to rest.

Suddenly, something occurred to her, and she opened her eyes again.

That last "mhm" in Xuan’s messages didn’t quite sound like his voice.

Soon, another message from Lin Xuan arrived on Su Hua’s phone:

[Lin Xuan]: Hua Bao, I just took my medicine. I’m a bit tired, so I’ll sleep now.

This message had also been pre-written by Lin Xuan, with Cheng Da simply copying and pasting it to send.

[Su Hua]: Mhm.

Su Hua opened the surveillance feed on her phone and saw Lin Xuan place his phone on the table after their exchange before lying down to rest.

She pinched the bridge of her nose.

She must have been overthinking it. How could this not be Xuan?

There was no way Xuan could escape from Night Garden.

Yet, as Su Hua watched the man on the screen, she felt no trace of affection—only an overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity.

After more than ten hours on the plane, Su Hua’s flight finally landed.

Meanwhile, at the Shadow Organization’s base—

Derkson emerged from the medical room once again, exhaustion evident in his eyes.

"Master Derkson, our leader requests your presence," said a man with a scar running from his eye to the corner of his mouth, bowing respectfully.

"Understood."

Derkson nodded and followed the scarred subordinate to Zhao Long’s room.

"Mr. Zhao," Derkson greeted.

"Master Derkson, how is Lin Xuan’s memory recovery progressing?" Zhao Long sat on his bed, still twirling his prayer beads between his fingers while murmuring Buddhist scriptures under his breath—praying for longevity.

"It’s complete," Derkson confirmed. "Now, he just needs to sleep for another dozen or so hours before waking up."

"Excellent, truly excellent." Zhao Long smiled in satisfaction.

Derkson continued, "Mr. Zhao, about the payment you promised..."

"Don’t worry. Once everything is settled, I’ll deliver the full sum—$20 million USD, not a cent less," Zhao Long assured.

Derkson chuckled. "Mr. Zhao is indeed a man of his word."

"Master Derkson, you’ve been working nonstop for hours. You must be exhausted. Let my men escort you to rest for a while," Zhao Long suggested.

"That would be best." Derkson nodded and left with Zhao Long’s men.

The other subordinates in the room also prepared to leave, allowing Zhao Long to rest alone.

"Wait."

Zhao Long suddenly called them back.

"Boss, is there anything else you need?" the two subordinates asked respectfully.

Zhao Long smirked. "Things are progressing so smoothly. It’s been over ten hours since Ling was separated from her boyfriend. She must be worried sick about him by now."

Ling was a killing machine he had personally trained—how could he bear to see her distressed?

A perfect killing machine should have no emotions at all.

"Go," Zhao Long’s eyes darkened. "Find a way to inform Ling that Lin Xuan is in the hands of Shadow. If she wants to save him, she must come in person."

"Alone," Zhao Long emphasized.

"Yes, sir!"

The subordinates immediately carried out Zhao Long’s orders.

Zhao Long’s smirk deepened.

Soon.

The show was about to begin.

All that was left was for Ling to arrive and meet Lin Xuan—now with his memories restored.

Zhao Long closed his eyes, resumed chanting sutras, and continued spinning his prayer beads.

The two subordinates knew the gravity of the situation. Unlike before, they didn’t just send a text to Su Hua.

They called her instead.

[The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later.]

A cold, robotic female voice sounded from the phone.

They tried several more times, but the result was the same.

The subordinates frowned.

Why was her phone still off?

Puzzled, they contacted Jiang Qing instead.

"You’re Jiang Qing, President Su’s secretary?" the Shadow subordinate asked.

Jiang Qing frowned. "Yes, I am. And you are...?"

The subordinate replied, "Nothing important. Just passing along a message—Lin Xuan is now in Shadow’s custody. If you want him alive, tell your President Su to come to the address I’ll send you."

With that, he hung up.

Jiang Qing scoffed.

So, they were trying to get her to inform President Su about Young Master Lin’s situation?

Shadow’s plans were about to fail spectacularly.

She and Young Master Lin had gone to great lengths to keep this plan hidden from President Su—why would she reveal it now?

One subordinate prepared to inform Zhao Long that they couldn’t reach Su Hua directly.

The other stopped him. "What are you doing?"

"Something feels off. I think we should tell the boss that Ling’s phone is off," the subordinate explained.

"You’re going to bother him with something this trivial? It’ll just make us look incompetent," the other snapped.

This was a critical moment for his own advancement.

He couldn’t afford to leave a single bad impression on the boss.

"But what if something goes wrong? We can’t take that responsibility," the first subordinate argued.

What if Jiang Qing never told Ling about Lin Xuan’s capture?

"Fine. Let’s send someone to check if Ling is on her way. If she hasn’t left yet, then we’ll report it," the second subordinate proposed.

"Agreed." The first nodded.

An hour passed.

"Men." Zhao Long’s voice rang out from his room.

"Boss." The two subordinates entered.

"Well? Has Ling arrived?" Zhao Long asked.

"W-well, you see..." One subordinate stammered, unable to answer.

"Spit it out!" Zhao Long snapped, opening his eyes.

Just then, the subordinate’s phone buzzed with a new message.

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