The morning sun over the Financial District was a sharp, clinical white. It reflected off the glass facade of the "Void Tower," a building that seemed to have appeared overnight, towering over the nearby historical landmarks.
Inside the penthouse office, the air was filtered and silent. Li Chen stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the people below—the CEOs and socialites of Asia—hurrying to their offices. In his hand, he held a crushed flower made of paper. Su Lin had folded it for him when they were twelve. He had kept it in a waterproof locket for seven years, a reminder that even in the mud, something could grow.
A chime echoed. Yan's voice followed. "Sir, the girl is in the lobby. She looks... terrified."
"Send her up," Chen said, his voice regaining its icy tone. "And Yan? Make sure the Li Group's internal audit reaches the press by noon. I want Li Tian's morning coffee to taste like bankruptcy."
Su Lin felt like she was stepping into another world. The lobby of the Void Consortium was unlike any corporate office she had seen. There were no logos, no receptionists—only sleek, black marble and security guards moving with the precision of elite soldiers.
When the elevator doors opened on the 99th floor, she was greeted by a man in a sharp grey suit.
"Miss Su? I am Yan. Please, follow me. The Director is expecting you."
"The... Director?" Su Lin clutched the strap of her bag. She had spent the night in a daze, staring at the 'Zero' balance on her banking app. It felt like a dream, or a dangerous trap. "I'm just a data entry clerk. I don't think I'm qualified for a secretarial role here."
"The Director doesn't care about your resume," Yan said, a hint of a smile appearing. "He cares about loyalty. That's in short supply in this city."
He opened a set of heavy, double-vault doors.
The office was enormous. At the center sat a desk carved from a single block of anthracite. Behind it sat the man from the car. In the daylight, he looked even more imposing. His eyes weren't just cold; they seemed ancient, as if he had witnessed the end of the world and returned.
"Sit," Li Chen commanded.
Su Lin sat, her knees shaking. "Why me? There are thousands who are more capable. You paid off my debt—that's enough. I can't take a job I didn't earn."
"You earned it by being the only person in twenty years who didn't try to steal from me," Chen said, leaning forward. He slid a folder across the desk. "This is your first assignment. It's a list of properties owned by The Emerald Heights Development. Your father's old garden is among them."
Su Lin's breath hitched. "The Li family plans to turn that into a landfill. They've been trying to evict the residents for months."
"Not anymore," Chen said. "The Void bought the debt of that development company an hour ago. I want you to manage the Restoration Project. You will sign the papers that prevent any member of the Li family from ever stepping foot on that land again."
Su Lin looked at him, tears filling her eyes. "You're... you're giving it back?"
"I'm taking it back," he corrected. "There is a difference."
The moment of peace was interrupted by the intercom. "Sir, we have an unauthorized visitor at the secondary elevator. It's Madam Wang. She's demanding to see the man who outbid her son at the auction."
Su Lin froze. Madam Wang. The matriarch of the Li family. The woman who had treated Su Lin's father like a tool and Li Chen's mother like dirt.
"Let her in," Li Chen said, his eyes darkening. He looked at Su Lin. "Stay behind the privacy screen. I want you to hear this."
Su Lin stepped behind the frosted glass partition just as the doors burst open.
Madam Wang marched in, the scent of expensive French perfume surrounding her like a toxic cloud. She was draped in silk and jade, her face a mask of perfection and arrogance.
"Who do you think you are?" she hissed, not even looking at the man in the chair, her eyes scanning the lavish office. "To humiliate my son in public? To interfere with the Li Group's expansion? Do you have any idea who we are?"
Li Chen slowly turned his chair around. He didn't stand. He didn't offer her a seat. He simply looked at her.
"I know exactly who you are, Wang Meiling," he said.
The use of her maiden name made her flinch. "How dare you—"
"I know you spend four million dollars a year on charity to cover up the fact that your husband's factories use child labor in the border provinces," Chen continued, his voice sharp. "I know your eldest son is a gambling addict who lost thirty million in Macau last Tuesday. And I know that seven years ago, you signed a cleanup order regarding a certain incident at North Harbor."
Madam Wang turned pale. The confidence drained from her face, replaced by a flickering shadow of recognition. She squinted at him, searching the hard lines of his face for the boy she thought she had erased.
"You..." she whispered. "No. That's impossible. He's dead. I saw the report."
"Reports can be bought. But the sea, the sea is honest. It reveals what it cannot stomach."
Li Chen stood up, his towering frame casting a long shadow over her. "You came here to ask who I am? I am the interest on the debt you've been accruing for twenty-five years. And Madam Wang? I've come to collect."
"You think a little money makes you powerful?" she spat, though her voice trembled. "The Li family is the foundation of this country! We will crush you like the bug you were!"
"The foundation is rotting," Chen stepped closer, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "I've already bought your banks. I've already turned your board of directors. By the end of this month, the only thing you'll own is the clothes you're wearing. And if you ever touch Su Lin or her family again, I'll take those too."
He pressed a button on his desk. "Yan, show the lady out. She's polluting the air."
Madam Wang was led out, stumbling, her poise shattered.
As the doors closed, Su Lin stepped out from behind the screen. She was trembling, looking at Li Chen as if she were seeing him for the first time.
"You're him," she whispered. "The boy from the garden. The one they said ran away."
Li Chen turned back to the window, his back to her. The cold mask was firmly back in place.
"That boy died in the harbor, Su Lin. I am what's left."
He tapped a key on his desk, and a holographic map of the city appeared, several buildings glowing red. "Now, get to work. We have a mountain to level, and I want you to hold the shovel."