Chapter 126: Chapter 126: Silent Alliance
Huo Feng’s car disappeared into the traffic, swallowed by the sea of lights. The city was in motion, pretending it didn’t care about the scandal boiling beneath the surface.
Inside the car, silence hung like a thin veil. Only the soft clicking of Ah Si’s tablet keyboard filled the air as he sorted through files from the day’s board meeting.
Huo Feng leaned his head against the tinted glass, his gaze distant. The night outside blurred into ribbons of light and shadow, and for a moment, his thoughts drifted back to another time.
Flashback.
Two boys walked along a quiet stretch of beach, shoes dangling from their hands. The evening wind tossed their hair, and the waves rolled lazily against the shore.
"When are you going back to Shanghai?" young Song Kai asked, squinting against the setting sun.
"In two days," Huo Feng answered simply, his tone calm, but his eyes dimmed a little. "Grandfather wants me home."
"That soon?" Song Kai’s lips formed a pout.
Huo Feng smiled faintly. "Don’t make that face. We’ll keep in touch. And besides, I’ll be back soon."
Song Kai looked up at him, eyes bright with stubborn hope. "You better. We still have a game company to build."
Huo Feng’s laughter mingled with the sound of the waves. "Deal."
Flashback ends.
The ringing of his phone snapped him back to the present. The screen lit up with a familiar name — Yue Ning. Without realizing, a small smile curved his lips before he even picked up.
"Mr. Huo," her warm, teasing voice flowed through the line. "I watched your interview. You don’t look like someone under fire."
Huo Feng’s low, deep and rich chuckle filled the car, Ah Si and the driver both kept their eyes fixed ahead, but their ears definitely caught that rare sound. Their boss never laughed lightly —unless it was her.
"Madam Huo," he said smoothly, the amusement still coloring his voice. "Your husband is capable. Why should he show fear when he’s the one controlling the chessboard?"
Yue Ning laughed softly, her voice bubbling through the receiver like the sound of warm water. "Spoken like a true strategist. But even kings need their queens."
The air in the car seemed to shift at those words — soft, alive.
Huo Feng’s eyes narrowed slightly, but there was a trace of affection there. "Then your king will be home soon."
"I’ll be waiting," she murmured, her tone dipping into something quieter, more personal. "Come home soon... I miss you."
For a heartbeat, silence reigned between them, charged and tender. Then Huo Feng’s lips curved again. "I’ll be home soon, wife."
The call ended, but the warmth lingered. He stared at his phone for a moment, his reflection faint in the black screen. It was composed, unreadable, but with a flicker of something softer beneath.
Outside, the city glided by. Unseen eyes followed from the dark—journalists, investors, enemies. All of them waiting for Huo Feng to stumble. But the man in the back seat didn’t stumble. He strategized.
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By the time he reached home, the lights of the mansion spilled like golden silk across the driveway.
Yue Ning was already waiting by the doorway, her arms folded gently across her chest, wearing an oversized cream cardigan that made her look disarmingly soft.
When he stepped inside, she smiled and handed him a cup of tea. "You looked too calm today. That’ll scare them more than anger."
Huo Feng chuckled. "Then I should stay calm often."
Yue Ning arched a brow, smirking. "I’d say so."
They sat together in his study later that night, the scent of tea and sandalwood mingling in the air. Files were spread across the desk—internal audits, board reports, transaction logs. Yue Ning leaned over one, frowning slightly.
"I noticed discrepancies in the construction project budget," she said, tracing a figure with her fingertip. "It’s subtle, but someone rerouted the funds through a shell company."
Huo Feng tilted his head. "You traced that already?"
"Of course," she said smoothly. "I have... my ways."
He gave her a knowing look, half amusement, half admiration. "You always do."
She smiled back, a secret flickering behind her eyes.
Her ways, indeed. In truth, the data scrolling across her laptop screen wasn’t ordinary analysis. Hidden beneath the surface, the system’s interface hummed quietly.
Lines of code shimmering like veins of light, decrypting and reconstructing records faster than any human hand could.
But she didn’t need him to know that.
Yue Ning saved a report to a secure folder and turned the laptop toward him. "If you present this tomorrow, Director Wang won’t have a chance to deny it."
Huo Feng glanced over the numbers, a smile ghosting his lips. "You make it sound easy."
"That’s because it is," she teased lightly. "You just need someone who sees what others miss."
He met her gaze, something unreadable passing between them. It was filled with quiet respect and affection. "Then I should keep you close, Madam Huo."
Yue Ning’s lips twitched. "You’d better. I’m your only ally here," she teased.
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Hours later, after she’d gone upstairs, Yue Ning sat on the edge of the bed, her expression thoughtful. The system’s white holographic panel shimmered faintly in her vision, invisible to everyone but her.
’Target trace on Director Wang complete. Hidden account detected offshore. Estimated amount: 120 million yuan.’ The system spoke up.
Yue Ning’s eyes sharpened. "So he really did it."
’Would you like to expose him now?’ It asked.
"Not yet," she whispered. "Let’s make sure the evidence hits the boardroom first. Then, release the leaked documents to the press."
The system’s interface moved once, acknowledging the command.
She leaned back on the bed, exhaling slowly. Downstairs, she could hear faint footsteps — Huo Feng still pacing in the study, planning his next move.
"He’s fighting in the light," she murmured, "and I’m fighting in the shadows."
Meanwhile, across the city, the same pair of journalists from earlier were seated in a dim café, replaying clips of the interview on a laptop.
"See?" the woman said, pausing the footage on Huo Feng’s calm expression. "He’s not worried. He’s waiting."
Her partner nodded slowly. "Then the game’s just beginning. And when men like Huo Feng start playing... people fall."
He leaned back, staring out at the skyline glowing against the night. "The city doesn’t know it yet, but we’re about to witness something big."
The woman closed her laptop with a click. "Let’s keep our lenses ready." Her lips curved into a faint smirk, eager and ready.