Free Web NovelChapter 63: Chapter 63; Financial crisis
Too many people were awake. Too many phones ringing. Too many expressions trying and failing to remain calm.
The large digital projections across the conference wall displayed frozen transaction pathways and interrupted overseas structures while senior financial staff stood rigidly around the room in visible panic.
Mr. Zhang looked up the moment his son entered.
For the first time that night, the older man no longer appeared composed. He looked furious.
"What happened?" Zhang Wei asked immediately.
Nobody answered at first.
Then finally, the chief financial officer spoke carefully. "Our overseas reserve structures were breached."
Zhang Wei stopped walking.
"What?"
The older man threw a printed report across the table violently enough for several pages to scatter across the floor.
"Over one billion missing."
The room fell completely silent.
That was an astronomical amount.
Zhang Wei stared at the documents in disbelief before snatching them from the table.
Impossible.
Those accounts were buried beneath multiple international holding structures tied to medical investment fronts and private stabilization reserves.
Access required layered authorizations across separate jurisdictions.
Nobody should have reached them this quickly.
Unless—
His expression changed instantly.
Who would have known those accounts?
Then recalled, the Lu Residence. The timing aligned too perfectly. Tonight, just right after Su Wan cornered them with irrefutable information and documents that could end the Zhang family.
Mr. Zhang’s voice turned colder than Zhang Wei had heard in years.
"This is not a coincidence."
Several senior executives lowered their eyes immediately. Because everyone inside the room was already thinking the same thing.
It had to be Su Wan, or someone moving behind her.
Zhang Wei’s jaw tightened violently.
"She planned this."
"This is all her....."
The chief financial officer hesitated before speaking carefully. "We still don’t know how the breach occurred."
"That doesn’t matter."
Zhang Wei slammed the documents back onto the table hard enough to fracture the silence again.
"Find out where the money went."
"Find the channel... IP and the accounts immediately...."
His breathing had already become uneven beneath the rage now building visibly through the room. Because the timing alone was catastrophic.
The Zhang family had already been financially unstable before tonight. Now emergency liquidity reserves were disappearing while succession negotiations collapsed publicly inside the Lu Residence.
And worst of all—they could not report the theft openly. Because exposing the missing funds meant exposing the accounts themselves.
Mr. Zhang slowly rose from his chair.
The older man’s composure had disappeared completely now, replaced by something colder and far more dangerous.
"From this moment onward," he said quietly, "I want everything connected to Su Wan investigated. I want all the information about her."
The room fell silent again.
Because everyone understood what those words truly meant. This had stopped being a negotiation and now it was war.
—
By the time the clock neared midnight, the Lu Residence had finally begun to quiet.
Not peacefully.
Only superficially.
The corridors outside the private wing remained dimly lit while servants moved carefully through the estate in lowered voices, as though everyone instinctively understood that something inside the household had shifted permanently after tonight.
Inside the master bedroom, Su Wan stood near the vanity slowly removing the jewelry she had worn throughout the day.
The exhaustion settling into her body had become harder to ignore now that the adrenaline from earlier had faded.
Her injured arm still ached beneath the fresh bandage, a dull persistent reminder of how quickly the situation surrounding her had spiraled beyond the original storyline she remembered.
The bedroom itself remained quiet. One of the lamps near the bed cast a soft amber glow across the room while the curtains stirred faintly from the wind pressing against the windows outside.
Su Wan lowered the final earring onto the vanity table before glancing briefly toward the files still scattered near the sofa.
Too many things were moving at once now. Second Madam. The Zhang family. The shareholders. Su Yao. And somewhere beneath all of it—Lu Shaohan was watching her more closely every hour.
A faint crease appeared between her brows before disappearing again.
Then—a knock sounded at the door. Three soft knocks and definitely this wasn’t Li Chen or Mo Chen.
Su Wan’s eyes lifted immediately toward the entrance.
At this hour, only a few people inside the residence would approach the master suite directly without permission. And somehow—she already knew who it was.
"Enter."
The door opened slowly.
Su Yao stepped inside.
She had changed out of her dinner attire already, now dressed in a pale silk night robe that softened her appearance beneath the warm lighting of the room.
Her long hair fell loosely over one shoulder, and in her hands rested a small porcelain tray carrying herbal medicine.
The image itself looked harmless enough, very domestic and gentle.
Su Wan watched her quietly from across the room.
"I thought you might still be awake," Su Yao said softly as she stepped further inside. "The kitchen prepared medicine for your injury."
Su Wan’s gaze lowered briefly toward the bowl before lifting again. Interesting. The kitchen moved quickly, or Su Yao had.
"You could’ve sent a servant."
Su Yao smiled faintly. "Father asked me to take care of you personally while I’m here."
There it was again. Father. Always framed carefully enough to make refusal seem unreasonable.
Su Wan turned slightly from the vanity, leaning one hand lightly against its edge.
"You’ve become very obedient lately."
The words were calm, but sharp enough that Su Yao’s smile paused almost imperceptibly, but it was only for a second, then it returned smoothly.
"You sound surprised."
"I am."
Silence settled briefly between them.
Su Yao finally crossed toward the sitting area and carefully placed the medicine down near the untouched food containers still scattered across the table.
Her eyes moved quietly across the room afterward. The documents. The financial reports. The shareholder files were partially visible beneath the dim light.
Nothing obvious shifted in her expression, yet Su Wan noticed the brief sharpening in her gaze immediately. She was observing and calculating. Exactly as expected of Su Yao.
"You’ve been busy," Su Yao said lightly.
"So have you."
The answer came immediately enough to stop the conversation for a moment.
Su Yao slowly looked back toward her sister. The softness in her expression remained intact, but the warmth beneath it had cooled slightly now.
"I came because I was worried about you."
"No," Su Wan replied calmly. "You came because the Lu Residence suddenly became important again."
The room fell silent.
Outside, wind brushed softly against the windows while the tension between the sisters sharpened almost invisibly beneath the quiet atmosphere.
Su Yao held her gaze for several long seconds before speaking again.
"You’ve changed."
She was direct.
Su Wan almost smiled faintly at that.
"There it is."
Su Yao’s expression tightened slightly. "What?"
"The real reason you came tonight."
The silence deepened immediately, because unlike everyone else inside the Lu Residence, Su Yao had known the original Su Wan for years. Closely enough to notice what others still struggled to define.
And now both women stood inside the quiet bedroom watching each other carefully, neither willing to expose too much first.
"You almost died," Su Yao said quietly at last. "People change after things like that."
The wording sounded casual, but her eyes remained fixed on Su Wan too carefully, watching for a reaction. Testing. Just like Lu Shaohan had earlier.
Very interesting.
Su Wan walked slowly toward the sofa area afterward, stopping near the low table between them.
"And what exactly were you expecting?" she asked calmly. "For me to remain the same person after being attacked?"
Su Yao remained silent.
Because the truth was more uncomfortable than that. The Su Wan standing in front of her now no longer behaves predictably.
The old Su Wan had been emotional, impulsive, desperate for affection, and easy to manipulate whenever family pressure became involved.
This version—was not.
And that frightened Su Yao more than she wanted to admit. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Her eyes lowered briefly toward the untouched medicine bowl before lifting again.
"You don’t trust me anymore."
The words sounded softer now, they weren’t entirely false, nor entirely sincere either.
Su Wan looked at her lazily.
"I don’t think trust was ever really the issue between us."
That finally cracked something small beneath Su Yao’s composure.
Because both of them understood what remained unspoken between them: Su Yao had always stood slightly behind Su Wan in status inside the Su family—yet somehow always closer to the center of attention everywhere else.
