The richest man's parents were kidnapped, and his adorable son captivated the entire family.

This white-haired, taciturn old man had always seemed to maintain a polite but distant relationship with her.

"Assistant Xie..." Uncle Chen's tone was somewhat low, but his eyes were extremely complicated, as if he was weighing, pondering, and recalling.

He approached and, before she could react, quietly slipped a small SD card into her palm, whispering, "Be careful of Ruolan. And be careful of the data too."

Xie Yumin was stunned. Before she could speak, Uncle Chen had already bowed his head and walked past her, disappearing into the depths of the archives in a flash.

That night, she carefully read the SD card on her old laptop at home, offline.

The moment the screen loaded, she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

The SD card clearly contains screenshots of multiple system operation logs, including specific timestamps, terminal addresses, operator IDs, and before-and-after comparisons of modified financial fields. Among the operators, it is clear that Ruolan and her confidants are involved!

These are direct and irrefutable pieces of evidence that framed her!

Even more striking was a distorted audio clip featuring Ruolan's voice, clearly audible: "...Completely erase the traces of that encrypted file on Xie Yumin's computer. Yes, the one with the abbreviation 'Ruifeng'...Clean it up!"

Next was a document with Chen Bo's personal notes:

“This isn’t the first time she’s done something like this. Ten years ago, she drove away that kid under my command in the same way… I watched him get framed step by step until he couldn’t even believe himself anymore… He died too soon. I’ve endured it for many years, until now.”

Xie Yumin bit her lip, her fingertips trembling slightly as she turned the pages.

It turns out that this was not the first time Ruolan had used the "scapegoat" method to purge dissidents within the Gu family.

Over the years, she has risen rapidly, stepping over not only herself, but also one by one the once loyal and upright "disciples of Uncle Chen".

But the more this is the case, the less she can back down.

Meanwhile, Ruolan infiltrated the Gu family system through technical personnel, continuously tampering with data, disrupting the merger and acquisition evaluation process, and using her authority to isolate and suppress core technical personnel, causing Gu Yinshen to gradually lose his reliance on "trustworthy insiders".

She is the most hidden pawn in the Gu family!

One night, Xie Yumin couldn't help but ask a question that had been on her mind.

"Uncle Chen, you said..." Her voice was so low it was almost inaudible, "Why is President Gu... so abnormally sensitive about Mengmeng's matter?"

She paused, her heart pounding: "It even... exceeded the concern a boss should have for an employee's child. He was clearly very suspicious of me, yet he still sent people to protect her the whole time... Why?"

There was a moment of silence on the other side.

Uncle Chen's fingers tightened slightly, and the cane resting on his knee made a soft creaking sound.

His gaze was complex, and he remained silent for a long time, as if struggling with some kind of emotion. In the end, he only said softly, "Sometimes... you don't need to know all the answers."

She wanted to ask more questions, but a knock suddenly sounded at the door, abruptly ending the conversation.

The next morning, just as Uncle Chen stepped out of his breakfast stall in the old town and before he could return to his company, a familiar yet unfamiliar figure blocked his way.

It was Gu Yinshen's personal assistant, who appeared calm and was holding a black briefcase.

“Mr. Chen,” he said politely but coldly, “President Gu is very grateful for your continued loyalty.”

He placed the document bag on the bench, the zipper slightly open, revealing a sealed file bag with several registration records of Mr. Chen's son at an overseas school that could be vaguely seen.

"But Mr. Gu hopes you understand that matters concerning 'that young lady' are... an absolute taboo for the Gu family."

Uncle Chen's body stiffened slightly.

“We do not wish to see you have too much contact with Assistant Xie anymore. If necessary, we can ‘take extra care’ with your son’s scholarship and international visa. But only if you understand the boundaries.”

The man smiled, gave a half-hearted bow, and turned to leave.

After he left, Uncle Chen leaned back in his chair, beads of cold sweat appearing on his forehead, and remained motionless for a long time.

He knew that what he had just heard was not a suggestion, but a warning.

Inside the hospital, the air was filled with a faint smell of disinfectant, and the occasional cold light of a surveillance camera flickered gently on the tiled floor, adding to the quiet and oppressive atmosphere of the night.

At this moment, Gu Yinshen was wearing a gray-black hooded sweatshirt, the brim pulled low, and a mask that almost completely covered his face. He stood silently in the shadows at the end of the corridor, motionless, as if he were just a statue in the cold night.

He slowly and silently approached the familiar door. It was Mengmeng's ward on the most secure floor of the entire building. But he avoided all blind spots of the security cameras, just to catch a glimpse of his daughter in the quiet of the night.

A small observation window was embedded in the ward door. He leaned closer, his gaze falling upon the soft, warm yellow light.

On the small bed, Mengmeng curled up, clutching her favorite old teddy bear. She slept soundly, her little face soft, her eyelashes thick and curled, as quiet as a feather under the moonlight.

At that moment, Gu Yinshen's breath almost stopped.

He stared blankly at that familiar yet distant face, a tenderness almost greedy in his eyes. He slowly reached out, his fingertips tracing the outline of that sleeping face through the cold glass, as if wanting to touch it but not daring to.

He spoke in a low, hoarse voice, trembling with restraint:

"I'm sorry... Dad is so sorry."

This is his deepest regret. For years, he thought he could control everything, but he never imagined that the little life he should have protected most was going through hardships outside his world, completely unaware of what was happening to him.

He didn't know how Xie Yumin had endured it all alone, nor how many times the little girl had been sick, cried, or called out "Daddy" in her dreams, yet no one had ever responded.

His fingertips trembled, landing on the cold glass like a needle piercing his heart, a sharp, piercing pain.

In this extreme silence and emotion

"Da da da"

The rapid, familiar sound of high heels came from the other end of the corridor.

Gu Yinshen jolted, his body tensing reflexively like a beast suddenly awakened. He turned his head sharply and saw Xie Yumin hurrying towards him, clearly having finished overtime work and then rushing over to visit Mengmeng.

My heartbeat seemed to resound like a war drum at that moment.

He quickly ducked, pulling his hat brim even lower, and moved toward the nearby fire escape. It was swift, silent, and barely a sound. He retreated into the shadows, burying himself completely in darkness, and held his breath.

Xie Yumin was clearly still immersed in confusion and anxiety, her expression grave. She continued walking, step by step approaching the ward, until she stood at the door.