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

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was like a sharp dagger, silently piercing through Gu Yinshen's ribs. He didn't turn around, but his fingers curled slightly at his sides; that instant of icy coldness was bone-chilling, yet it didn't elicit a single word of explanation.

Immediately afterward, Gu Chengji quickly followed, a smile on his lips and a hint of smugness in his eyes.

"Cousin," he said, deliberately putting his arm around Gu Yinshen's shoulder affectionately, "Congratulations, you've kept your position! But, well, it's a 'special investigation team,' so we still have to go through the formalities. Anyway, the innocent will clear themselves!"

He glanced at Gu Yinshen sideways, his tone playful, "Once this storm passes, you might be able to make a comeback! So, for the sake of the company, you'll have to bear with these grievances."

His smile was so wide, revealing a row of neat teeth, that even though his words were meant to be comforting, they couldn't hide the provocation and schadenfreude between the lines.

Gu Yinshen slowly stopped, his shoulders jerked slightly, and he ruthlessly shook off the other man's hand from his shoulder.

There was not a single response.

He pressed his lips together tightly, the muscles on the side of his face twitching slightly, his jawline taut as if carved by a knife. His deep eyes were as cold and serene as the night, and when they swept over Gu Chengji, they seemed to carry an unspeakable warning.

There was no roar, no rebuttal. Just utter indifference.

He strode away, his steps firm and without the slightest hesitation.

Along the corridor, several employees glanced at him furtively before quickly lowering their heads, avoiding his gaze. Some whispered amongst themselves, while others hunched their backs, afraid of being noticed. The whispers rose like an undercurrent from behind Gu Yinshen, then quickly faded into silence.

At this very moment, on another floor, in the president's office of the Gu Group, the night and dark clouds slowly seeped in through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Lin Feng stood in the center of the office, impeccably dressed in a suit, his face grave. The tablet screen in his hand was still lit, displaying the latest financial headlines and the hottest trending topics.

"Mr. Gu, the stock price closed at the daily limit down." His voice was low but clear. "Three major clients just sent letters demanding a 'reassessment of the cooperation,' and their attitude is very tough. The public relations department... can't hold back anymore. The regulatory inquiry letter has also arrived."

He paused, his eyes showing some hesitation: "The special investigation team... requests that you provide the first phase of materials by 9 a.m. tomorrow, including your travel records for the past three months, communication records, and all internal discussion minutes, reports, and meeting minutes related to the 'Mengmeng's background incident'."

Gu Yinshen stood by the window, his back to him, his posture straight as a silent flag. His gaze was fixed on the city lights outside the window, flickering in the thin mist, like a hazy dream.

His voice was low and calm, revealing no emotion: "Understood. Prepare the materials according to their requirements. Screen the itinerary and communication records and give them to us. Remove any private core itineraries."

Lin Feng nodded and was about to leave when he seemed to suddenly remember something and said, "There's one more thing."

Gu Yinshen turned to look at him, his brows furrowed slightly.

"The hospital security captain reported that someone was using a telephoto lens to monitor Mengmeng's ward in the afternoon. They have been driven away, but their identity could not be confirmed."

Gu Yinshen's gaze suddenly turned cold: "How is Mengmeng?"

Lin Feng immediately responded: "I'm safe and sound. Security has been upgraded."

He paused again, his expression subtle: "Miss Xie... went to the sanatorium and the old studio today. Our people suspect she received an unidentified package. There have also been suspicious vehicles parked downstairs at her current residence."

Gu Yinshen turned around abruptly, his voice becoming urgent and sharp: "Is Xie Yumin alright?"

“She seems fine,” Lin Feng replied truthfully, “but she seems…very depressed. Our personnel are far away, haven’t had direct contact, and don’t know the contents of the package. Should we intervene?”

Gu Yinshen closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and his shoulders rose and fell slightly. He clenched his fists and then slowly relaxed them, a momentary struggle flashing in his eyes.

After a long silence, he said in a low voice, "Not for now."

He sat down heavily, clutching the folded corner of the drawing paper on the table—a "family portrait" that Mengmeng had drawn herself. The paper was slightly yellowed, and the edges were curled, but the little figure in the picture was still smiling. The "father and mother" in her drawing were only a few blurry outlines, while the long-haired mother was drawn in the corner, yet she was drawn in the most detail.

He gently stroked the soft line with his fingertips, his eyes filled with deep pain and guilt.

"Protect Mengmeng well, and keep a close eye on everything around her." His tone was low and heavy. "Also... keep an eye on the area around Xie Yumin's residence. Deal with any abnormalities immediately."

He paused, then added almost inaudibly, "But... don't let her find out we're one of ours. She... won't believe me now."

Lin Feng nodded and silently withdrew.

Gu Yinshen was the only one left in the office. It was so quiet that you could hear the faint sound of air moving. The neon lights outside the window were just coming on, but they couldn't illuminate the deep, lingering gloom in his eyes.

He picked up his phone, opened Xie Yumin's chat window, paused for a few seconds, slowly typed a line of text, and then deleted it.

After several attempts, he finally typed out, "Be careful and take good care of yourself."

He stared at the words for a long time, then gently touched the screen with his fingertip and clicked "send".

The night was deep, and neon lights flickered faintly outside the windows of the operations room.

Zhao Lei was watching a blurry surveillance video.

In the underground parking garage of a high-end apartment building, a familiar black luxury car slowly drove in. Then, a woman wearing a baseball cap and a mask quickly approached, opened the car door, and got in. The car then drove into the building and disappeared from the view of the camera.

The operations room was dimly lit, with the only source of light being several rapidly spinning screens in front of them. The editor, nicknamed "Scissors Hand," wore a hoodie, his fingers flying across the keyboard, his eyes glued to the details of the screen, his expression one of near-obsession.

Zhao Lei stood behind him, his brows furrowed, his fingertip lightly tapping the screen: "No, it's too clear! Although the woman's face is wearing a mask, Dr. Li frequently appears in medical journals; anyone in the know can recognize her. This is just asking for trouble! It has to be blurred!"

"Scissors Hand" grinned, lightly licking the corner of his lips with his tongue, appearing excited and morbid: "Understood." His hands moved like lightning, "Downgrade the image quality to 480P, add motion blur to create compression artifacts. Focus on keyframe processing, blurring the frontal face and license plate. I removed the specific time points from the timestamps, only keeping 'early morning' to create a blurry, 'unspeakable' feeling."

Zhao Lei nodded in satisfaction, but was still uneasy: "Remove the location markers too, so people don't associate them with a specific apartment. No music, and don't make it too deliberate. Keep it just right, so people can't guess who it is, yet can't help but guess the worst."

"Scissors Hand" revealed a sinister smile: "That's exactly the feeling of 'a mix of truth and falsehood, an attempt to cover up the truth'."