Chapter 128: Chapter 128: Caught Between Regret And Redemption
Song Group, Song Kai’s Office>
The atmosphere was tense. Documents scattered around. Glasses smashed.
And Song Kai—Song Kai stood in the middle of the chaos. He tugged at his tie. His brows were scrunched showing his frustration.
"Darn it!" He cursed loudly. "How could he find out? How could he easily expose Wang? The plan was meant to be fool-proof. Fool-proof!"
He kicked a chair in anger, sending it flying across the room. The directors who were present in the room all lowered their heads in fear.
Suddenly, the door burst open.
Huo Mingjie rushed in, slightly panting while sweat trickled from his forehead down to his chin. His usual calm demeanor was gone and replaced with unknown fear.
"Song Kai," he called out tentatively. "You have got to remain calm. You won’t be able to make a good decision if you are this way." Huo Mingjie explained carefully.
Song Kai scoffed. "I should remain calm?" There was a sarcasm laced in his tone. "Didn’t you see how all our plans are crumbling one after the other?"
Huo Mingjie exhaled. He didn’t expect the move from Huo Feng. Director Lin was gone. Director Wang was gone.
The remaining two directors were panicking. He was also panicking. Huo Feng was unpredictable, and he didn’t know what was next.
"You know what... bring up the plan." Song Kai instructed. "I don’t want to know how you do it. But I want to see Huo Feng crumble this instant! Do you understand what I’m saying?" He barked orders.
Director Zhou who had been sitting quietly finally opened his mouth to speak. His eyes were gleaming with something unnatural. Unfortunately, they were all in a state of panic to notice this.
"Mr. Song, I’ll advise you to be calm before you take action." Lowering his voice, he continued. "Huo Feng is unpredictable, and it could backfire if you’re rash in your decisions."
It was meant to be an ’harmless’ advice, but Song Kai’s ego was over the top.
He forced out his words through gritted teeth. "Huo Feng would bow down before me." Pointing to the other directors who were fidgeting, he ordered. "You know what to do. I want to see him fumble. I want to see his downfall."
They nodded, although they were panicking within. Director Zhou’s lips titled subtly.
"You can all leave. I want to be alone." He dismissed them, and they all left.
He collapsed onto the chair, his expression darkening. "Huo Feng, Huo Feng..." he repeated continually, darkness slowly corroding his insides.
Meanwhile, Director Zhou who had walked out of the office watched the directors and Huo Mingjie leave one after the other.
He brought out his phone from his pocket, and calmly sent a text message.
"What are you doing?" Suddenly, he saw someone standing in front of him.
He calmly returned his phone into his pocket, and looked at the person standing opposite him. "Second Young Master Huo, what’s wrong?" He asked, his voice low, smooth and deliberate.
"Who were you texting?" He demanded, with his hands folded, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"I don’t think it’s your business whoever I send a text message to." Director Zhou replied calmly, his expression calm as still water, and betraying none of his emotions.
"I think I should ask you." Huo Feng folded his arms, and took a step forward wanting to intimidate Director Zhou. "Our plans have been foiling one after the other. I have every reason to suspect anybody. No one is truly our friend."
Director Zhou smiled, and placed his two hands in his pockets. "It is good that you have suspicions... but you shouldn’t doubt me." He paused, taking a deep breath.
"Didn’t you see the way Huo Feng embarrassed me and sent me out of the company? Do you think I will betray Song Kai for that sort of person?"
Huo Mingjie was silent for a while. Director Zhou was right. No one in their right senses would return to Huo Feng after being embarrassed. He was being suspicious for no reason.
"I apologize for my words. It’s just... everything which is going on, I can’t wrap my head around it."
Director Zhou placed a hand on his shoulder. "I can understand you. Anyways, I have to go home. Goodbye, Second Young Master." He said, and walked away.
Huo Mingjie’s gaze was fixated on his retreating back. He didn’t know why, but a strange unease lingered in his chest. Something about Zhou’s calmness didn’t sit right with him, but he didn’t think too much about it.
But Director Zhou didn’t look back.
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Inside Director Zhou’s Car
The door shut with a soft click, sealing him inside the quiet space. Outside, the city bustled with noise, but in his car, everything was muted. It felt like the calm before a storm.
Zhou let out a shaky breath and removed his glasses, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose. For the first time that day, his mask slipped.
The composed, calculating façade he wore around Song Kai and Huo Mingjie fell apart, revealing exhaustion and something far heavier.
"Fool-proof," he muttered bitterly to himself, echoing Song Kai’s earlier words. "There’s no such thing when greed leads the plan."
He stared out the window at the blur of lights, his thoughts weighing him down.
He had once believed Song Kai’s promises. He had believed that aligning with him would secure a future, that Huo Feng’s downfall was inevitable.
But as he watched the empire crumble from within, as each move was exposed with surgical precision, guilt had begun to gnaw at him.
He remembered the first day he switched sides, the hush-hush meeting, the fat envelope, the subtle nods of betrayal, the guilt weighed heavily on him.
And he remembered the look on Huo Feng’s face when he’d been dismissed from the company. It was not anger, not hatred... but disappointment.
That look had haunted him every night since.
Zhou clenched his fists, the guilt finally bubbling into quiet determination. "I was wrong," he murmured. "Utterly wrong."
His phone vibrated. A coded message from Song Kai’s camp: ’Proceed as planned. Eliminate his credibility. I want his downfall.’
Zhou’s thumb hovered over the screen, but instead of replying, he switched to another encrypted chat—one that only two people had access to.
He typed: ’They’re making a move tonight. Director Liu and Director Peng plan to leak falsified overseas records under your name.’
’If this goes out, the press will have a frenzy by morning. Stop it before it starts.’
He paused, the guilt twisting tighter in his chest. Then, for the first time in years, he added something personal.
’I don’t deserve forgiveness. But this is me trying to make it right.’
Then—he pressed the send button. For a long moment, he just stared at the screen, as if waiting for it to burn away his sins.
The phone’s screen dimmed, reflecting his old and weary expression.
He leaned back, shutting his eyes.
"Maybe this won’t erase what I’ve done," he whispered, voice cracking slightly. "But at least... I won’t die a coward."
The car started moving again. Rain began to fall, tapping softly against the windows. It seems the sky was witness to the storm which was about to take place tomorrow.
And as the city lights blurred past, Director Zhou sat in silence, caught between regret and redemption, hoping that for once, his betrayal would serve the right side.