Chapter 150: Chapter 150: Lead
*Bael’s POV*
The office belonging to Uncle Ming’s assistant is quiet. Everything is kept very neat and clean, except for the one desk drawer that nobody was ever supposed to open.
Bael has been standing in this room for almost four hours now.
The room belongs to Liu Wen, a man who has worked for Uncle Ming for eleven years. His desk sits in the small room right outside Ming’s private office. He is close enough to handle all the secret paperwork that Ming never wanted going through the regular company channels.
Liu Wen got on a plane with Ming last night. Bael’s people found that out within an hour. They had searched this office once before, but they found nothing back then. Ming is a very careful man, and a careful man does not leave proof behind when he is around to hide it.
But Ming is not standing here today.
Shen Rui works through the third file cabinet without making a sound. Every few minutes, he pulls out a paper folder and sets it down on a growing pile near his elbow.
Bael checks his watch.
5:47 PM.
The design presentation had ended a few minutes ago. He had called Runze right after it finished, catching him while he was still inside the big auditorium. Runze’s voice sounded so bright and happy over the phone. *I’ll see you tonight*, Bael had told him. He meant those words with everything inside him.
But he was still stuck in this dark room.
Ming flew out last night to handle a problem with a supplier down south. His calendar said it was an important trip, and Bael’s people made sure it was real. Ming would be back tomorrow, so this was the only chance Bael had to look through his things.
"Sir." Shen Rui’s voice breaks the silence. He holds a folder open. His face is completely blank, the way it always gets when he finds something huge but wants Bael to see it first. "A shipping contract. It is from eighteen months ago."
Bael walks across the floor and takes the folder.
It looks normal at first. It is just an agreement to move building materials between different cities, signed and stamped properly. But the cost to move each item is way too high. It isn’t a crazy amount of money, just enough to hide inside a big budget unless someone is looking for it on purpose. The same shipping company shows up on three other papers in the pile, the prices are always too high, and Ming always signed off on them.
"Check who really owns this shipping company," Bael says, his voice cold.
"Yes sir."
Bael sets the folder down. Four contracts, all going through the business sections that Ming controlled right before Bael’s father died. It is not absolute proof yet, but it is a clear pattern. It is the exact thing Bael has suspected for a whole year without having anything real to show the police or the board.
6:14 PM.
"Sir." Shen Rui speaks up again, holding a different folder. His voice sounds much tighter now. "I found something older, they must have missed it when they cleaned out the files. The shipping company belongs to a small investment group. It is registered to a house address in Haidian."
"Whose house?"
"I am still checking. But the date on the paper is exactly two weeks after the first contract was signed."
Two weeks.
It is not an accident. Someone built this fake company just to take the extra money before the money was even sent out.
Ming’s name is not on the papers anywhere, of course. Ming would never be that stupid. But the timing, the shape of the business, and the steady stream of money stolen over the years all point in one direction. Bael has known it for a long time, but now he can finally see it.
"Find the real names behind this group," Bael says. "Not just the company name. I want the actual people who get the money."
"It will take some time, sir."
"I have all night."
Bael says it to himself just as much as to Shen Rui. He uses the words to stop himself from walking out of the room. A huge part of him wants to drop everything and just go home to see his husband. But Ming comes back tomorrow morning. An open door like this will never happen again.
6:41 PM.
Shen Rui pulls out another paper. A name appears in two different spots. It is a signature hidden under a lot of fake names, but it matches perfectly. It isn’t enough to go to court yet. It isn’t enough to show the company board. But it is more than Bael has found in a whole year of searching.
7:02 PM.
"Sir, checking the names will take at least another hour," Shen Rui says, looking up from his laptop. "If you need to leave—"
"Finish it tonight. Send the files to my phone the second you get them."
"Understood, sir."
Bael fixes his suit jacket and walks toward the door. He feels a strange mix of things inside his chest. He feels satisfied because he finally has a real lead, but beneath that, he feels a strong pull toward home. The feeling has been growing ever since he heard Runze’s voice this afternoon.
He wants to tell Runze about it tonight. He wants to tell him that he watched the whole live video, he heard the way Runze answered that tough question about the wide hallway, and he knew right then that Runze wasn’t just trying to look good anymore. He was simply right, and everyone else in the room knew it too.
The elevator takes him down to the dark parking garage. The metal doors open with a soft sound, revealing the cold concrete walls and the loud echo of the underground space.
Xue Lian is standing right next to Bael’s car.
Bael stops walking a few feet away.
"I was waiting for you," Xue Lian says. He starts walking toward Bael. He forces a soft, warm look onto his face, trying to make it seem natural, but it looks entirely fake.
"How did you get down into this garage?"
"Does it really matter?"
It does matter, but Bael does not care enough to ask again. Xue Lian is already standing too close. He isn’t wearing anything to hide his scent, and the sweet smell fills the air between them. Bael notices it immediately and knows exactly what Xue Lian is trying to do.
"Don’t," Bael says, his voice sharp and hard before Xue Lian can even lift his arms to touch him.
Xue Lian freezes in place. "Bael—"
"You asked me a question once," Bael says, looking straight into Xue Lian’s eyes. "Back in my office. You asked me if I had fallen in love with him. I didn’t give you an answer that day. I was too busy realizing it to remember answering you."
He keeps his gaze steady, letting his voice fill the quiet garage. "I am answering you right now. I do love Runze. He is my wife, he is not some temporary person I am holding onto until you are ready to come back. I am not going to wait five years for you. I am going to spend the rest of my entire life with him."
Xue Lian’s mouth opens slightly, but no sound comes out. He looks completely shocked.
"Now,if you’ll excuse me," Bael says. "My wife is waiting for me at home."
He moves his arm forward. He doesn’t push roughly, but he uses enough force to clear Xue Lian out of the space so he can reach his car door.
Suddenly, his phone rings loudly in his hand.
He answers it immediately with the car door already halfway open. He doesn’t even look at the screen to see who it is. "Yes."
"Is this Mr. Wuchen? I am calling from City General Hospital." The voice on the other end is very careful, sounding too quiet and steady. It makes Bael’s hand freeze instantly on the metal door handle before the person can even finish the next sentence. "Your wife has been brought to City General Hospital following a serious traffic accident."
The blood drained from Bael’s face.
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