Adisorn stepped out of the boardroom, his face as unreadable as the surface of a deep well. He glided across the thick velvet carpet toward the elevators. The moment the doors slid open, he was met with the very man who had been haunting the shadows: Lu Rong.
They passed each other in a heartbeat—two opposing poles of a magnetic field, pushing against one another with silent violence. Lu Rong stiffened. His razor-sharp gaze swept over the stranger from head to toe. He knew instantly: this was A.P. Markrim, the executioner from ZX Capital he had seen in the footage. Even without a word, the air between them crackled with the static of a new, lethal rivalry.
Lu Rong took a deep breath, forcing his features into a mask of calm before stepping into the Chairman's sanctum.
"Chairman... I have finalized the arrangements with VCC. They will attend the board meeting in two days as scheduled," Lu Rong reported smoothly, his tone submissive yet laced with a sharp, underlying ambition.
"Ah... thank you," Li Ming replied curtly, not even lifting his head from his desk. His pen moved with rhythmic authority as he signed his name.
Lu Rong let his gaze linger on the empty water glass—the remnants of a guest's reception. "The man I just passed... he didn't look like he belonged to our company."
Li Ming allowed a small smirk to surface, having fully expected the fox to catch the scent of a stranger. "He's a senior manager from ZX Capital. We were discussing financial cooperation."
"ZX Capital?" Lu Rong narrowed his eyes, probing the Chairman's tone for any crack. "Perhaps they offered to help with our liquidity? How much of the VCC debt detail did you disclose to them? I could help review any contracts for you."
Li Ming placed his pen down slowly. He looked up, locking eyes with Lu Rong, whose face was a map of hidden agendas.
"The terms he offered are... intriguing. But I must consider them further," the Chairman replied with a faint, cryptic smile. "You'll hear everything in the board meeting in two days. I want it to be a surprise for everyone."
Lu Rong felt as though he had been slapped with a secret. He nodded curtly, edging closer to the desk. "Understood... but there is a more pressing matter. Regarding your order to merge KCC and CLS... do you still insist on initiating that immediately?"
He searched the Chairman's face for hesitation. Instead, Li Ming looked up and offered a smile that was warm in appearance but razor-sharp in intent.
"My orders are final. 'Immediately' means swift and flawless. Why? Are you worried that... your daughter's power will be diluted once her division is swallowed by CLS?"
Lu Rong's face twitched for a fraction of a second before he plastered on a forced, stony smile. "You joke too harshly, Chairman. We all agreed on this merger. I was merely concerned for the welfare of the employees."
"It's a relief to hear you say that. Thank you for understanding," Li Ming cut him off coldly, returning his focus to the paperwork. He left Lu Rong standing in the frigid silence, the CFO's hands trembling with a rage he had to bury deep beneath his sleeves.
As Lu Rong strode out of the office, his chest burned with a mounting fury. This merger was a political guillotine Li Ming had built to decapitate his daughter's influence within the CK Group. This debt—this VCC noose—was the only way he could strike back. He would make sure the VCC conditions were so suffocating that Li Ming would have no choice but to drown.