Su Lin stood in the dimly lit warehouse, the cold air brushing against her skin as she looked down at the lifeless body of Victor. His blood had begun to pool beneath him, staining the concrete floor in deep red. The blade in her hand shimmered with the remnants of his life, yet her face remained impassive, like a marble statue devoid of emotion. To anyone watching, she might have seemed like a figure carved from stone- cold, aloof, and untouchable.
Victor's final moments had been pitiful. The once-feared master of the Syndicate had crumbled before her, his arrogance stripped away by the sharp edge of her blade and the icy chill of her presence. When he'd finally given her the information she sought, the tiniest flicker of relief crossed his features, as if he had hoped that his cooperation would grant him mercy.
But Su Lin was not one to show mercy.
She had ended him the moment his usefulness was exhausted, a swift strike to the throat ensuring that he would never betray another soul again. Her eyes, as cold as the arctic, bore no sign of remorse. Victor had been a means to an end, nothing more. The Syndicate had taken her daughter, and that act alone had sealed their fate. Su Lin's love for Xiaoxing was the only weakness she possessed-and those who dared exploit it would find themselves buried in unmarked graves.
Wiping the blood from her blade with the precision of a surgeon, Su Lin slipped it back into its concealed sheath. The silence that followed was almost oppressive, broken only by the slow drip of blood from Victor's corpse.Her mind was already turning to the next step.
The name Victor had spoken -Jichen, CEO of HD Group-was the man who had saved her daughter. She didn't know him, and that made him a variable. In her world, unknowns were dangerous. A man capable of saving Xiaoxing from the Syndicate was not someone she could afford to ignore. But whether he was an ally or an obstacle remained to be seen. And Su Lin never left things to chance.
With the air of someone who had just finished a routine task rather than executed a man, Su Lin pulled out her phone. Her fingers moved swiftly across the screen, dialing a number known only to a select few. The line rang once before it was answered by a voice as crisp and professional as hers.
"Miss Su," the voice greeted.
"I want you to gather all the information you can on Jichen," Su Lin ordered, her tone carrying the weight of absolute authority. "He's the CEO of HD Group. I need everything-his background, his business dealings, personal life, affiliations. Find out how he managed to get involved with the Syndicate and why he has my daughter."
The person on the other end didn't hesitate. "Understood. We'll have the full report within the hour."
Su Lin ended the call without another word, slipping the phone back into the pocket of her sleek coat. She was always efficient, always in control. It was what had earned her respect in both the corporate world and the underworld. The Su family, owners of the powerful Su Enterprises, might have seen her as the pampered young miss, but those who truly knew her understood that Su Lin was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes. She was the mastermind behind their meteoric rise, the shadow leader who left no trail and tolerated no failure.
Victor had miscalculated, thinking he could use Xiaoxing to break her. But Su Lin had a heart forged in ice. Her cold-blooded nature didn't stem from a lack of love-it stemmed from the deep well of it she had for her daughter. Anyone who threatened Xiaoxing would face the full wrath of Su Lin, and they would not survive it.
As she stood over Victor's body, she replayed the details he had given her. Jichen had rescued Xiaoxing. For that, Su Lin felt a glimmer of something almost like gratitude-but it was buried beneath layers of calculation. Why had he intervened? What did he stand to gain? Su Lin wasn't naive enough to believe in altruism, especially in their world. Power, leverage, influence-those were the currencies that mattered. She would find out soon enough which one Jichen was playing for.
The sound of footsteps echoed through the warehouse as her personal guard entered, waiting silently for her next command. Su Lin turned to them, her expression unreadable.
"Clean this up," she said simply, gesturing to Victor's body. "Make sure there's no trace left."
"Yes, Miss Su," one of the guards responded immediately, stepping forward with a team to dispose of the evidence. They had done this many times before-there would be no mistakes.
Satisfied, Su Lin walked toward the exit, her heels clicking against the concrete floor. The wind outside greeted her, sharp and biting, but she welcomed the chill. It was fitting, after all. Everything about Su Lin was cold. It was how she had survived, how she had thrived. Her beauty was like a blade, sharp and deadly, and her mind was sharper still. The world knew her as a businesswoman, but those who crossed her knew better-she was a predator, and they were merely prey.
As she slid into the backseat of her car, her driver already waiting, Su Lin's mind continued to race with the pieces of the puzzle Victor had left her. Jichen. The Syndicate. Xiaoxing. The threads were beginning to connect, but there were still too many unknowns.
She gazed out of the tinted window as the car pulled away from the warehouse, the city lights casting shadows on her face. Her features remained impassive, but beneath the surface, her thoughts churned. If Jichen had saved Xiaoxing, she needed to know why-and she needed to know if he was friend or foe. If he was a threat to her daughter, Su Lin would eliminate him without hesitation.
But if he wasn't...
If Jichen could be an ally, he might just prove useful in her larger game. The Syndicate was far from defeated, and there were still those who needed to be brought to their knees. For now, Su Lin would wait for the information her hidden guards would bring. Every detail about Jichen would be laid bare before her, and only then would she make her next move.
Her eyes narrowed as she thought of the Syndicate's leaders, the ones who had orchestrated the kidnapping of her daughter. Victor had been merely a pawn, a tool to be discarded. The real players were still out there, hidden in the shadows, pulling strings just as she did. But Su Lin would find them. And when she did, she would ensure they suffered tenfold for every moment Xiaoxing had been away from her.
The reckoning was far from over.
As her car sped through the night, the cold beauty known as Su Lin sat in silence, her mind already plotting her next steps. Jichen had saved her daughter, but that didn't mean he was safe. No one was safe until she had Xiaoxing back in her arms-and those who had wronged her paid the price in blood.