Earlier, In the Car
Xinyi barely registered the city rushing past the tinted windows as Mei sat beside her, arms crossed.
Mei had been watching her since the moment she stepped into the car—assessing, calculating.
"Long night?" Mei finally asked, voice light but eyes sharp.
Xinyi didn't answer immediately. She glanced out the window, watching the cold morning light skim over the skyline.
"A necessary one," she finally murmured.
Mei sighed but didn't push. Instead, she reached into her bag and pulled out a folder. "Schedule for the week," she said, changing the subject.
Xinyi took it, flipping through the pages without really reading them.
She already knew what mattered today: business in the morning, answers in the evening.
...
Xinyi: A Plan in Motion
By the time she arrived at her office, the scent of coffee was already waiting.
Xinyi took a sip as Mei ran through the day's agenda.
"Investor meeting on Friday, board review on Thursday, and the department audits next week."
"Anything urgent?" Xinyi asked.
"Nothing beyond the usual," Mei said. A careful answer.
Xinyi knew Mei had noticed her distraction.
Knew she had seen the exhaustion beneath the polished exterior.
But Mei, ever professional, only pushed so far.
Instead, she flipped her tablet screen. "Zhao Rui's on her way. Said she has something."
Right on cue, the door opened.
...
Zhao Rui and A Name That Sticks
Zhao Rui entered holding two extra coffees.
One for Xinyi.
One for Mei.
Mei narrowed her eyes. "Bribing us now?"
Zhao Rui smirked. "You're easier to deal with when caffeinated."
Xinyi took the cup, focusing. "What did you find?"
Zhao Rui sat down, tapping her nails on the desk.
"I ran into someone yesterday," she said. Xinyi raised an eyebrow. "Someone?"
"Independent consultant. Elias Qiao." Mei frowned. "Never heard of him."
"Neither had I," Zhao Rui admitted. "But he's sharp. Too sharp for a random investigator."
Xinyi leaned back. "Go on."
"He knew too much about the Zhangs' incidents. Slipped up when he mentioned them. Which means one of two things—he's working with them, or he's looking at the bigger picture."
Xinyi sipped her coffee slowly.
A name worth remembering.
"Did he say anything useful?"
Zhao Rui placed a folder on the desk. "He confirmed a pattern—different from ours. The Zhang workers collapsed instantly. Ours? They felt something first. Some heard a sound, some felt a presence."
Mei's expression darkened. "That doesn't sound random."
"No," Zhao Rui agreed. "And Qiao noticed air pressure shifts in our collapse sites. Not enough to trigger alarms. But enough to be… wrong."
Xinyi absorbed the information. A pattern. Anomalies. Unanswered questions.
The pieces weren't lining up yet—but they would.
Eventually, they would.
She exhaled, setting her coffee down. "For now," she said, "we continue as planned. Mei, check on PR and the expansion report. Zhao Rui—keep looking into Qiao. Find out who he really works for."
Zhao Rui smirked. "Already on it."
As they left, Xinyi glanced at her desk drawer, where her father's letter rested.
He had tried to find the truth.
And now, so would she.
...
Wei: Morning for Business, Afternoon for Answers
Wei believed in balance.
His mornings were for business. For things that mattered on paper—meetings, reports, keeping the company running.
His afternoons were for everything else.
For the questions that didn't belong in reports. For the things that weren't supposed to exist.
By the time he arrived at his office, Feng was already waiting.
"Updates?" Wei asked, adjusting his cufflinks.
Feng handed him a folder. "Production is on track. Employee morale is steady. No new incidents—except for the worker who quit."
Wei glanced up. "Did you find him?".
Feng exhaled. "No. He left the city. No known address, no contact details. It's like he vanished overnight."
Wei's fingers drummed against the desk.
So. He ran.
Interesting.
That made two anomalies now.
One worker who hadn't woken up yet.
One worker who disappeared.
He made a mental note. This needs to be handled personally.
But for now, the rest of the morning passed smoothly.
Meetings. Calls. Investor reports. A normal day.
Until it wasn't.
...
The Experiment Begins
By the time the clock hit 3 PM, Wei stepped into his private research lab.
The space was sleek and sterile, lined with state-of-the-art technology.
It wasn't a corporate lab. This wasn't part of his company. This was his.
Only a handful of people knew it existed.
Feng was there, along with Dr. Yao, an expert in electromagnetic fields.
"We're setting up the controlled field," Dr. Yao reported, adjusting a monitor. "Mimicking the conditions of the collapse zones."
The setup was precise—sensors tracking everything, isolating variables.
Wei stood by the control panel, watching the data stabilize.
Then, just slightly… it shifted.
Feng frowned. "That's… odd."
Wei didn't reply. His focus was absolute.
The shifts weren't dramatic. But they were intentional.
Controlled?
No.
But not random, either.
Wei exhaled, his thoughts clicking into place.
It wasn't just an anomaly.
It was a pattern.
And patterns?
They could be predicted.
Which meant, for the first time—this curse might not be a mystery at all.