37th Floor, Tower C, Cloudhaven Hi-Tech Park.
Charlotte adjusted the projector angle for the third time with her nail file when the scent of cedarwood drifted from the air vent. The fragrance struck her like a poisoned needle, piercing the old scar at the nape of her neck—a relic from Imperial College days, where someone used to dab this very cologne on the edges of lab reports.
"Mr. Zhou has arrived."
As the glass doors slid open, she heard a pen clatter behind her. The eighteen-seat conference table split like the Red Sea, its occupants stiffening as Alexander's Oxfords silenced the room.
His gunmetal three-piece suit gleamed like cold-forged steel under the LED lights. Broad shoulders carved sharp angles into the fabric, while the tailored waistline curved with surgical precision—a Tang sword newly unsheathed.
"Junhe sent Attorney Lin?" He loosened his tie, the movement revealing a pale scar beneath his Adam's apple. "I expected Partner Wang."
The legal director scrambled upright. "Partner Wang suffered a heart attack last week—"
"How efficient." Alexander uncapped his fountain pen, ink splattering Charlotte's confidentiality agreement. "Replacing aging organs with fresh blood. A textbook M&A strategy."
The droplet bloomed over her father Lin Jianye's signature. Charlotte blotted it calmly, her Reverso watch flashing. "Turn to Appendix III, Mr. Zhou. The patent invalidation evidence chain begins on page 47."
A deeper silence fell. Coffee trembled in the CFO's cup as all eyes tracked the CEO's pulsing carotid artery—a mechanical watch's disrupted balance spring.
Alexander leaned across the table until she could count the shadows of his lashes. His thumb grazed her lip. "Coffee foam."
As chair wheels screeched, Charlotte's ribs clenched like jammed clockwork. The gesture resurrected memories: sophomore year's engineering expo, his hands wiping solder dust from her cheek before pinning her against an oscilloscope.
"You're mistaken." She produced a vintage compact, its mirror engraved with Imperial College's crest. "I drink Americanos."
Alexander's jaw tightened at the reflected crest. The legal director cleared his throat. "Shall we—"
"Attorney Lin." Alexander snatched his cashmere coat. "Product gallery. Now."
During the elevator's 37-second descent, Charlotte recited amendments to the Anti-Unfair Competition Act. His cufflinks brushed her wrist—preserved moss specimens identical to her graduation gift.
"Morningstar's third-gen smart lock." He turned at the biometric display. "Uses your father's 2005 parallel circuit patent."
Her stilettos rooted to marble. Display case LEDs frosted his features, turning his tear mole to ice. "Was the breakup because you discovered my father stole your family's IP?"
Thunder shook the glass curtain wall, rain lashing the steel skeleton. Their warped reflections in anti-glare coating resembled insects trapped in amber.
"Mr. Zhou." She tucked a curl behind her ear, revealing pearl studs micro-engraved with Morningstar's logo. "Perhaps explain why the new models omitted overheating safeguards?"
Sirens wailed. In emergency lighting's cobalt glare, Alexander whipped off his tie. "Hold your breath!"
As mint aftershave engulfed her, Charlotte's lungs seized—an echo of the chemistry lab incident five years prior, chlorine gas swirling as he'd bound her eyes with saline-soaked silk.
"Your father's patent submission…" His breath scorched her newly permed hair. "Did it deliberately omit the thermistor specs?"
Security lights flooded the gallery as doors crashed open. Squinting, Charlotte glimpsed circuitry tattoos through his shirt—her nineteen-year-old design inked above his hip.