Chapter Two: Hidden CEO

Morning arrived over Shanghai beneath a sky still heavy with rain.

The city looked beautiful from the top floor of the Anderson Tower. Glass buildings reflected silver clouds while streams of traffic moved endlessly below like veins carrying life through the restless city.

Inside the executive conference room of Anderson Technology, however, the atmosphere was cold enough to freeze breathing itself.

"No."

Lu Zhen's voice was calm.

Which made it even more terrifying.

The middle-aged executive standing across the table visibly stiffened. "President Lu, if we postpone the Singapore launch now, the investors..."

"I said no."

Silence immediately swallowed the room.

No one dared speak again.

At the head of the long black table, Lu Zhen leaned lazily against his chair while flipping through a document with complete indifference. His dark suit sat perfectly against his tall frame, every movement elegant despite the pressure radiating from him.

Beautiful men were usually described as warm.

Approachable.

Soft.

Lu Zhen was none of those things.

He looked like the kind of man who could ruin someone's life while maintaining eye contact.

And unfortunately for everyone present, he often did.

"The issue isn't the launch," he continued without raising his voice. "The issue is incompetence."

The executive's face paled instantly.

"You had six months to solve a security problem that should've taken six days." Lu Zhen finally looked up, his sharp eyes emotionless. "So tell me why exactly I should trust you with a billion-yuan project."

No answer came.

Because there wasn't one.

Around the room, several executives lowered their heads slightly, pretending to focus on their documents instead of the man currently being destroyed.

Lu Zhen closed the file softly.

The sound echoed loudly in the silence.

"Clean out your office before noon."

The executive looked horrified. "President Lu..."

"Before noon."

The meeting ended immediately after that.

People rushed out of the conference room carefully, as though afraid lingering too long near Lu Zhen would somehow attract his attention.

Only Chen Wei remained behind.

"You know," he said while loosening his tie dramatically, "one day people are genuinely going to start crying every time you walk into a room."

Lu Zhen ignored him.

His mind had not properly focused on work since last night.

Which irritated him more than he cared to admit.

For some absurd reason, he kept remembering a woman dressed in black standing quietly beside a rain-covered window.

Jiang Meilin.

Even her name sounded distant.

Elegant.

Like something dangerous wrapped carefully in silk.

"What do you know about her?" Lu Zhen asked suddenly.

Chen Wei blinked. "Already?"

Lu Zhen looked at him expressionlessly.

Chen Wei sighed. "Fine. But honestly, there's almost nothing."

"That's impossible."

"That's exactly why everyone's confused."

Chen Wei walked over before dropping a thin file onto the table.

Lu Zhen frowned slightly.

Thin.

Far too thin.

In their world, powerful people always left trails behind them. Education history. Family records. Interviews. Rumors. Scandals.

Jiang Meilin had almost none.

Lu Zhen opened the file slowly.

Name: Jiang Meilin.

Age: Twenty-six.

Nationality: Chinese-American.

Position: Unknown.

That was it.

No photographs besides a single blurred image taken years ago.

No detailed history.

No public interviews.

No confirmed records linking her directly to King's Corporation.

And yet every major business leader treated her with unmistakable respect.

Lu Zhen's eyes darkened slightly.

Interesting.

"King's Corporation has always been secretive," Chen Wei explained while sitting across from him. "But this is different. It's like someone intentionally erased her existence."

"Family?"

Chen Wei hesitated.

Then his expression became serious.

"There was one article from years ago." He paused. "A New York incident involving the Jiang family."

Lu Zhen looked up immediately.

"What kind of incident?"

"Most records disappeared." Chen Wei folded his arms slowly. "But apparently there was a raid at one of their properties overseas. Firearms. Casualties. Nobody knows the full story."

Something cold settled quietly inside the room.

Lu Zhen remembered the way Jiang Meilin froze last night at the sound of cameras.

The fear in her eyes had not been normal fear.

It had looked remembered.

"How many survivors?" he asked quietly.

Chen Wei shook his head. "Unknown."

Lu Zhen leaned back slowly.

For reasons he could not explain, an uncomfortable heaviness settled in his chest.

He barely knew this woman.

Had spoken to her for less than five minutes.

Yet the thought of her standing alone in the middle of tragedy disturbed him more than it should have.

Annoying.

Very annoying.

Chen Wei suddenly smirked. "Don't tell me you're interested."

"I'm curious."

"That's worse."

Lu Zhen ignored him again.

Outside the glass walls of the office, rain continued falling endlessly over Shanghai.

Quiet.

Heavy.

The same kind of rain from last night.

Without warning, his phone buzzed softly against the table.

A message appeared from an unknown number.

Thank you for last night, Mr. Lu.

Lu Zhen stared at the screen.

Then slowly sat upright.

Chen Wei immediately noticed.

"What?"

No response came.

Another message arrived seconds later.

The rain looked beautiful from your side of the window too.

For the first time that morning, genuine surprise crossed Lu Zhen's face.

Very few people dared speak to him casually.

Even fewer dared tease him.

And somehow...

He did not dislike it.

A faint smile almost touched his lips before disappearing again.

Chen Wei looked horrified. "Wait. Are you smiling?"

"No."

"You literally are."

Lu Zhen locked his phone calmly before standing.

"Prepare the documents for the YunTech acquisition."

Chen Wei narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You're changing the subject."

"Obviously."

"You like her."

"I don't."

"You investigated her the morning after meeting her."

"That's called intelligence gathering."

Chen Wei burst out laughing. "That is absolutely not what this is."

Lu Zhen walked toward the office windows without responding.

Below them, Shanghai moved endlessly beneath grey skies and rain-covered streets.

But his thoughts remained trapped inside one moment from the night before.

Dark eyes.

Black dress.

Quiet sadness.

And a woman who looked like she carried loneliness the way other people carried perfume.

Beautifully.

Silently.

Dangerously.

Meanwhile,

Across the city, inside the highest floor of the King Tower, Jiang Meilin stood before the massive office windows with a cup of untouched coffee in her hand.

Her assistant, Lin Yue, watched nervously from nearby.

"You should rest," she said softly. "You barely slept again."

Jiang Meilin did not answer immediately.

Her gaze remained fixed on the rain outside.

"I met Lu Zhen yesterday," she finally said.

Lin Yue nearly choked. "The Lu Zhen?"

A small nod followed.

"The arrogant psychopath billionaire?"

"Yue."

"What? Everyone says that about him."

For the faintest moment, amusement touched Jiang Meilin's expression.

"It's not entirely inaccurate."