The silence between them didn't feel empty anymore. It felt sharp, like something had finally been exposed and couldn't be hidden again. Xiaoyu held the photograph tightly, her eyes fixed on Lu Shen as if looking away would somehow make it less real.
"You knew my father," she said again, slower thiVs time, making sure every word landed.
Lu Shen didn't answer immediately. His gaze stayed on the photo for a brief moment before shifting back to her, calm as ever, but no longer distant. There was something else there now—something more guarded.
"Yes," he said.
The single word hit harder than she expected.
Xiaoyu let out a quiet breath, almost a laugh, but there was no humor in it. "That's it? Just 'yes'?"
"It's the truth."
"That's not enough."
She stepped closer, the photograph still in her hand. "How did you know him? Why are you in this picture? And why didn't you tell me?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried something sharper than anger.
Lu Shen watched her without interrupting. "Because you weren't ready to hear it."
Her expression tightened. "Don't decide that for me."
"I didn't decide. I observed."
"That's the same thing."
"No," he replied evenly. "It's not."
The calmness in his voice only made it worse. Xiaoyu shook her head, trying to process everything at once. "Then explain it now."
A brief pause followed. Not long, but noticeable.
"He worked with my family," Lu Shen said finally.
The answer wasn't what she expected.
"Worked… how?"
"Business," he replied. "Before everything collapsed."
Xiaoyu frowned slightly. "That doesn't make sense. My father wasn't involved in anything like that."
"You're wrong."
The certainty in his tone made her chest tighten.
"He wasn't just involved," Lu Shen continued. "He was important."
The words settled heavily in the air.
Xiaoyu looked down at the photograph again, her grip tightening. The image suddenly felt different, like it held more than she could see.
"If that's true," she said slowly, "then why did everything fall apart? Why did he disappear?"
"That's what you're here to find out."
Her gaze snapped back to him. "You already know."
"Yes."
The answer came without hesitation.
"Then tell me."
"No."
The word cut clean through the moment.
Xiaoyu stared at him, disbelief flashing across her face. "You can't be serious."
"I am."
"Why?"
"Because the rest isn't mine to give."
Her frustration rose instantly. "That's not your decision."
"It is when the truth involves more than just you."
She took another step forward, anger finally breaking through. "This involves my father. That makes it my decision."
"And your reaction makes it mine."
The tension between them sharpened again.
Xiaoyu clenched her jaw, forcing herself to stay focused. "You said he was important. Important to what?"
Lu Shen didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached past her and picked up the stack of papers from the box. He flipped through them quickly, scanning, his expression tightening slightly with each page.
"What is it?" she asked.
"These aren't records," he said. "They're copies."
"Copies of what?"
"Transactions. Agreements. Names."
Her chest tightened. "Names of who?"
He stopped on one page, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"People who shouldn't be connected," he said.
Xiaoyu stepped closer. "Show me."
For a moment, he didn't move.
Then he handed her the paper.
She took it carefully, her eyes scanning the page. At first, it didn't make sense—numbers, signatures, fragments of information that felt incomplete. But then she saw it.
A name.
One she recognized.
Her breath caught.
"This…" she whispered. "This can't be right."
But it was.
Because it wasn't just anyone.
It was someone still active. Someone powerful.
Someone connected to everything happening now.
Xiaoyu looked up at Lu Shen, her expression shaken in a way it hadn't been before. "If this is real… then my father wasn't just involved."
"No," Lu Shen said quietly.
"He was in the middle of it."
Silence followed.
Heavy, unavoidable.
Xiaoyu looked back at the paper, her thoughts racing faster than she could control. Nothing about her past felt stable anymore. Everything she thought she knew was shifting into something darker, more complicated.
"And you," she said slowly, lifting her gaze again. "Where do you fit into this?"
Lu Shen didn't look away.
"Close enough," he replied.
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting right now."
Her frustration returned, but this time it was mixed with something else—uncertainty. Not just about him, but about everything.
She glanced back at the box. "Is that all?"
"No."
He reached inside and pulled out something else.
A sealed envelope.
Older than the rest.
Her name written on it.
Xiaoyu froze.
"That wasn't there before," she said.
"It was," Lu Shen replied. "You just didn't see it."
Her hand moved slowly as she took the envelope. Her name was written in a way she recognized instantly.
Her father's handwriting.
Her chest tightened.
"This was meant for me…"
"Yes."
Her fingers hesitated at the edge of the seal.
For the first time since they entered the building, she felt something close to fear again.
Not of danger.
But of the truth.
"If I open this…" she started.
"Everything changes," Lu Shen finished.
She looked up at him.
"Then why bring me here?"
"Because you were always going to find it."
Xiaoyu swallowed, her grip tightening slightly.
For a moment, she thought about putting it down. Walking away. Pretending none of this existed.
But she didn't.
Slowly, she broke the seal.
The paper inside slid into her hand.
Her eyes moved across the first line.
And then—
She froze.
Her breathing stopped.
The color drained from her face.
"No…" she whispered.
Lu Shen's gaze sharpened. "What is it?"
Xiaoyu didn't answer.
She couldn't.
Because the first line didn't explain anything.
It destroyed everything.
"I'm sorry, Xiaoyu. If you're reading this… it means Lu Shen has already found you."