The second tremor ended with a victory no one expected.
Not Tống Hành.
Not the board of directors.
Not even ÉCLAT.
It was Dĩ Yến.
She stood before the entire board during the crisis review meeting, her eyes steady, voice calm. Every figure she presented cut through the room like a blade:
– how she restructured capital flow
– how she rotated supply chains within seventy-two hours
– how she recalibrated market strategy
– how she restored the confidence of international partners
The board fell silent.
No one called her the chairman's daughter anymore.
No one suggested she merely relied on ÉCLAT.
No one questioned her capability.
When the meeting ended, Tống Hành spoke words he had uttered only a few times in his life:
"My daughter… you have overcome something many men in this industry never could."
She smiled tiredly.
Inside that smile lived pride.
And a faint sadness only the perceptive might notice.
⸻
Ngạo Thiên — The Smile of the Architect
At the same moment, high within Vũ Holdings, Ngạo Thiên stood before the window, quietly reading the Tống Group report.
Exactly as he had intended.
ÉCLAT had become the bloodstream of Tống Group.
And that bloodstream was directed by a woman standing squarely within the reach of his hand.
He tapped lightly against the desk.
Each tap sounded like a chess move.
"Good.
Perfect rhythm.
Perfect timing."
Beside him, the most important line of the internal report appeared:
"Proposal to appoint Tống Dĩ Yến to the Board of Directors."
A new power.
A new position.
A new responsibility.
And most importantly—
a direct path into the core of Tống Group's power.
Ngạo Thiên closed his eyes.
Behind those eyelids lived many things:
– his mother's suffering
– a vengeance buried for nearly twenty years
– a vow that had never faded
– and the gentle smile of the woman he was never supposed to love
He whispered softly:
"You did well, Yến."
It was not praise.
It was confirmation.
The piece had reached its intended square.
⸻
Ngạo Thần — The One Whose Heart Cannot Be Controlled
After the meeting, Dĩ Yến stepped into the long corridor outside.
The afternoon sun slanted across her hair.
She exhaled quietly, as if shedding the weight carried for days.
Near the stairwell she saw a familiar figure — tall, broad-shouldered, standing with effortless composure.
Ngạo Thần.
He approached without a word and handed her a folder.
Inside were corrections he had quietly compiled:
– minor data discrepancies
– a small supply-chain inconsistency
– a subtle irregularity she had overlooked under pressure
Her eyes widened.
"You noticed this when?"
"While you were in the meeting."
She lowered her gaze slightly.
"Thank you. Without that point, my case wouldn't have been so clear."
Ngạo Thần shook his head.
"I didn't help you.
You were already capable. I only showed you the angle you hadn't had time to see."
The words made her heart tremble.
Not because of the compliment.
But because of how gently he spoke them.
She looked at him.
His eyes were calm, deep, restrained.
Yet within that calm lay something turbulent—
something that appeared only when their gazes met.
She reached for the folder.
Their hands touched.
Half a second.
But it felt like lightning.
She withdrew instinctively.
Her heartbeat skipped.
Ngạo Thần pulled his hand back as well.
For a single instant, his eyes revealed everything:
He loved her.
Deeply.
So deeply that even a fleeting touch could steal his breath.
He quickly turned away, swallowing the emotion.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"
"It's okay," she interrupted quickly. "I just… got startled."
It was a lie.
She knew her heart had skipped a beat.
And she could not explain why.
⸻
The Calm of Business — The Chaos of the Heart
Ngạo Thần had always been balanced.
– calculating
– disciplined
– composed
– principled
But before her, he became a man unable to command his own heart.
As she walked away, he watched her leave.
Loneliness filled his gaze.
One question echoed inside him:
Why now?
He laughed quietly to himself.
In business, he could see every possible path.
But when it came to her, every rule collapsed.
He whispered:
"Twenty days until their engagement.
Vũ Ngạo Thần… you must not take another step."
But his heart had stepped forward long ago.
Tống Group Transfers Power
That evening, the board reached a historic decision.
Tống Dĩ Yến was officially nominated to the Board of Directors.
The news spread rapidly.
Markets reacted instantly.
For the first time in history, a fashion brand had become the lifeline of a powerful conglomerate.
Everyone celebrated.
Shareholders applauded.
Communications teams erupted with excitement.
Tống Hành nearly wept with pride.
High above the city, in Vũ Holdings' tower, Ngạo Thiên sat alone watching the news on his screen.
The corner of his mouth curved slightly.
Not from joy.
Not from pride.
But from the quiet satisfaction of a strategist who had just won another move.
"Finally."
ÉCLAT — the bloodstream.
Dĩ Yến — the heart.
Tống Group — the body.
Touch the right point, and the body would kneel.
Two Souls
That night, Dĩ Yến drove back to Tống Manor.
Her mind was not troubled by the marketplace.
But by that moment.
That brief touch.
It felt like—
a soul touching another soul.
Not physical.
Something deeper.
She shook her head.
"Stop thinking about it. You're getting engaged soon."
Yet the imprint remained.
On the balcony of the Vũ residence, Ngạo Thần stood watching the city lights below.
He had always believed his heart was made of steel.
But cracks had begun to appear.
Quietly.
Painfully.
He murmured to himself:
"If it never happens again…
If we never touch again…"
But fate had written something different.
Because when two souls touch once,
the second time
is only a matter of time.
Message of Chapter 10
Some touches are not accidental.
They are the vibration of two souls meeting — even when both try desperately to bury the feeling.
And those fragile moments
often become the beginning
of a tragedy no one can stop.