Chapter 50 Sparks of Despair
Assistant Zhou's outstretched palm was like an icy ultimatum.
Su Yan stared at the old, long-dead phone, then at Assistant Zhou's impassive face. A fire of humiliation and despair burned deep in his heart. If he handed over the phone, he would truly become a caged bird, its claws plucked out, at the mercy of others.
But he had no choice.
Slowly, ever so slowly, he placed the cold, old phone in Assistant Zhou's palm. His fingertips trembled slightly the moment they left the phone, as if stripping away the last bit of connection to the free world.
Assistant Zhou put his phone away expressionlessly, his movements as smooth as a routine procedure. "Mr. Su, please rest assured. If you need anything, feel free to ring the bell to call the maid." He nodded slightly, his tone respectful yet distant, as if he were merely managing a precious object.
After saying that, he turned and left without even looking at Su Yan again.
The apartment door closed again, and the sound of the deadbolt latch being clicked was clearly audible, like the final nail being nailed shut on a coffin. Su Yan stood alone in the middle of the suffocatingly empty living room, feeling himself sinking, swallowed by the cold darkness.
His brother's predicament, Huo Shen's rage, Assistant Zhou's strict surveillance... all of these were like heavy shackles, imprisoning him firmly in this small space.
What should he do? Is he really just going to stay put, as Huo Shen said, and watch everything go to ruin?
No.
A strong desire to survive and a stubborn refusal to accept fate, like a spark that flickered tenaciously in the darkness, ignited again in his heart.
He couldn't give up! He still had the last, undiscovered bargaining chip in his hand—the key and the terrible speculation about Ah Xi's death.
Assistant Zhou took away his cell phone and cut off his external contacts, but he could not take away the information that was already engraved in Su Yan's mind!
Huo Shen was currently busy dealing with Su Chen's report and had no time to spare. Assistant Zhou's attention was also primarily focused on the external crisis and monitoring himself. This might... be his last chance!
An extremely risky plan emerged from the soil of despair. He needed to enter the study again! Not to peek at the diary, that was too dangerous. He needed to use Huo Shen's computer, or... that hidden compartment, to leave a message!
For whom? He didn't know. Perhaps for anyone who might discover all this in the future, or perhaps for... Huo Shen himself? At some opportune moment, in some way, Huo Shen would "accidentally" discover it.
It was crazy, and the chances of success were slim, but he had no other choice.
He needed a tool, something to store information. His eyes searched the living room until they finally landed on an old-fashioned portable USB player for home theaters under the TV cabinet. It was usually used by the servants to play soothing music, and almost no one paid attention to it.
His heart was beating faster as he walked over and fiddled with it out of pretended curiosity to make sure it was empty. Then he carefully put the small player with its own storage space into his pocket.
Next, it’s time to wait for the opportunity.
Huo Shen did not come back that night.
Su Yan almost did not sleep all night. His ears were always alert to the movement at the door. His brain repeatedly deduced every step of the plan, thinking about how to leave a message so that he could achieve his goal without immediately getting into trouble.
The next morning, Assistant Zhou showed up on time, brought breakfast, and routinely asked Su Yan if he needed anything. His eyes were still sharp, but he didn't seem to notice the little gadget in Su Yan's pocket.
After Assistant Zhou left, Su Yan forced himself to finish breakfast and maintain a calm appearance. He knew that he had to be patient and wait until Assistant Zhou was not in the apartment and Huo Shen had not returned yet.
The opportunity came in the afternoon. Assistant Zhou seemed to have some external matters to attend to and left early. Huo Shen still did not show up.
Su Yan and the servants were the only ones left in the apartment again.
He took a deep breath and walked towards the study. The door was locked. He had expected this. He didn't try to force his way in; that would have been impossible.
His target was the inconspicuous potted plant at the door of the study. It was a tall green plant with dense leaves and thick soil, making it an ideal place to hide something.
He squatted down, pretending to admire the plants, but his fingers quickly buried the small USB player deep into the soil near the roots, where it would be difficult to detect.
He couldn't store any direct information in it, as that would be too easy to track. He simply created a blank text file in the player's own tiny storage space and named it a random, seemingly system-generated, random file name.
He hoped that if... if one day in the future, Huo Shen or someone else, for some reason, checked or discarded this player, this strange file name would attract a little attention. Even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance, this was a silent seed that he had planted.
After doing all this, he stood up and patted the non-existent dirt on his hands, his heart beating heavily in his chest. This was all he could do.
Just as he was about to return to the living room, the electronic lock of the apartment door rang again. This time, it was Huo Shen who came in.
He looked dusty, his face showing the weariness of days spent in the business world, but his eyes were incredibly sharp, like a hawk returning from a storm. His gaze immediately caught sight of Su Yan standing at the study door, and his eyes suddenly turned cold.
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