Chapter 52 A fragile balance
"He asked for it."
Huo Shen's cold verdict sealed Su Chen's fate. Sitting on the expensive carpet, Su Yan felt the chill spread from the contact surface all the way to his heart, freezing his blood.
He didn't dare to plead for Su Chen again, not even a single word. Huo Shen now displayed a calmness bordering on exhaustion, but beneath this calmness lay an unquestionable determination more terrifying than rage. Any attempt to challenge this determination would result in a devastating blow.
Over the next few days, a strange and fragile balance was maintained in the apartment.
Huo Shen continued to leave early and return late, busy dealing with the chain reaction triggered by Su Chen's report. Financial news reports on the Huo and Su companies' clash continued to appear, with both companies' stock prices fluctuating wildly and all sorts of true and false news flying around. Trapped in his apartment, Su Yan could only glimpse a glimpse of the outside world through the television in the living room.
He dared not approach the study again, even deliberately avoiding that direction. Every day, he would quietly stay in the living room or his room, like a forgotten decoration. Assistant Zhou still appeared every day, delivering necessities and conveying Huo Shen's words, his eyes never relaxing the scrutiny. However, perhaps because of Huo Shen's clear instructions to "behave well," he did not take any further measures against Su Yan.
Su Yan knew that this "calmness" was false. It was based on Huo Shen's temporary loss of interest in him, or rather, his complete diversion of attention, and his own extreme obedience. Once this balance was broken, what awaited him would be an abyss.
He had to use this time.
The USB player buried under the soil of the potted plant was his only hope, but it was also pitifully slim. He needed an opportunity, an opportunity that would allow the USB drive to be discovered and put to use.
He began to observe Huo Shen more closely. He noticed that whenever Huo Shen returned late at night, the smell of alcohol on him became lighter and lighter, but the fatigue and suppressed irritability between his brows grew stronger and stronger. Sometimes, he would stand by the French window for a long time, looking at the city lights below, his back lonely and tense.
Su Yan still remembered the contents of the diary and the white medicine bottle. Huo Shen's mental state was clearly under tremendous internal and external pressure. Su Chen's report was not just a business challenge, but more like a fuse that could trigger the painful memories of betrayal, failure, and loss buried deep in Huo Shen's heart.
That night, Huo Shen came back a little earlier than usual. Instead of going directly to the study, he collapsed on the sofa in the living room, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples with his fingers. His face looked a little pale under the light, and his breathing was heavier than usual.
After hesitating for a long time, Su Yan went to the kitchen to pour a glass of warm water. He then quietly took out a small handful of soothing herbal medicine from the bag he had hidden before (he asked the servant to buy it on the pretext that he had trouble sleeping), put it into the water, and then handed it over.
He gently placed the cup of water on the coffee table.
Huo Shen didn't open his eyes, but frowned even tighter, saying impatiently, "Take it away."
Su Yan didn't move or speak.
After a few seconds, Huo Shen seemed to sense his persistence and slowly opened his eyes. His deep eyes were bloodshot, a crimson tinge of fatigue and irritability. He glanced at the glass of water, then at Su Yan, who stood silently beside him.
"I said, take it." His voice was hoarse and warning.
Su Yan pursed his lips, mustered up his courage, and spoke in a soft voice, but with a strange calmness: "Sir, you look very uncomfortable. It's just warm water with some soothing agent... I use it myself, nothing else."
He didn't beg or show weakness like before, but simply stated calmly, even with a little imperceptible concern that seemed to transcend his prisoner status...?
Huo Shen stared at him with sharp eyes, as if judging the glass of water and the intentions of the person in front of him.
A long silence stretched between the two of them. Just when Su Yan thought he would scold him again, Huo Shen suddenly reached out and picked up the glass of water.
He didn't drink immediately, but held the cup in his hand, feeling the warmth of the wall. His eyes were still on Su Yan, and there was a complex emotion in his eyes that Su Yan couldn't understand - suspicion, scrutiny, and perhaps a trace of... extremely faint, insignificant concern.
In the end, he said nothing, nor did he drink the glass of water. He simply placed the glass back on the coffee table with a soft thud. Then, he closed his eyes again and leaned back on the sofa, as if nothing had happened.
But Su Yan knew that something was starting to change. Could this seemingly insignificant olive branch pry open a crack in the ice?
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