Chapter Eight: The Test of Trust

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“Beimo, forget it.” Duan Fei’s voice was soft, yet tinged with helplessness. “Nothing we say now will make any difference.”

She sank dejectedly onto the sofa. Everything around her seemed to have lost its color, leaving behind nothing but endless gloom.

Those so-called “pieces of evidence” were like towering mountains, crushing the breath from her lungs.

Seeing her like this, Beimo’s heart ached.

He clasped her hand tightly. “Feifei, I’ll get to the bottom of this. I’ll clear your name.”

He immediately called Su Yao. “Su Yao, find out what Zhao Kang has been up to lately, especially the people he’s been in contact with.”

“Understood, Mr. Bei.” Su Yao’s tone was as crisp and efficient as ever. “But I should warn you—there may be someone behind Zhao Kang. Please be careful.”

Beimo hung up, his expression growing even darker.

He knew this matter was far more complicated than he had imagined.

At the same time, Zhao Kang was sitting in an upscale private club, chatting and laughing with a burly man.

“Mr. Zhao, you handled this beautifully!” The man raised his glass. “As long as you continue cooperating with us, you’ll have plenty of benefits coming your way.”

Zhao Kang smiled smugly. “Relax, Brother Hu. When have you ever had reason to doubt me?”

The man was Zhao Hu, a notorious local power broker with enormous influence.

The reason Zhao Kang had dared to frame Duan Fei so brazenly was precisely because Zhao Hu was backing him.

Beimo’s investigation was not going smoothly. Every lead seemed to have been deliberately severed, leaving him with nowhere to begin.

He realized that he was not merely up against Zhao Kang, but an enormous force hidden in the shadows.

“Mr. Bei, the bank just contacted us. Someone has been investigating your accounts.” Su Yao’s voice carried a trace of urgency. “The partners on the project have also begun pressuring us, demanding that we suspend cooperation.”

Beimo rubbed his brow as immense pressure descended upon him.

He knew someone was deliberately targeting him, trying to drive him into a dead end.

“Suspend cooperation?” Beimo let out a cold laugh. “They wish!”

He picked up the phone and dialed a number. “Mr. Wang, I think we need to have a serious talk…”

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Duan Fei’s standing in the company had plummeted faster than a rocket blasting off—one moment she had been high above the clouds, and the next she had come crashing back down to earth.

She had once been the little princess of the Duan Group, showered with love and attention. Now she had become a plague whom everyone avoided.

The executives had even issued a direct order suspending every project under her supervision. They called it “avoiding suspicion,” but in reality, it was nothing more than a disguised banishment.

Duan Fei naturally refused to accept it. She argued her case with every ounce of reason she possessed, pounding the table and battling the executives through three hundred rounds. Unfortunately, every one of them was an old fox—polite on the surface, yet impervious to every argument.

In the end, Duan Fei could only watch helplessly as all her hard work was shelved, her heart filled with anguish and resentment.

“Why should I accept this?!” Back in her office, Duan Fei swept the documents from her desk, sending them crashing to the floor. “You’re dismissing everything I’ve worked for based on a few dubious photographs and baseless rumors?”

She sank helplessly into her chair, feeling as though the entire world had turned against her.

Just then, her phone rang. It was Beimo.

“Feifei, don’t give up.” Beimo’s voice was low and resolute. “I’ve found a key witness who can prove your innocence.”

Her heart gave a violent leap, as though a ray of dawn had appeared in the darkness. “Really?”

“Mm. Wait for me.” With that, Beimo hung up.

At the same time, the people spreading the rumors began to panic.

They had originally thought they could use this opportunity to destroy Duan Fei. They had never expected Beimo to find a witness.

“What’s going on? Where did that witness come from?” Zhao Kang asked anxiously.

“I have no idea!” Zhao Hu looked equally bewildered. “I arranged everything perfectly. How could there still be someone who slipped through the net?”

“What do we do now? If that witness really appears, we’re finished!” Terror spread across Zhao Kang’s face.

“Feifei, I’m sorry I’m late.” Beimo pushed open the office door, a thin man following behind him.

Duan Fei stared at Beimo, then at the man behind him…

Beimo led the witness into the office. The man shrank timidly into himself, like a frightened quail.

Gratitude nearly overflowed from Duan Fei’s eyes as she looked at Beimo, like a parched desert finally receiving life-giving rain.

She knew this man would never let her down.

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The air around them seemed to warm, the gloom of before swept away in an instant.

“Feifei, don’t be afraid. He’ll tell us the truth.” Beimo’s deep, powerful voice was like an anchor holding firm against the sea, soothing her troubled heart.

However, the witness did not expose the truth as readily as they had imagined.

He rubbed his hands together, his eyes darting about. He looked exactly like a street vendor haggling over prices.

“Well… Mr. Bei, Miss Duan, I’m a practical man. You both know that telling the truth these days comes with a great deal of risk, so…”

He did not finish the sentence, but his meaning was perfectly clear.

He wanted money.

The move left both Duan Fei and Beimo utterly dumbfounded.

Since when did doing the right thing require negotiating a price first?

Beimo raised an eyebrow and cast the witness a cold glance. His imposing presence made the man shudder.

“Name your price.”

Beimo’s voice sounded as though it had come straight from an ice cellar. His tone was far from pleasant, yet Duan Fei could see unwavering trust in his eyes.

“Well…” The witness rubbed his hands together and quoted an astronomical figure.

Everyone around them was stunned. He was blatantly asking for an outrageous sum!

Even Su Yao, Beimo’s secretary, could not help advising him, “Mr. Bei, this man is obviously a fraud. Don’t let him take advantage of you!”

“It’s fine.” Beimo waved a hand and ordered the finance department to transfer the money immediately. His decisiveness made it seem as though he were handing over a pile of worthless scraps rather than actual cash.

Just when everyone thought the matter had been settled and the truth was about to come to light, the witness grabbed the money and bolted, vanishing like a streak of smoke. He was almost as fast as Bolt!

“Damn it!” Duan Fei could not stop herself from swearing. “What was that supposed to be? Did we pay all that money just to buy absolutely nothing?”

Beimo’s expression darkened in an instant. He realized that he had been played once again.

This enemy was far more cunning than he had imagined.

And the two of them seemed to have fallen into an even greater predicament.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the city, Zhao Hu was staring at surveillance footage on his phone and roaring with arrogant laughter. Beside him, Zhao Kang looked as though his soul had been ripped from his body, his face filled with terror and despair…

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