By the time Shen Wang arrived at Shen Group, it was already half past ten in the morning.
The black Maybach stopped below the corporate tower.
Chen Zhou had been waiting at the entrance for a while, a stack of documents in his arms, his expression three degrees tenser than usual.
The car door opened.
Shen Wang stepped out, suit immaculate, eyes cold.
"Found anything?"
Chen Zhou fell into step beside him.
"Partially."
"Over the past three months, Zhao Wencheng has had frequent fund transfers with several overseas companies."
Shen Wang didn't slow his pace.
"Which companies?"
Chen Zhou lowered his voice.
"On the surface, they're consulting firms, trading companies, technical service companies."
"But I had someone cross-check their equity structures, and they all ultimately point to the same offshore account."
The elevator doors opened.
Shen Wang walked in.
Chen Zhou followed and pressed the top floor.
The moment the doors closed, he continued, "What's stranger is that none of these companies have been around long."
"The oldest is only eight months old."
"Their registered addresses are spotless—so spotless it's like they were specially whitewashed."
Shen Wang's eyes grew colder.
Eight months.
The timeline matched.
Shen Zhi's words from that morning surfaced clearly in his mind again.
【Zhao Wencheng has already gotten in contact with people from Lu Corporation.】
【This afternoon, he'll push through approval for the final transfer of funds.】
It had sounded absurd at the time.
But now, the evidence was laid out right in front of him.
Absurdity had become proof.
Chen Zhou handed over the documents.
"President Shen, this is the preliminary compilation."
"We can't fully prove Zhao Wencheng's misappropriation of funds yet, but several approval paths are clearly abnormal."
Shen Wang took the documents and flipped them open.
Pages rustled.
He read fast.
Yet not a single line escaped him.
Fund splitting.
Consulting fees.
Overseas service charges.
Advance payments.
Taken individually, each entry looked like a legitimate expense.
But pieced together, they formed a net.
A net designed specifically to bypass the Group's risk control.
The elevator reached the top floor.
Shen Wang closed the documents, his voice cold and devoid of warmth.
"Where's Zhao Wencheng?"
Chen Zhou said, "He's already in the conference room."
"He says there's an overseas project payment that must be approved today, or it'll affect next quarter's strategic partnership."
The corner of Shen Wang's mouth twitched slightly.
"How urgent."
Chen Zhou felt a chill run down his spine.
It's over.
When President Shen used that tone of voice, it usually meant someone was about to suffer.
Outside the Office of the President, everyone in the secretarial staff kept their heads down, working.
No one dared to look twice.
Shen Wang entered his office and draped his jacket over the back of a chair.
Chen Zhou sorted the materials into categories.
Before long, a knock sounded at the door.
"President Shen, Director Zhao is here."
Shen Wang looked up.
"Let him in."
The door was pushed open.
Zhao Wencheng walked in.
He was in his early forties, wearing a dark gray suit, hair combed without a single strand out of place.
His face bore a perfectly calibrated smile.
Neither fawning.
Nor distant.
Like a trusted old minister who had served in Shen Corporation for years.
"President Shen."
Zhao Wencheng gave a slight nod.
"Good morning."
Shen Wang sat behind his desk, expression indifferent.
"Sit."
Zhao Wencheng sat down and placed the approval documents in his hands on the desk.
"This is the final payment approval for the overseas new energy project."
"The Board of Directors already passed the framework previously; only the last execution payment remains."
"The partner is pressing us urgently."
He spoke smoothly.
Every word sounded rehearsed in advance.
"If the approval isn't completed by five o'clock this afternoon, it could affect the project's progress."
Chen Zhou stood to the side, eyelids lifting slightly.
Five in the afternoon.
It really did match the time he'd found.
Zhao Wencheng continued, "President Shen, the future returns on this project are very substantial."
"Besides, the group's overseas division has only just gotten off the ground—credibility matters."
"If delays in the approval process cause our partners to lose confidence in us, the loss would far outweigh the gain."
When he finished, he looked up at Shen Wang.
His gaze was sincere.
His tone, loyal.
If Chen Zhou hadn't just read through that stack of documents, he might have believed him.
Shen Wang casually opened the approval file.
"Which company is the partner?"
Zhao Wencheng answered immediately.
"A technology services company under Ryan Capital."
"They mainly handle overseas resource coordination and local policy liaison."
Shen Wang's hand paused mid-page-turn.
"Ryan Capital?"
Zhao Wencheng nodded.
"Yes."
"The company hasn't been around all that long, but it has very strong backing."
"They've worked with Lu Corporation before."
As the words fell.
The air in the office seemed to press down, as if under some invisible weight.
Lu Corporation.
Shen Wang raised his eyes.
"They've worked with Lu Corporation?"
Zhao Wencheng smiled.
"Yes—that's exactly why I chose them."
"Lu Corporation has always had a good eye for overseas projects. The fact that they were willing to partner up shows Ryan Capital has real strength."
He said it all very naturally.
He'd even gone so far as to invoke Lu Corporation as an endorsement.
Shen Wang looked at him.
There wasn't a trace of a smile in his eyes.
Shen Zhi's inner voice rang out in his mind once more.
【Zhao Wencheng will use Lu Corporation as a front.】
【He'll say the partner is reliable, that the project window is urgent, that delaying the funds will mean huge losses.】
【In reality, once the money goes out, it'll circle through offshore accounts three times, and in the end the Shen family won't see a single cent back.】
At the time, Shen Zhi had been sitting at the dining table, a shrimp dumpling in her mouth.
While mentally stripping Zhao Wencheng down to his last dirty secret.
Looking at it now.
She'd stripped him pretty accurately.
Shen Wang closed the file.
A soft snap.
Not loud.
But it made Zhao Wencheng's smile stiffen slightly.
Shen Wang said flatly, "This approval is on hold."
Zhao Wencheng froze.
"President Shen?"
He recovered quickly, brow furrowing at once.
"Is there a problem somewhere?"
"If there are still questions about the process, I can provide further explanation right away."
Shen Wang looked at him.
"It's not a question."
"It's that all overseas contracts, starting today, will undergo full re-verification."
Zhao Wencheng's pupils contracted, ever so slightly.
So fast it was almost invisible.
But Shen Wang saw it.
So did Chen Zhou.
Zhao Wencheng quickly put on a puzzled expression.
"President Shen, isn't that a bit sudden?"
"Several projects in the overseas division are at critical stages."
"If everything goes through re-verification, I'm afraid progress will be affected."
Shen Wang's voice was calm.
"Then let it be affected."
Zhao Wencheng's Adam's apple bobbed.
"But the Board of Directors…"
Shen Wang cut him off.
"I'll inform them."
The office fell silent.
The fingers resting on Zhao Wencheng's knee curled in, ever so slightly.
Yet his face still maintained that look of loyal, troubled reluctance.
"President Shen, of course I'll comply with your arrangements."
"It's just that this payment really is urgent."
"The partner is waiting for our confirmation."
"How about this—I'll reach out to them first and try to buy one more day?"
Shen Wang looked at him.
"It's not a one-day delay."
"It's that until re-verification is complete, not a single payment moves."
At last, a crack appeared in Zhao Wencheng's expression.
Like a perfect mask, pried open a little at the edge.
But only for an instant.
He immediately lowered his head and sighed.
"I understand."
"President Shen's caution is for the good of the Group."
"I'll go back and organize the materials to cooperate with the audit."
Shen Wang said flatly, "No need for you to organize anything."
Zhao Wencheng's movements froze.
Shen Wang looked at Chen Zhou.
"Notify the Audit Department."
"Secretly establish a re-verification team."
"Retrieve the originals of all contracts, attachments, correspondence emails, and payment vouchers."
Chen Zhou responded at once.
"Yes."
Shen Wang added another instruction.
"During the re-verification period, no one in the Finance Department may delete, transfer, or modify any files in the System."
"The Technical Department will lock down permissions simultaneously."
The smile on Zhao Wencheng's face could no longer hold.
"President Shen, isn't this a bit…"
Shen Wang raised his eyes.
"Does Director Zhao have objections?"
Zhao Wencheng met his gaze, and his heart suddenly sank.
In that instant, he suddenly realized.
Shen Wang hadn't acted on a whim.
Nor was this simple suspicion.
He had already set his sights on him.
But why?
The approval process today had been arranged so cleanly.
All the materials followed procedure.
The Board of Directors raised no objections either.
Which step had gone wrong?
A bit of cold sweat broke out on Zhao Wencheng's back, but he forced it down.
His smile was strained.
"Of course not."
"I was only concerned about the Group's project timeline."
"Since President Shen has decided, I will fully cooperate."
Shen Wang said in a flat voice, "You may go."
Zhao Wencheng stood up.
"Then I'll go prepare."
He turned and left the office.
The moment the door closed, Chen Zhou's expression turned completely cold.
"President Shen, he panicked just now."
Shen Wang leaned back in his chair.
"Mm."
Chen Zhou said in a low voice, "Should we seize control of his computer and office right now?"
"Already arranged."
Shen Wang raised his hand and glanced at his watch.
"The Technical Department will lock the permissions within ten minutes."
"The Audit Department's people will enter in two batches."
"Don't alert the enemy."
Chen Zhou nodded.
"Understood."
He turned to make the arrangements.
Half an hour later, the first batch of contract originals was delivered to the Office of the President.
Several thick boxes.
Chen Zhou personally led people to unseal them.
Shen Wang stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the entire city.
Sunlight fell on the glass, cold and blinding.
He thought of Shen Zhi.
Thought of how she plotted her escape while roasting the Shen family's dead-end situation with perfect clarity.
That girl probably had no idea.
One casual inner thought of hers had already detonated a landmine buried deep in Shen Group long ago.
Chen Zhou suddenly looked up from the pile of documents.
"President Shen."
His voice had changed.
Shen Wang turned around.
"Speak."
Chen Zhou held a contract, his expression grave.
"The signatory of this overseas consulting contract is not Zhao Wencheng."
He paused for a second.
"The signatory… is connected to the Second Branch of the Shen family."