Meanwhile, Huo Zhiyuan arrived at Old Zhang’s house.
“The police have been lying in wait since early this morning,” Old Zhang said. “We’ve also stationed our own people not far outside the police perimeter. As long as Li Junmin dares to come back, he’ll be taken down for sure. Mr. Huo, just stay here and wait for the news.”
Huo Zhiyuan was consumed with anxiety.
The murderer he had pursued for more than ten years was finally going to show himself tonight. He feared Li Junmin might never come, yet he also feared that even if he did, they would fail to catch him. Most of all, he feared that the hope he had clung to for a decade would vanish into nothing.
He sat outside Old Zhang’s house and took a sip of hot tea.
“Hiss…”
The tea had just been brewed with boiling water. Distracted, Huo Zhiyuan failed to notice how hot it was and scalded his tongue.
Frowning, he sat down only to rise again moments later. Every few minutes, he glanced toward the door, waiting impatiently for word.
“We got him! We got him! Mr. Huo, he’s been caught!”
Old Zhang came running back, beaming with excitement.
Joy flashed across Huo Zhiyuan’s face. He immediately turned to rush to the scene, but Old Zhang grabbed him by the arm.
“Mr. Huo, there’s no point going now. The police arrested him and took him away in a patrol car. It’s already over. Why don’t you stay here tonight? The guest room is ready.”
How could Huo Zhiyuan possibly sit still?
He got into his car that very night and drove after the police convoy back toward the city.
For ten long years, the image of his parents dying inside that car had remained seared into his mind.
His parents had been murdered.
Their research had been stolen.
He had failed to catch the killer, and he still had no evidence pointing directly to the mastermind behind everything.
He knew perfectly well that the Fang family was responsible, yet he could only watch helplessly as they continued living comfortably, growing stronger with each passing year. The helpless fury inside him burned like an endless fire.
That same night, Huo Zhiyuan went to Xingchen Tower to wait for further news.
Given his current position, it wasn’t appropriate for him to appear at the police station. Any updates from the investigation would have to come through the old master and Qi Junlin.
By the time Huo Zhiyuan arrived at Xingchen, it was already past three in the morning.
Qi Junlin, who had been informed of the arrest, had been waiting there the entire time.
Curled up on the sofa with a cushion in his arms, he had dozed off. The sound of the door opening startled him awake.
The moment he saw the dark circles beneath his brother’s eyes and the bloodshot redness filling them, his heart ached.
“Bro, go get some rest,” Qi Junlin urged. “You’ve waited ten years already, another day or two won’t make a difference. Don’t throw yourself off balance now. Today it’s Li Junmin who’s been arrested, tomorrow it’ll be Fang Jiming. It’s only a matter of time. Grandpa and I will let you know the moment we hear anything from the police. Go sleep in the lounge. The officers need to rest too, nothing’s going to happen that quickly.”
Li Junmin’s arrest was like a massive boulder crashing into the sea, sending towering waves in every direction.
When the Fang family received the news, the entire household descended into chaos.
Some paced anxiously.
Some complained.
Others cursed without restraint.
“I said we should’ve eliminated the problem once and for all back then. Every one of you kept hesitating, afraid you’d corner him into fighting back. Well, look where that got us. Now the dog’s been caught. Sooner or later they’ll trace everything back to us, and we’ll all be finished.”
The first to explode was Fang Jiming’s eldest son, Fang Jiaming.
Leaning back arrogantly on the sofa with a cigar between his fingers, he exhaled a cloud of smoke while venting his anger.
“Oh, spare us the hindsight,” Fang Heming snapped back. “If it was so easy to eliminate him, why didn’t you do it yourself? Weren’t you just as scared? Whenever there’s dirty work like murder or arson, you dump it on the rest of us while you hide behind the scenes reaping the rewards. You never lifted a finger, yet now you’ve got the nerve to blame everyone else? Give me a break.”
Fang Heming was Fang Jiming’s nephew.
The two had never gotten along, ever since they had fought over the same woman years ago.
“I’m the coward? I’m the one enjoying the rewards?” Fang Jiaming shot back. “Wasn’t Li Baoqiang the one I got rid of? Which one of you actually did anything?”
“And what good did that do?” Fang Heming sneered. “Li Junmin still got arrested. If you’ve got so much ability, why didn’t you get rid of Li Junmin too?”
“Big Brother, Heming, enough,” Fang Huaming interrupted. “We’re all tied to the same fate now. Since things have already reached this point, let’s wait to hear what Dad has to say.”
Fang Huaming was Fang Jiming’s second son.
His expression was grave, and his worry was obvious, but compared to Fang Jiaming and Fang Heming, he remained much calmer.
“Dad’s here.”
Fang Huaming rose to his feet, visibly relieved, as though the pillar holding everyone together had finally arrived.
His son, Fang Tianhe, slowly pushed an elderly man in a wheelchair into the room.
The old man’s hair was completely white, as was the thick beard covering his chin.
Deep wrinkles crisscrossed his weathered face, and his sunken eyes gave him the appearance of someone frail and nearing the end of life.
Yet the sharp gleam hidden within those eyes made one thing abundantly clear.
He was anything but senile.
If anything, he was frighteningly shrewd.
“What are all of you making such a fuss about?” the old master barked the moment he entered. “You’re all in your forties and fifties already, yet you still panic the moment something happens. One little setback, and you’ve already thrown yourselves into chaos.”
His voice was powerful and commanding, showing none of the weakness suggested by his appearance.
“Dad.”
“Dad.”
“Second Uncle.”
Fang Jiaming, Fang Huaming, and Fang Heming all stood immediately. After greeting the old master respectfully, they gathered beside him.
“Li Junmin is nothing more than a small pawn,” the old master said calmly. “His daughter’s future is still in our hands. He won’t dare say a word.”
His words were like a powerful dose of reassurance.
The tension in the room eased almost instantly.
Still, some unease remained.
“But… what if the Huo family makes him an offer?” Fang Huaming asked carefully.
He left the rest unsaid.
The Fang family could keep Li Junmin silent by dangling benefits in front of him.
The Huo family could just as easily tempt him into talking.
“He’ll have to stay alive to enjoy those benefits,” the old master replied coldly. “Unless he’s willing to sacrifice both his wife and daughter.”
His voice carried an unmistakable ruthlessness.
Every word landed like a hammer striking the heart.
“But with everything that’s happening right now, threatening him like that could easily backfire,” Fang Huaming said.
He was an exceptionally cautious man who always considered one step more than everyone else.
That was precisely why the old master valued his branch of the family above the others.
“Tianhe,” the old master said, gesturing behind him. “Explain it to your father and your uncles.”
Fang Tianhe stepped forward.
“Our family has never had direct contact with Li Junmin. The person above him was Wu Jianguo, a senior executive at the Huo family’s own company. After the theft of Huo Group’s confidential technology was exposed last time, I arranged for Wu Jianguo to leave the country.”
“I thought it was Huo Zhiyuan who leaked the company’s patented technology,” Fang Heming said, his face full of disbelief. “Wasn’t it said he did it to fight that illegitimate son? He deliberately leaked company secrets and framed the illegitimate heir, but then got exposed.”
“What illegitimate son?” Fang Tianhe scoffed. “One is the Huo family’s legitimate grandson, the other is the old master’s biological grandson through his daughter. They can fight all they want, but neither of them would ever damage the Huo family’s foundation. Hurting the company only hurts themselves. It was simply that idiot Huo Zhiduo who exposed the intelligence we passed along, then deliberately tried to pin the blame on someone else.”
The moment Huo Zhiduo’s name came up, undisguised contempt flashed across Fang Tianhe’s face.
She had enjoyed the Huo family’s complete trust for over a decade, yet she couldn’t even handle something this simple.
Instead, she had exposed Wu Jianguo.
She was unbelievably foolish.
“Isn’t Huo Zhiduo Old Master Huo’s niece?” Fang Jiaming asked in astonishment. “I heard she’s the apple of his eye. Why would she…”
Fang Jiaming was so shocked that he completely forgot to smoke his cigar.
He and Fang Heming were both idle wastrels who cared only about drinking and having fun.
The old master feared that if they got drunk, they might let something slip, so many of the family’s secrets were never shared with them. Instead, they were entrusted only to Fang Huaming and Fang Tianhe.
“The apple of his eye?” Fang Huaming let out a cold laugh. “That’s only what he says. If he truly cherished her that much, why did all the headquarters’ shares go to his precious grandson? Even the grandson who was only recently welcomed back into the family received a share, yet she got nothing.”
He sneered as he analyzed the cracks hidden beneath the Huo family’s outward appearance of unity.
“Really?” Fang Heming asked skeptically. “But I heard Old Master Huo’s will leaves all of his personal shares to Huo Zhiduo. It was even notarized and made public.”
He simply couldn’t believe Fang Huaming’s claim.
After all, the news about Old Master Huo’s will had made headlines.
When the story broke, countless people online envied Huo Zhiduo, wishing they could become the old master’s niece themselves.
Even Fang Heming had been jealous.
They were both nephews, so why hadn’t his own uncle shown the same generosity?
He had secretly complained about the old master playing favorites for a long time because of it.
“A will?” Fang Huaming chuckled dismissively. “Something written today can be rewritten tomorrow. Only what’s already in your hands truly belongs to you. Besides, the estate Huo Tianxiao publicly declared isn’t even half the value of what he’s already given to his beloved grandson. With Huo Zhiduo’s greedy nature, how could she possibly be satisfied?”
“So that’s why Huo Zhiyuan went bankrupt and got kicked out of the family,” Fang Heming said gleefully. “Qi Junlin and Huo Zhiduo must’ve joined forces. Qi Junlin bankrupted the subsidiary Huo Zhiyuan was managing, then Huo Zhiduo framed him for leaking company secrets.”
“They weren’t working together,” Fang Tianhe replied calmly. “Their actions just happened to overlap. Qi Junlin has always stood with the Huo family. Huo Zhiduo is the one who truly betrayed them from within.”
He paused before continuing.
“There has always been an invisible barrier between her and Old Master Huo. He feels guilty toward her because of what happened in the past, while she has never stopped resenting him for those same events.”