The morning air in Riverview was thick with humidity, but inside the Lin villa, it was bone-chilling. The family was in survival mode.
"We have forty-eight hours," Wesley Lin said, his voice trembling as he looked at a notice from the bank. "If the owner of Crimson Dragon doesn't show up to verify the gift, the tax office will seize the warehouse, and our creditors will move in on this house."
Rachel sat at the table, her eyes fixed on Ethan. He was quietly washing the breakfast dishes, his back turned to the chaos.
"Ethan," she said softly.
Ethan stopped and looked up. "Yes?"
"You said you had a friend in the Capital who checked the records," Rachel said, her voice hopeful. "Can you... can you ask him for a name? Or a phone number? We just need to talk to the person who helped us. We need to thank them."
Ethan saw the desperation in her eyes. He hated lying to her, but the Butler's warning was ringing in his ears. If he revealed he was the owner, the "Scout" from the Capital would find him—and they would use Rachel to get to him.
"I can try," Ethan said. "But he told me the owner is very private. They don't want to be found. He told me the owner is aware of the situation. He said to be patient."
"Patient?!" Elaine shrieked, throwing a spoon onto the table. "Patience doesn't pay the mortgage! If your 'friend' is just some low-level clerk who can't help us, then you're even more useless than I thought!"
Ethan didn't answer. He couldn't tell them that the moment he had authorized the "Audit" on his phone the night before, he had sent a signal straight to the heart of the Lu Family's server in the Capital. He had known it was a risk, but it was the only way to save Rachel's company.
The Hunter's Trace
Across town, in a darkened suite at the Grand Regency Hotel, Lu Chen sat behind three glowing laptop screens. He wasn't just a "thug"; he was a digital hunter.
"There you are," Lu Chen whispered.
He had been tracking the IP address of the device that authorized the Crimson Dragon audit. The signal had originated from a low-end smartphone near the Riverview Central Market.
"Using a burner phone to move two hundred million dollars? Clever," Lu Chen smirked. He pulled up the registration for the cell tower that handled the signal. "But you stayed connected to the Lin family's home Wi-Fi three nights ago. You got sloppy, 'Young Master'."
He grabbed his jacket. He didn't need to search the whole city. He had an address: The Lin Villa.
The Alleyway Confrontation
Ethan felt the danger before he saw it. As he walked to the market to buy the groceries Elaine had demanded, he noticed a black SUV following him at a distance.
He didn't lead them back to the house. Instead, he took a detour through the old textile district—a maze of narrow alleys and brick walls.
He stopped in a quiet corner where the scent of damp stone was heavy. "You can come out now," Ethan said, not turning around. "The SUV is too big for these streets."
A door creaked open behind him. It wasn't the hunter. It was Diana Song. She looked frantic, her hair slightly messy as if she had rushed to find him.
"Ethan! You have to move," she panted. "My security team intercepted a data-scrape on the city's Wi-Fi logs. Someone from the Capital is tracking your phone's signal. They aren't just looking for a businessman, Ethan. They're looking for you."
Ethan looked at her. He realized Diana had risked her own reputation to come to this part of town to warn him. "I know, Diana. It's too late to run."
"It's not too late! I can hide you in—"
"Well, well," a sharp, mocking voice cut through the air.
At the entrance of the alley stood a man in a slim-fit black suit. He was holding a tablet that was still chirping with a signal-tracking app. Lu Chen looked up from the screen, his eyes widening as they landed on Ethan.
"I expected a professional thief," Lu Chen laughed, tucking the tablet into his jacket. "I expected a rival corporation. I never expected to find the 'Fallen Dragon' scrubbing floors in Riverview."
Lu Chen walked forward, his boots clicking on the pavement. He looked at Ethan's cheap clothes and then at Diana Song.
"So this is why you disappeared, Ethan? To play house with a local CEO? Grandfather will be so disappointed. He thought you were dead. I think he would have preferred that to seeing you like... this."
Ethan stepped in front of Diana, his posture shifting. The humble "son-in-law" was gone. His shoulders squared, and his eyes became cold enough to freeze the air.
"Go home, Chen," Ethan said, his voice a low growl. "Tell the Capital I'm dead. It's better for everyone."
"I can't do that," Lu Chen said, reaching into his coat for a heavy, silver-plated cell phone. "I have orders to bring the 'glitch' back to the Capital. And if the glitch won't come... I'm supposed to delete it."