Chapter 96

Chapter 96 – Echoes of the Past

Rain swept over City A in relentless sheets, washing the streets clean but leaving the air heavy with the scent of oil and asphalt. Bai Xueqing sat alone in her office, the city lights blurred by the storm outside. She traced a finger along the photograph she'd taken from The Fox's lieutenant—a photo of herself, clearly taken years before her return. A time she couldn't remember.

Mo Chen entered quietly, a towel draped over his shoulders from the downpour. He saw the photo and stiffened. "Where did you get that?"

"On the lieutenant," she replied softly. "It's me, but I don't recall this moment at all."

Mo Chen's expression darkened. He knelt beside her chair, his voice low and fierce. "The Fox has been watching you for longer than we thought. He knew about your past—maybe even more than you do."

Xueqing's hands trembled. "He knows something about what happened before I woke up in that hospital."

---

Lin Nuo burst in, breathless from running up the stairs. "We got into the data chip we recovered. It's a list of off-book transactions and—"

He hesitated.

Xueqing's eyes snapped up. "And what?"

Lin Nuo handed her a folder. "And surveillance records of your parents, dating back over two decades. Someone paid The Fox to ruin the Bai family long before you returned."

A roar of thunder shook the building as the weight of Lin Nuo's words settled over them.

---

Mo Chen stood, fury radiating from him. "All this time, he's been orchestrating your family's downfall. We thought he wanted you gone, but he needs you alive—for something bigger."

Xueqing's mind raced. "Then we don't just need to fight him. We need to uncover why he's so desperate to keep me in the game."

She looked out into the storm, eyes hardening. "Prepare everything, Mo Chen. No more reacting. We take the fight to him."

---

Later that night, lightning illuminated Mo Chen's face as he swore quietly. He remembered fragments of their past life—promises he'd failed to keep, the moment he'd lost her before. Now, with the stakes higher than ever, he vowed silently that nothing would tear them apart again.

Outside, the storm raged on, echoing the battle that loomed ahead.