Adisorn met her gaze with a thin, knowing smile. "I must also congratulate you on your new position."
Mei Ling let out a cold, sharp breath of a laugh. She placed her gift on the table, right next to Wenjie’s. "Now that you are a fully integrated part of the CK Group, your leverage has undoubtedly grown... perhaps to the point where you’ve forgotten me entirely."
She closed the distance between them until only an inch remained. Her slender fingers traced the fine wool of his dark suit over his chest, as if measuring the rhythmic thrum of the heart hidden beneath the bespoke fabric.
Adisorn arched an eyebrow slightly, his deep, impenetrable gaze locked onto hers. "Or would you prefer me to be powerless in this house, My Lady?"
Mei Ling tilted her chin up defiantly. "I want you to have power... but I want that power held solely within my grasp." Her voice was a ghostly whisper, yet her fingertips pressed firmer against the spot above his heart.
"Are you beginning to grow paranoid of me?" Adisorn asked, his voice silken but carrying a chill that caused the surrounding air to drop a few degrees.
Mei Ling’s eyes narrowed into slits. "You went to see Wenjie, didn't you?"
The corner of Adisorn’s mouth quirked upward. "I did." The brevity of his confirmation made her flinch, her heart quickening its pace.
"What does he want from you?"
Adisorn lifted his head slightly before leaning down, his warm breath ghosting against her ear. "He wants me as his consultant... his, and his alone."
Mei Ling clenched her fists so hard her nails bit into her palms. She glared at him with simmering resentment. "He dares to be so bold?"
"And what about you?" Adisorn narrowed his eyes, clasping his hands behind his back. "Do you truly think I would abandon you for his camp?"
Mei Ling’s face paled as he pricked the very core of her deepest fear. "You promised to propel me to the Chairmanship."
"I remember that promise vividly," he exhaled, a faint, ghost-like smile appearing on his face. "But currently, there is another who stands just as close to that throne as you do... and his offer is no less enticing."
"Are you betraying me!" Mei Ling hissed, her voice cracking with unintended desperation.
Adisorn tilted his head slightly, his smile remaining eerily calm. "I haven't accepted anyone yet... because I still believe in you."
He straightened his posture, looking down at her as if evaluating a subordinate who had just broken a fundamental rule. "But you are losing sight of the primary objective. Kawin is the one we must eliminate with haste... yet you choose to waste your energy crushing Wenjie, simply because he is the visible thorn in your side."
Mei Ling bit her lip hard, her gaze dropping. She glared at Wenjie’s dark gift box sitting mockingly beside hers, fueled by a bitter, incandescent rage.
"To stand at the summit... one must first identify the true enemy," Adisorn whispered in her ear. "If you continue to waver like this... then what use do you have for a strategist like me?"
Adisorn drew himself up, looking at her as if she were merely the frailest fragment of a life form he had ever encountered. Mei Ling looked up, her eyes clouded with a volatile mix of confusion and desire. Though she craved to follow his command, the vendetta Wenjie had left in her soul was boiling over, blinding her to the threat of Kawin the very target Adisorn demanded she destroy.
The winter wind from the Huangpu River swept across the deck of the yacht as it cut through the dark, heavy currents of the night. Li Ming stood with his forearms resting on the railing, watching the shimmering lights of the Oriental Pearl Tower fracture across the water’s surface.
The sharp click of stilettos against the wooden deck signaled an approach. Rose, dressed in a sharp, black tailored suit, came to a halt a few paces behind him.
"Mr. Chatchawin has arrived at Pudong Airport."
"Ah... he’s here," Li Ming acknowledged with a low hum in his throat. One hand was buried in his trouser pocket, the other swirled a glass of brandy with slow, deliberate precision. "And what of Markrim... how is he faring?" He paused, letting out a dry, condescending chuckle. "Ah, no... I should call him Adisorn, shouldn't I? That is his true identity, after all."
The truth was, he had known all along who this group was... and exactly what they had come for.
Flashes of the past surged through his memory... the day Rose had stepped into his office with a classified dossier.
"Ms. Mu... accept that request," Li Ming had ordered in a flat tone. "Schedule a private meeting with this Markrim for tomorrow. Tighten the timeline... I must see him before the press conference with Wonder Package begins."
He had stood up then, walking to the massive floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the sprawling Shanghai skyline.
"Let’s see if this Markrim can truly breathe new life into CK Group... I am dying to see the look on Lu Rong’s face when she realizes I am negotiating with a new breed of capital." The Chairman had smiled, the expression laden with a predatory scheme.
Rose had placed another file on top of the first. "However... the group entering under the name ZX are the men of the Godfather Chatchawin the Thai power broker I reported to you previously. And the Markrim you are about to meet is the very man Yongchang once used the CK Group's name to defraud and seize his business."
Li Ming raised an eyebrow, taking Adisorn’s profile from the file. "Oh... so it's this man."
"And this same group is the shadow behind Kawin, the investor in the Hydrogen project," Rose added, a cold smile touching her lips.
"They are all one team. Including the two who infiltrated us as Prophetic Chefs."
Li Ming erupted into a mocking, derisive laugh. "Quite the grand conspiracy, isn't it? Fine then. Let’s see how these insects play their game. Keep a shadow on them. Every step, every breath. Do not miss a single heartbeat."