Adisorn tore through the darkness, his breath coming in ragged, frantic gasps before he skidded to a dead halt. A sliver of light from a distant streetlamp sliced across the scene, illuminating only half of Kawin’s face.
“Where is Mr. Chatchawin?” Adisorn’s voice was a low, jagged rasp. His eyes swept the desolate surroundings.
Kawin stood deathly still, his gaze as hollow as a man who had watched his entire world crumble.
“He’s gone.”
Adisorn’s fist clenched so hard his knuckles turned white, the fury inside him surging toward a breaking point. “He knew… didn’t he?”
Kawin slid his hands into his pockets, staring out at the ink-black water flowing sluggishly beneath them the same water that had just swallowed Ohm and Phueak whole.
“Yes.”
Adisorn ground his teeth, a guttural sound of suppressed rage. “And he knew it was Li Ming…” His predatory gaze locked onto the glowing logo of the CK Group, looming like a titan on the opposite bank.
“That Dragon has been watching us from the start,” Kawin said, his voice a haunting calm that masked a cavern of internal pain. “And he’s accelerating his game every second. You… you can still walk away. It’s not too late.”
Adisorn remained silent for a heartbeat. Then, the corner of his mouth twitched into a cold, defiant smirk. His eyes never left the skyscraper piercing the clouds.
“I’ve come too far to turn back now.” He turned, locking eyes with Kawin. “That old bastard once said he loves to hunt by using a stronger prey as bait. Fine. From now on, I’ll be the one doing the hunting.”
Kawin’s gaze sharpened, a faint, ghost-like smile gracing his lips. “Then… I suppose neither of us can play by the old rules anymore.” He took a step closer, his voice dropping to a silken, dangerous whisper. “The little ‘distraction’ you planned for CK Group? It’s a bit… lightweight, considering the move Chairman Li Ming just made.”
Adisorn’s brow furrowed, a muscle in his jaw twitching. The realization hit him how did Kawin know?
Kawin’s signature dimples appeared, but there was no warmth in them. “Surprised? Your ‘signature’ is all over the board, Adisorn. You play a solitary hand so no one can read your cards. But in the eyes of the Dragon who tracks our every shadow… your secret play is already obsolete.”
Adisorn let out a sharp, cynical bark of a laugh. “So… you saw through me from the very beginning?”
“I’ve been tracing your logic long before we ever met,” Kawin replied, his eyes boring into Adisorn’s. He knew the history the betrayal that turned Adisorn into a demon who climbed to the top using nothing but deceit. He knew Adisorn would never simply follow Chatchawin’s orders. He knew Adisorn had his own shadow-play.
“You positioned Meiling to shine in the Hydrogen project just to push me off the throne. At the same time, you whispered in Wenjie’s ear, making him see Ming Zhi as a relic of the past. You lured him with the crown, offering yourself as his secret shadow-advisor.” Kawin’s smile turned icy. “Internal fracture. A civil war within CK Group. And you, pulling the strings from the dark.”
Adisorn exhaled a long, dry laugh of derision. “The ‘Dimpled CEO’ with the sunshine smile… turns out you’re exactly the cold-blooded strategist I suspected you were.”
Kawin looked back at the lightless water, then fixed his stare back on Adisorn. “It’s not just me. Chairman Li Ming saw it too.” He took one final step forward, his voice a lethal undertone. “What happened to Ohm and Phueak wasn't an accident. It was a brutal signal from the throne. The next game is bigger, bloodier, and the buy-in is our lives.”
Adisorn’s hands shook with a violent, repressed tremor. The realization was crushing under the Dragon’s claws, ordinary lives were nothing but dust. To kill a Dragon, he couldn't just be a player. He had to become the river itself. He had to become something far more terrifying.
Inside Chairman Li Ming’s office, the silence was absolute, broken only by the cold glow of a tablet. Rose handed it over, the light reflecting off the deep lines of power etched into the old man’s face.
“The bodies are secured at our private forensic facility,” Rose reported, her voice as flat as a dial tone.
Li Ming took the tablet, his eyes scanning the lifeless faces of Ohm and Phueak. His expression remained a void chillingly vacant.
“Chatchawin will tear the earth apart looking for them,” Li Ming murmured, a cruel, satisfied smirk playing on his lips. “Fine. Send word. Let him take his two dead dogs back home. Let him know… this is the price for playing with fire.”
“Understood.” Rose bowed and vanished into the shadows.
Li Ming walked slowly toward the floor-to-ceiling window, one hand clasped behind his back. The lights of Shanghai danced on the Huangpu River, but his eyes held only a predatory glint. The board was set. He would purge Kawin from his empire, clearing the path for his son, Wenjie, to seize CLS and the Hydrogen project in one iron grip.
His smile widened into a mask of pure, unadulterated ambition.
“You wanted to play with fire?” he whispered to the shimmering city. “Then get ready to burn until there’s nothing left but ash, you filthy mongrels.”