Against the Algorithm

Chapter 51: When the World Went Quiet

And below that, a sealed folder with her name handwritten on the front.

She opened it.

Inside was a single sheet.

A notarized document—signed by a name she didn't recognize at first, until she saw the note beneath in her mother's handwriting: "Your father's closest friend. I trusted him then. I trust him still."

The instructions were clear:

Upon presentation of identity and estate confirmation, full controlling interest of holdings—domestic and international—are to be transferred to Miss Tong Yao, legal heir of Xu Roulan and Tong Liyan.

The final line made her vision blur: "When she is ready, it is hers."

Her hand shook. The folder trembled in her grip. She stared at the page, but the words wouldn't settle.

Sicheng, sensing the change in her posture, stepped closer. "Yao—"

She said nothing. Just held up the paper with numb fingers and whispered, "I own Riot Games." The silence that followed was thick. No one moved. "I own Riot," she repeated, breathless. "It's under Tencent. It's all... mine. All of it."

Lan's eyes sharpened like glass.

"Wait—what?" Sheng blinked, stunned for the first time in hours.

"I just have to bring proof to my father's friend," Yao said, the words catching in her throat. "And it's mine. All of it."

Yue's jaw dropped. "You mean to tell me my sister-in-law—"

"Owns the game you idiots play for a living?" Lan finished for him, her tone a mix of awe and something bordering on smug approval.

Sicheng, still beside her, stared down at the page. His expression didn't move—but his eyes said it all.

Shock.

Understanding.

And pride that burned like fire.

For a moment, the room was frozen—suspended in stunned silence as the weight of what Yao had just discovered settled over everyone like a thunderclap.

Tong Yao, soft-spoken, Shy introverted, logic-driven, reserved to a fault, who had once rationed instant noodles while balancing research hours and game reviews—was now, without question, the silent, unseen majority owner of Riot Games and, through that, the umbrella of Tencent.

It didn't just change her life.

It changed everything.

And then—

Yue, bless his soul, blinked twice and broke the silence with a wide-eyed grin. "Oh my God, the guys are going to lose their shit. Can you imagine Pang's face when—"

"Don't you dare!"

Yao's voice cut through the air like a crack of lightning—sharp, loud, and laced with something none of them had ever heard from her before: pure, unfiltered command.

They all jumped.

Even Lan blinked.

Even Sicheng raised an eyebrow.

Yao had whirled around, eyes wide, expression flaring with disbelief and panic as she pointed directly at Yue, her finger trembling slightly—not from fear, but from sheer adrenaline. "Not. A. Word." she snapped, the words hitting like thrown daggers.