Against the Algorithm

Chapter 53: Keys to the Quiet

Yue visibly swallowed.

Yao blinked once, caught somewhere between stunned silence and a startled kind of awe.

Lan, sipping her tea without a single ripple in her posture, offered mildly, "Your father's very good at making people disappear from public consequence."

Sheng gave a small, pleasant smile.

Sicheng, sitting beside her all this time, hadn't moved—but his hand slid from the back of her chair to her shoulder, curling there with steady warmth. "This is the shield you have now," he said softly, just for her. "Not just me. All of us."

And for the first time since opening that vault...

Yao nodded. Not out of obligation. Not out of fear. But out of quiet, building trust. Because they weren't just saying she was protected. They were showing her what it meant to be claimed.

Breakfast had stretched longer than usual. Not because anyone lingered out of routine, but because no one rushed her. Not when she finally started eating. Not when she took longer to finish. Not even when she fell quiet again, this time without tension pressing at her shoulders. Her silence now wasn't fear—it was consideration. She set her bowl down gently, her fingers smoothing along the edge, and for a moment, she didn't speak.

But Sicheng knew that look. That pause she always carried right before a question—one she hadn't quite decided if she was allowed to ask. He turned slightly toward her, his palm still resting at her shoulder, and she tilted her head just enough for their eyes to meet.

"...Can we stay another day?" she asked softly, almost cautiously.

Yue's chewing halted mid-bite. Lan's tea cup paused just before her lips. Even Sheng looked up with something subtly alert beneath the stillness of his expression.

Yao didn't rush to fill the space. She took a quiet breath and continued, her voice not fragile now, just earnest. "I know we planned to head back to the base tonight," she said, "but I... I'd like to visit the house."

No one needed to ask which house.

Sicheng's fingers gently curled around her shoulder.

"The one she left to me," Yao clarified, though she didn't need to. "I haven't seen it since I was little. I don't remember anything about it. They never let me go back after—after my parents passed." Her voice tightened faintly at the edges, but she didn't waver. "I just... want to see it." A pause. "And there's a garage," she added, quieter now. "Apparently, filled with vehicles I'll probably never drive in my life because," she gave a faint, self-deprecating laugh "I hate driving. I hate the way the wheel feels. I hate navigating. I hate being in control of a machine that large."

Yue blinked. "Wait—you own a fleet and you don't drive?"

Sicheng, mouth twitching faintly at the corner, brushed his thumb along her arm. "You want to go today?"

She nodded. "I just want to... walk through it. Be there. See what she left me. Not as the heir to anything. Just..." Her voice grew smaller but steadier, "...just as her daughter."

For a moment, no one spoke.

Lan, as always, broke the silence with absolute clarity. "I'll have a private security detail set the perimeter before we arrive."

Yue groaned. "That's going to look like an action movie."

"Then walk behind me and look insignificant," she replied without missing a beat.

Sheng smiled faintly into his tea. "I'll call ahead. Have the property manager open it up. If any of the staff survived the family purge, they'll likely be glad to see her walk through the doors with a Lu on either side."