Against the Algorithm

Chapter 58: Measured Steps

Yao didn't say anything at first. She sat there beside him on the couch, her fingers curled gently in the blanket on her lap, her eyes fixed on a point just past the television. Her thoughts were moving faster than her body. But when she finally stood, there was no hesitation in it.

Sicheng watched her as she walked down the short hallway, disappearing into the bedroom. He didn't follow, didn't call after her. He knew better than to crowd her when her mind had settled on something—especially when it involved anything related to the weight she now carried.

A few minutes passed.

Then she returned.

Cradled carefully in her arms was the travel safe, the one she kept high on the shelf in her closet, tucked behind folded clothes and the quiet hope that she wouldn't need it again too soon. She came straight to him. No stammering. No blush. Just Yao, soft but steady. She set the safe gently down on the coffee table and looked at him, her hazel eyes wide, clear, and full of quiet resolve. "I want you to take everything in here," she said, her voice low but sure, "and put it into the second safe in your office."

Sicheng's eyes held hers.

He said nothing.

Just listened.

She glanced at the safe, then back up at him, a faint flush creeping into her cheeks—not from shyness, but from the weight of what she was trusting him with. "And when we get to the hotel in Beijing," she continued, "the Suite near Tsinghua... after the defense..." She swallowed gently, her voice softening at the edges. "I want to talk with your father. Your mother. And Kaya-jie, even though she will be on the phone. All together. If we can."

Sicheng reached forward without hesitation and rested his hand lightly over hers where it lay against the edge of the safe. His voice came low. Steady. "You want me with you?"

She nodded instantly. "Yes."

His thumb brushed against her knuckles. "Then that's exactly what we'll do."

And with that, she slowly let go of the safe, placing it fully into his care.

Because she had made her decision and because when it came to moving forward? She didn't need to be alone anymore.

He studied her for a long moment. Then nodded again. His voice, when it came, was low and even. "I'll make sure it's locked down before I sleep."

"Okay." Yao nodded, her expression softening again. And when he leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead, she closed her eyes and breathed, slow, quiet, and steady because this wasn't just her burden anymore. It was theirs.

The safe was heavier than it looked. Not in weight but in what it represented.

Sicheng carried it down the stairs with steady hands, the quiet sound of his bare feet against the floorboards the only noise in the otherwise still base. The others were scattered in their usual late-evening haunts, some in the lounge, some half-asleep in their rooms but they all knew something was shifting. Even if they hadn't been told the full story, they felt it. He reached his office at the far end of the hall. The lock clicked open under his fingerprint and the soft mechanical hum of the safe door rolled into the silence. Inside, his second personal safe sat quietly in the lower compartment, tucked behind the panel where only he had access. He placed the travel safe on the desk first, opened it, and one by one began transferring the contents—folders, documents, flash drives, and the old leather-bound journal Yao had once hesitated to show anyone.

He didn't ask questions. He didn't need to. When he closed the safe, sealed the door, and reactivated the biometric lock, it wasn't just a measure of security. It was a promise. When he exited the office, the noise level in the main area had picked up slightly. Yue was sprawled upside down on the lounge couch, half-listening to Pang complain about the state of their group snack bin. Lao Mao and Lao K were seated at the table, reviewing something that had nothing to do with training, and Ming sat quietly at the corner, sipping tea like the world couldn't touch him.