Against the Algorithm

Chapter 66: She Signed in Silence, and the World Shifted

The lawyer paused mid-motion, adjusted his glasses, and gave a single nod. "And the justification?"

Kaya didn't blink. "Their behavior today." She reached into the inner pocket of her blazer, pulled out a small, neatly folded set of documents, and handed them to him. "Updated NDAs," she said. "Distribute them now. I want signatures on every one before they leave this floor."

The man's eyes flicked over the first line and nodded his head "These are airtight."

"They'd better be," Kaya said coolly. "Because if any of them leak so much as a whisper of her name," she tilted her head slightly toward Yao, who now stood quietly behind Lu Sicheng, half-shadowed by his tall frame "they won't be dealing with Tencent's legal department."

The lawyer titled his head calmly at the woman as he was used to dealing with Sicheng and he was more of a temperamental ass in school than he was now. "Then... who will they be dealing with?"

Kaya's lips curved into something far more dangerous than a smile. "They'll be dealing with me," she said softly. "And not as Chen Kaya." The room stilled again. No one dared ask what that meant. But the flash of something sharp and feral in her eyes made it clear. They didn't want to find out. "Go," she ordered.

The lawyer bowed his head and immediately turned, heading for the auxiliary conference suite where the remaining signatures would be secured under lock and legal threat.

Kaya turned back toward Yao, smoothing her coat as if she hadn't just threatened to raze the upper echelons of one of the world's most powerful corporations. "You'll never have to clean up after them," she said quietly, but firmly. "Not once."

And Sicheng, still standing like a stone wall behind his Intended, merely exhaled a low, approving sound.

The executive wing was quiet now. The echoes of confrontation and formality had faded into silence, replaced only by the soft hum of the elevator descending from one of the upper floors. Yao stood near the glass wall, tablet still clutched to her chest, the weight of everything that had just unfolded still lingering in her posture—shoulders a little tense, head slightly bowed, but chin lifted, determined to remain standing tall even in the storm's quiet wake.

Sicheng was beside her, hand resting at the curve of her spine like a silent promise—You're not alone. Not now. Not ever. Sheng stood just to her other side, calmly sipping from a thermos one of the aides had tried to offer with trembling hands, gaze cool and sharp beneath the calm exterior.

The elevator's floor count ticked closer.

But before it could reach them—before the doors could slide open—the man who had remained seated at the far end of the boardroom, the one who had done nothing while others insulted her, stepped quietly into the hallway.

He cleared his throat once. "Miss Tong." he said softly, almost too soft, as if the name still carried weight.

She stiffened slightly. Sicheng's hand shifted immediately, sliding from her back to her waist, pulling her half a step closer without a word.

The man continued, cautious now. "Your mother and father... they were dear friends of mine. I never intended—"

"You don't get to speak to her." Sheng cut in, his voice calm, but no less lethal for its quiet.

The man blinked, surprised. "Lu Sheng, I only meant—"

"You only meant to sit there and watch while she was dismissed and diminished," Sheng continued, eyes cold and still. "You let their memory be spat on while you folded your hands like a bystander. You lost your right to speak her name when you choose silence over loyalty."