Xia Xiaoman remembers everything—the blood on the pavement, the shattered glass, the whispers of a debt too large to repay—everything except how her parents truly fell to their deaths. As an investigative journalist, she infiltrates the world of Li Moting, the ruthless heir to a financial empire, armed with nothing but a recorder and her perfect memory.  

"Three therapy sessions a week," he offers, fingers steepled, his voice colder than the rain outside the window. "In exchange for your silence."  

But what begins as a calculated game of revenge spirals into something far more dangerous. He scales a crumbling factory to save her from kidnappers, his hands bleeding, yet claims it’s merely "asset protection." She discovers ledgers in his study that implicate his family in her parents’ ruin—yet finds her childhood lullaby tucked in his desk drawer, the notes still intact after twenty years.  

On the night the truth comes crashing down, he kneels in the snow, pressing a pair of worn ballet flats into her hands. "Hate me if you must," he murmurs, "but let me remember you properly this time."  

And when she plays back the tapes—the ones she swore were evidence—all she hears is the unguarded hitch of his breath when she entered the room, the quiet, damning confession: *", Xia Xiaoman you were never part of the plan."*

#### **[On the Eve of the Press Conference]**  


**4:23 AM**. Xia Xiaoman sat in the editing room of *Finance Frontier*, the cold glow of the computer screen reflecting in her eyes.  


She had compiled all the evidence—test reports of the concrete samples from the Bay Project, the list of MN-07 experiment victims, secret recordings of Li Chenzhou with politicians, and even the final document Li Moting left her in the underground lab: **"MN-07 Termination Agreement,"** bearing the signatures of her father and Li Moting's mother.  


It was enough to bring down the Li empire.  


Lin Qiao pushed the door open, holding two cups of black coffee, dark circles under her eyes. "The live broadcast team is ready. We start at nine sharp." She hesitated. "Are you sure about this?"  


Xia Xiaoman didn't answer immediately. Her fingertips absently traced the meteorite necklace—the "key" Li Moting had pressed into her hand that snowy night, storing the most critical data.  


"He calculated everything," Xia Xiaoman said softly, "including my betrayal."


Chapter 35 - 《The Vanishing Truth: The Final Second's Choice》