The kiss changed everything. It was a line crossed, a contract rewritten in the language of fire and need. For a long moment, the world outside the penthouse—the crashing stocks, the screaming headlines—ceased to exist. There was only the taste of each other, the solid reality of their embrace, the shocking rightness of it.
When they finally parted, Jia's cheeks were flushed, her lips slightly swollen. Leo's eyes, usually so guarded, burned with an open intensity that stole her breath.
"That…" Jia began, her voice unsteady.
"Was long overdue," Leo finished for her, his thumb tracing the line of her jaw. The Billionaire was gone, replaced simply by a man looking at the woman he loved.
But the world, relentless, rushed back in. On the main screen, David Wei was now live, attempting damage control from his corporate office. His face was a mask of fury barely held in check.
"These allegations are baseless!" he spat at the reporters. "This is a smear campaign orchestrated by a criminal, a fraud who infiltrated the Chen family! My company is under attack by shadowy forces!"
As he spoke, a new window popped up on Leo's screen—a secure, encrypted message from Finch: *"Ling is spooked. He's at the private airfield. He's trying to flee the country. Orders?"*
Leo's gaze sharpened, the lover replaced by the strategist. "The rat is abandoning the sinking ship. This is our chance."
"What are you going to do?" Jia asked, her hand finding his, their fingers lacing together. The gesture felt natural, necessary.
"We're not going to do anything," Leo said, a cunning smile playing on his lips. "*He* is." He nodded towards the screen where David was still ranting. "We're going to make Ling an offer he can't refuse. The chance to save himself by turning on his master."
With a few swift commands, Leo isolated a private number for Mr. Ling. The phone rang once, twice, before a frantic, breathless voice answered. "Hello? Who is this?"
"This is your only way out, Ling," Leo said, his voice cold and authoritative. "David is throwing you to the wolves. He's on television right now, pinning everything on you. The transfer of funds, the embezzlement. He's painting you as the lone mastermind."
On another screen, a live feed from the airfield showed Ling frozen next to a private jet, listening, his face ashen.
"It's not true!" Ling whimpered. "He promised me protection!"
"David Wei's promises are worthless," Leo stated. "But mine are not. I have a jet standing by at a different hangar. It will take you to a country with no extradition treaty. A new identity. A comfortable life. In exchange, you give me everything. Every email, every recorded conversation, every financial trail that leads directly to David Wei and his father."
The temptation was palpable, even through the phone. Ling was a cornered animal.
"How do I know I can trust you?" Ling whispered.
"You don't," Leo said simply. "But you know you can't trust David. Your choice. Board your jet and take your chances with international arrest warrants. Or walk to Hangar 7B and live. You have sixty seconds."
The suspense was agonizing. Jia watched the airfield feed, her heart pounding. Ling looked from his phone to the open door of his jet, then towards the distant Hangar 7B. Greed and fear warred on his face.
With a sudden, decisive movement, he turned and started running—not towards his jet, but across the tarmac.
"He took the bait," Leo said, a note of triumph in his voice.
Minutes later, a new feed showed a trembling Mr. Ling, seated in a luxurious cabin, handing a stack of documents and a hard drive to a stern-looking man—one of Finch's agents.
On the main screen, David Wei was still arrogantly denying everything. "I have nothing to hide! Let this so-called 'evidence' be examined! It will prove my innocence!"
Leo picked up the remote. "It's time for the final faceslap." He looked at Jia. "Would you like to do the honors?"
Jia understood. This wasn't just his revenge; it was theirs. She took the remote, her hand steady now. She pressed a button, activating a direct feed to the press conference.
David's face filled the screen. "—this charade is over!"
"Is it, David?" Jia's voice, clear and cold, echoed through his press conference room, piped through the speakers.
David froze, his eyes wide with shock. The reporters spun around, searching for the source.
"While you've been lying to these good people," Jia continued, "your partner, Mr. Ling, has decided to tell the truth. All of it."
On the screen behind David, his own smug image was replaced by a cascade of documents: emails between him and Ling planning the embezzlement, bank transfers, recorded phone calls of David instructing Ling to frame Leo.
The room erupted. David stared at the screen in horror, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. It was a public execution.
Jia ended the feed. Silence descended upon the penthouse. It was over.
Leo looked at her, his expression filled with a awe that mirrored her own. Together, they had won.
The romance was now a partnership forged in fire. The suspense had culminated in a devastating checkmate. The divorce was an unthinkable relic. In the ashes of the old world, they stood together, king and queen of a new one.