Chen Hao's final defeat came not with a bang, but with a quiet click of handcuffs.
It happened on a rainy Thursday, six days before the immersion program was set to end.
Wanyin was in a late meeting when her phone vibrated with a news alert.
Tech entrepreneur Chen Hao arrested on charges of corporate espionage, extortion, and fraud. Sources say evidence provided by anonymous whistleblower led to raid on his offices.
She stared at the screen.
Ye Beichen appeared in the doorway of the conference room, phone in hand.
He didn't smile.
"It's over."
She excused herself from the meeting.
They went to his office. Closed the door.
He showed her the details.
The whistleblower wasn't anonymous to them.
It was Li Xin.
After Wanyin paid for her mother's treatment, Li Xin had gone to the authorities with everything—encrypted emails, payment records, instructions from Chen Hao.
She had recorded new conversations when he tried to recruit her again.
She had turned state's evidence.
Chen Hao's empire crumbled in hours.
Offices raided.
Assets frozen.
Partners pulling out.
The press release from the prosecutor's office was brutal.
Mr. Chen is accused of orchestrating a campaign of extortion against senior executives at Hengxin Corporation, including attempts to blackmail CEO Ye Beichen and Director Gu Wanyin with fabricated and private materials.
By evening, his name was trending for all the wrong reasons.
Former employees came forward.
Old victims of his "business practices."
The startup founders he'd stolen from.
The women he'd used and discarded.
The narrative flipped.
Wanyin wasn't the bitter ex.
She was the survivor who had risen above.
He was the predator who had finally been caged.
That night, in the apartment, they watched the news in silence.
His company stock plummeted.
His board resigned.
His name dragged through every finance site, every social platform.
Ye Beichen poured wine.
She took the glass but didn't drink.
"It feels… anticlimactic."
He nodded.
"No dramatic confrontation. No final showdown."
"Just paperwork and handcuffs."
She set the glass down.
"I thought I'd feel more."
He pulled her into his arms.
"You will. Later. When it sinks in that he can't touch you anymore."
She leaned into him.
"I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. For him to have one last card."
He kissed her temple.
"He played them all. And lost."
She looked up at him.
"Because of Li Xin."
He nodded.
"She chose you."
Wanyin was quiet.
"I gave her mercy. And she gave me justice."
He smiled.
"That's what mercy does when it's real."
She rested her head on his chest.
"I thought winning would feel like revenge."
"It feels like peace."
She closed her eyes.
Fourteen days left in the program.
But the war was over.
Chen Hao was gone.
The board had accepted them.
Madam Ye had given her conditional blessing.
And in the quiet of the apartment, with his arms around her, she finally let herself believe it.
She was safe.
Not because she was untouchable.
But because she was loved.
And love, it turned out, was the strongest armor of all.