“What could there be...? How am I supposed to know?” Pakpoom muttered under his breath, averting his gaze toward the cocktail glass in his hand.
Kawin narrowed his eyes slightly before leaning back against the plush velvet seat.
“Right. As if you wouldn't know…” Kawin said softly.
Pakpoom nodded rapidly. “Look, we should focus on those wolves out there instead. You’re assigning me this kind of suicide mission... am I even going to make it back to Thailand alive?” he grumbled.
“You... will be perfectly fine,” Kawin offered, his eyes studying Pakpoom intently as a faint smirk touched the corner of his lips. “A devious, ruthless, calculating survivor like you? You’re not going down that easily.”
Pakpoom shot him a sideways glance, internally processing the remark. Is this bastard complimenting me or insulting me?
“And what about that guy, Adisorn...?” Pakpoom warned, his tone laced with genuine concern. “Word in the industry is that he’s utterly untrustworthy a two-faced backstabler who turns on people for sport. How much trust can you actually place in someone like that?”
Kawin remained silent for a beat.
“I don’t know... but I believe his lethality might just clear the path for us to move forward more easily.”
Pakpoom grimaced, contorting his face in disgust. “Pfft! Look at you, always the eternal optimist. Listen to me a venomous snake can never be trusted. Never lower your guard around him.”
“You mean... someone like you?” Kawin countered smoothly, his tone deadpan.
Pakpoom bared his teeth with a glare. “I’m going to take that as a compliment... Though honestly, whenever I meet someone of my own breed, I instinctively find them repulsive.”
Kawin let out a low, amused chuckle.
“Anyway... I’m entrusting them to you—both the startups and the Minister.”
Pakpoom slowly rotated the cocktail glass in his hand, darting a quick glance at the man beside him. “Earlier, you mentioned that everyone on the team plays the game in their own way, but we all reach the exact same destination... Does that imply I have absolute autonomy to execute my play however I see fit?” He raised an eyebrow.
Kawin shrugged, offering a faint grin. “Mm... Whatever makes you comfortable. I’ll simply read your moves and keep up with your tempo.”
A broad, satisfied smirk spread across Pakpoom’s face. “Heh... Now that’s the kind of operational freedom I thrive on...” He straightened up, exhaling a long sigh of relief before casting a sideways glance at Kawin. “Be honest with me... In your core group before, did you guys always run operations using these insane, unhinged tactics?”
Kawin smiled gently, his eyes drifting beyond the glass panel to the Shanghai night skyline... locking onto the towering skyscraper of the CK Group that stood ominously in the distance.
“Yes. And the moves we make from here on will draw out the absolute strength of each individual among us... until those people finally realize what they’re truly up against.”
..................
Adisorn stood watching the sprawling city lights, staring at his own reflection cast upon the panoramic window. Mi Ling stepped forward with silent, deliberate grace, coming to a halt directly in front of him.
At this moment, she was the phoenix standing above the dragon sovereign over everything, including him.
“Is your mind fully made up...?” Adisorn turned to meet her gaze.
A subtle smile touched Mi Ling’s lips. “Yes... My decision is final.” She responded without a second of hesitation.
“Even knowing it’s a trap engineered specifically to lure you into the abyss, you are still willing to walk into it?” he pressed, probing deeper.
Mi Ling met his eyes steadily, as if attempting to decipher the unspoken message he was signaling. “Why...? Are you feeling insecure because you see I have someone like Chairman Li Ming backing me now?”
Hearing that, Adisorn let out a soft, mocking chuckle.
“Ah... So the time has come for you to abandon ship. You’re that confident you can crush that dragon underfoot to reach the top?”
Mi Ling closed the distance between them, fixing her eyes on his striking features. She raised a slender hand, resting her palm gently against the broad plane of his chest.
“And you were equally confident... that I would remain trapped under your thumb forever,” she murmured, looking up at the man who had once set her heart racing.
“I was fascinated by you... so fascinated that I couldn't resist the urge to claim you entirely as my own.” Her eyes traversed the flawless lines of his face, utterly captivated by his presence. “...But our paths have now diverged into parallel lines.”
Her tone shifted, saturated with boundless ambition.
“I used to depend on you... and it made me look utterly worthless in your eyes.” She laid bare the truth she had carried all along, fully aware of how he had always perceived her.
“That’s why I fought to stand on my own two feet. Until today, when the ultimate leverage finally landed in my hands even if it’s a dangerous one.” She looked straight into his eyes, shifting closer against his chest, drinking in the scent she had craved for so long. “But if we were to love each other... there’s nothing wrong with that, is there? Professional ambitions and private desires are entirely separate matters.”
Adisorn let out a quiet laugh, his gaze piercing through her.
“I’m sorry... but I need to be entirely direct with you.”
He reached up, wrapping his fingers around her wrist, and deliberately pulled her hand away from his chest.
“I have never loved you.” He delivered the words without a shred of mercy.
Mi Ling froze, her lips trembling slightly.
“You’re angry... because I chose to stand on my own, so you’re saying this to sever ties,” Mi Ling said, struggling to keep her voice from shaking.
“No... I have never loved you. Truly and utterly,” Adisorn replied, devoid of any hesitation.
Mi Ling let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. “Then everything in the past... getting close to me, treating me well... what was all of that?”
“I was simply extracting leverage from you,” Adisorn answered with cold, unvarnished honesty. “And now that... you are no longer of any strategic value to me, there is zero necessity for me to maintain this facade.”
Mi Ling’s face twitched. Her eyes narrowed as her breathing hitched, a sharp, suffocating pain tightening around her chest. The man she had envisioned building a future with... had been nothing more than a delusion she spun entirely alone.
“If leverage is all you crave so desperately...” Mi Ling rasped, her voice trembling with a volatile mix of fury and longing, “...then why now, when I am on the verge of being appointed Director of the Hydrogen Project, aren't you clinging to me the way you wanted?”
“Because you are leaping directly into a bonfire,” Adisorn replied evenly, meeting her gaze with absolute serenity.
“Are you insulting me...? Claiming I lack the competence to pull it off?”
“Do you honestly believe... that Chairman Li Ming will back you indefinitely?” he countered, delivering a question that struck directly at her rawest nerve.
Mi Ling stared at him in dead silence for a long moment. “Even if it is merely an illusion... I will grasp it with my own hands. Even if it brings only fleeting satisfaction... I will stand at the absolute peak!” She emphasized every single syllable.
Adisorn stood listening impassively, a subtle smirk lingering at the corner of his mouth.
“If you believe you can execute it, then see it through to the end. When that day arrives, I will be the very first to offer my congratulations...” He narrowed his eyes slightly. “...Assuming that day actually comes.”
He turned and walked past her. Before he could step out of the room, her voice erupted, shaking with suppressed anguish.
“An illegitimate child like me...” Mi Ling cried out, her voice breaking as tears streamed down her smooth cheeks, “...never had a place in this society to begin with!”
Tears spilled over carrying the deep, agonizing trauma buried in her soul. Both from the past, when she was merely a disgraced bastard looked down upon by everyone, and today, when she fought to stand on her own feet hoping deep down that the man before her would stand by her side, celebrate her triumph, and offer his support.
Instead, he chose to step away, spreading his wings to fly far beyond her reach... without casting a single backward glance.