Chapter 292 - 288: Old-fashioned Romance Novel Heroine 8

Chapter 292: Chapter 288: Old-fashioned Romance Novel Heroine 8

Morning sunlight streamed through the sheer curtains into the walk-in closet, where Ji Xiaosong was picking out an outfit for the day.

Having been pregnant for a full three months, her waist had begun to show noticeable changes. The professional attire that once fit her perfectly now felt a bit tight.

As she reached for a loose-fitting knit dress, she accidentally knocked off the decorative cap on the end of the clothing rod.

The metal cap popped off, revealing a hidden compartment.

"What is this..."

Ji Xiaosong hesitantly reached out and took a stack of yellowed blueprints from the compartment.

The paper had grown brittle, with obvious creases and wear along the edges.

She carefully unrolled them, and her pupils contracted abruptly.

These were the blueprints for the East City commercial district project her adoptive father had been in charge of!

In the bottom-right corner was her adoptive father’s familiar signature, but next to the construction materials section, there was an extra line of small text she had never seen before:

"Yang’s Building Materials, compressive strength coefficient substandard, must be replaced immediately."

The handwriting was neat and elegant, clearly her adoptive father’s.

What shocked her even more was a line of bloody writing on the back of the blueprint:

"If something happens to me, it must be the Yang..."

The last word was smeared with blood, but the implication was clear enough.

"What are you looking at?"

Huo Chen’s voice suddenly came from behind her. Ji Xiaosong’s hand trembled, and the blueprints nearly slipped from her grasp.

She turned and held up the blueprints. "Did you put this here?"

An almost imperceptible shift crossed Huo Chen’s eyes. He took the blueprints, his long, slender fingers gently brushing over the bloody writing:

"I found it last night while organizing evidence of the Yang Family’s crimes."

He pointed to the signature. "This is your adoptive father’s handwriting. He discovered the Yang Family’s dirty dealings back then."

Ji Xiaosong’s fingers trembled slightly. "So, my adoptive father’s accident..."

"It wasn’t an accident." Huo Chen’s voice was low and firm. "The Yang Family orchestrated the scaffolding collapse to cover up the issue with their building materials."

Ji Xiaosong’s legs gave way, and Huo Chen caught her just in time.

She clutched the blueprint tightly, her nails digging into her palm.

After ten years, she finally knew the truth.

"I will make the Yang Family pay."

Huo Chen pulled her into his arms, his voice laced with a rare viciousness. "Every single person involved."

Ji Xiaosong leaned against his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat as tears slid silently down her face.

Her adoptive father’s kind smile seemed to flash before her eyes. The man who had always lifted her onto his shoulders to watch fireworks... had been murdered.

"Madam, a package has arrived for you."

The butler’s voice from outside the door shattered the heavy moment.

Huo Chen frowned. "I didn’t arrange for any deliveries."

"It’s an express delivery. The sender is blank," the butler added.

The two exchanged a look. Huo Chen hid the blueprints again before taking Ji Xiaosong’s hand and leading her downstairs.

The package sat on a console table in the entryway. It was about the size of a shoebox, with ordinary wrapping.

"Don’t touch it."

Huo Chen stopped the maid who was about to open the package and put on a pair of gloves himself.

The moment he tore open the box, a cruelly dismembered cloth doll rolled out. A note was stuffed inside the doll’s stomach:

"Your child is next."

A porcelain cup fell from Huo Chen’s hand, shattering on the floor.

His face instantly darkened as he pulled Ji Xiaosong behind him. "Pull up the security footage! Get the head of security in here!"

Half an hour later, the head of security reported, "The sender was wearing a mask and a hat and avoided all facial recognition cameras. But judging by the build, it wasn’t Yang Yang."

"She’s still in detention."

Huo Chen stared at the security footage, his voice icy. "Look into my third grand-uncle’s people."

Ji Xiaosong sat on the sofa, her hands unconsciously shielding her abdomen.

The doll’s torn-open stomach had been stuffed with red paint, looking just like fresh blood...

"Don’t be afraid."

Huo Chen knelt in front of her, his large, warm hand covering hers. "No one can harm you or our child."

He turned his head and ordered the bodyguards, "From today on, the Madam must be accompanied by two teams whenever she goes out. Install additional infrared alarms around the estate."

That afternoon, Huo Chen insisted on taking Ji Xiaosong to the international roadshow for their blockchain project.

"What you need most right now is a distraction."

He fastened her seatbelt for her. "Besides, you’re the one who spearheaded this project. You should be there to see it take off."

At the roadshow, when an investor from Country F raised a technical question, Ji Xiaosong directly explained the smart contract’s fault tolerance mechanism in the fluent language of Country F.

Her logical, clear, and data-rich answer earned a round of applause from the entire room.

"Magnificent!" the representative from Country F exclaimed. "Mr. Huo, your wife is an absolute genius!"

A slight smile touched Huo Chen’s lips. "I’ve always thought so."

He gazed at Ji Xiaosong, his pride plain to see.

But as he brushed past his assistant, Ji Xiaosong distinctly heard him give a low-voiced order: "Investigate my third grand-uncle’s recent financial transactions, especially any overseas transfers."

After the banquet, Huo Chen drank a fair amount, which was rare for him.

Back at the Huo Mansion, he went to the study to handle some documents while Ji Xiaosong washed up and went to bed early.

When she woke up in the middle of the night, she found the space beside her empty.

A sliver of light shone from under the study door, and she could faintly hear Huo Chen’s voice.

Ji Xiaosong tiptoed closer and peeked through the slightly ajar door. She saw Huo Chen standing in front of a bookshelf, facing portraits of his deceased parents.

"Dad, I’ve found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with."

His voice was very soft, with a rare gentleness. "She’s a lot like Mom—smart and stubborn..."

Ji Xiaosong’s heart trembled. Just as she was about to leave, she bumped into the butler, who was carrying a glass of warm milk.

"Madam?"

The butler lowered his voice. "The young master speaks with the old master and madam every night."

The old man’s eyes shone with a kind light. "You’re the first person he’s been willing to let into his heart."

*

At the prenatal check-up the next day, the doctor frowned while looking at the ultrasound image. "The fetus has a slight arrhythmia. I recommend we immediately schedule genetic testing and..."

"Contact a cardiac specialist."

Huo Chen already had his phone out. "Arrange for a private jet. We’ll fly to Country M tomorrow."

"That’s not necessary." Ji Xiaosong suddenly placed a hand on his. "The standard treatment plan is fine. Fetal arrhythmia is very common. Over-intervention could do more harm than good."

Huo Chen narrowed his eyes. "This is the heir to the Huo Family. We can’t afford any mistakes."

"This is my child, too." Ji Xiaosong looked him straight in the eye. "I have the right to decide on the treatment."

The atmosphere in the examination room suddenly grew tense. The doctor cleared his throat awkwardly. "Actually... either plan is viable. Given the madam’s unique constitution, a long-distance flight could indeed..."

In the end, Huo Chen compromised but demanded the hospital add extra monitoring equipment.

On the drive back, they were both silent.

As night fell, an alarm suddenly blared from the security room. Someone had climbed over the western wall of the Huo Mansion!

The bodyguards moved out swiftly but only managed to catch a stray cat.

However, when they reviewed the surveillance footage, they discovered that a man in a flat cap had been loitering outside the wall around dusk. His build was strikingly similar to the third grand-uncle’s personal assistant.

"Just as I thought." Huo Chen sneered. "Find out who he’s been in contact with recently."

That night, Ji Xiaosong received an encrypted email.

The sender was anonymous, and the attachments included a recording and several scanned documents.

When she played the recording, her adoptive father’s familiar voice instantly brought tears to her eyes:

"Xiaosong, if you’re hearing this recording, it means something has happened to me. The data falsification at Yang’s Building Materials isn’t an isolated incident. The third branch of the Huo Family is involved..."

The recording lasted for twenty minutes, in which her adoptive father detailed the chain of evidence he had discovered.

It turned out that the plane crash that killed Huo Chen’s parents twenty years ago was also connected to the third grand-uncle.

After reviewing all the materials, Huo Chen’s expression was terrifyingly grim.

He took the jade bracelet from Ji Xiaosong’s wrist and, with a slight twist of a special tool, removed a microchip from inside it.

"This isn’t just a keepsake."

He placed the modified bracelet back on her wrist. "Now it has tracking and an alarm function."

Unrolling the architectural drawings, he pointed to the floor plan of the conference room. "At the board meeting tomorrow, I need you to..."

Moonlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting their silhouettes on the wall like a pair of warriors ready for battle.

All the pieces of the puzzle had finally come together, but the real showdown was just beginning.