Chapter 293 - 289: Old-fashioned Romance Heroine 9

Chapter 293: Chapter 289: Old-fashioned Romance Heroine 9

On the day of the board meeting, a torrential downpour raged.

Ji Xiaosong stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of the top-floor conference room in Huo Mansion, watching the rain trace rivers down the glass.

She had intentionally chosen a sharp, black suit for the day, a jade bracelet peeking out from her cuff.

"Nervous?"

Huo Chen wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, his warm breath grazing her ear.

"A little,"

she admitted honestly, her fingers unconsciously tracing the surface of her tablet. "Is this evidence really going to be enough?"

Huo Chen scoffed, pulling a USB drive from the inner pocket of his suit. "With this, it’s more than enough."

The drive was engraved with "HS-Top Secret." "The complete records of Third Grand-uncle embezzling the family fund."

Suddenly, the conference room doors were pushed open, and Third Grand-uncle Huo Qiming walked in slowly, followed by his assistant.

He was dressed in an exquisite Tang suit, and the eyes behind his silver-rimmed glasses curved into crescents, making him look just like a statue of the Maitreya Buddha.

"Well now, has Huo Chen brought his wife to the meeting today?"

"I hear there’s happy news? Congratulations, congratulations!"

A chill shot up Ji Xiaosong’s spine.

’This amiable, smiling old man... his hands were stained with the blood of her adoptive father and Huo Chen’s parents.’

"Please, have a seat, Third Grand-uncle," Huo Chen said, his expression unchanging. "Today’s agenda is the personnel reshuffle for the new energy project."

Huo Qiming chuckled and sat, but his gaze swept over Ji Xiaosong’s abdomen like a viper’s.

"Adjustments are indeed necessary. Young people are so reckless. Huo Chen, I hear you’ve been digging into some old business from twenty years ago?"

The conference room fell silent.

"That’s right."

Huo Chen laid his cards on the table. "I found the call records from right before my parents’ plane crash."

Huo Qiming’s smile didn’t waver, but his fingers began to tap lightly on the rosewood armrest. "It’s been so many years. Why dredge up the past?"

"Because some people don’t want the past dredged up."

Ji Xiaosong suddenly spoke up, sliding her tablet to the center of the conference table. "Like this quality inspection report from Yang’s Building Materials, which bears Third Grand-uncle’s signature."

The pupils behind Huo Qiming’s glasses contracted slightly, but his smile returned in an instant.

"Careful now, little girl. You can eat whatever you like, but you can’t just say whatever you like."

"And this?"

Huo Chen pressed a button on the remote, and surveillance footage appeared on the projector screen:

Huo Qiming’s assistant was stuffing the dismembered doll into a courier box.

The conference room erupted in an uproar.

A muscle in Huo Qiming’s cheek twitched, but he quickly pasted on that sickening smile.

"Huo Chen, you’ve been led astray by vicious slander. Someone is using you as their pawn. How could your Third Grand-uncle do such a thing? This is merely a case of my subordinates being incompetent. It has nothing to do with me."

Huo Chen slammed his hand on the table, making the water glasses on it tremble.

"Third Grand-uncle, even at this stage, you’re still not going to admit it?"

Huo Qiming unhurriedly picked up his teacup and took a light sip.

"Admit what? You think you can convict me with this out-of-context nonsense? It’s just a broken doll, what does it prove? No way, no way... Don’t tell me you’re both that cowardly?"

He set down his teacup, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes. "Huo Chen, don’t get it twisted. The Huo Family wouldn’t be where it is today without my considerable efforts. Without me pulling strings behind the scenes, do you really think the family business would have run so smoothly?"

"Pulling strings?"

Ji Xiaosong sneered. "You mean colluding with the Yang Family to conspire for money and murder."

Huo Qiming’s expression finally darkened completely. "Hmph. Little girl, don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you’re carrying a Huo Family heir. If you can’t produce conclusive evidence today, can you bear the crime of slandering your elder?"

"Then does this count as evidence?"

Ji Xiaosong played her adoptive father’s recording. "...Huo Qiming instructed the Yang Family to tamper with the plane’s hydraulic system..."

Halfway through the recording, Huo Qiming suddenly grabbed an ashtray from the table and hurled it at the projector. The screen immediately glitched into static.

"This recording is a fake!"

he yelled. "Someone is deliberately framing me!"

At the same time, the assistant behind him discreetly reached a hand into his jacket, clearly about to make a move.

BANG!

A hidden bodyguard, with sharp eyes and quick reflexes, fired a shot that hit the assistant’s wrist. The assistant cried out in pain, and his handgun dropped to the floor.

Seeing this, Huo Qiming took advantage of the chaos to press a button on his pocket watch. The entire building’s power was suddenly cut.

"Look out!"

Huo Chen lunged toward Ji Xiaosong, shielding her with his body.

The sound of shattering glass echoed in the darkness as several men in black crashed through the windows, brandishing automatic rifles and spraying the conference table with gunfire.

RAT-A-TAT-TAT—

A dense spray of bullets slammed into the conference table, sending splinters of wood flying.

Huo Chen pulled Ji Xiaosong down, and they rolled under the table together. Suddenly, the jade bracelet let out a piercing alarm, and immediately, the emergency lights on the entire floor switched on as all entrances and exits were automatically locked.

"Did you think you were the only one with a backup plan?"

Huo Chen sneered, retrieving two handguns from a hidden compartment under the table. He passed one to Ji Xiaosong. "Know how to use this?"

Ji Xiaosong expertly loaded the chamber. "My adoptive father taught me."

’Her adoptive father had never actually taught her. How would an ordinary person ever have the chance to handle something like this?’

’But for some reason, the moment the gun was in her hand, it was as if she’d been born knowing how to use it.’

Huo Chen raised an eyebrow, a flash of admiration in his eyes.

The two of them fought their way out back-to-back, their coordination so flawless it was as if they had practiced it a thousand times.

In the hallway, Huo Qiming was being escorted by several bodyguards toward the emergency exit.

Seeing Huo Chen in pursuit, he let out a vicious grin and pressed another button.

"Let’s die together!"

BOOM—

A massive explosion ripped through the floor below, and the entire building began to shake.

Huo Qiming had actually planted explosives in advance!

Thick smoke quickly filled the air, blurring their vision.

"Madman!"

Huo Chen cursed, pulling Ji Xiaosong toward the rooftop.

The elevators were long out of service, and fire was spreading in the stairwell, a wave of heat washing over them.

By the time they finally burst onto the rooftop, Huo Qiming was already boarding a helicopter.

"So long, nephew!"

He laughed over the roar of the rotor blades. "The Huo Family is mine! You can’t beat me. I’ve been setting this up since your parents’ generation. You’re nothing but a pawn on my board!"

Huo Chen raised his handgun, but it was out of range.

Just as the helicopter was about to lift off, Ji Xiaosong suddenly snatched a sniper rifle from a bodyguard and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

BANG!

The bullet precisely struck the helicopter’s tail rotor. The fuselage instantly lost its balance and began to spin wildly in the air.

Huo Qiming shrieked in a panic, "No! This is impossible!"

The helicopter plummeted like a phoenix of fire toward the distant artificial lake, kicking up a massive spray of water before slowly sinking beneath the surface.

Ji Xiaosong’s hands were trembling slightly. Huo Chen hugged her from behind. "He got what he deserved."

Police sirens grew louder as they approached. Huo Chen’s subordinate hurried over. "Mr. Huo, everyone from the third branch has been brought under control. The tech department recovered the deleted financial records. The evidence is conclusive."

Huo Chen nodded, then turned to Ji Xiaosong. "Are you all right?"

His gaze fell on her still-flat stomach.

Ji Xiaosong suddenly frowned and clutched her stomach.

"It hurts a little..."

The color drained from Huo Chen’s face. He swept her up into his arms and charged downstairs.

A waiting medical team immediately examined her. Fortunately, it was just the shock; the baby was unharmed.

"You scared me to death."

Huo Chen knelt by the hospital bed, pressing his forehead against her hand, his voice hoarse. "If something had happened to you..."

Ji Xiaosong had never seen this side of Huo Chen. As powerful as he was, right now, he was trembling.

She gently stroked his hair. "I’m fine. We’re both fine."

One month later, a grand ancestral worship ceremony was held at the old Huo Family estate.

Huo Chen placed the proof of Third Grand-uncle’s crimes in the ancestral hall, along with portraits of his parents and her adoptive father.

"Dad, Mom, I’ve avenged you."

He held Ji Xiaosong’s hand, his voice firm. "I will protect the Huo Family, and I will take care of her."

The old madam wiped her tears as she placed a pair of Dragon and Phoenix Jade Pendants around their necks. "From now on, live well. No more fighting and killing."

Ji Xiaosong touched the Jade Pendant, suddenly remembering something. "That jade bracelet..."

"It was always meant for you."

Huo Chen whispered in her ear, "From the moment I first saw you, I knew you would be Mrs. Huo."

"Love at first sight?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you act so cold?"

Huo Chen chuckled. "The men of the Huo Family don’t show their true feelings easily."

He rested his hand on her stomach. "But now, I have a reason to be soft."

As the sun set, their shadows overlapped on the floor of the ancestral hall.

"Our wedding is approaching. My Mrs. Huo, are you ready?"