Unexpected Second Chance at Love

The news reached Ji Chu Hua later that evening.

She was seated behind her desk, reviewing several documents, when her phone suddenly vibrated.

She glanced at the screen before answering.

”What is it?”

The voice on the other end was cautious.

”Miss Ji, there’s been some trouble involving Hung Woo.”

Ji Chu Hua’s hand paused over the document.

”Hung Woo?”

”Yes.”

She leaned back in her chair.

”What happened?”

”We’re still gathering information.”

Her eyes narrowed.

”You called me without knowing what happened?”

”I apologize, Miss Ji. The information is still coming in.”

Ji Chu Hua remained silent for a moment.

”Then tell me what you know.”

The man hesitated.

”Red Militant’s headquarters was attacked sometime during the night.”

Her expression changed slightly.

”Attacked?”

”Yes. We’ve tried contacting the people inside, but no one is answering. And walking into Retro isn’t something we can simply do. Access is tightly controlled, and without the right connections, there’s no way for us to get inside.”

Ji Chu Hua’s fingers slowly tightened around the phone.

”Not even through our usual channels?”

”No.”

Silence followed.

Her expression darkened as she leaned back in her chair, her thoughts moving quickly.

Something had happened inside Retro.

She could feel it.

Too many people had suddenly gone silent, and the timing was far too convenient to be ignored.

”Then find another way in,” she said coldly.

”We’re trying, but—”

”I don’t care how difficult it is.”

Her voice remained calm, but the impatience beneath it was unmistakable.

”What about the bastard kid?”

”Alive.”

”Alive?”

Another pause.

”We’ve received word that he was saved.”

Ji Chu Hua slowly exhaled.

”Find out everything. What happened to Red Militant and who saved that free loader? Use all our resources to locate Hung Woo!”

”Yes, Miss Ji.”

The call ended.

She lowered her phone onto the desk.

For several moments, she sat in silence.

Red Militant had been attacked. Did anyone survive?

Why is Hung Woo missing?

And no one seemed to know exactly what had happened.

Yet the strange part was that the news had already begun circulating far beyond Imperial.

While everyone slept, Red Militant was attacked, and Hung Woo was nowhere to be found.

But none of them contained enough detail to explain why it had actually occurred.

Ji Chu Hua didn’t know who had attacked Red Militant.

She didn’t know why.

And she certainly didn’t know what had happened to Hung Woo.

Her gaze shifted toward the window.

There was one thing she did know.

Hung Woo had been involved with Ji Jingxu’s kidnapping.

And now the boy had been rescued.

Not long afterward, Hung Woo had disappeared.

Ji Chu Hua’s expression tightened.

She considered the possibility for only a moment before dismissing it.

There were too many unknowns.

For now, all she could do was wait.

But somewhere beyond the walls of her office, the underworld was already talking.

People were exchanging stories.

Organizations were trying to determine what had happened.

Ji Chu Hua, however, hadn’t heard enough to understand the connection.

Not yet.

And that ignorance was exactly what kept Yue Ling’s secret safe.

Ji Chu Hua sat alone in her office, the curtains drawn tightly shut despite the morning light outside.

The room was silent.

Too silent.

Her phone rested on the desk in front of her.

Yet somehow, that silence made her more nervous than any message could have.

Her thoughts kept returning to the same person.

Ji Jingxu.

She had never expected the situation to become this complicated.

When the kidnapping had been arranged, she had believed everything would remain under control. Jingxu would disappear for a while, Yue Ling would be distracted, and the pressure surrounding the Ji family would become easier to manage.

But things had gone wrong.

Ji Jingxu had been found.

He was alive.

And worse...

He had been taken to the hospital.

Ji Chu Hua’s fingers slowly curled against the edge of the desk.

When she heard that Ji Jingxu had been rescued, for a brief moment, relief had washed over her.

Not because she cared whether he survived.

Because a dead Ji Jingxu would have created far more problems.

Now, however, another thought frightened her.

What if the person who rescued the boy knows that she was responsible?

Her breathing became slightly uneven.

”No,” she whispered.

She immediately shook her head.

There was no reason to panic.

Hung Woo had handled everything before disappearing.

At least, that was what she had believed.

Until now.

Her phone suddenly vibrated.

Ji Chu Hua flinched and quickly picked it up.

It was from one of her informants.

The moment she read the message, the color drained from her face.

’Red Militant is no more.’

Her fingers tightened around the phone.

A second message appeared.

’No survivors.’

Ji Chu Hua slowly lowered the phone.

For a moment, the room felt unnaturally silent.

Her thoughts immediately returned to Jingxu.

If this was connected to his kidnapping...

Someone had started cleaning up the loose ends.

The uncertainty was beginning to frighten her.

She stood abruptly and walked toward the window.

Pulling the curtain aside, she stared down at the street below.

Everything looked normal.

People were walking.

Cars passed through the intersection.

The city continued with its ordinary morning routine.

Yet Ji Chu Hua couldn’t shake the feeling that something had changed.

Someone was moving behind the scenes.

Someone powerful enough to make an entire organization disappear overnight.

Her thoughts returned to the deal she made with Hung Woo.

Kidnap Ji Jingxu. Use the boy to threaten Yue Ling, then make them both disappear.

She swallowed hard.

If whoever had destroyed Red Militant knew about the kidnapping...

Then they might eventually come looking for the person responsible.

And if they did—

Ji Chu Hua’s face paled.

She stepped away from the window.

For the first time, she realized how exposed she truly was.

She had trusted Hung Woo to keep his mouth shut.

She had paid him a massive amount to remain loyal.

She had trusted that no one would ever know who had arranged Ji Jingxu’s disappearance.

But trust was useless now.

Hung Woo was gone.

Red Militant was without a doubt gone.

And Ji Jingxu was alive.

Ji Chu Hua slowly returned to her desk and sat down.

Her hands trembled slightly as she clasped them together.

She needed to know what had happened.

She needed to know whether Hung Woo had spoken.

Most importantly...

She needed to know whether anyone had discovered her involvement.

A soft knock suddenly sounded against the door.

Ji Chu Hua froze. Her eyes immediately snapped toward it.

For a moment, she couldn’t breathe.

Then the door opened.

An assistant stepped inside.

”Miss Ji?”

Ji Chu Hua stared at him.

”What?”

The assistant hesitated at her expression.

”I... I came to ask if you still wanted the documents for tomorrow morning’s meeting.”

Ji Chu Hua said nothing. Her heart slowly settled, and she looked away.

”Leave them on the desk.”

”Yes.”

The assistant placed the documents down and left.

The door closed.

Ji Chu Hua remained motionless.

Only then did she release the breath she had been holding.

She looked at her phone again and reread the message.

And for the first time, Ji Chu Hua was beginning to wonder whether the secret she had worked so hard to protect was already slipping out of her hands.

Ji Chu Hua remained alone in her office long after the call had ended.

The room was quiet, but her thoughts were anything but.

Her fingers slowly traced the edge of her phone as she replayed everything in her mind.

Then a thought surfaced.

Lu Tian.

Her eyes narrowed.

It had to be him.

Who else could have the resources to erase Red Militant so completely?

Who else would have a reason?

Her gaze drifted toward the window.

Han Yue Ling.

Everything seemed to lead back to her.

Ji Jingxu had been kidnapped.

Yue Ling had gone looking for him.

Lu Tian had followed.

Then, shortly afterward, Hung Woo disappeared, and Red Militant was reduced to ruins.

Ji Chu Hua’s lips slowly curved upward.

The pieces fit.

At least, they did in her mind.

”He did it for her...”

The words left her almost reverently.

There was something unsettling in the way she said them.

Not fear.

Fascination.

Ji Chu Hua had heard countless stories about Lu Tian.

She had always known he was powerful.

But power alone had never interested her this much.

It was the possibility of devotion.

The idea that a man like Lu Tian—someone who appeared indifferent to almost everyone—could become ruthless for one particular woman.

Her smile widened.

She wanted that.

Not merely his position.

Not merely his name.

Him.

She wanted his attention to become something exclusive.

Something that belonged to her.

The thought made her pulse quicken.

She imagined what it would be like if Lu Tian looked at her the way he looked at Yue Ling.

If he stood behind her.

If his voice softened only for her.

If the same man who could make an entire organization disappear decided that she was worth protecting.

Ji Chu Hua closed her eyes for a moment.

The fantasy was intoxicating, stirring a restless heat beneath her skin. She shifted in her seat, subtly pressing her thighs together as the thought of Lu Tian consumed her mind.

When she opened them again, the uncertainty she had felt earlier was gone.

Yue Ling had been given a choice.

Step away from Ji Corps.

Or end her relationship with Lu Tian.

Ji Chu Hua had expected resistance.

What she hadn’t expected was how much the refusal would make her want him.

It wasn’t enough anymore to take Yue Ling’s place.

She wanted to be the person Lu Tian chose.

And somehow, in her mind, she had already decided that he would.

Her fingers tightened around the phone.

”Why should she have you?”

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

There was no one in the room to answer.

Ji Chu Hua looked down at her reflection in the dark screen.

”She doesn’t even understand what she has.”

Her smile disappeared.

Something colder replaced it.

”She doesn’t deserve to stand beside you.”

For several seconds, she stared at her own reflection.

Then she laughed softly.

Not because anything was funny.

Because the thought had already become fixed in her mind.

If Yue Ling refused to step aside, Ji Chu Hua would make her understand.

She didn’t know how yet.

But she would find a way.

After all, she had already crossed one line when Ji Jingxu was taken.

Crossing another no longer seemed quite as frightening.

Her phone remained clenched in her hand.

Ji Chu Hua lowered her gaze and whispered his name again.

”Lu Tian.”

This time, it sounded less like admiration.

It sounded like possession.

And somewhere beneath that obsession was a dangerous certainty:

If Yue Ling refused to give up Lu Tian and Ji Corps willingly...

She would attack the one person who would hurt her most.

Her grandfather.