Chapter 1035: Desperate Confrontation

Early morning at Wuzhou Airport was bustling with people; sunlight streamed through the huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows, casting mottled light and shadow on the polished floor.

Bai Qian Shuang stood in the corner of the check-in hall, her fingertips gripping the luggage handle tightly, her knuckles whitening.

She wore oversized black sunglasses.

Her baseball cap was pulled low.

The lower half of her face was completely covered by a mask, revealing only a pair of eyes hidden behind the lenses, bloodshot and scanning the surroundings warily.

The process of accepting reality was more agonizing than she had imagined.

Last night in the villa, when Wang Qigang laid out all the pros and cons, she still clung to a sliver of hope, feeling that things might yet turn around.

But when the sky outside began to lighten with dawn and no further messages came to her phone that could change the situation, she finally had to admit that escape was the only way out.

The suitcase contained only a few changes of clothes and a stack of cash.

And a neatly folded photocopy of the ledger—her last bargaining chip, and also the heavy burden she bore.

"Please show your passport and boarding pass."

The security officer's voice was gentle, yet like a needle it pierced Bai Qian Shuang's feigned calm.

She took a deep breath, slowly raised her hand, and passed over the documents she had prepared in advance.

The trembling of her fingertips could not be fully concealed; she felt faint gazes all around, each like a spotlight, making her ill at ease.

The officer carefully checked the information on her documents.

The image that popped up on the computer screen made his brow furrow ever so slightly.

Just as Bai Qian Shuang's heart rose to her throat, two plainclothes men with tall, straight postures suddenly walked over from the adjacent passage, their eyes sharp as hawks.

"Ms. Bai Qian Shuang, please come with us." One of them flashed his ID, his voice low and firm: "We're from the Provincial Department Public Security Bureau."

The pupils behind her sunglasses contracted sharply; Bai Qian Shuang instinctively tried to step back, but the other man firmly blocked her path.

Around them, passengers glanced over, whispers rising and falling.

She could feel her cheeks heating up.

Not from shame.

But from utter panic.

She opened her mouth to speak, but found her throat blocked, unable to make a sound.

The suitcase hit the floor with a "bang."

The clothes inside spilled out.

Just like her hopes, now shattered.

She offered no resistance, no struggle, merely standing there dazedly as cold handcuffs locked around her wrists.

As she was led out of the security checkpoint,

she glanced back toward the boarding gate, her eyes filled with despair—the place that was both nearest to and farthest from freedom.

At the same time, Wang Qigang sat in his office, his fingertip hovering over the phone screen, not yet pressing down.

He had not slept all night.

Dark circles ringed his eyes, and the ashtray on his desk was piled with cigarette butts.

After Bai Qian Shuang left the villa last night, he had been uneasy, feeling that something bad was about to happen.

Suddenly, the phone rang shrilly, the screen displaying an unfamiliar number.

Wang Qigang's heart sank sharply.

He almost tremblingly pressed the answer key.

"Who is this?"

"Bai Qian Shuang has been arrested at the airport."

From the other end came a low, despondent voice, as if none of this should have happened today.

"What?"

Wang Qigang also couldn't control his emotions.

He sprang up from his chair, his voice tightening: "Say that again."

"The Provincial Public Security Department has had people ambushed at the airport from the start; Bai Qian Shuang has never been free of the Provincial Department's surveillance." The speaker hung up without further ado.

The phone slipped from Wang Qigang's hand and landed on the desk with a "slap."

He felt as if all his strength had been drained; his legs went weak and he collapsed into his office chair. His pupils were unfocused, his face ashen, devoid of color—like a soulless statue.

Bai Qian Shuang has been caught!

This meant the game was over; everything he had once overseen in Wuzhou would be exposed! His career, his life, would thus end in an incomplete period.

The office fell into dead silence.

Only the wall clock ticked "tick-tock," each beat sounding like a hammer on Wang Qigang's heart.

He sat dazed for Along time.

Only when the sunlight outside began to slant westward did he slowly raise his hand and, trembling, switch off the phone.

He rose to his feet, his steps unsteady to the extreme, walking out of the office like a zombie, climbing the fire stairs step by step toward the rooftop terrace.

The wind on the rooftop was strong, making his shirt flap loudly.

Standing at the edge of the rooftop, below him rose a forest of high-rises and a ceaseless flow of traffic. Naturally afraid of heights, just a glance down sent a wave of vertigo through him, his heart racing.

Wang Qigang closed his eyes, countless images flashing through his mind

Such as Deng Chun Ning's past patronage of him, his own arduous climb to high office, and Bai Qian Shuang's innocent smile at eighteen, later turning greedy and arrogant after twenty.

Born because of a woman, dying because of a woman!

Now.

This tumultuous life of his is about to dissolve into nothing.

Rather than being investigated and disgraced, it's better to just end it here and settle everything once and for all.

Thinking about this…

Wang Qigang took a deep breath, about to leap down.

A freezing, piercing voice suddenly came from behind: "Only trash would just jump to end it!" The voice was like a Siberian wind, instantly freezing Wang Qigang's jumping motion.

Those two words, "trash," stabbed into Wang Qigang's heart like a dagger.

Wang Qigang abruptly turned around and saw Lin Dongfan standing at the rooftop entrance, upright, with no expression on his face, his eyes cold as ice.

Today, Lin Dongfan actually showed up here alone, without a single attendant.

Wang Qigang stared fixedly at Lin Dongfan.

Indignation and despair had intertwined in his chest; finally he could only force out a feigned sneer: "You didn't bring a single attendant, ran over here, just to watch my joke?"

Lin Dongfan walked slowly to the center of the rooftop, his gaze calmly meeting Wang Qigang's.

His tone remained as indifferent as ever: "Don't overestimate yourself; I'm not interested in your joke."

"Then why are you here?" Wang Qigang's voice carried a barely perceptible tremor; he truly couldn't fathom Lin Dongfan's purpose in appearing now.

Lin Dongfan halted his steps, locking eyes with Wang Qigang: "Before you leave this world, you need to lay out the issues clearly, show some manly responsibility."

"Heh~"

Wang Qigang seemed to have heard some huge joke.

But his laughter was filled with sorrow and mockery: "I have nothing to explain; your usual tricks don't work on me."

"Really?"

Lin Dongfan curled the corner of his mouth into a cold arc, slowly uttering a name: "Back then, Deng Chunning fully supported your rise to power; are you sure there's nothing to answer for?"

The laughter cut off abruptly; Wang Qigang's smile froze instantly, a flicker of panic flashed in his eyes, then was replaced by sternness.

He stared fixedly at Lin Dongfan.

He said word by word: "Lin Dongfan, your biggest flaw is that you think anyone who offends you must have a problem! Is the whole world muddy, except you alone pure?"

The wind on the rooftop grew tighter; their shadows stretched long in the setting sun, the atmosphere tense as drawn swords, a contest over past secrets just beginning.