Chapter 12
The three men looked at Gu Xi with the kind of expression reserved for a child throwing a tantrum—patient, condescending, and dismissive.
Gu Xi's nails dug painfully into her palms.
She couldn't give up now.
Not again. Not after she'd been given a second chance. She took a deep breath, forcing the chaos in her mind to settle. Calm down. Think. There has to be something I missed.
She refused to leave.
Gu Changan was helpless. He couldn't just drag her out—not in front of everyone.
"Mr. Gu," Zhang Yue said with a placating smile, "let's just send the young lady out first. Everyone outside is still waiting. We're just one step away from finishing."
"Yes," added Yu Dalong, another of Gu Changan's longtime aides. "Miss Gu looks pale. It's not safe for her to stay here any longer."
"Xixi," Gu Changan tried again, gentler this time, "come out with Dad. Please."
But Gu Xi shook off his hand and began slowly pacing the room, her brows knitted in frustration.
Something doesn't add up. There must be a clue…
She walked with deliberate steps, knocking gently on the walls as she made her way back upstairs. The structure creaked, but remained still.
If the person wasn't inside the house, where could they be? She remembered what had been said in her past life—that someone had died during the demolition. But if the house was truly empty, where had that person come from?
The surrounding buildings had already been torn down. If a death had occurred in someone else's home, there would've been a public outcry, lawsuits, media attention. But that never happened. The scandal had been linked to this building.
Which meant…
She returned downstairs, silently observing.
Gu Changan stood off to the side, growing visibly irritated with her stubbornness. Yu Dalong was still smiling, as if indulging a spoiled child. But it was Zhang Yue who caught her attention.
His smile was forced. Tight. When she stared at him directly, he shifted his eyes away.
You're hiding something, Gu Xi thought. Aren't you?
Zhang Yue's voice broke the silence. "Miss Gu, we've been in here too long. It's really time to leave."
She didn't respond.
She just watched him, unblinking.
Zhang Yue's composure cracked. He shifted from foot to foot, avoiding her gaze.
Did I hit a nerve?
Gu Xi's heart beat faster. She pretended to glance away nonchalantly, but her mind was racing.
Even if I can't find solid proof now, I have to stall. Cry, scream, faint—whatever it takes to keep that excavator from starting again.
"Xixi, that's enough!" Gu Changan's voice was sharper this time. "You've dragged this out long enough!"
No. Not yet. Something was wrong.
Then—movement.
Zhang Yue stepped forward. Just slightly. But it was enough.
Gu Xi saw it from the corner of her eye. She had been pacing the room again when she reached the base of the staircase. That's when he moved—as if to block her.
There!
She froze.
A second passed.
Then, slowly, she turned her head and looked.
There was a corner behind the stairs—a shadowed area she hadn't inspected. Something about it felt…off.
She stepped forward.
Zhang Yue's voice rang out, alarmed, "Miss Gu, don't—"
Too late.
Gu Xi darted toward the corner and yanked aside a thin sheet of plywood that had been leaning against the wall. Behind it—
A door.
Small, nearly invisible in the dim light.
Her breath caught in her throat.
A low sound came from the other side. A cough. A groan.
Someone's in there.
Her heart seized.
She looked back, eyes blazing. "There's someone inside!"