The emergency board meeting was scheduled for 10:00 AM.
Guàn Jǐngchén had spent the entire night holding Lin Yuè as if the younger man might disappear if he loosened his grip even slightly. They had made love twice more — once slow and emotional against the windows with the city lights as witness, and once in the early hours of the morning, desperate and raw, as if both of them sensed the end of their fragile peace was near.
At 9:15 AM they stood in the private elevator heading to the 45th floor boardroom. Guàn Jǐngchén's hand was wrapped tightly around Lin Yuè's, thumb stroking the back of his hand in a constant, grounding rhythm.
"You don't have to come in if you don't want to," Guàn Jǐngchén said quietly. "I can handle them alone."
Lin Yuè shook his head, offering a small, soft smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I want to be with you. Whatever happens."
The boardroom was already full when they entered. Twelve board members sat around the long table, faces grim. Li Wei stood near the head, the lead auditor beside him with a thick folder of documents.
Guàn Jǐngchén pulled out a chair for Lin Yuè right beside his own and sat down, one arm immediately draping protectively over the back of Lin Yuè's seat.
"Let's make this quick," Guàn Jǐngchén said, voice cold and authoritative. "You wanted this meeting. Speak."
The chairman cleared his throat. "The audit has uncovered concerning patterns. Offshore transfers six years ago match known Eclipse payment signatures. IP logs show connections to the same anonymous accounts used in the original breach. We now have reason to believe that Eclipse may have infiltrated the company under a false identity."
Li Wei stepped forward, placing a document on the table.
"We ran a targeted financial cross-reference. One individual shows multiple small, untraceable transfers during the same period as the original Eclipse activity. The timing, amounts, and routing patterns are identical."
He slid the document toward Guàn Jǐngchén.
Lin Yuè's name was at the top.
The room went deathly silent.
Guàn Jǐngchén's hand froze on the back of Lin Yuè's chair. His eyes scanned the page once, twice, then slowly lifted to Lin Yuè's face.
Lin Yuè sat perfectly still, the soft, innocent expression he had worn for months still fixed on his face. But his hands were trembling in his lap.
"Explain," Guàn Jǐngchén said quietly. His voice was dangerously calm.
Lin Yuè swallowed hard. The mask he had worn for so long finally cracked.
He looked up, golden-brown eyes no longer wide and shy, but sharp, tired, and full of guilt.
"I never meant for it to go this far," he whispered.
The entire room seemed to hold its breath.
Guàn Jǐngchén's hand slowly withdrew from the back of the chair. His expression didn't change, but Lin Yuè saw the exact moment the hunter returned — the cold calculation, the dawning realization, the betrayal slicing through the love that had been there only seconds ago.
"Say it," Guàn Jǐngchén said, voice low and deadly. "Say the words."
Lin Yuè's voice was barely audible, but it carried through the silent room.
"I am Eclipse."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Guàn Jǐngchén stared at him, dark eyes widening for a fraction of a second before hardening into something cold and shattered.
"You…"
He stood abruptly, chair scraping loudly against the floor.
The board members exchanged shocked glances. Li Wei looked almost triumphant.
Guàn Jǐngchén's hands clenched into fists at his sides. His voice, when it came, was low and trembling with barely contained rage and pain.
"Get out."
Lin Yuè stood on shaky legs. His eyes were glistening with unshed tears, but he kept his voice steady.
"I never meant to hurt you," he said softly. "I came here for a job… and I stayed because I fell in love with you. Every 'I love you' was real."
Guàn Jǐngchén's jaw clenched so tightly it looked painful. His eyes were dark with betrayal, hurt, and something far more dangerous — the hunter who had finally caught his ghost.
"Get. Out."
Lin Yuè nodded once, tears finally slipping down his cheeks. He turned and walked toward the door, shoulders trembling but back straight.
As he reached the threshold, Guàn Jǐngchén's voice stopped him.
"Lin Yuè."
He turned.
Guàn Jǐngchén's eyes burned with a storm of emotions — love, rage, pain, obsession.
"We are not finished," he said, voice low and lethal. "Not by a long shot."
Lin Yuè gave a small, broken smile.
"I know."
He walked out of the boardroom, leaving the shattered remains of their perfect illusion behind.
The hunter had finally caught the ghost.
And the real war — the one between love and betrayal — had only just begun.
End of Chapter 42