Transmigration; Married to My Ex-Fiancé's Uncle-Chapter 188; Executive meeting 5

"Now, I want to be very clear about something," she continued, her voice shifting from pleasant to businesslike. "I don’t particularly want to use this information. Destroying Lu Group doesn’t benefit me in any way. Sending you all to prison would be satisfying for perhaps thirty seconds before I realized I’d eliminated useful connections. Creating massive scandals that would hurt thousands of innocent employees, people who have nothing to do with your various crimes, doesn’t serve my interests."

Her jade eyes swept the room methodically, meeting each gaze in turn, holding eye contact just long enough to make each person deeply uncomfortable.

"But I will use it if I’m forced to," she said, her tone hardening like steel beneath silk. "If you try to remove me from my position, if you try to undermine my authority, if you try to make my presence here untenable through subtle sabotage or overt opposition, I will burn everything down and walk away from the ashes without a second thought. I will hand everything I know to every relevant authority, media outlet, and competitor. I will watch Lu Group implode from a safe distance, and then I will start over somewhere else with a completely clean slate and no connections to the wreckage."

She smiled then, the expression beautiful and serene and absolutely terrifying in its cold calculation.

"Or," she said, her tone shifting to something more reasonable, almost accommodating, "you can accept my presence. Work with me instead of against me. Treat me as a legitimate member of the executive team with all the respect and access that position entails. And in return, all your secrets stay buried where they belong. All your crimes remain hidden from public scrutiny. All your carefully constructed facades of respectability remain intact. Your positions remain secure. Your wealth remains untouched. Your reputations remain unblemished."

She sat back down with fluid grace, crossing her legs elegantly, her posture suggesting someone completely at ease despite having just threatened everyone in the room.

"It’s really quite simple when you think about it," she said. "Accept me, or I destroy you. Your choice. I’m perfectly content with either outcome, though obviously one requires significantly less effort on my part."

The boardroom remained frozen in shocked silence, the kind of silence that felt physical, pressing down on everyone like atmospheric pressure before a storm.

Lu Cheng was the first to move, leaning back in his chair with an expression that defied easy interpretation. It might have been anger. It might have been grudging respect. It might have been both, warring for dominance on his weathered features.

"That’s quite a threat, Miss Lin," he said quietly, his voice carrying the weight of decades of business experience.

"It’s not a threat, Chief Lu, don’t forget, at one time we were supposed to be a family, i’m giving a way out here" Shuyin corrected with perfect politeness. "It’s a promise. And unlike threats, which are often empty bluster designed to intimidate, I always keep my promises. Every single one. Without exception."

Director Chen found his voice first, though it emerged strangled and thin. "You’re... you’re blackmailing the entire board? All of us simultaneously?"

"Blackmail is such an ugly word you are trying to pin on me, Director Chen," Shuyin replied, her tone suggesting she found his choice of vocabulary distasteful. "I prefer to think of it as establishing mutually beneficial working relationships based on complete transparency about our respective vulnerabilities. We all know where everyone stands. We all understand what’s at stake. Isn’t that really just good business?"

She tilted her head, her expression becoming almost friendly, approachable even.

"Besides, Director Chen, you’re hardly in a position to take the moral high ground. The Cayman accounts you’ve been using to hide embezzled funds? Those alone would get you fifteen to twenty years in prison, possibly more if prosecutors decided to make an example of you. So perhaps we should focus less on what to call this arrangement and more on how to make it work smoothly for everyone involved. Semantics are rather pointless when we’re all facing potential prison time, don’t you think?"

Director Chen looked like he might be sick. His hand moved unconsciously to his throat, loosening his tie as if it had suddenly become too tight and it was choking him.

Director Liu spoke up, her voice tight with barely controlled rage that barely masked her terror. "You can’t possibly have evidence on everyone here. You’re bluffing. You have to be bluffing. This is all theater designed to intimidate us into compliance."

Shuyin’s smile widened, becoming predatory. "Am I bluffing? Let’s test that theory, shall we? I do enjoy proving myself, and I won’t lose anything or have any problems.."

She turned her full attention to Director Liu, and as she focused, something shifted in her perception. Her awareness sharpened, letting her sense the shape of hidden guilt, the texture of buried secrets, the specific frequency of fear that each person broadcast like a radio signal only she could hear.

"Director Liu," Shuyin said pleasantly, as if beginning a conversation about vacation plans, "how long have you been selling employee data to headhunting firms? Two years? Three? I believe it started shortly after your divorce, when you suddenly needed extra income to maintain your lifestyle. You’d become accustomed to a certain standard of living, and the prospect of downsizing was simply unacceptable. So you found a creative solution."

She leaned forward slightly, her voice remaining friendly but her eyes sharp and commanding.

"You justified it as harmless, after all, people were getting job offers, weren’t they? What’s the harm in helping talented employees find better opportunities while earning a little commission? But it’s a massive violation of privacy laws and company policy. And those payments you’ve been receiving? They’re documented. Traceable. Each transaction leaves a digital trail that financial forensics could follow back to you. Criminal prosecution would be almost certain."

Director Liu’s face had gone from white to gray, a sickly color that suggested she might actually faint.