Fake dating my enemy, The playboy billionaire-Chapter 67: Mystery deepens

"Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent, sir. I’m only informing you now after confirming it from all ends," Lei Chen, my chief of security replies in a grim voice.

Damn it. This is bad. The driver who transported the boxes containing the dismantled parts of my car is dead. Not just dead—murdered. But that’s not even the worst part. It turns out he had been bribed.

Lei Chen, who has always been thorough about keeping tabs on everyone I work with, no matter how minor, found the whole situation suspicious. The driver had resigned the very next day after completing the job. It didn’t add up. A routine background check just to rule out foul play turned up something even stranger: the man had been splurging an enormous amount of money at a casino, the kind of money someone in his position shouldn’t have.

Alarm bells had gone off, prompting a quiet investigation by him. They kept it discreet, digging deeper, trying to determine who paid him off and what the driver’s intentions were. But before we could get anywhere meaningful, the news dropped this morning. The driver was found murdered in his home.

The pieces of this puzzle aren’t just missing; they’ve been shattered into fragments, and the whole situation reeks of something more sinister.

But now, a more disturbing thought hits me: my car isn’t a secret anymore. Whoever bribed the driver must have seen the contents of those boxes. Every bolt, every piece of my carefully constructed project has been exposed. No wonder the wheels tumbled out so unexpectedly when I opened the crate.

I remember packing everything with meticulous precision, securing each part to ensure it wouldn’t budge an inch. There’s no way the wheels would have come loose on their own. Someone tampered with the boxes.

"What about my phone?" The uneasy feeling in my gut is growing, and now I’m certain that my phone wasn’t stolen just for the solid gold casing. They must be after something else. But what? I don’t keep any sensitive information on it—no official or personal details—and the device is safeguarded with the custom security software Meimei developed herself. To anyone else, it should just be a useless piece of metal.

My chief of security shakes his head. "We haven’t turned up much yet. The phone was pickpocketed from your jacket. We confirmed it through the security footage." He hands me a photo of a child, barely older than a teenager, slipping the phone out of my coat.

"And the kid? What did he say?"

"He admitted he was paid. Said he was given a lot of food and 10,000 yuan to do the job."

"Any description of who hired him?"

"Just that the man was very tall, muscular, and covered in tattoos. The guy wore a mask and sunglasses when he met the kid," he continues, frustration evident in his voice.

A masked, tattooed man. Great. That could be anyone. I don’t like the pieces of this puzzle falling into place—because if someone is pulling these strings, they’re playing a dangerous game. And now, they’ve dragged me into it.

I clench my fists. "Keep digging. If they went to these lengths, there has to be more to this. And find out if anyone with that description has been seen around our properties or the company." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Yes, sir."

"Increase the security around the house and kids. Make sure no unauthorised person comes near."

"Got it."

"And Chen," I call out, stopping him just as his hand touches the door handle. "Whatever they’re after, they haven’t found it yet. Keep your eyes open—they’ll come again."

Chen nods stiffly, but I’m not in the mood for blind assurances. "And fire the useless people on your team before I do it myself," I add, my voice cutting. The fact that the driver was murdered while his team was supposedly investigating this whole ordeal is a glaring blunder, a catastrophic misstep I won’t tolerate. Chen has been with me long enough to understand that my family isn’t ordinary. There’s no room for mistakes in this game; we slip up, and we pay with our lives.

"Yes, boss," he responds, his voice steadier now, but I see the shame simmering beneath his professional mask. "It won’t happen again."

He better mean it. I recruited him straight from the military, paying him an obscene salary to make sure he stayed sharp, always ahead of any threat. One mistake could mean disaster.

One thing is clear: these people have been watching me for a long time, probably since I was in America. Otherwise, how would they have known about the precise timing of my car being shipped to Imperial City?

My mind races, connecting dots. If they’re after the car designs, that narrows down my list of suspects to a handful of powerful and greedy competitors. But if it’s something else... something bigger or more dangerous, I have to be prepared. I need to stay two steps ahead, anticipate their next move.

The only silver lining in this entire mess is that while they might have gotten a glimpse of my project, they don’t have the crucial technical details.

I exhale, a grim sense of relief washing over me. Sure, they might have pictures or notes, but the heart of my design remains protected, and without that knowledge, they can’t recreate what I’ve built. Still, the fact that they’ve come this close means I can’t afford to let my guard down.

******

My phone vibrates on my desk. It’s Zian.

"Busy?"

"Depends. What are you going to ask or demand?" I put the phone on speaker while returning to work on my laptop.

"Have you talked to Kai? The guy’s a walking zombie these days. I’m seriously worried he’s going to collapse and end up as a patient soon."

"Ah, shit. I completely forgot to tell him about the new space for the restaurant my team found. I’ll call him. Thanks for the reminder."

"Also..." Zian’s voice lowers, sounding conspiratorial, "do you know what Mei has planned for the Pumpkin race? I’m not feeling good about it."

I chuckle, knowing exactly why he’s nervous. Last year, Mei had invited his betrothed, and Zian chickened out at the last minute when I accidentally leaked the information to him. I won’t forget the scolding I got from everyone. But seriously, I don’t understand why he behaves like a headless chicken in her presence. She’s a sweetheart!

"You deserved it, asshole."

"C’mon, Jun. Just give me a hint," he pleads.

"No idea, but I’m praying she calls Vivian this time too," I tease.

"Fuck you."

"Not today, sweetheart. I have a headache," I laugh to myself.

"That was inappropriate!"

"Who started it?"

"Just you wait," he threatens. "I’m going to whoop your ass this race."

I blow him a loud, exaggerated kiss. "Waiting for you, sweetheart! Bring it on."

Zian groans, and I laugh, ending the call with a smirk on my face. This year’s Pumpkin race is going to be a battlefield, and I can’t wait.

More like I can’t wait because Yiren will be team Jun, aka team Banana!