Standing Next To You

William gave them a brief goodbye, saying he would make sure Rex was brought back to the stable by his sister and that he'd meet them again for dinner.

Once the siblings were gone, Bei Sangyun glanced at Fei Chuan, testing the waters.

"You and Melanie… seem close."

Bei Sangyun was perceptive—especially when it came to anything related to Fei Chuan.

Melanie's parting words had carried a hint of double meaning. Something must have happened between them recently. From William's tense posture, Fei Chuan's distant demeanor, and Melanie's awkwardness, Bei Sangyun could easily piece things together.

Fei Chuan stiffened slightly. He had no romantic feelings for Melanie, but she had once confessed to him. For a moment, he was flustered. Should he tell Bei Sangyun? He wanted to be honest—but what if it caused a fight?

Besides, it seemed like Melanie had already moved on.

He was torn. Should he keep it to himself or explain?

Fei Chuan turned to her with resolve."I'm not that close with her. But since she's the younger sister of my close friend, I treat her as a familiar acquaintance."

Bei Sangyun nodded, not pressing further. Her unease about Melanie stemmed more from her knowledge of the previous life—in which Melanie and Fei Chuan had once been engaged. But now, Fei Chuan was hers. And she wasn't about to give Melanie a chance.

Fei Chuan studied her face. Her silence made him even more anxious. Did she sense the awkwardness earlier?

Suddenly, he reached out and took her hand.

"She liked me in the past," he said, his voice a little rushed. "But I never saw her that way, so I turned her down. It seems like she's moved on now, so…"

He trailed off, triyng to be careful not to hurt Bei Sangyun's feelings

Bei Sangyun chuckled at his flustered tone. She hugged his arm and smiled."Yeah, I kind of figured. Don't worry—now that I have you, I won't let anyone snatch you away."

Fei Chuan internally sighed in relief. He gently pinched her chin, his eyes soft with affection."I'm sincerely yours. Only yours."

Arm in arm, the two of them entered the annex building together.

Inside, Bei Sangyun didn't expect Fei Chuan to lead her underground. She had thought he would bring her somewhere grand—maybe a hidden luxury lounge or private gallery—but instead, she found herself standing in front of a massive wine cellar.

Fei Chuan began poking around the cellar shelves until he pressed something. A portion of the wall shifted, revealing a hidden door.

This new door looked heavily secured—it required both his fingerprint and an eye scan to unlock.

What lay beyond left Bei Sangyun stunned.

The room was enormous. Half of it was filled with rows of large, humming CPUs, while the other half housed several computer stations. In one corner stood a compact office with a single computer that looked far more advanced than the others.

Three people were inside. When they saw Fei Chuan and Bei Sangyun, they stood up, greeted them respectfully, and left the room without a word.

Bei Sangyun turned to Fei Chuan, wide-eyed.This place… it felt too confidential. Was it the James family's security hub? A vault of secrets?

Fei Chuan met her gaze and gently squeezed her hand."Don't worry. This isn't part of the James family's property. This is mine."

Bei Sangyun was taken aback. But then, realization hit her.

The James family had allowed Fei Chuan to build something underground here, and from the looks of it, they protected it as well. This had to be tied to his work with them.

And she was right.

Fei Chuan guided her further inside and began explaining his "other job."

When he first came to this country, he entered several programming competitions. But beyond the surface, he dove deep into the black market, refining his hacking skills. He'd already been part of that world as a kid—but here, he immersed himself even further.

One day, back in high school, while browsing the black market for hacking jobs, he stumbled across an old task: breach the James family's security system and hack into their CCTV network. The bounty was astronomically high.

Many hackers had attempted it—and failed. Some said not even a dozen of the best could break in. The task had been up for many years, and every year, the reward grew.

Young and curious, Fei Chuan had been intrigued. How tough could a firewall really be?

So he tried.

He spent an entire day digging through their layers of protection… and finally, he broke in.

But his teenage self was too naive. Just as he was silently celebrating, the James family's own hacker was alerted. They attempted to trace him.

Fortunately, Fei Chuan managed to counter, erase his trail, and vanish before they could catch him. He hadn't taken or sold any data—it had just been a thrilling challenge for a brilliant, curious teenager.

However, Fei Chuan hadn't expected that William—who had been in charge of the James family's security back then—would be so persistent. No data had been leaked, but William was determined to meet the mysterious intruder who had managed to crack a code that their top hackers had spent years building.

He even doubled the bounty on the original task, declaring that if the real hacker came forward, they would receive twice the amount.

Many tried to claim the prize. But none of them were the one William was looking for.

Then, William devised a trap: a baited challenge in the form of a hacking competition. Participants had to breach multiple layers of security, each harder than the last. Technically, it was possible to break through all of them—but to do it within a one-hour time limit was considered impossible.

The competition ran for two years without a single winner. Each month that passed without a victor, the prize money increased. By then, the reward had quadrupled, turning the challenge into something of a legend among hackers.

Finally, one day, Fei Chuan—frustrated and bullied in Tian Shen High by Bei Sangyun's 'lackey's'-needing an outlet, he decided to join the competition just to vent.

He cleared all levels in forty minutes.

The alias he used was "Zero."

And that was the birth of the legendary Zero.

.....