The Heiress's Game

At 3:07 a.m., Gu Yunjin's phone vibrated on the bedside table.

She has always been a light sleeper, and the first vibration woke her up.

The name displayed on the screen made her frown slightly—Xu Bingjun, Gu Zhenxing's secretary.

Calling at this time can't be good news.

She pressed the answer button, but before she could even speak, Xu Bingjun's voice came through the receiver.

The middle-aged man who had followed Gu Zhenxing for over twenty years and witnessed countless ups and downs spoke with a broken and trembling voice.

"Miss, something has happened to the Gu family. Young Master Mingcheng, Young Madam Ruotang, and the young master..."

Gu Yunjin's fingers tightened around her phone. Her voice was calm, so calm that even she was surprised.

"Uncle Xu, please tell me slowly."

Xu Bingjun took a deep breath, as if he were giving himself a final mental pep talk.

Then he spoke in an extremely difficult tone, word by word.

Gu Mingcheng and Shen Ruotang, a married couple, were on a road trip in Europe with their son when they were involved in a serious car accident on a winding mountain road in the Alps.

The vehicle lost control, crashed through the guardrail, and plunged into a valley tens of meters deep.

When local rescuers arrived, the three people were already dead.

Gu Yunjin listened without moving.

But Gu Mingcheng's face kept appearing in her mind, that forever aloof older brother, and then he died.

Gu Mingcheng died, in this way.

He traveled along a mountain road in a foreign land, with his wife and young son.

"I see."

"Uncle Xu, does my dad know?"

"I understand," Xu Bingjun said, his voice filled with sorrow.

"Mr. Gu has locked himself in his study and won't let anyone in. The house is a complete mess now. Miss, do you think you're—"

"I'll go back right away."

She hung up the phone and looked down at the hand that was holding it.

She suddenly felt a bit ironic; she thought she would feel a sense of satisfaction at Gu Mingcheng's death, or at least be indifferent.

But at this moment, outside the window was endless darkness, and what rose in her heart was not pleasure, but a more complex emotion that she did not have time to deal with.

The eldest brother who had always treated her like she was invisible, the heir who sat at the other end of the long table at family banquets and never looked at her directly—that was it, he was gone.

Bai Junze woke up the moment she answered the phone, and simply lay quietly beside her without making a sound to disturb her.

He sat up and reached out to tuck the blanket that had slipped off her shoulder.

He looked at her, reached out, and gently pressed his hand on the one holding the phone.

Gu Yunjin put her phone back on the bedside table and turned her head away.

"Gu Mingcheng and Shen Ruotang were in a car accident in Europe with their son. All three of them died on the spot."

Bai Junze remained silent for a few seconds. As the heir of the Bai family, he knew all too well what the sudden death of the core heir of a large family meant.

It's not as simple as losing a family member; it's a violent upheaval in the entire family's power structure, a reshuffling of power by countless collateral forces, and a complete restructuring of all interest distribution schemes.

To the Gu family, Gu Mingcheng was no ordinary eldest son.

He is the successor that Gu Zhenxing has been grooming for 39 years, and a central node in the power transition of the Gu Group.

This node was pulled off the chessboard by death overnight, leaving behind a huge vacuum that could swallow everything.

He released Gu Yunjin's hand, turned over to get his phone from the bedside table, and dialed a number.

The call was answered almost instantly, and he said a few words to the other end.

"Arrange a private jet to fly to Da Hai City, the sooner the better."

"I'll go back with you," he said.

"Get to the airport before four o'clock." Bai Junze threw off the covers and got out of bed. He took out two trench coats from the dressing room, handed one to her, and draped the other over his arm.

"We should be able to reach Dahai City before dawn."