Some mornings, I really wanted to throw my phone across the room. The constant hum of the servers, which was usually background noise, had turned into a dull, constant thrum in my head. You know that feeling when you just know something's not right, even if you can't quite figure out what it is? That's how my life has been lately. My office is all glass and steel and looks out over Shanghai, a big, busy city that never sleeps, just like Horizon Tech. But lately, even though our company looked great on the outside, it felt like it was slowly dying.
It started out slowly. Just little things. A memo that I thought I'd only shared with two people somehow ended up in a competitor's pitch. A prototype for our new AR glasses, which we haven't shown anyone yet, has features that are similar to those in a competitor's concept art. I didn't think much of it at first. Just a bunch of coincidences, right? This is what happens in this cutthroat business. But then it became personal. Last week, a very important design schematic for "Zenith," our big AI assistant project that has cost us years of hard work and, to be honest, a lot of money, showed up on a dark web forum. It was hidden, but it was there. What does this mean? Catastrophic. Zenith is our child and our future. This leak didn't just hurt; it felt like a hit in the gut.
I ran my hand through my hair, which probably made it look worse, but who cares? You see me in the boardrooms, looking calm and collected in my sharp suit and even sharper answers. But lately, I've been lucky to get four hours of sleep a night. Wu Tianyu, the more efficient, put a new security report on my desk every morning without fail. Another "unauthorized access," another "data exfiltration attempt." His angry, little eyes were red with rage. It won't stop. It's like we're fighting a ghost that knows our house better than we do.
And what about the pressure? Oh, the stress. Not just from the IT guys or the bad stock predictions. It's from the Manor. From Grandfather. You know he doesn't yell? Never yells. His disappointment is a much bigger problem. It just sits on you, a quiet, heavy presence. He just looked at me over his perfectly filleted sea bass at dinner last night. He said, "Liang Chen," in a voice so calm that it made me nervous, "Horizon Tech needs a steady hand in these turbulent times." Your leadership is being put to the test. Just like that. No need for drama. The message was very clear: You're not doing well. Show that you can do it. Or else.
It all goes back to that silly marriage requirement, right? The presidency and the extra 20% stake are all dependent on me showing that I can lead. And right now, the only thing I'm in charge of is a group of very stressed engineers who are chasing ghosts.
"Anything new about Nightingale?" I asked Wu Tianyu, and my voice probably showed more stress than I meant for it to. We call this whole mess "Nightingale" inside.
He was there, as always, and he was already putting a tablet in front of me before I had even finished my question. This person can read minds. He said in a calm voice, "Mr. Liang, we've tightened defenses again."
"But the methods... they're changing too quickly. It's not just a random script-kiddie. It's exact and focused. "Almost... surgical."
I leaned back and said, "Surgical." "Meaning they know exactly what they want. And where to get it. When I think of insiders, I think of them right away. We've done everything, including background checks and polygraphs. There are no clear traitors. So, either they're really good at hiding their tracks, or we're dealing with someone who's really next-level from the outside and got very lucky with insider information. The thought is disturbing.
I went through the report. IP addresses that disappeared into the digital ether. Malware signatures that were so new that our systems barely saw them before they could do damage. This isn't just "corporate spying"; it's a real operation. Well-funded and well-done.
"Have we seen any of this from Evotech Solutions before?" I asked, naming our biggest competitor. Everyone knows that Sun Ming's business is shady.
Wu Tianyu agreed with Mr. Liang that there were "some parallels," especially in the stealth. But these new signatures are just too much for Evotech to handle. It's like they've hired a ghost, or maybe their own internal team got a huge upgrade overnight.
A ghost. That really bothers me. My hacker friend Zhang Cai talks about these legends, people who can get past anything in the underground. Is one of them trying to get us? This idea is hard to swallow, but it's also a strange kind of challenge. The rules of the game have completely changed if we're facing one of them.
And Grandfather is keeping an eye on things. Liang Zixin is watching, and he might be getting his knives ready. Liang Zhe, that snake from abroad, is probably already making plans. The constant headache from this spying? It's not just a headache anymore. It's a full-blown migraine that could cost me everything. My job, the company, and my family's history. This is no longer just about business. This is a war fought in the dark, and I feel like I have to win.