Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
Colin flinched in surprise and quickly lowered his head, avoiding Luo Hai’s gaze. However, Luo Hai’s expression remained unchanged as he calmly looked toward the door. “Come in.”
A fellow intern assistant stepped inside and nodded slightly. “Prosecutor Luo Hai, Chief Prosecutor Doyle wants to see you.”
“Right now?” Luo Hai asked.
“Yes. He’s waiting for you in his office.”
“Understood,” Luo Hai replied evenly. “You can go back to work.”
The assistant nodded and left, closing the door behind her.
Luo Hai had always known this day would come. In fact, he was somewhat surprised that Doyle had been patient enough to wait this long before summoning him. It was as if Doyle had never worried that anything might go wrong, as if everything was always within his control.
“Boss…” Colin spoke hesitantly, his concern evident, but he didn’t know how to continue.
“It’s fine,” Luo Hai said lightly, standing up from his chair. “Just a chat with my adoptive father—what could possibly happen?”
……
Doyle’s office was in the most prominent location on the entire floor.
Anyone who stepped onto the third floor would immediately see the grandest, most imposing wooden door. Above it, in bold, golden lettering, was the name Colette Doyle.
Although Doyle himself was often absent, his office was always impeccably maintained. His fish tank, his potted plants on the windowsill—everything was meticulously cared for, exuding an air of vitality at all times.
When Luo Hai walked in, Doyle was leaning over the windowsill, tending to the leaves of a potted plant. Upon hearing footsteps, he turned around with a beaming smile. “Have a seat.”
Doyle greeted everyone who entered his office with that same smile. If not for the large, gilded nameplate at the door, he could have easily been mistaken for a kind old man who simply enjoyed plants and animals.
Luo Hai said nothing. He also didn’t follow Doyle’s instructions to sit down, instead standing straight in place.
Doyle finished adjusting the plant, then turned to feed the fish in his tank. After rotating the tank slightly, he looked at Luo Hai with an amused expression. “Which one do you think is the best-looking?”
Luo Hai cast a brief glance at the fish tank. “The red one.”
He wasn’t in a hurry. He had time and patience to play along with this old fox’s games.
“Oh? Why?” Doyle still had that same smile. “Didn’t you notice that its tail is damaged? It’s missing a few scales too.”
“The missing tail and scales aren’t due to illness—they’re from fighting,” Luo Hai replied. “But I don’t see any other fish in the tank with injuries, which means it was the victor.”
Doyle burst into hearty laughter, clearly pleased with Luo Hai’s reasoning. Straightening up, he scrutinized Luo Hai with a pleased gaze. “I’ve heard that you’ve been running around giving interviews and appearing on shows lately—so busy that you don’t even have time to meet with an old man like me?”
Luo Hai lowered his gaze. “Apologies. I just felt that with the current political unrest and the people’s unease, informing the public with accurate information is the top priority. It’s also the only thing I can do right now…”
Doyle waved his hand dismissively, still smiling. “Alright, alright, I’m not blaming you. Why so tense? I read your testimony reports—you’ve worked hard these past few weeks.”
“No, it was my duty,” Luo Hai said quietly.
Doyle picked up a stack of documents from his desk. Without even looking, Luo Hai already knew—they had to be reports and investigations regarding his time at the Lightwing Society’s headquarters.
“I heard they put you through a lot of torture and interrogation?” Doyle asked.
“Yes,” Luo Hai replied.
“I reviewed your medical report. Only whip marks and cuts.” Doyle flipped a page. “I would have thought the criminals of Lightwing Society would have been harsher on the one responsible for their downfall.”
“Their original plan was probably much crueler,” Luo Hai said evenly, his expression unreadable. “But when Nantes sent troops to nearby cities for a manhunt, they seemed to panic. After that, they didn’t pay much attention to a prisoner like me.”
“And you didn’t reveal anything?”
“No,” Luo Hai said in a low voice. “Besides, I truly didn’t know what they wanted to hear. Ever since Oddis escaped, the Lightwing Society case has been under Director Kliman’s jurisdiction.”
Doyle nodded and continued flipping through the documents. His expression remained unchanged, making it impossible to tell whether he believed Luo Hai’s words or not.
A few seconds later, he spoke again, seemingly offhandedly.
“Have you watched the surveillance footage of the trial assembly?”
“No,” Luo Hai paused. “Ever since I returned, I’ve been busy with interviews and speeches—”
“I, on the other hand, have watched it many times,” Doyle interrupted, raising his eyes to meet Luo Hai’s gaze, his voice steady and measured. “And I noticed a very interesting detail.”
Luo Hai said nothing.
“When Oddis stood up from the audience and interrupted the trial, it was right at the moment the execution was about to proceed. If he hadn’t interrupted, according to procedure, you—the presiding officer—would have been the first to execute a prisoner by gunfire.” Doyle spoke slowly. “But I reviewed the footage and found that, just one second before Oddis fired his gun, your arm moved. You shifted your aim from the prisoner to the executioner beside you. How do you explain that?”
The temperature in the room instantly dropped to freezing. The air felt as though it had solidified, leaving only the injured red fish in the tank swimming arrogantly.
Luo Hai’s hand clenched unconsciously at his side.
He had known it. Even if no one else had noticed, Doyle would never miss such a detail. Doyle’s cautiousness and meticulous nature were the very foundation of his rise in the political arena.
“Luo Hai, explain yourself,” Doyle demanded.
Luo Hai’s Adam’s apple bobbed twice. His eyelids lowered slightly.
“…I don’t want to explain,” he said.
A loud bang suddenly echoed through the room as Doyle slammed his palm onto the desk.
“Is this something you can just refuse to explain?” Doyle said sharply. “Do you have any idea what this means? Do you know how many people in the bureau suspect you of colluding with Oddis and the Lightwing Society? That the whole trial assembly disruption was a ploy to help you escape?”
“I don’t care,” Luo Hai said calmly. “If you want to convict me for this, then go ahead.”
His blunt admission made Doyle frown.
Doyle had raised Luo Hai himself. He knew Luo Hai’s temperament—he never responded well to force, only to persuasion. The fact that he was admitting guilt so easily only made Doyle more suspicious that there was something deeper at play.
“Luo Hai, don’t be childish,” Doyle’s tone softened, his voice lowering. “I’m your adoptive father. Why would I want you to suffer an unjust accusation? But at the same time, I am also the Chief Prosecutor of this office. I have to give an explanation to those who are questioning you. Only if you tell me the truth can I defend you.”
Luo Hai still didn’t speak. His expression was stubborn and resistant, his lips pressed tightly together as he avoided Doyle’s gaze, staring at a single point on the floor.
“But if you insist on this childish defiance, not even a god can save you.” Doyle’s voice darkened. “You will be arrested as an accomplice of the Lightwing Society. Not only will you lose your position as a prosecutor, but you’ll also be sent to the Omega prison and, in the end, publicly executed in front of the entire city.”
Doyle took a step forward, closing the distance between them.
“Is that what you want? Do you want all your years of endurance and sacrifice to go to waste? You’ve worked so hard to climb from a lowly Omega to the status of an Alpha above thousands. Are you really going to throw that all away?”
“I’m not,” Luo Hai suddenly lifted his head and met Doyle’s gaze, his voice cold and firm. “No one reaches the top only to want to fall back to the bottom. No matter what it takes… I will hold on to my position.”
A knowing smile appeared at the corner of Doyle’s lips, and the sight of it made Luo Hai feel sick to his core.
Doyle was indeed a cunning and meticulous old fox. But after so many years together, Luo Hai had also come to understand his greatest weakness—his arrogance.
Doyle held himself in high regard, believing in the law of the jungle and assuming that everyone in the world was just like him—willing to submit unconditionally to greater power and larger interests.
He was so confident that his values would inevitably shape Luo Hai into someone just like him. This thought made Luo Hai sick—but it also made Doyle easy to manipulate.
“I know you’ll make the right choice, Luo Hai,” Doyle said leisurely. “So, tell me the truth. I promise I won’t hold it against you.”
Luo Hai remained silent for a moment before speaking. “You promise?”
“Of course,” Doyle narrowed his eyes. “A gentleman’s word is as unbreakable as a four-horse chariot.”
Luo Hai lowered his head, his expression uncomfortable. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then lifted his gaze to meet Doyle’s.
“…My belt was loose.”
Doyle was caught off guard. “What?”
“At that moment, the reason I moved my arm was because my belt had come loose,” Luo Hai said, his expression awkward and genuinely embarrassed. “I just wanted to tighten my clothes so I wouldn’t embarrass myself in front of thousands of people. That’s all.”
For a few seconds, the room was silent. Then, Doyle burst into laughter. The once-dead atmosphere of the office was filled with his hearty chuckles. Luo Hai kept his head down, saying nothing, maintaining a look of embarrassment—while secretly waiting for the final outcome of this game.
After a while, Doyle seemed to have laughed enough. Suddenly, Luo Hai felt a hand pressing down on his head, ruffling his hair as if he were some small animal. He forced himself to endure the discomfort, lifting his head under the weight of the hand, meeting Doyle’s smiling eyes.
“Alright, alright. You’ve always been like this—keeping even the tiniest little things to yourself. We’re family. What’s the big deal? Don’t just stand there, sit down and talk.”
