When Lu Yuan had discovered that the Bai couple was playing her while simultaneously striking a deal with Shen Yi, she had been blinded by shame and rage.
At that moment, she received intelligence that Bai Ran had officially broken ties with her parents to side with Old Master Bai and had a falling out with the Shen family. With the mindset of ‘I don’t care if I don’t make a profit as long as I make life difficult for Shen Yi,’ Lu Yuan had proactively approached the Old Master to negotiate. She had even offered immense concessions to secure a partnership between Xinyu Medical and the Lu family’s biological pharmaceuticals.
When Bai Ran actually went abroad to manage the Overseas line, Lu Yuan became firmly convinced that the family had split.
Now, hearing that the internal strife was a ruse, she lost all control of her expression. Her face turned visibly pale, though she still tried to hold her ground. “How is that possible?!”
“Of course it’s not possible. I was just scaring you.”
Shen Ruoshuang curled her lip slightly, making the mockery even more humiliating. Lu Yuan’s usual competitors always maintained a facade of politeness, acting like Smiling Tigers. She had never been played like this by a youngster in public. Her eyes turned bloodshot with rage.
Then, the calm voice that had been manipulating her emotions took a sharp, downward turn.
“So, if the Lu family finds out that the ‘sincerity’ you offered the Old Master during negotiations was…”
“Shut up!”
Compared to Lu Yuan’s sudden, terrified outburst, Shen Ruoshuang’s composure felt like a death knell.
“It doesn’t matter if they know yet. The journal was just published. The news will reach them by tonight at the latest.”
“If I were you, I’d move fast. Every second you gain might save another percentage point of your evaporating market value.”
This warning was far more terrifying and real than the talk of the Bai family’s ruse.
Lu Yuan knew exactly what she had offered: the Lu family’s confidential research direction and projects for the next two years. If the family found out she had exposed such secrets to outsiders, the shareholders would devour her. But Lu Yuan had been arrogant; she thought a chemical company and a medical device company wouldn’t be able to touch the Lu family’s century-old pharmaceutical dominance, even with her notes. Those projects relied on exclusive patents; even if Shen Yi saw them, she wouldn’t be able to replicate them for five years.
But now, the major shareholders dumping their stocks seemed to have received some eerie news.
Hearing about the “journal publication” and “market value evaporation,” Lu Yuan suddenly realized something. Her world felt like it was ending.
Did Shen Group’s team just publish in The Lancet…?
Was the reason they chose to announce their cooperation at tonight’s banquet also—?
Ignoring the various stares of the crowd, Lu Yuan frantically pulled out her phone to make a call and hurried away.
Lu Zhou snapped out of her daze and followed her sister. Her expression, however, wasn’t nearly as panicked. Though the Lu family would suffer, the more mistakes Lu Yuan made, the greater Lu Zhou’s own opportunity would be.
Before leaving, she cast one last glance at Xu Yinian.
In those beautiful, light-colored eyes, there was still only one person’s reflection. It was a pure, breathtaking beauty that one didn’t dare to desecrate.
After today, the landscape of the great families would shift. Her own road was still long. Compared to the others, her greatest advantage was her base, patient sense of unworthiness…
A bitter smile touched the corner of Lu Zhou’s mouth, but as she stepped into the night, it was swallowed whole. All that remained was her habitual mask of a Smiling Tiger, navigating the room with ease.
Shen Ruoshuang lowered her gaze, no longer looking at the losers’ retreat. This was only the beginning. Shen Yi’s subsequent moves on her own turf would be even more ruthless. And even as the apparent victor, the price Shen Ruoshuang would have to pay wouldn’t be any lighter than Lu Yuan’s.
Xu Yinian didn’t understand the complexities of the business battle. She only saw Shen Ruoshuang easily crush that dark-hearted woman, forcing her to flee in public humiliation. All she cared about was whether the woman who had just drunk so much for her was alright.
But Shen Ruoshuang was no longer looking her way. It was as if that moment of reckless, obsessive devotion had been nothing but a dream.
Yinian opened her mouth, the words of concern stuck in her throat. Only now did she finally notice the others in the room.
She hadn’t realized that the sharp woman’s gaze had been fixed on her for a long time, thick with a dark, suffocating gloom. It was a dangerous aura of jealousy, even more intense than Shen Ruoshuang’s—a force that even she could not withstand.
Compared to Shen Ruoshuang’s sacrifice, what bothered Shen Yi more was the visible way Yinian had been moved by her daughter’s actions.
The heartbeat Yinian felt for the Inaccessible Flower was suddenly doused by a bucket of ice water. She was still under Shen Yi’s thumb.
…How could she be worthy?
In front of Shen Yi, Shen Ruoshuang could not cross the line. And she… she didn’t dare to.
After a long silence, Shen Yi spoke in a low, cold tone. It was a command that brooked no argument.
“Come here.”
The external matters were settled. Now, it was time for “private matters.”
Under the oppressive weight of CEO Shen’s sternness—an aura even harsher than the one she directed at her daughter—the room fell silent.
As expected, the Successor’s feelings for the girl were unusual… but a love that hadn’t even sprouted was destined to be crushed by Shen Yi. She would pull it out by the roots to prevent future trouble.
Truly a femme fatale… Beautiful, yes, but a disaster waiting to happen. Only a woman as powerful as Shen Yi could fully control and shelter such a creature.
After a long time spent hiding and dodging between Shen Yi and Shen Ruoshuang, the moment when the truth could no longer be concealed had finally arrived.
Xu Yinian was forced to face the first direct confrontation between the mother and daughter because of her.
Though “confrontation” wasn’t quite the right word. From the moment Shen Ruoshuang stood in front of her, she had already prepared herself for the consequences of defiance—for the total control and obstruction Shen Yi would bring down upon her.
This wasn’t just a Matriarch dealing with her Successor. It was… a woman eliminating her most threatening rival for the girl.
A momentary lapse of the heart meant nothing. Shen Yi had plenty of ways to ensure the girl’s eyes stayed only on her.
***
Long before that moment, when she had made the most irrational decision of her life, Shen Ruoshuang had already begun calmly calculating the consequences and her response.
As Shen Ruoshuang followed Shen Yi upstairs toward the winery’s private Lounge, a woman’s figure below suddenly caught her eye.
Even after her cold-blooded retaliation against Lu Yuan, Ruoshuang’s expression had remained a mask of calm. Now, however, her brow furrowed, and her pace faltered.
