Volume One, Chapter 115: S Ascends to the Crown Prince

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At two in the morning, the world was silent.

Yet the local forum's gossip board was abuzz with excitement.

Sang Wan clicked on the link Xu Yiyi had sent her. Just a glance at the title told her exactly what was going on.

"The Lou Corporation's Female Employee Abandons Husband and Child, Juggles Multiple Affairs, Her Moral Depravity Is Outrageous!"

The gossip was posted by an ID named "Lotus Pond Moonlight," whose avatar was a serene lotus blossom—a picture of tranquility. Judging by the account level, this was a seasoned forum regular.

The post claimed that an employee surnamed S at the Lou Corporation, despite her status as a socialite, had abandoned her husband and child, and was suspected of cheating within her marriage and finding a new lover.

It went on to allege that S used her looks to seduce many people, juggling several relationships at once.

The post was sprawling and detailed.

The first half dwelled on S's sordid family background, mentioning her biological father’s gambling and her mother’s imprisonment for murder.

It especially highlighted her ex-husband, who had been her savior, describing how S had gone to great lengths in college to climb into high society—a world she could never have reached on her own—yet showed no gratitude, treating her ex-husband as a stepping stone, and now sought to repeat her tricks.

The latter half recounted the men S had been involved with during and after her marriage—from corporate executives, to a private physician, even the family driver.

The most prominent among them was the so-called "Crown Prince."

At the end, Lotus Pond Moonlight signed off in bold: "Any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental, please do not take offense!"

Lou Corporation.

Former socialite.

Cheating.

Crown Prince.

Each word was a buzzword guaranteed to explode on the forum.

And this post contained every last one.

In less than half an hour, it became the hottest of hot topics.

When Sang Wan entered the thread, views had just topped a thousand, with under a hundred comments.

But by the time she finished reading—a matter of three or five minutes—views had soared past ten thousand.

The comment count had shot past a thousand.

"Holy crap! Staying up late really pays off—what a juicy scandal!"

"Am I the only one dying to know what this woman looks like? OP, you have to post a photo!"

"Exactly! Coming from such a rotten family background and still managing to snag a rich husband, now juggling who knows how many men—how gorgeous must she be?"

"Made up, surely? The Crown Prince’s women have, for years, matched Miss Shao in both family background and looks. A twice-married woman isn’t worthy to carry his shoes, let alone be with him. What a joke!"

"This woman really has no standards! From the Crown Prince all the way down to the family driver—is she addicted or something?"

And so on.

Sang Wan hadn’t finished the first page of comments when her phone froze and the screen switched to "page not found."

She returned to the forum's homepage; the post, just moments ago marked with three flaming icons, had vanished without a trace.

She looked up at Lou Ye, who had just come in from the balcony. "Did you have someone delete the post?"

"Huh?" Lou Ye feigned innocence. "What are you talking about?"

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Sang Wan couldn’t help but laugh. "Your acting needs work."

"Really?" Lou Ye tossed his phone aside, sat down on the bed, and pulled Sang Wan into his arms, kissing her forehead. "Then I’d better practice more, so next time you won’t notice at all."

Sang Wan smiled softly. "Who called you?"

Xu Yiyi was a night owl and her best friend. It was only natural she’d notify Sang Wan immediately about such fabricated rumors.

But who had called Lou Ye?

She silently credited Yang Yan in her mind. Lou Ye answered, "Rong Jing."

Sang Wan was caught off guard. "Assistant Rong knows?"

"Knows what?" Lou Ye feigned ignorance, waiting for Sang Wan to say it.

Glaring at him was pointless.

Meeting the deepening amusement in his eyes, Sang Wan finally turned her face away.

A soft, low laugh sounded in her ear. Lou Ye bent down and bit her lip gently. "You threw yourself at me so eagerly, even a fool could tell, you know?"

She remembered that misunderstanding from the other day.

And with it, the scene beneath the evening glow—a kiss so romantic that even now, recalling it made her cheeks flush and her heart beat wildly.

Sang Wan dared not meet Lou Ye’s eyes.

But soon enough she was enveloped in his heat.

"Lou Ye, stop fooling around, I still have things to do…"

"I’ll help you do them!"

"Lou… Lou Ye…"

Broken whispers spilled out through the half-open balcony door.

Beyond the dark sky, the first faint gold of dawn edged the horizon.

In the master bedroom of the Lu family villa, Lu Jinnian was woken by a call and learned about the forum commotion from Lu Zhiyi.

"Bro, several of my friends have asked me if that S is Sang Wan."

On the other end, Lu Zhiyi sounded furious. "I heard from Lin Chaochao that at Old Man Jiang’s birthday banquet yesterday, Sang Wan showed up with Young Master Lou? Bro, is it true?"

"Bro, you have to do something about her!"

Just thinking about the person she only dared imagine in her dreams, now being led into a high society banquet on Lou Ye’s arm, Lu Zhiyi wished she could find Sang Wan right now and scratch her face to pieces.

"I got it." Lu Jinnian hung up and opened the screenshots Lu Zhiyi had sent him.

Lotus Pond Moonlight’s exposé.

Men in the comments boasting, women speculating.

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And that particularly glaring line: "S has snagged the Crown Prince."

Every word grated on Lu Jinnian’s nerves, fueling his rage.

His mind was filled with images of Sang Wan, elegant and poised, walking arm in arm with Lou Ye at the banquet.

Lu Jinnian’s expression darkened.

"Honey, what’s wrong?" Lin Chaochao snuggled up to him.

"Nothing." Lu Jinnian turned off his phone, threw back the covers, and went straight to the study.

"Find out the true identity of this 'Lotus Pond Moonlight.' I need information on the original source of this exposé."

"Yes, sir."

"And contact those entertainment marketing accounts on Weibo. Tell them… to act quickly."

"Understood."

After hanging up, Lu Jinnian gazed at the sunrise in the distance and let out a long, slow breath.

He knew all too well what Lou Ye thought of Sang Wan.

They were both men—he understood completely.

Back in their university days, he’d had the advantage, leaving Lou Ye powerless.

And now, it was still the same.

Whether or not the woman in Lou Ye’s arms that night at "Nightfall" was Sang Wan, the outcome had been determined then and there.

To Lou Ye, Sang Wan was someone who could never be brought into the light.

Her identity—past, present, and future—would never be connected to Lou Ye or the Lou family, not by the slightest thread.

Lu Jinnian wanted to know only one thing.

The mark he’d seen on Sang Wan’s neck that night—had Lou Ye left it?

Or someone else?

And now—how far had things gone between Sang Wan and Lou Ye?

She’d said that night they were even.

But only now did Lu Jinnian realize—it could never be even.

Just the thought that the other man might be Lou Ye made a fire rage inside him, impossible to quell.

Perfect, he thought. This latest fiasco would force Sang Wan to face reality.

Becoming Mrs. Lu was the greatest achievement she could ever hope for.

She’d never been able to have anything with Lou Ye in the past.

And now, as a divorced woman, it was even more impossible.

He forwarded every one of Lu Zhiyi’s screenshots to Sang Wan.

Then Lu Jinnian sent her a text message.