Volume One, Chapter 42: Tuck Your Tail Between Your Legs and Crawl Out of the Imperial Capital Like a Dog!

Her heart was pounding wildly. For a fleeting moment, Sang Wan almost thought Lou Ye was asking her if she’d changed her mind about the divorce. But how could that be possible? Whether she divorced or not had nothing to do with him. It must be about the trouble of the past two days. She already had reservations about joining Lou Corporation, afraid of owing him a favor. He must think that his illness, requiring her to come and cook for him, would make her regret joining Lou Corporation even more. Changing her mind before the probation period ended?

"Lou Ye, I won't change my mind!" Sang Wan smiled. "I’ve already given up my career once. This time, I’ll cherish it more than anyone else!"

The first time she gave up her career, it was for Lu Jin Nian and Lu Xiao Mu. In the end, she was left with nothing. Hearts change, but her career is hers alone and won’t betray her.

"Though working and taking care of you seems a bit exhausting, you haven’t actually added any burden. I’ve never regretted it."

She was chauffeured to and from work. She’d enjoyed a sumptuous dinner, all top-shelf ingredients. If it were the past, it would indeed have been troublesome—she’d have been spread too thin, unable to take care of him. But now, alone, apart from her job, she had plenty of time to spare. Not to mention Lou Ye had saved her from danger several times and helped her take care of 2S.

"Consider it… payment for taking 2S in for me!" Sang Wan smiled.

Lou Ye breathed a sigh of relief. Though Sang Wan had misunderstood his meaning, she’d given him the answer he wanted. That was enough.

"Good," Lou Ye seemed to relax. "Remember to take your medicine later!"

"Alright."

The elevator doors closed, and the villa fell quiet. Lou Ye stood at the window, watching until the car drove out of the garage, its taillights vanishing into the night, before turning away. He paused at his bedroom door, remembering something. Turning back, his gaze fell on the pills lying atop a tissue on the kitchen island. He returned, took his medicine, and then leisurely went to his room. Behind him, 2S followed with light steps.

A night of peaceful dreams.

When the alarm rang, Sang Wan arrived at the company feeling even more cheerful. It was Wednesday.

The office became lively just past ten.

"Come on, coffee for everyone! There’s milk tea and little cakes, too—one for each person!"

"What’s the big celebration today?"

"I don’t know, Assistant Rong didn’t say… just that it’s a treat from President Lou!"

"Uh… don’t tell me, is it another broken engagement?"

???

At Xiao Bai’s words, Sang Wan nearly choked. Xiao Bai, looking perfectly unbothered, explained, "The day President Lou broke off his engagement, he treated the whole company to morning tea!"

Sang Wan: …

The internal phone rang. Sang Wan answered; the receptionist’s voice was urgent: "Sang Wan, your family is causing a scene in the lobby. Please come handle it as soon as possible!"

Family?

Her biological father was missing. Her mother was still in prison. She had no family left. Could it be… Su Bao Hui?

Her fingertips tingled. Sang Wan got up and rushed downstairs.

In the lobby, Su Bao Hui was making a spectacle.

"I’m here to catch a cheating husband!… A woman with a husband and a son, living the life of a pampered housewife, suddenly working? Who’d believe that? Clearly, she’s out to mess around with some wild man!"

Years ago, Sang Wan had been meek as a quail, never daring to defy Su Bao Hui. But after an illness, she’d grown a backbone? Divorce? Who would believe it!

If she hadn’t overheard Lu Jin Nian calling Yang Yan to ask if he’d found out who the wild man was, Su Bao Hui would have thought Sang Wan was jealous of Lin Chao Chao, making a fuss with Lu Jin Nian. Unexpectedly, Sang Wan had turned the tables, first getting involved with an outsider herself—cheating!

Divorce? Fine. All those years living off the Lu family, every penny would have to be returned!

Thinking of Sang Wan’s uproar at the birthday banquet, humiliating her in front of relatives and dredging up old scandals, Su Bao Hui’s anxiety only grew. She’d dreamt for several nights that Sun Yue Qing was coming for her. Lu Zheng Song was even more vicious, saying he’d settle accounts with her in the underworld. These days, she’d been burning incense at temples and consulting powerful fortune tellers for exorcisms, barely touching the ground with her feet.

Finally, she’d learned from Lin Chao Chao that Sang Wan had joined Lou Corporation. Not only had she cheated, but she’d used her status as Mrs. Lu to land a job at Lou Corporation?

No way! She wouldn’t allow it! She wouldn’t let Sang Wan have her way—not only must Sang Wan leave Lou Corporation, she must be disgraced and driven out of the capital like a dog with its tail between its legs!

"Sang Wan…"

Seeing Sang Wan, Su Bao Hui raised her voice to curse, "You shameless tramp! Since you got married, have you ever worked a day or earned a cent? Living off men, using your husband’s work and your son’s school as an excuse to mess around with some wild man…"

"Where’s your manager?" Su Bao Hui shouted at the receptionist, "Her father’s a gambling addict who used to embezzle company funds! Her mother’s a murderer… Lou Corporation didn’t even do a background check before hiring someone like this?"

When Sang Wan took out her phone to make a call, Su Bao Hui, thinking she was calling Lu Jin Nian, lunged and knocked it from her hand. The phone flew through the crowd, struck the wall, and fell to the floor with a sharp crack.

It was as if a gunshot had echoed through the woods, startling the flock.

"So she’s Sang Wan!"

"Appearances can be deceiving…"

"I heard she’s still in the probation period, not yet permanent. This looks bad…"

"It’s not just our company at risk. I bet no firm in the capital would dare hire her after this. Who’d want to work with her?"

"…"

Her heart buzzed, her temples throbbed. The murmurs of the crowd were endless, and Sang Wan’s hands shook with rage.

"Please call the police for me, and I’d like to request assistance from our legal department…" She spoke coolly to the stunned receptionist.

Turning to Su Bao Hui, Sang Wan said, "There is no wild man, I haven’t cheated. You will pay for your slander."

"Whether there are gods above, I don’t know, but there are certainly surveillance cameras."

Su Bao Hui instinctively looked up. Several high-definition cameras stared right back at her.

Sang Wan continued, "Either you apologize, shut your filthy mouth, and leave, and I’ll consider it a bout of madness—or…"

"In your dreams!" Su Bao Hui shoved aside the security guards restraining her, screaming wildly, "Apologize? In your dreams! You’re the one who cheats, your parents are the gamblers and murderers, your whole family is rotten and despicable… Sang Wan, why don’t you just die!"

Sang Wan’s mind buzzed.

She could refute the allegations of infidelity—she hadn’t done it. She could explain the other accusations. In a world where truth can be twisted, time always reveals character. But her father’s gambling and her mother’s conviction for murder—those were facts she couldn’t dispute. And Su Bao Hui clung to them relentlessly.

Her fists clenched, her body tense, Sang Wan had to grit her teeth to keep herself from tearing Su Bao Hui apart.

She turned to the receptionist, wanting to know when the police would arrive.

Hurried footsteps sounded, suddenly stopping outside the crowd.

An icy, languid voice rang out, clear as crystal, "What’s all this commotion?"