No, it didn’t seem likely.
If it were Lin Tianrou, the car would have started following her from S City. It wouldn’t have appeared only after she reached Gold City.
Were they after her gold?
Buddy, you must still be dreaming.
Glancing at the surveillance cameras and speed-monitoring devices scattered along the highway, Li Su temporarily suppressed the urge to use her ability. Pretending not to notice anything, she maintained a steady speed and continued driving toward S City.
Just then, her phone rang.
The screen displayed three words:
Lin Tianrou.
And it was a video call.
What a coincidence.
There happened to be a highway service area ahead. Li Su turned the wheel and drove in, parked the car, and answered the call.
Lin Tianrou’s delicate, smiling face immediately appeared on the screen.
Behind her stood Shen Jianchen.
Beside him was Wu Xiaomei, chin raised high, her face full of arrogance and pride.
Back when the company was still running, only Lin Tianrou and Shen Jianchen had truly belonged to the inner circle. Wu Xiaomei had merely been a peripheral figure.
Yet now she stood at the core.
There was no need to think about why.
It had to be because of her spatial ability.
A spatial ability.
The moment Li Su saw Wu Xiaomei, the desire to seize that ability surged even more fiercely inside her.
“Su Su, where are you going?” Lin Tianrou asked affectionately, pretending nothing had happened, though calculation lurked in her eyes.
Li Su glanced outside through the corner of her eye.
The silver-gray Nissan had silently parked in a space diagonally opposite her.
Its position had been chosen perfectly.
Not easy for her to notice, yet ideal for keeping her vehicle under constant observation.
The corner of Li Su’s lips twitched slightly.
She casually lied.
“I drove out to buy Yangyang some thick winter clothes.”
Her tone cooled.
“Didn’t we agree not to contact each other anymore? What is it this time? More assets you can’t sort out? Need me to come clean up your mess again?”
It had always been like that.
Whenever an unsolvable problem appeared in the company, Lin Tianrou would call her over.
If the issue was resolved, all the credit went to Lin Tianrou.
If it wasn’t, then Li Su was blamed for incompetence.
Now that all pretenses had been torn away, she had no interest in maintaining the illusion of sisterly friendship.
Naturally, she spoke without restraint.
Lin Tianrou’s expression stiffened briefly before she smiled again.
She deliberately tilted the phone, revealing more of the room behind her.
“Tomorrow, Jianchen and I are holding our engagement party at the company we built together. Since the company has been sold and will soon belong to someone else, we wanted to leave ourselves one final memory. You have to come!”
The walls were covered with balloons and colorful banners.
Luxury gifts were piled in the corners.
Jewelry boxes sat open on the tables.
Gold ornaments gleamed brilliantly.
Jewels sparkled dazzlingly.
There was even an entire box neatly stacked with gold bars.
Of course, they wouldn’t tell her about the coming apocalypse.
Instead, they intended to disgust her with this engagement celebration.
In the apocalypse, all those jewels and gold would be worthless.
But right now, in front of the “abandoned ex-girlfriend,” they were more than enough to provoke jealousy and heartbreak.
Lin Tianrou, you’re truly vicious.
Li Su stared at the deliberately displayed treasures on the screen.
She looked at the challenge hidden beneath Lin Tianrou’s smile.
At Shen Jianchen’s smug expression.
At Wu Xiaomei’s contemptuous gaze.
A cold glint suddenly flashed through her eyes.
An idea emerged instantly.
A satisfying, thoroughly cathartic idea.
On the other side of the screen, Lin Tianrou stared fixedly at Li Su’s face.
She had intentionally moved the camera close, making sure the gold bars, jewelry, and luxury goods filled the entire frame.
She had been eagerly waiting to see Li Su lose control with jealousy and rage.
Instead, Li Su only froze for a brief moment.
Then she smiled casually and said in a light tone, as if discussing the weather:
“That actually sounds pretty meaningful. Sure, I’ll definitely come.”
Lin Tianrou’s smile instantly froze.
It felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over her head.
Her chest tightened with frustration.
She had imagined Li Su getting angry.
Crying.
Demanding explanations.
But she had never expected such indifference.
Then she reconsidered.
Li Su didn’t know the apocalypse was coming.
She still believed the engagement was genuine.
Surely she was just pretending to be calm while secretly feeling miserable.
Besides, the Li family was still foolishly selling stocks and investing in so-called emerging industries.
Once the apocalypse arrived, the Li family’s wealth would become nothing but worthless paper.
Sooner or later, Li Su would be kneeling before her, begging for shelter.
Thinking of that, Lin Tianrou’s smile returned.
“Great, Su Su. Just make sure you come early. I’ll be waiting at the company at ten o’clock~”
She had deliberately moved the time forward by an hour and a half.
That way, Li Su would be forced to stand around in an empty hallway, experiencing the difference between a “discarded loser” and a “victorious winner.”
Li Su’s gaze swept across the corner of the screen.
At that exact moment, she caught the flash of confusion in Wu Xiaomei’s eyes.
Clearly, Wu Xiaomei knew the actual engagement time.
Lin Tianrou’s petty scheme was so obvious it wasn’t even hidden properly.
The smile faded from Li Su’s face.
Her voice turned cold.
“If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. Looking at you people is pretty annoying.”
Before Lin Tianrou could react, she ended the call.
The screen instantly returned to silence.
Leaving Lin Tianrou standing there, her face alternating between green and white with anger.
“Tianrou, you actually invited her?”
Wu Xiaomei clicked her tongue, her eyes full of disdain.
“A woman like Li Su, covered in scandals, attending your engagement party would stain everything here! You’re way too kind. If it were me, I’d have blocked and deleted her long ago. I’d never want to see her again in this lifetime.”
As she insulted Li Su, her gaze repeatedly drifted toward the two boxes of gold bars and jewelry in the corner.
She had never seen so many valuable items in her life.
If she could store all of them inside her spatial dimension, she’d be able to dominate the apocalypse.
Lin Tianrou felt much better after hearing the praise.
She deliberately wrapped herself around Shen Jianchen’s arm and said sweetly:
“But Su Su and I were friends for many years. Even though we’ve gone our separate ways, I still wanted her to witness my engagement party.”
She looked up at Shen Jianchen.
“Jianchen, don’t you agree? The apocalypse is coming soon. There’s no way we’ll be able to hold an actual wedding. This engagement means a lot to me.”
Shen Jianchen lowered his head and smiled indulgently.
“Of course. Whatever you want.”
In his eyes, Li Su was already a discarded piece.
So what if she had returned to the Li family?
Once the apocalypse arrived, the Li family’s assets would become nothing but bubbles.
Without her family’s protection, Li Su would be nothing more than a powerless woman.
At that point, she would be completely at his mercy.
Compared to Li Su’s stubborn pride, a woman like Lin Tianrou—someone who knew how to please him and could be used by him—was far more practical.
“Let’s continue stockpiling supplies!” Lin Tianrou said excitedly as she grabbed Wu Xiaomei’s hand.
“Xiaomei’s storage space is still mostly empty. We need to stock up on more hard assets!”
“By the way…”
Wu Xiaomei’s gaze stuck to the boxes of gold once again.
“Should I store these gifts in my space? There are so many valuable things here. Isn’t it unsafe to leave them outside?”
The eagerness in her voice was difficult to hide.
Shen Jianchen snorted.
“No need.”
“The company is covered with surveillance cameras, and there are security guards patrolling downstairs.”
“What could possibly happen?”