Shui Ruyue only felt her fingertips burning.
Her skin had definitely gotten thicker.
When the person on the other end of the phone realized she hadn’t responded for quite some time, her voice turned shrill.
“Yueyue, are you really going to stand by and watch that lawyer barge into the Shui family? Don’t forget—you’ve only ever been using Fu Qingzhi.”
“Even if you’ve decided to rely on her, you must never give her your heart. And don’t let her lure you away.”
Seriously…
Speechless, Shui Ruyue hung up the phone.
Since Fu Qingzhi had already taken care of the situation with her family, and judging from how furious Jiang Yan sounded, Shui Ruyue knew she definitely wouldn’t be the one losing out this time.
More text messages arrived almost immediately.
“Yueyue! Don’t think that just because you’ve got some lawyer backing you, that villa will end up in your hands.”
“Your grandfather made it clear before he passed away—you’ll only inherit it once you’re capable of standing on your own.”
“The Shui family is your true support. Without us, you’ll never get anything.”
They really refused to give up.
Message after message kept pouring in.
Shui Ruyue couldn’t be bothered with them.
Relying on the Shui family only led to one ending—starving to death on the streets.
The original owner had already proven that for her.
That afternoon, Shui Ruyue returned to her little company.
As public opinion online continued to snowball, cancellation notices began arriving one after another.
Sisi hurried over anxiously.
“President Shui, there aren’t many businesses willing to work with us anymore. A large number of orders have been canceled and the inventory has been returned.”
“And…”
She hesitated.
A bad feeling crept over Shui Ruyue. She quickly leaned closer.
“Sisi, just tell me! I can handle it.”
“The only company still willing to cooperate with us is Jin Meimei’s. But she’s gone overseas on business recently, so the partnership has been postponed.”
“What?!”
Shui Ruyue cried out in alarm.
Suddenly, she thought of the Big Boss.
She hurriedly opened her phone.
Their chat history was still frozen on the conversation where she’d invited the Big Boss to meet last time.
It seemed…
The Big Boss hadn’t sent her a single message since then.
No, please don’t!
Just as she was at her wit’s end, a new message popped up.
“Sure. When would you like to meet?”
Shui Ruyue typed back at lightning speed.
“Today would be best.”
The reply came almost immediately.
“Around eight tonight.”
This time the Big Boss responded so quickly that Shui Ruyue finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After confirming the time, she even made a point of dressing up, choosing a more formal dress for the meeting.
Before eight o’clock that evening, aside from the order the Big Boss had placed, not a single new order had come in.
From exposing every last detail of the original owner’s past to shamelessly stealing business from her…
Other than her own family, Shui Ruyue couldn’t think of anyone who would go this far to sabotage her.
At long last, eight o’clock arrived.
Shui Ruyue reached the agreed meeting place early.
Unfortunately, the moment she looked up, she ran into some familiar faces.
Shui Neng strutted in with a group of wealthy young heirs. Shui Ruyue even spotted the two men with foul mouths from last time.
“What a coincidence! I didn’t expect to run into Cousin here. I thought the Fu family had already thrown you out.”
Shui Ruyue completely ignored Shui Neng’s taunts.
Right now, the only thing that mattered was meeting the Big Boss.
As long as they finalized the deal, she’d be able to recover her losses.
Being ignored made Shui Neng visibly unhappy.
He stretched out a foot, intending to trip her.
Instead…
His foot was stomped on mercilessly.
“AAAH!”
Ignoring the agonized scream behind her, Shui Ruyue dashed straight toward the Big Boss’s private room.
One of the grinning rich heirs recorded the whole thing on his phone.
“With everything happening online, this should be enough to finish her off.”
Shui Neng fought back the tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
He actually could have dodged.
But to make himself look more pitiful, he’d deliberately endured the stomp.
His big toe was probably bruised black by now.
Just as the group excitedly opened their phones…
They froze.
The online backlash against Shui Ruyue had vanished.
Completely.
Not a trace remained.
Instead, the headlines were now dominated by stories about how the affectionate relationship between Shui Ruyue and Fu Qingzhi had been maliciously smeared.
Shui Neng’s vision went dark.
Then what was the point of taking that stomp just now?
Was I just unlucky?
It didn’t stop there.
The people who had originally leaked the damaging rumors were themselves exposed, with their own dirty histories dug up. The internet instantly turned against them.
The group of rich heirs quietly stopped uploading the video of Shui Neng getting stepped on.
No one wanted to become the next target.
Meanwhile, Shui Ruyue anxiously pushed open the door to a private room that happened to be ajar.
Inside, a couple was feeding each other.
“I’m so sorry! I’m sorry!”
After one glance, Shui Ruyue immediately backed out.
It was her own fault for only asking the Big Boss for the restaurant’s address without confirming the room number.
Fortunately, the two young women inside were both gentle people. They simply smiled and let it go.
Approaching the next room, Shui Ruyue carefully knocked on the door.
There was no response.
At that moment, Fu Qingzhi, who had arrived a little late, finally confirmed the correct room number.
As she looked over casually, her eyes met Shui Ruyue’s.
The instant Shui Ruyue saw her, she panicked and darted into the room.
Fu Qingzhi arched an eyebrow slightly.
She really didn’t want to see me that much?
She recalled the messages Shui Ruyue had sent her before—
Once she established herself outside, she would leave her forever.
Fu Qingzhi’s gaze darkened.
Then she pushed the door open.
She had clearly seen Shui Ruyue run into this room.
Yet after opening the door…
There wasn’t a single person inside.
The obedient, soft little rabbit from before…
Had learned how to play hide-and-seek.
“Come out,” Fu Qingzhi said suddenly.
Hidden behind the curtains, Shui Ruyue shivered all over.
Ducking in here had been nothing more than a reflex, and now she regretted it.
But if she walked out now, she’d only be admitting she’d been hiding.
Just as Shui Ruyue decided to hold out a little longer—
Someone suddenly wrapped their arms around her from behind.
Separated by the thick curtains, Fu Qingzhi’s voice drifted slowly into her ears.
“Were you hiding from me?”
“You don’t want to see me?”
“You don’t want your wife anymore?”