It disappeared so quickly that her delighted expression immediately turned into a miserable frown.
“Son, what nonsense are you talking about? This isn’t like canceling a takeout order! The entire circle of socialites in the capital is saying that Meng Shuling was seduced and abandoned by some mysterious tycoon. If you don’t marry her, how is that poor girl ever supposed to find a husband?”
Lu Shengliang had been maintaining the dignified composure of a father, but the moment he heard those words, his brows knitted tightly together.
“What did you just say?”
His voice grew colder.
“Say it again. Have I been hearing too many pleasant things lately that my ears are playing tricks on me?”
Lu Yannan met his father’s gaze.
“I said…”
“I’m not marrying her.”
He turned slightly to one side, his cool, commanding presence filling the room.
There wasn’t the slightest hint that he was open to negotiation.
“The incident that ended up on the trending list was my oversight. I dragged Meng Shuling into it, and I accept responsibility for that.”
“My PR team is already handling the clarification. I’ll apologize to the Meng family in person and compensate them for every loss they’ve suffered.”
Then he changed the subject, looking at Lu Shengliang, who looked ready to explode.
His tone remained perfectly calm.
“But marrying her is out of the question.”
“My marriage is my own lifelong decision. Just because of one accidental scandal on the internet doesn’t mean I’m going to throw away the rest of my life.”
“If you think the family can’t survive unless someone marries Meng Shuling…”
His voice remained even.
“…then whichever one of you wants the marriage can marry her yourselves.”
“I’m not wasting my time with this.”
Lu Shengliang nearly choked on his own breath.
“Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!”
“Lu Yannan, what kind of attitude is that?”
“You ruined that young woman’s reputation with this scandal. I’m telling you to take responsibility by marrying her, and not only do you refuse to admit you’re wrong, you dare say something so ridiculous?”
“‘We’ should marry her?”
“Do you think marriage is some kind of game? Is this a marketplace where you can simply pick another option if you don’t like the first one?”
The more he spoke, the angrier he became.
He had lived more than half a lifetime and had never seen such an infuriating son.
“I’m telling you right now.”
“This isn’t something you get to decide.”
“I’ve already settled everything with the Meng family.”
“I’ll personally choose the wedding date.”
“Even if you tear a hole in the heavens today, this marriage is happening.”
“You don’t have the option to refuse.”
Lu Yannan looked at his furious father without the slightest trace of fear.
If anything, he found the situation faintly amusing.
He couldn’t be bothered arguing with a room full of stubborn traditionalists.
He gave a slight nod.
“I’ve said everything I came to say.”
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving.”
Without waiting for anyone’s reaction, he turned and walked toward the door.
His tall, straight figure remained composed and unhurried.
“Lu Yannan! Stop right there!”
Lu Shengliang shouted after him, both furious and bewildered, looking every bit like an exasperated father trying to discipline a rebellious son.
“If you walk out that door, then don’t ever call me your father again!”
“I’ll pretend I never had a son like you!”
Lu Yannan didn’t even slow down.
He walked straight out of the main house.
His secretary had already been waiting outside and discreetly suppressed a smile as he opened the car door.
Everyone close to the Lu family knew their dynamic.
They were all stubborn, but soft-hearted underneath.
Lu Yannan bent down and settled into the back seat.
“Drive.”
“Back to Fanxi.”
“Yes, President Lu.”
Inside the living room, Lu Shengliang stared at the now-empty doorway.
Pointing toward the entrance, he fumed,
“Did you all see that?”
“Look at that attitude!”
“He has no respect for his elders. He’s completely out of control.”
“How did I end up raising such an obstinate son?”
Tan Linyin hurried over and gently patted his back.
Half amused and half exasperated, she tried to calm him down.
“Old Lu, don’t make yourself sick.”
“Yannan has always been stubborn. His mouth is tougher than anyone’s, but who knows what he’s really thinking?”
“Let’s just give him some time to cool off. We can wear him down little by little.”
“It’s not like he can run away forever.”
“He’ll be the death of me!”
Lu Shengliang grumbled.
Although he was still angry, he finally sat back down on the sofa, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.
Hidden beneath his irritation was a trace of helplessness.
“He thinks he can escape?”
“This marriage isn’t something he gets to decide.”
“Even if he runs today, I’ll still handle everything with the Meng family exactly as planned.”
That evening, after being confined to the house, Meng Shuling sprawled across the living room sofa like a salted fish that had completely given up on life.
She stared absentmindedly at the variety show playing on television.
Her mother, Zhuang Liyuan, sat beside her peeling an apple.
Every now and then she glanced at her daughter.
Seeing her lying there like a limp rag, she couldn’t help sighing.
“Honestly, can’t you at least sit properly while you’re at home?”
“You’ve got no bones at all.”
Meng Shuling rolled over and buried her face in a cushion.
Her muffled voice came through the fabric.
“Mom, I’m going crazy from being stuck at home.”
“Please don’t lecture me.”
She hadn’t been allowed to go anywhere these past few days.
Although her phone hadn’t been confiscated, she had no desire whatsoever to open any of her social media apps.
Everything that had happened the previous night weighed on her chest like a stone.
She couldn’t breathe it out, nor could she swallow it down.
Worst of all, Lu Yannan’s cold, expressionless face kept appearing in her mind.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t chase it away.
Zhuang Liyuan handed her the peeled apple.
“All right, all right.”
“Eat an apple.”
“Stop looking so miserable all day.”
Just as Meng Shuling accepted it, they heard movement at the front door.
Meng Zekun walked inside with unusually light steps.
His face was lit up with joy, looking nothing like his usual tired self after a day at work.
Even changing his shoes seemed unusually energetic.
As he loosened his tie and walked into the living room, he was actually humming an off-key tune.
Zhuang Liyuan was the first to notice.
She smiled in surprise.
“Well, what’s gotten into you today?”
“Did you sign some huge contract?”
Meng Shuling noticed it too.
Her father looked as though he’d just stumbled upon a chest full of gold.
Taking a bite of her apple, she mumbled,
“Old man, why are you in such a good mood today?”
“Did scolding me make you that happy?”
Meng Zekun walked over to the sofa.
Seeing his daughter sprawled across it, he surprisingly didn’t criticize her posture like he usually would.
Instead, he sat down beside her with a broad grin.
The enthusiasm in his eyes made the hairs on the back of Meng Shuling’s neck stand up.
“Lingling!”
He beamed.
“You’re trending online! Did you know that?”
Her hand froze halfway to her mouth.
Trending?
She had almost forgotten.
Although Duan Tiantian had assured her that Jingyi International Hotel had strict security and no one would have been able to photograph anything…
Reporters always found a way.
The thought that someone might have captured her leaving Lu Yannan’s room in a disheveled state made her want to bang her head against a wall.
She hadn’t checked her phone once all day.
Naturally, she had no idea how much attention the incident had attracted online.
She unlocked her phone and opened the trending topics.
Sure enough, one headline was near the very top.
#Heiress · Jingyi Hotel · Mysterious Tycoon
She tapped it.
The top post came from a gossip account.
It included several blurry photos taken in a hotel corridor, showing a young woman and a man leaving the same presidential suite one after the other.
The woman’s face was relatively clear.
The man’s face had been heavily mosaicked, making him impossible to identify.
A bad feeling settled in her stomach.
She opened the comments.
As expected, nearly every single one was attacking her.
“Who is this woman? Going to a hotel in the middle of the night? That tells you everything you need to know.”
“Just looking at the way she’s dressed, you can tell she’s trying to marry into money. Girls these days will do anything for cash.”
“A presidential suite at Jingyi International costs hundreds of thousands a night. That guy must be loaded. She’s really got skills.”
“I feel sorry for the man. Getting tangled up with a woman like this—she’ll probably blackmail him next.”
“Maybe it’s one of those honey-trap scams. There are plenty of those these days.”
Some comments went even further.
Internet users began trying to identify the woman in the photos.
Based on her blurry clothing and accessories, they dug up several social media accounts belonging to wealthy young women in the capital.
Meng Shuling’s account was among them.
Within moments, her comment section was flooded with vicious insults.
“Oh, so she’s the Meng family’s eldest daughter? Looks really can be deceiving.”
“She looks so innocent, but what a colorful private life.”
“The Meng family is supposed to be respectable. Aren’t they ashamed of their daughter?”
Reading those malicious comments made Meng Shuling furious.
She was the victim.
She had entered Lu Yannan’s room by mistake because of a ridiculous chain of accidents.
So why was she the one being condemned?
Every other comment called her shameless, desperate, a gold digger—as though she’d committed some unforgivable crime.
She looked at Meng Zekun, both angry and confused.
“Dad, did you even read the comments?”
“They’re all attacking me!”
“How is this supposed to be good news?”