It Started With a Kiss: Leng Shao's Beloved Wife

Struggle in the Dark

Wu Xinyan felt as if she had fallen into an icy cellar, her blood freezing instantly. How could this happen? She frantically searched every corner of her drawers, hoping this was just a nightmare. However, the empty drawers harshly brought her back to reality. Those photos, documents, and recordings—the evidence that held all her hopes—were gone.

Despair, like an invisible hand, gripped her throat tightly, making it almost impossible for her to breathe. Was she going to watch Uncle Luo get away with it, and watch her fate once again be controlled by others?

"No, I can't give up!" Wu Xinyan gritted her teeth and tried to calm herself. Even without the evidence, she would expose Uncle Luo's true face at the family meeting.

However, the subsequent family meeting pushed Wu Xinyan into deeper despair.

The atmosphere in the conference room was suffocatingly oppressive. Everyone in the Luo family gathered, seriousness written across their faces. Luo Yichen sat at the head of the table, his stern profile as sharp as a knife, making it difficult to gauge his emotions.

Wu Xinyan tried to remain calm, hiding her trembling hands under the table. She looked around, only to find that every gaze was filled with scrutiny and suspicion, as if she were the unforgivable sinner.

"Brother Yichen, you have to make the decision for me!" Suddenly, Cousin Luo's sharp voice broke the silence. She cried and accused, "This woman is so vicious. She slandered my uncle and stole company secrets. Her crime is unforgivable!"

Wu Xinyan suddenly looked up and looked at Cousin Luo in disbelief, but saw that her eyes were full of resentment and pride.

"You're talking nonsense!" Wu Xinyan wanted to refute, but was interrupted by her cousin Luo's sharp voice, "You know whether I'm talking nonsense or not! If it weren't for you, how could Third Uncle be taken away by the police? How could the company suffer such heavy losses?"

Cousin Luo's words pierced Wu Xinyan's heart like a sharp knife. She wanted to explain, to defend herself, but all the words were stuck in her throat, and she couldn't make a sound.

Luo Yichen, who had been silent the entire time, simply glanced at her calmly. His eyes were icy cold, devoid of any warmth. At that moment, Wu Xinyan felt as if all her strength had been drained from her, and she slumped helplessly in her chair.

"I..." She opened her mouth, but only uttered one word and could not say anything else.

"That's enough." Luo Yichen finally spoke. He stood up and looked down at Wu Xinyan condescendingly, his tone cold and emotionless. "I'll give you one last chance. Tell me who's behind you, and I'll consider giving you a lighter sentence."

Wu Xinyan looked at Luo Yichen in disbelief. His words were like a sharp dagger, piercing her heart. A lenient sentence? He actually suspected her, believing she was the mastermind behind all this?

"I didn't! I didn't do it!" Wu Xinyan stood up suddenly and retorted desperately, her voice trembling slightly with excitement, "Yi Chen, believe me, I didn't do those things, someone framed me!"

However, all she received in response was Luo Yichen's even colder gaze and the contemptuous looks from those around him. In the conference room, the Luo family members whispered among themselves, looking at Wu Xinyan with disgust and hostility.

"Enough! The facts are right in front of you, and you still want to quibble!" Uncle Luo's son, Luo Tiancheng, the second oldest son of the Luo family, slammed the table and pointed at Wu Xinyan, angrily scolding, "If it weren't for you, how could Uncle Luo be arrested? How could the company suffer such heavy losses? You clearly want to harm our Luo family!"

"That's right! Our Luo family can't tolerate such a vicious woman!" Luo's cousin also shrieked in agreement, with a vicious glint in her eyes, "Brother Yichen, you can't be soft-hearted anymore. You must kick her out of the Luo family!"

"Yes! Get her out!"

"Staying with a woman like this is a disaster!"

For a moment, the meeting room erupted in fury, with everyone demanding Wu Xinyan be expelled from the family. Standing at the center of the storm, Wu Xinyan felt everything before her seemed so unreal and absurd. These people, once so kind and caring towards her, now hated her to the core, wishing to tear her into pieces.

"Enough!" Lawyer Yang, who had been silent the entire time, finally lost his patience. He suddenly stood up and tried to defend Wu Xinyan. "The matter hasn't been fully investigated yet. You can't..."

However, his voice was quickly drowned out by the clamor of the opposition. Luo Tiancheng suddenly stood up, pointed at Lawyer Yang's nose, and angrily cursed, "Who do you think you are? How dare you point fingers here! Don't forget, you're just a dog of our Luo family!"

Lawyer Yang's face turned pale, but he was powerless to refute. He looked at Luo Yichen, hoping that he could say something fair, but Luo Yichen just watched it all coldly, without any expression on his face, as if all this had nothing to do with him.

Despair washed over Wu Xinyan like a tide. She looked around and realized she was completely alone and helpless. She wanted to explain, to defend herself, but no one was willing to listen.

"Yichen..." Wu Xinyan turned to Luo Yichen, her eyes full of pleading. However, Luo Yichen just avoided her gaze and said in a cold and ruthless tone, "Someone, send Miss Wu away."

Two bodyguards stepped forward, one on each side, and dragged Wu Xinyan out of the meeting room. Wu Xinyan struggled feebly, but like a trapped animal, her efforts were futile.

"Yi Chen, believe me, I didn't..." Wu Xinyan's voice became farther and farther away, and finally disappeared at the end of the corridor.

The conference room door slowly closed, severing Wu Xinyan's last shred of hope. Luo Yichen slowly stood up, his cold gaze sweeping across the crowd before finally settling on Luo Tiancheng. "I hope you'll remember what you said. If I ever find out you were behind all this..."

Luo Yichen didn't say anything else, but the chill in his tone made Luo Tiancheng shudder. "Brother, you...what do you mean by this? I'm your biological brother!"

Luo Yichen ignored him and turned to leave the meeting room. He wanted to go somewhere where he could calm down and think.

"Mr. Luo, where are you going?" the driver asked respectfully.

"Go..." Luo Yichen paused, and finally spit out an address, "Family Ancestral Hall."

Being roughly pushed out of the Luo family's gate by the bodyguard, Wu Xinyan stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. Steadying herself, she looked back. The cold door was like a chasm, separating her from Luo Yichen and the warmth and hope she once had.

As the sun set, the last rays of light burned across the horizon, stretching Wu Xinyan's lonely figure beyond belief. She walked aimlessly, tears blurring her eyes and the road ahead. After an unknown amount of time, she arrived at a secluded courtyard. On the vermilion plaque at the door, the four characters "Luo's Ancestral Hall" were written in bold, powerful strokes.

This was the Luo family's forbidden grounds, and Wu Xinyan's former safe haven. Whenever she felt wronged and helpless, she would come here to pour out her heart to the tablets of her ancestors. However, now this place has become her last refuge.

The ancestral hall was dimly lit, and the scent of sandalwood filled the air, adding a touch of solemnity and coldness. Wu Xinyan knelt on the cold floor, tears silently sliding down, wetting the bluestone floor.

"Why...why do you treat me like this..." Wu Xinyan sobbed softly, her voice filled with despair and grief, "Yi Chen, do you really believe that I would do such a thing? Have I really lost everything?"

In the empty ancestral hall, only her faint cries echoed, like the wailing of a wounded little animal, heartbreaking.

An unknown amount of time passed before night fell, and the ancestral hall grew darker and colder. Wu Xinyan slowly stood up, her body shaky, as if she would collapse at any moment.

"Maybe, I really should give up..." Wu Xinyan smiled bitterly, her eyes filled with despair and self-mockery, "Luo Yichen, goodbye, never see you again..."

She turned around, ready to leave this place that carried too many sad memories for her, completely leave the Luo family, leave this city, go to a place where no one knew her, and start over.

However, at this moment, her cell phone suddenly vibrated.

A text message from an unknown number appeared on the screen:

"Want to prove your innocence? Want revenge? Come and see me. I know the truth."

Wu Xinyan was stunned. This text message was like a flash of lightning in the darkness, instantly illuminating her desperate heart.

"Who are you? Why are you helping me?" Wu Xinyan replied with trembling hands.

"It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is that I know who is framing you." The other party quickly replied, "If you want to know the truth, come to this address..."

At the end of the text message, there was an address, the address of an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city.

Wu Xinyan held the phone tightly, her heart full of struggle and hesitation.

To go or not to go?

"Heh..." Wu Xinyan suddenly laughed, her laughter carrying a hint of sadness and determination. "I have nothing left, what else is there to be afraid of?"

She raised her head, her gaze firmly fixed on the inky black sky outside the window. She took a deep breath and, with heavy steps, walked towards the ancestral hall's gates, towards that unknown address, towards the opportunity that might change her fate... The night was as dark as ink. A black sedan sped along the highway leading to the suburbs, blending seamlessly into the night. Wu Xinyan sat inside, nervously gripping her phone. The screen displayed the address from the unfamiliar number.

The dilapidated factory building appeared before her eyes, eerie and terrifying, like the maw of a monster. Wu Xinyan took a deep breath, pushed open the car door, and walked in. Her footsteps echoed in the empty factory building, adding a bit of eerie atmosphere.

"Is anyone there?" Wu Xinyan asked tentatively, her voice echoing in the empty factory.

"You're here." An old voice came from the corner, sounding a little weak and alert.

Wu Xinyan looked in the direction of the voice and saw an old man in plain clothes sitting in the shadows. His face could not be seen clearly in the dim light, but his cloudy eyes sparkled with a shrewd light.

"You are..." Wu Xinyan asked tentatively.

"It doesn't matter who I am," the old man coughed a few times and said slowly, "What's important is that I know who wants to harm you, and I also know why your husband's project went wrong."

The old man's words were like a thunderclap, exploding in Wu Xinyan's ears. She looked at the old man in front of her in disbelief, as if she saw the last hope.

Over the next hour, the old man told Wu Xinyan everything he knew. It turned out that he was a longtime employee of the Luo Group and had witnessed firsthand how Uncle Luo exploited his position to secretly tamper with project data and frame Wu Xinyan, ultimately aiming to seize control of the Luo Group.

"He told me all this himself. He also gave me some money and asked me to..." The old man said, pulling out a USB flash drive from his pocket. "It contains all the evidence of his crimes. I wanted to take the money and run away, but my conscience..."

Wu Xinyan took the USB drive and held it tightly in her hand. The old man's testimony and the evidence in the USB drive were her last hope and her weapon for counterattack.

"Thank you," Wu Xinyan stood up and bowed deeply to the old man. "Don't worry, I will testify for you and give you justice."

Wu Xinyan and the old man rushed back to the Luo family mansion overnight. At that moment, the family meeting was about to begin. Everyone in the Luo family gathered together, and the atmosphere was solemn and depressing. Wu Xinyan's sudden appearance broke the original calm. Everyone's eyes were focused on her, some surprised, some confused, and some disdainful.

"Wu Xinyan, what are you doing here? You are not welcome here!" Cousin Luo was the first to attack, speaking in a harsh tone.

Wu Xinyan ignored her provocation and walked straight to Luo Yichen, her eyes firm and her voice clear: "Yichen, I know you don't believe me, but I came here today to prove my innocence to everyone!"

She turned around, her eyes sweeping over everyone present, finally stopping on Uncle Luo, a sneer appearing at the corner of her mouth.

"I've also brought someone with me. He'll tell everyone who's behind all this!"