The richest man's parents were kidnapped, and his adorable son captivated the entire family.

But she wasn't satisfied with that. Over the next few hours, she released more "details" through several departmental group chats, anonymous posts, and during lunch gatherings:

"It seems Xie Yumin has been going in and out of the president's office quite often lately~"

“I have a friend who works in the finance department. She said one day she stayed out very late, seemingly on purpose waiting for President Gu to return to his office…”

"Don't you think it's a coincidence? Fainting, Mr. Gu personally taking her to the hospital, and," she paused slightly, "I heard she had some past acquaintance with Mr. Gu..."

These words, once spoken, quickly ignited a fire in the company's private discourse, like oil spilled on a raging inferno.

Everyone began to look at Xie Yumin with a subtle gaze. In the elevator at lunchtime, several assistants whispered among themselves, deliberately keeping their voices down, but she happened to overhear them:

"Do you think she did it on purpose? Fainting like that... I don't believe it's that coincidental."

"Mr. Gu is usually such a cold person, why did he hug her?"

"Perhaps it was premeditated..."

Xie Yumin didn't notice at first.

During her hospitalization, she already had limited contact with the outside world, and with her mind completely focused on Mengmeng, she had no time to pay attention to the turmoil happening outside.

But gradually, she noticed something was amiss.

When the nurse took her temperature, she glanced at her occasionally, her eyes filled with scrutiny and hesitation.

The little girl in the next bed, who was having her dressing changed, was video chatting quietly with her friend when the camera accidentally panned across her, accompanied by the comment, "That's her..."

Later, when several colleagues from the company brought over documents, their expressions were complicated. They didn't say anything, but their eyes seemed to be looking at a "superior".

She finally began to vaguely sense that something was wrong.

After the nurse left, she quietly got up, leaned on the edge of the bed, and quietly went to the door of the ward. Two female colleagues from her company were standing at the end of the corridor, whispering to each other.

"Let me tell you, she's such a hypocrite. She fainted and then got President Gu to personally drive her to the hospital. If I had that kind of nerve, I would have been promoted long ago."

"You don't understand. Maybe she had this in mind from the beginning... I heard she was President Gu's college classmate before. Isn't this a rekindling of old feelings?"

Xie Yumin's knuckles tightened slightly, and her shoulder, which was covered by the hospital gown, trembled slightly.

She didn't go out, and she didn't explain.

She slowly returned to her hospital bed, sat down quietly, her eyes calm and serene.

She had heard these words enough. She knew Ruolan's methods well; from the first day she joined the company, the other party had used every means to exclude and suppress her, and she was already used to it.

The only person she cared about was Mengmeng.

Thinking of this, she suddenly felt a pang of anxiety, remembering that her phone wasn't with her after she fainted, and she didn't know if Aunt Zhang had received the message.

She quickly turned to the side and remembered the old bag on the bedside table.

But after searching for a long time, he still couldn't find it, and suddenly, he felt a little panicked.

Wait a minute, where's his bag?

Xie Yumin had just woken up; her body was still weak, but her mind was already highly clear. Only one thing was on her mind: Mengmeng.

So she forced herself to sit up slowly, her forehead beaded with sweat and her hands trembling slightly.

"Mr. Gu," she said in a hoarse voice, turning her head to look at the man standing by the window, "could you hand me my bag? I... need to contact my family."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yinshen turned around, his gaze falling on her still pale face. His heart skipped a beat instinctively, but he quickly regained his composure. He remained silent for two seconds before handing her the bag that was on the chair beside him.

Xie Yumin took the bag, her fingers frantically searching for her phone. Finally, she found a familiar outline and hurriedly turned on the screen.

"Di!"

A notification sound rang out, and the phone automatically unlocked because it hadn't been used for a long time. A photo suddenly appeared on the screen: it was Mengmeng.

She smiled sweetly, her eyes curving into crescents. She wore a little dress and a bow in her hair. In the photo, she was biting into a piece of cream cake, her cheeks puffed out, looking just like a creamy white hamster.

"Snapped."

Before she could even hold the phone steady, a cold, sharp force suddenly pressed down on her wrist.

Gu Yinshen's knuckles turned white as he stared intently at the photo on the screen, his pupils contracting sharply, his eyes instantly turning terrifyingly dark. His face was almost touching the phone, as if trying to discern some unspeakable secret from the photo.

Xie Yumin suddenly looked up, an unprecedented sense of panic rising in her throat: "You... let me go!"

"Xie Yumin," his voice was deep and cold, like a sudden clap of thunder in a winter night, each word deliberate and aggressive, "Why...why are there pictures of Mengmeng on your phone?!"

Her face suddenly changed color, as if all the blood had been drawn from her face, and she turned deathly pale.

"No, it's not what you think." She instinctively tried to grab the phone, but he held on even tighter.

"You've had private contact with her? How long have you known her?" Gu Yinshen's gaze was like a knife. "What exactly are you trying to do?!"

His questions were heavy, carrying a clear sense of oppression and anger, as if a mountain was pressing down on Xie Yumin.

His mind was already rapidly piecing together every clue from the past: the coincidence of her starting her job, her attitude towards Mengmeng, her silence, her deliberately concealed private life, and now even Mengmeng's photos could pop up at a glance... Was she planning this all along?

Are you trying to make a move on Mengmeng?

Is it that you want to get close to him by starting with the children?

Xie Yumin felt as if her chest had been ripped open, her breathing becoming erratic: "You...you mustn't misunderstand! I..."

Her lips trembled, her heart pounded, but she couldn't utter a single explanation. She couldn't reveal Mengmeng's identity, nor could she expose the past secrets, and she couldn't tell him that she had been silently guarding this heavy secret all along.

"Give it back!" she screamed shrilly, her voice trembling. "This is my personal property, you have no right to..."

Gu Yinshen stared intently at her, his eyes churning with emotions that seemed to burn like fire or scrape his bones like a knife.

He suddenly realized that he didn't understand her at all.

He thought the woman who had left him years ago was no longer important, but he never expected that now every move she made and every silence she uttered could easily push his bottom line.

“Xie Yumin,” he said in a low, husky voice, “you’d better tell me the truth now.”

The ward was so quiet it felt as if even the air itself had frozen.

Xie Yumin clenched her teeth, her whole body trembling. She knew that if she spoke, everything would spiral out of control. But if she didn't, the man before her would never trust her again, even though she had never done anything to hurt Mengmeng.

She looked at him without saying a word, but a kind of almost desperate calmness appeared in her eyes.

She couldn't defend herself, nor was she willing to back down.

The light in Gu Yinshen's eyes grew colder, even carrying a hint of unspeakable sadness.

He seemed to have been struck hard by something, yet he refused to admit it, only clutching his phone tightly, as if that photo was a hammer of evidence against Xie Yumin.