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

The people in the conference room remained stunned for a long time; the air seemed to freeze, with only the sound of her high heels clattering in the distance, assaulting everyone's eardrums.

At that moment, Gu Yinshen's fingertips trembled slightly under the table. He looked at Xie Yumin's back, his thin lips pressed into a line, his eyes as dark as an abyss.

Trust collapsed completely from this moment on.

Meanwhile, inside the detention center, Ruolan sat in the cold visiting room, her fingertips slowly tracing a prepared "trump card" document. Her gaze was like a knife, carving into the paper bit by bit.

"Just you wait and see how high and mighty you all become...

Through her trusted lawyer, the document, containing true, false, and misleading information, was quietly sent out.

Inside, there is not only a photo of Xie Yumin holding a newborn baby, with the background being her old apartment where she lived several years ago, but also a vague note next to it indicating her birth date;

There was also a photocopy of Xie Yumin's hospitalization record, which was forged to closely match the identity of the "partum woman".

Even several photos of Xie Yumin in "intimate" poses with different men, seemingly ambiguous, are actually photoshopped.

Just in case, she even forged a "blackmail" chat screenshot, with content such as "If you don't give me the money, I'll tell everyone who Mengmeng is."

Ultimately, these things, packaged with highly sensational headlines, appeared before the public.

"Shocking secret! The Gu family's heiress is not a legitimate heiress? Her birth mother is suspected to be an internal assistant!"

"Another scandal erupts in wealthy families! Former female assistant, now a key project manager, is suspected of having an illegitimate daughter!"

This information was precisely targeted to certain gossip media outlets, financial forums, and marketing accounts that specialize in sensationalism. It was extremely explosive, yet it skirted the edges of legality at every turn, cleverly avoiding any legal red lines.

Soon, the internet exploded.

The news was simultaneously trending on Weibo, Zhihu, Douyin, financial apps, and entertainment forums across the entire internet.

The top trending topic was the exposure of the birth mother of the Gu family's heiress?!

The number of clicks on related articles skyrocketed by the second, the number of words in the discussion area exceeded the platform's limit, the comment section crashed several times, and network server warnings popped up frequently.

All circles have converged on one focus like never before:

What exactly is the relationship between Gu Yinshen, Xie Yumin, and Mengmeng?

As dawn broke, the area outside the Gu Group building was already bustling with activity. The streets were lined with interview vans and live-streaming vans, and cameras, microphones, and cell phones were held high, resembling a frontline battleground.

Is Miss Xie truly the child's biological mother?

"Why isn't President Gu responding? Is he afraid to admit it?"

"Are you manipulating society's perception of orphans?!"

"You guys are really something, daring to do something like this!"

The dense flashes of the cameras almost swallowed up the morning sunlight, and the cameras mercilessly swept over every employee who tried to enter or leave. Some female employees were even surrounded by reporters and photographed by mistake because they looked somewhat similar to Xie Yumin.

The front desk was constantly receiving harassing phone calls, and the Gu family's official website and social media accounts crashed several times. Security inside the building was fully armed, and the atmosphere was tense.

Worse still, just ten minutes after the stock market opened, Gu's Group's stock plummeted by more than 10%, quickly triggering a chain reaction in the industry. Many businesses were affected, and some even went bankrupt.

But nobody cares about these people. In this age of entertainment to the death, people are better at chasing the real hot topics.

As a result, the topics of Gu's illegitimate child scandal and Xie Yumin's hidden background dominated the social media charts for several days.

Faced with this situation, supporters and opponents argued fiercely, each sticking to their own arguments.

"If she really is an illegitimate child, why hide it for so long? Isn't it because they were afraid that powerful people would deprive the child of her rights?"

"Xie Yumin was criticized so harshly, but she never responded. She clearly didn't want to affect her child... She's a mother!"

"It's so common for women to use their children to force their way out of a position; this is truly a prime example of a scheming woman turning her life around."

"The Gu family's daughter isn't actually from the Gu family?! Would investors still dare to buy in?!"

"No wonder Gu Yinshen took such good care of her; they'd already been 'in love' all along!"

In this situation, major parenting forums, financial communities, and anonymous platforms have all become battlegrounds for online flame wars. The internet is torn apart, information is out of control, and official public relations efforts are utterly ineffective in stopping the spread of rumors.

Meanwhile, the hospital where Mengmeng was staying was also exposed. Reporters with long lenses were seen staking out the ward window every day, and even a blurry picture of her back or a cry that sounded like a child's voice could be turned into a trending topic.

Aunt Zhang held the curtains tightly shut, the wrinkles on her forehead, which had always been resolute, now deepened with terror.

“Yu Mian… I dare not take her out of the ward for even a moment… She had a nightmare last night, crying and calling for you… The doctor said this is bad for her condition, but I…”

Xie Yumin remained silent for a long time on the other end of the phone before whispering and choking back tears, "Aunt Zhang, I'm sorry... You must keep a close eye on her, I will definitely protect her..."

At this time, despite the plummeting reputation of the Gu family, the exposure crisis of Mengmeng, and the encirclement and suppression by the whole society, Xie Yumin did not fall.

Wearing a simple denim jacket, baseball cap, and mask, she stood at the entrance of an old, dusty archive, clutching a yellowed address card—her "last clue" from Uncle Chen.

She no longer placed her hopes on Gu Yinshen, nor did she expect anyone to speak up for her.

From then on, she had to rely on herself to win back Mengmeng's name and clear her name.

Through her tireless efforts, she finally found Uncle Chen in a rural retirement home.

Uncle Chen's eyesight was failing, but he was suddenly stunned when she showed him an old photo of himself from a few years ago.

"You...you are...the shadow of that girl from back then."

Uncle Chen spoke slowly, his voice like a withered leaf: "That year, I saw the old master and old lady of the Gu family arguing fiercely, saying that Yin Shen had caused trouble and offended someone he shouldn't have... That child, that child shouldn't have been hidden away... It was that girl who secretly came to see the child. Every time she came, she didn't say anything, she just cried by the window, and then... she stopped coming."

Xie Yumin gripped the edge of the table tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force, tears welling up in her eyes: "Are you sure... you still remember what the child looks like?"

Uncle Chen's gaze fell on the cute photo on her phone. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded gently: "It's like it, very much like it... that nose, that look..."

However, just as hope was beginning to emerge, an angry male voice interrupted her conversation with Uncle Chen.

"Enough! Dad, you're confused! She's a liar, don't listen to her nonsense!"

Mr. Chen's son angrily pulled the old man away, his attitude forceful: "My father is old and his word doesn't count. We don't welcome you. If you come again, I'll call the police!"

Upon hearing this, Xie Yumin's eyes widened slightly, wondering why the other party would react so strongly.