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

Seeing that Uncle Chen was about to be pulled away, he suddenly felt a little anxious: "I'm sorry, but I really didn't mean any harm. I just wanted to ask some questions..."

However, before he could finish speaking, the man turned around and glared at him fiercely: "Who told you to ask? And just because you asked someone doesn't mean you have to answer them."

"Besides, didn't I already say that he's old and his words shouldn't be taken seriously? What's the point of you babbling on here?"

Xie Yumin opened her mouth, about to say something, when she saw the other person wave her hand impatiently: "Alright, alright, hurry up and leave. I'll let you off the hook this time because you're a woman, but if there's a next time, I really won't let you off the hook!"

With that, the other person helped Uncle Chen leave.

Watching the two figures leave, Xie Yumin clenched her fingers slightly, feeling somewhat unwilling.

So a few days later, Xie Yumin decided to contact Uncle Chen again.

Although the man from that day had warned him, how could his curiosity possibly be deterred?

However, the phone rang for a long time before finally ringing, and as soon as I remembered it, the other party told me: "You mean their family? It seems they've already moved to another city for recuperation... You want their contact information? That's probably not possible, I can't disclose their contact information."

She stood in front of the empty courtyard, her nose icy cold, but her heart burning.

These are not coincidences; someone is precisely cutting off every exit to the truth.

Lawyers, doctors, old neighbors—everyone who could speak—fell silent.

It was as if an invisible hand had ruthlessly shattered her hopes just as she reached out.

The air in the conference room on the top floor of the building was as oppressive as lead.

Gu Yinshen was dressed in a dark gray suit, his hands clasped together, his brow furrowed. He hadn't slept for several nights in a row, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Opposite them were the most influential major shareholders of the Gu family.

"Yin Shen, now is not the time to hide anything!"

"You either release the paternity test results, or... we will hold an extraordinary general meeting to remove you from office."

"An illegitimate daughter? A female assistant? Do you even know the magnitude of the crisis our company is facing?!"

On the table lay a thick stack of negative media reports and social media data tracking charts, all covered in red text, filled with trending keywords: Gu's lies, inheritance scandal, shareholder flight, and high-level turmoil.

The market is voting with its feet.

No matter how powerful or decisive Gu Yinshen was, he could not stop the negative public opinion from clinging to the entire Gu family like vines, and he could not shake it off no matter what.

As night deepened, on the hospital's rooftop helipad, the wind whipped Gu Yinshen's trench coat, making it flutter loudly. Standing high above, he looked down at the hospital, which was surrounded by media in the night, as if under a formidable enemy. His knuckles were white from gripping his fists tightly, his brows were furrowed, and his eyes burned with the flames of pain and torment.

The subordinate reported: "A third group of paparazzi appeared on the third-floor windowsill, and we have cleared the area. Passage number two has been checked and is temporarily safe."

He paused for a moment, then said in a low, hoarse voice, "Security is raised to 'Black Cloud Level,' online archiving of doctors' shift schedules is canceled, and all entry and exit personnel must undergo double verification. If necessary... prepare for a relocation."

"Yes."

He nodded, but showed no sign of relief.

Every upgrade in security brought Xie Yumin and Mengmeng's "mother-daughter relationship" one step closer to being exposed. The more he protected her, the more it resembled imprisonment. The child seemed to live in a crystal dome, even her crying was a controlled freedom.

He saw Xie Yumin more than once, surrounded by the media, without makeup, thin and frail, trying to avoid the cameras while protecting the folder of evidence in her hands. No matter how disheveled she was, she always held her head high and never bowed her head.

In his eyes, she was a white plum blossom that stubbornly bloomed under the night sky after the rain, but now, he personally broke off her branches, just to shield that flower from the wind and snow.

He wanted to rush over.

I wanted to tell her, "Stop investigating. I'll take the blame. Don't exhaust yourself."

But the next second, he saw the board resolution, the real-time stock price decline chart, and...

A public relations crisis plan for "How will the Mengmeng bloodline controversy destroy the Gu family".

Gu Yinshen cannot lose. The Gu family cannot fall. Mengmeng cannot be destroyed.

So time and again, he suppressed his emotions and secretly protected her by means of "expelling the media" and "remotely intercepting reporters' movements," but he did not allow her to get close to the truth.

He was protecting her, but he was also destroying her with his own hands.

The "Legal Adoption" Statement: A Blade of Betrayal

Three days later, the Gu Group's official website homepage updated with a statement:

"In response to recent unfounded rumors regarding the private life of the president of the Gu Group, our group hereby solemnly clarifies..."

Gu Mengmeng, the young mistress of the Gu family, is not the president's illegitimate daughter, nor does she have any so-called "assistant mother" relationship.

Miss Mengmeng is the orphan of a deceased distant relative of the Gu family, legally adopted with complete documentation. Mr. Gu treats her as his own daughter and earnestly requests society to treat innocent children kindly and to stop the harmful speculation and harassment of minors.

Our group will pursue legal action against all those who spread rumors.

Attached below is a blurry photocopy of the "adoption document," stamped with the official seal of Gu's Legal Department.

Xie Yumin: The Moment Faith Collapsed

As Xie Yumin sat in her simple rented room, holding the statement printed from the internet, her fingers trembled uncontrollably along the edge of the paper.

The grayish-white tone of the document perfectly mirrored her complexion at that moment.

She stared at those keywords: "orphan", "legal adoption", "no blood relation".

It felt as if my heart was being ripped open bit by bit by some sharp weapon, cleanly and decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

She understood Gu Yinshen's stance.

It's not that I don't believe her, nor that I don't know the truth.

Instead, he was using this public statement to completely erase her from Mengmeng's world.

The identity of being an "adopted daughter" forcibly severed her from her biological mother. The significance of her painstaking investigation was completely trampled upon in those few words.

Her lips were deathly pale, and her eyes no longer held anger or fear, but rather a profound coldness.

It is a kind of hatred that comes after love has reached its extreme.

She slowly tore the statement to shreds, the scraps scattering at her feet like paper money at a grave. Each piece represented her past trust and illusions about him.

In the deepest darkness, a final rupture occurred.

At night, the city lights shone outside the window, but she sat in the deathly silent room, her eyes vacant.

She murmured, "So... what you feared most wasn't me knowing the truth, but the whole world knowing."

"You're afraid of losing control, afraid of public opinion, afraid of shareholders... but why aren't you afraid of disappointing me?"

"Gu Yinshen, are you protecting Mengmeng, or your power?"

Tears finally fell at that moment, but they were as cold as frost.