No reconciliation, no forgiveness! Mr. Pei leaves with nothing.

"No, you can't... absolutely not."

"This wedding has always been what my eldest brother wanted, you absolutely cannot do this!" Huo Ling regretted it, she really regretted it. From childhood to adulthood, apart from her father and mother, she had never been afraid of anyone, but now Xu Zhoulan made her scalp tingle and her hair stand on end.

She pleaded with him, grabbing his arm, "I promise you, I'll do whatever you say."

Xu Zhoulan smiled with satisfaction. His fingers traced her cheek, as if admiring an object that pleased him. He lifted her chin and kissed her…

Huo Ling suppressed the urge to push him away, responding stiffly, not daring to disobey, and could only silently endure it.

His jaw was pried open, and he attacked like a siege, and before long, the gun went off accidentally.

The seductive voices, along with the sound of chains dragging on the ground, blended together, creating a pleasant melody.

It took more than an hour to finish.

Huo Ling lay panting by the bed. The blanket only covered her bare buttocks, and her figure was so beautiful that it was hard to look away. Xu Zhoulan untied the sturdy silver chain around her ankle.

"You'd better keep your promise."

"Brother will naturally agree, but... Little Ling'er, remember to listen to your brother."

Huo Ling watched as he burned the document, flames burning on the tiled floor of the room. Only after it had completely turned into a pile of ashes did Huo Ling slowly catch her breath and fall asleep.

The room was a mess. She hadn't eaten for days and was on a hunger strike. When the maid came to clean the room, she woke her up and said, "Miss Huo, the master wants you to come downstairs for a meal."

Huo Ling had changed into a nightgown at some point. She didn't want to go, but her physical hunger forced her to eat something.

Xu Zhoulan saw the girl, who was unsteady on her feet and had to hold onto the handrail as she came down the stairs, run all the way to Xu Zhoulan's side. Looking at the table full of delicious food, she eagerly tore off a whole chicken leg and began to eat it in large bites, completely disregarding the so-called etiquette and image she had once learned.

She lay face down on the table, her buttocks raised. Xu Zhoulan reached under the girl's skirt and slipped his hand inside, feeling the emptiness. A strange excitement flickered in his eyes...

"You eat your..."

"Don't worry about your brother."

The servants standing nearby all lowered their heads consciously.

It ended quickly. Huo Ling's legs were a little weak, and she was held powerlessly by him. Regardless of the sticky feeling down there, Xu Zhoulan saw that she was eating happily, so he kept putting food on her plate and enjoying her wolfing down her food.

After she finished her soup, Xu Zhoulan used a tissue to wipe her oily mouth. "It seems Huo Tingshan is still too lenient with you."

After Huo Ling finished eating, she finally asked the question that had been on her mind: "Why did you target my brother like that?"

"I really don't know what's so great about fighting for the position of heir. It's just about rights and wealth... things you can't take with you when you die."

"Xu Zhoulan, have you never thought about being a normal person? Having a proper relationship, getting married and having children? You go to work and earn money, and she takes care of your daily needs. No matter how late you get off work, there will always be someone waiting for you to come home."

"Don't you yearn for this kind of life?"

Even if you gain all of your father's wealth, there are some things you are destined to lose.

"People who are nice to you are only nice to you because you have money. If you don't have that, you won't see any sincerity from them at all."

Xu Zhoulan chuckled, "Little Ling'er, are you planning to use reason and emotion to persuade your brother?"

"Do you have a grudge against my brother? Or against my sister-in-law?"

Xu Zhoulan thought for a moment, then twirled a strand of hair that was draped over her shoulder with his fingers and said, "I have both."

"But little Ling'er, you don't need to know the answer."

"All you need to do is stay by your brother's side."

Both? But Huo Ling has lived in the Huo family since childhood and has never met Xu Zhoulan. If he is really also his father's illegitimate son, why does he have the surname Xu instead of Huo?

Since he is a member of the Huo family, why would he want to take revenge on his sister-in-law?

At first, Huo Ling thought that Xu Zhoulan did all this simply because he also had his eye on his sister-in-law and wanted to forcibly separate her from her older brother.

Later, after calming down and thinking about it, Huo Ling realized that it wasn't like that at all.

"You're trying to break them up because you can't have your sister-in-law, right? You're driven by hatred and want to break them up!" Huo Ling deliberately used reverse psychology to test her.

Xu Zhoulan stared at her lips, his eyes losing some of their danger. "I can get her easily."

"That's true... After I replace your eldest brother and become the heir of the Huo family... she will be the prey of the victor and stay by my side."

"Just seeing your older brother, or any of you, brings me pain..."

"My brother will be very happy!"

This person is a lunatic, a madman!

"What about me? Brother... will you kill me then!" Huo Ling hooked her arms around the man's neck and pressed herself against him.

Xu Zhoulan: "As long as Xiao Ling'er behaves well, brother will allow you to continue to stay by his side."

The wedding was set for three months from now, the best day of the whole year.

The time was long, but my grandfather said that as long as the wedding went smoothly on that day, everything would go smoothly and peacefully for the rest of their lives, and the couple would live in harmony.

Jiang Hua never believed in these things...

The next day, Jiang Hua couldn't resist and went to see Xue Ruyao alone. She didn't know why she wanted to find out the answers to her questions.

Finding out which police station Xue Ruyao was at wasn't difficult for Jiang Hua.

When she was brought into the visiting room, Xue Ruyao saw Jiang Hua, but instead of the hysterical outburst and resentment she had imagined, she looked ashen-faced.

"I never expected that the person who came to see me would be you!"

Jiang Hua: "I never expected that you would post those things on the school forum, making Song Qingran the target of everyone's criticism. Xue Ruyao... Song Qingran gave you so many chances. If I were you... I would just live my life peacefully."

"Ha! Song Qingran?" Xue Ruyao suddenly sneered sarcastically, "As friends, we've known each other for so long, but I always feel like I've never truly understood her!"

“I admit that at first, I was driven by greed and a competitive spirit to outdo you.”

"Before I released those recordings, I suspected that Song Qingran might have known your identity all along, but deliberately didn't tell me!"

"...I can't describe it. It's like I've become a knife in her hand, except that the knife is pointed at you."

"She paid off our debts time and time again. This was no small amount, not a few thousand or tens of thousands... but millions or tens of millions!"

“I admit that she associates with people from high society, and borrowing this money came at a price for her.”

"We're just friends, not blood relatives! Look at Xiaoyu... to stay out of this, she was the first to point the finger at me! I've realized just how selfish people can be; what friends... they're all fake..."

"When I think about it, I sometimes find it a little unbelievable that Song Qingran has helped me so much."

"Since getting involved in jewelry restoration, my desires have grown stronger, and my appetite has become increasingly larger..."

"If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have copied the jewelry restoration video from your computer!"

"Otherwise... I wouldn't be in this state now!"

Jiang Hua grasped the key point from her words: "What kind of repaired video?"

The moment Xue Ruyao saw her, she felt as if she had seen hope. She made a request to her, "If I tell you, can you let me out?"

"This time I will definitely repent and be a good person."

"If everything you said is correct, I will consider it."

Xue Ruyao then told her, "The reason we want to make money through jewelry restoration like you is because we... saw the jewelry restoration data on the USB drive in your hand."

"We thought the person in the video was... you had plastic surgery to look like her, but we never expected... she's your mother."

“We… always learned something from those lessons when we did our homework or reviewed jewelry restoration.”

“Song Qingran was also present at the time, and President Pei took the USB drive from my hand once as a warning. We were blinded by greed. Unlike you, who was born into a wealthy family, we were too eager to make money, which is why we did such an extreme thing.”

"Jiang Hua... I know I've wronged you... Please, please help me just this once!"

Jiang Hua's eyes gradually turned cold as she watched Xue Ruyao's. "Where is that USB drive now?"

Xue Ruyao: "I don't know, but I've kept it in my dorm room at school. I haven't had time to move my things from the dorm yet."

"They should still be there."

Jiang Hua stood up, turned around and left the visiting room. She took a taxi back to Imperial University, found the dormitory supervisor, and found that Xue Ruyao's belongings, which had been left in the dormitory, had been collected and placed in a corner that was to be disposed of.

Jiang Hua also found the USB drive that Xue Ruyao had mentioned in the pile of garbage.

On the way back to Royal Dragon Bay, Jiang Hua was inexplicably cold. Sitting in the car, she took out her phone and found the number for the legal department of the Jiang Group. Her call was answered quickly.

"Young Miss, how may I help you?"

Jiang Hua: "Add another charge against Xue Ruyao: theft!"

"I will send the detailed account to the legal department's email address in a moment. We will proceed according to the normal legal process and sentence them as long as they are due."

Give me a result and an answer when the time comes.

Jiang's Legal Counsel: "Yes, Miss."

Upon seeing the person return, Xu Qiulan immediately stepped forward to greet her: "Miss, you're back? Why do you look so pale?"

Jiang Hua: "I'm fine."

Xu Qiulan seemed to sense that something was wrong.

Even in the home theater, the sound from the screen still left Jiang Hua's thoughts somewhat chaotic. Half of her body was shrouded in darkness, and a bright light shone from the depths of her pupils, but the light reflected off them was somewhat cold.

She was lost in thought, and after what seemed like an eternity, a dark figure slowly sat down beside her.

She did not go to see him.

"I thought you used to like Song Qingran, which is why you protected her again and again, made her the spokesperson for the Jiang Group, helped her make new connections, put her on the biggest stage of the Time Show, and showcased her own work to the public, giving this talented girl a gilded image and paving the way for her future... I can understand that when you like someone, you only want to give them the best."

“But I didn’t expect that, Mr. Pei… you would also extend your affection to everything related to me?” Her words were extremely sarcastic.

"Song Qingran's good friend stole my things, and you were responsible for covering for them and keeping it a secret for me... If I hadn't suddenly gone to see Xue Ruyao, would you have kept it a secret forever!"

"If you hadn't indulged me from the beginning, none of this would have happened."

"Now I'll send those thieves to jail."

Do you have any objections?

Pei Zhan: "No."

“Very well. I also hope that this will be the last time... Since it's in the past, I can let it go. After all, it's been so long, it would be pointless for me to keep bringing it up, right?” Jiang Hua threw the USB drive in her hand directly into the trash can in front of Pei Zhan. As she got up and walked past him, even the wind she stirred up seemed to resist him.

After coming out, Jiang Hua sent a message to that mysterious number again, "This is... the first thing you wanted to tell me?"

"What's the second thing?"

This morning, Jiang Hua suddenly received a message. The sender did not reveal their identity, but only told her that Xue Ruyao had other people around her, and that she did not know the secret.

She went there, but before she could even ask, Xue Ruyao told her the answer herself.

She tried dialing that number, but it was just a virtual number and she couldn't get through.

A few minutes later, Jiang Hua received that text message again…

Upon seeing the words above, Jiang Hua felt as if she had been punched hard in the chest.

It was unbearable for her; her chest felt suffocated, as if she couldn't breathe. She clutched her chest...

The excruciating pain made her almost faint when Pei Zhan saw her swaying body. "Huahua!"

The man picked her up and carried her back to the room. He found her heart medication on the bedside table. Jiang Hua hadn't had a relapse in almost a month, and this was the first time.

Pei Zhan quickly fed her the medicine. Jiang Hua looked at him with the eyes of an enemy, but she quickly suppressed it and tried her best to control her emotions. "I... I'm fine."

"You go out first."

"I'll be fine after a nap."

Pei Zhan held her hand. "Given your current situation, whether it was back then or now, there are some things... I will still choose never to let you know."

"I did all this just so that you could live a good life."

"Huahua, I can't lose you!"

Pei Zhan's deep, dark eyes were filled with tenderness as he looked at her. He reached out and smoothed the stray strands of hair from her forehead. "Be good...give me your phone?"

he knows?

So he knew all along!

"I'll return it to you after the wedding. In the meantime... I'll stay with you. Okay?"