Sober and beautiful, my husband and son begged for my forgiveness on their knees.

That evening, Ning Yao returned to her apartment and took stock of all her assets.

The 50 million she received in the divorce settlement has dwindled to less than 30 million. Although Suixing has made a considerable profit recently, the money on her books plus her current cash is still far from 100 million.

Even if she sold her apartment, it wouldn't be enough.

It's her fault for focusing all her attention on her family in her past life and being oblivious to everything else. Otherwise, she might have been able to buy a lottery ticket or find some good fortune.

What to do now?

Overwhelmed by this enormous debt, she barely slept a wink all night and arrived at the company feeling dizzy and disoriented.

Not wanting others to notice her anxiety, she could only pretend that nothing was wrong.

"Ning Yao, you don't look well. Is something wrong? If you need any help, you can tell me."

Zhong Yunche was worried, so he followed her into the office.

Ning Yao forced a smile, "I'm fine for now, it's just that the neighbors were a bit noisy last night, so I didn't sleep well."

Zhong Yunche noticed her obvious dark circles and knew she was anxious about the compensation, but since she was unwilling to speak, he didn't want to interfere.

"I'm going to buy a coffee, can I bring you one?"

"Okay, one iced Americano, I'll transfer the money to you."

Ning Yao reached for her phone to transfer the money; she often drank the coffee downstairs and knew the prices.

"Ning Yao." Zhong Yunche was annoyed that she wanted to settle accounts with him even for a cup of coffee, so he directly stopped her hand from entering the password.

Ning Yao was confused. "What's wrong?"

Why is he angry?

Zhong Yunche withdrew his hand with a cold expression. "It's nothing. I'm going to buy coffee."

When he returned, Ning Yao thanked him, but he curtly said it was no trouble and then left.

Ning Yao was even more confused.

But she didn't take it to heart and continued to worry about her huge debts.

Just then, Jiang Tian called to check on her and also wanted to gossip about her relationship with Lu Jingmo.

During this time, Ning Yao came to regard her as a friend, so he told her about the exorbitant compensation he was facing.

Jiang Tian on the other end panicked, "One hundred million? Has Lu Jingmo gone mad! Your 'Shattered Star' is very famous now, and it will definitely have a bright future, but how could he possibly come up with one hundred million now! You were once husband and wife, how could he be so ruthless!"

Ning Yao found it very novel; whether in her past life or this one, this was the first time she had ever heard someone help her scold Lu Jingmo.

My heart felt warm, and the shadow of being burdened by debt lessened considerably.

“He’s always been like this, after all, I don’t have any special feelings for him.”

Jiang Tian was genuinely furious. "You're so spineless! He asked you for so much, and you actually gave it to him! That's not ten thousand, or a hundred thousand, it's a hundred million!"

"What else can I do? He said there's a clause in the divorce agreement that I can't announce the divorce without his consent, so I had no choice..."

Jiang Tian snorted, "What do you mean there's no way? I think Lu Jingmo definitely has other plans. Why don't you go to him again and tell him you can't come up with the money, and see what he says?"

Ning Yao was stunned. "Your idea is a bit outrageous."

She didn't need to go; she knew Lu Jingmo wouldn't see her, and might even throw her out, which would be even more embarrassing.

"What's so outrageous about it! Although Lu Jingmo isn't an ordinary man, his thoughts aren't too different from other men. Sister, you have to believe me, give it a try, there might still be a chance, it's better than you racking your brains here. Okay, I have to film now, we'll talk again when I have time."

Ning Yao put down her phone and pondered Jiang Tian's words repeatedly. Although she didn't believe that Lu Jingmo had any ulterior motives towards her, she agreed with what Jiang Tian said later.

It's better to give it a try than to rack your brains here.

So she went to find Lu Jingmo again.

To avoid attracting unnecessary attention, she specifically contacted Yang Qian first to confirm that Lu Jingmo had half an hour free before taking the elevator up.

Lu Jingmo was wearing a very formal suit today, which made him look noble and aloof.

Seeing her arrive, he glanced at his watch and asked bluntly, "Have you prepared your money?"

Ning Yao took a deep breath, picked up her bag, walked up to him, and said bluntly, "I can't raise 100 million, so I wanted to ask you if there's any other way to do it? Or, could you ask for a smaller amount?"

Lu Jingmo's icy gaze fell on her face. "There is no room for negotiation on this matter."

“But I really can’t come up with 100 million. You don’t want me to get locked up because of this money, do you? After all, you still need me to help you communicate with the design master.”

Lu Jingmo frowned. "Are you threatening me?"

Ning Yao clenched her fists. "I'm discussing this with you. After all, it's a lose-lose situation, which isn't good for you, for me, or for Mingjin."

Lu Jingmo leaned back in his chair and looked Ning Yao over again.

His gaze was extremely intimidating, making Ning Yao's heart tighten.

After a moment, Lu Jingmo gave her a cold look and said, "Fine, for Mingjin's sake, I'll give you two more choices."

Ning Yao had given up hope, but to her surprise, he was actually willing to negotiate.

"You said."

Lu Jingmo stood up, walked around the desk, and leaned lazily against the edge of the desk.

"First, you sell the Shattered Star to the Lu Group as debt settlement, and we will settle the transaction on time."

"Second, the Lu Group will hold a press conference tomorrow. You will attend with me to publicly clarify that the divorce news is false and that we are still husband and wife."

After hearing his request, Ning Yao refused without hesitation, "Impossible! I founded 'Shattered Star' myself, I can't give it to you. Besides, we're already divorced, I have no reason to help you deceive people."

Lu Jingmo's face darkened, and he laughed angrily, "I've given you the opportunity; whether you seize it or not is up to you."

Ning Yao was so angry her heart felt like it was going to explode. "You call this an opportunity? Lu Jingmo, this is blatant opportunism!"

Seeing her furious state, Lu Jingmo's anger inexplicably subsided a bit.

He straightened his body and stood upright.

"I have to go to a meeting. Take your time to think about it and give me an answer before tonight."

Ning Yao watched him walk away so nonchalantly, and she wanted nothing more than to smash his head with her bag.

dream!

She will not agree to any of them!

She stormed back to the company and it took her a while to calm herself down.

Just then, Zhong Yunche came to see her again and placed a business card on her desk.

“This client was very interested in ‘Suixing’ before, saying he was willing to invest 80 million to let ‘Suixing’ build its own factory and create its own brand. But I was too busy recently and didn’t have time to tell you. I confirmed with him this morning and he is still interested. You can think about it.”

Ning Yao was shocked. She had planned to create her own brand with "Shattered Star" in the future, but she didn't expect someone to be willing to invest. Even more unexpectedly, at this critical juncture, the other party still did not change their attitude.

She very reasonably raised her suspicion: "Could this person be a con artist?"

Zhong Yunche: "..."