The abandoned daughter of the Lu family turns around and marries a celibate tycoon.

"I know." Lu Xiran's willow-leaf-like fingers furrowed slightly, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the rim of the water glass. "That's what I'm most worried about."

She must take revenge; she must reclaim the Lu family's property.

But once she shows herself, Lu Hao and Lin Li won't let her go.

"So you can't just 'appear'." Gu Yanshen put down his chopsticks, his gaze sharp. "You have to create a big enough wave for everyone to see. Otherwise..." He paused, "Lu Hao has the ability to make you disappear without a trace."

Lu Xiran closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I haven't figured out exactly what to do yet," she confessed. "I can only take it one step at a time."

She opened her eyes, a light returning to them: "The most urgent thing is to find out why that piece of land in the suburbs can't be transferred. That's what my dad... he's most concerned about right now. It's also my biggest bargaining chip."

Gu Yanshen didn't say anything, but just lowered his head and ate another bite of noodles.

The hot soup slid down my esophagus into my stomach, and a long-lost, almost unfamiliar warmth spread through me.

He couldn't remember the last time someone cooked him such a simple bowl of home-style hot soup noodles.

He looked up at the opposite side—under the light, Lu Xiran's pale face showed a resilience forged in dire straits, both fragile and tenacious.

A complex emotion quietly arose, mixed with tenderness and a deeper sense of reluctance.

In the study of the Lu family villa, only a desk lamp was lit, its pale light illuminating half of Lu Hao's gloomy face.

The computer screen's pale blue light reflected in his eyes, repeatedly playing the same clip: Lu Xiran crying in front of the camera, her finger hovering over the space bar; pressing it freezes the image; lifting it resumes the playback.

Pause, play.

Pause, play.

He has repeated this action countless times.

When exactly did Lu Xiran record this video?

Did she have a premonition all along?

Lu Hao recalled the fleeting wariness and rejection in her eyes when he asked for that old wooden box that night.

Was it from that time that she began to have doubts?

"I gave you a chance..." Lu Hao muttered to himself, as if trying to convince the person on the screen, or perhaps more like convincing himself, "It was you... who insisted on choosing your own path to death."

His gaze swept across every corner of the screen, not missing a single detail. Suddenly, his eyes fixed on the corner of the video—on the table, the edge of a magazine was visible in the frame.

My heart skipped a beat without warning.

He leaned forward abruptly, almost touching the screen.

With his right hand, he quickly manipulated the mouse to pause the screen, then dragged the zoom-in frame to completely cover the blurry magazine cover.

enlarge.

Zoom in again.

The pixels gradually became rough, but the date in the lower right corner of the cover burned into his pupils—it was yesterday's date!

"Impossible..." A chill ran up from the tailbone to the top of the head.

Could it be that Lu Xiran is not dead?

The study door opened after two light knocks, and Uncle Zhong, holding a document in his hand, looked grave. "Mr. Lu, this was sent by someone from the vice mayor." He placed the document on the table, his finger precisely pointing to one line: "Analysis of Jin Qiqi's and Gu Yanshen's call records. Her contact with Gu Yanshen only began yesterday."

Lu Hao grabbed the document, his eyes quickly scanning the dense array of times, numbers, and locations, finally fixing on an unfamiliar number starting with 138.

"This number," Uncle Zhong said in a low voice, "has been in contact with both Gu Yanshen and Jin Qiqi. And..." He looked up at Lu Hao, "the signal trajectory of this number tonight was last seen at Gu's Hotel."

Lu Hao suddenly remembered something, and his fingers trembled slightly as he turned to the pages about Jin Qiqi's whereabouts.

On the 9th, in Yicheng... she wasn't even in the city!

So, the woman who made the gossip headlines with Gu Yanshen that day and whose blurry profile was photographed was not Jin Qiqi at all!

Who is it?

The guess that he had always dared not think about deeply and had deliberately suppressed resurfaced.

He grabbed his phone, his fingers trembling slightly from the force, and typed "Gu Yanshen's scandal" into the search bar.

The page refreshed—completely clean.

Not only today's news, but all previous related reports and photos have been completely erased.

Cold sweat silently soaked his back.

Lu Xueyan! He suddenly remembered his daughter's almost pathological collection of all information about Gu Yanshen.

Lu Hao stormed out of the study and slammed open the door to Lu Xueyan's bedroom. The loud noise startled Lu Xueyan awake. She sat up in a panic, and seeing her father's ashen face, her sleepiness vanished instantly. "Dad?"

"The photo of Gu Yanshen that was trending on the 9th," Lu Hao's voice was urgent and cold, without any preamble, "did you save it?"

Lu Xueyan instinctively wanted to deny it, but Lu Hao had already snatched her phone away. He roughly unlocked it and opened the photo album—it was indeed filled with various clippings, candid photos, and event screenshots of Gu Yanshen.

Lu Hao quickly swiped and soon found the blurry photo.

He quickly sent the photo to his phone, then turned and left without a word, leaving Lu Xueyan still in shock.

Back in his study, Lu Hao projected the photo onto a larger screen, zooming in on it continuously.

The image became increasingly blurry, but the outline of the woman nestled beside Gu Yanshen, and the faint dark red dot above her left shoulder when she turned to the side...

As if all his strength had been drained, Lu Hao slumped heavily into the large leather chair.

That little red birthmark... His wife once said with a smile that it was their daughter's "special birthmark," a mark left from a past life.

Lu Xiran.

—She is really still alive.

Where is she now?

"Uncle Zhong!" Lu Hao's voice was hoarse from tension. "Send this video to the technical department immediately. I need to know if it's AI-generated! Right now!"

The moment the order was given, he grabbed his car keys and the call log file and rushed out of the house.

The tracking data shows that Gu Yanshen visits the Gu family manor without fail on the 1st and 15th of every month.

Today is the 15th.

The guest rooms in the west wing of Gu Family Manor have a peaceful and warm atmosphere.

Bai Fang finished the last sip of soup with satisfaction, and Lu Xiran handed her a napkin at the right moment.

"Ranran," Bai Fang wiped her mouth, her eyes full of love and a hint of worry, "You make different kinds of soup every day, and you even trouble Lin Chen to deliver them. It's too hard for you."

"It's no trouble at all, Grandma." Lu Xiran smiled and shook her head, opening another food box. "I made the soup in the manor kitchen, it's very convenient. Yan Shen... happens to have an important international meeting today, so he asked me to keep you company in his place. Grandma, try this."

Bai Fang looked at the tempting pieces of fruit in the porcelain dish. She took a bite, and the sweet and sour, refreshing flavor melted in her mouth. Her eyes lit up: "I never imagined that passion fruit and apple mixed with honey would taste like this! Delicious!"

She couldn't resist eating a few more pieces.

Aunt Lan, who was standing nearby, chimed in with a smile, "Yes, the old lady's appetite has improved a lot these days, and her complexion is rosy. This soup is very nourishing; Miss Lu is truly thoughtful."

Lu Xiran simply smiled gently and quietly kept Bai Fang company, chatting about the flowers in the manor and sharing trivial anecdotes. It wasn't until the clock on the wall struck eight that she got up to say goodbye.

The highway was sparsely populated under the cover of night.

Lin Chen focused on driving. In the rearview mirror, a black sedan had been following them for three intersections, maintaining a perfect distance—neither too close nor too far.

Lu Xiran's phone vibrated at that moment, and the name that jumped on the screen made her blood freeze instantly—it was Lu Hao's number!

How did he know this new number? Fear gripped her throat.

Almost simultaneously, Lin Chen also caught a glimpse of the unusual sight in the rearview mirror, and his eyes suddenly sharpened.

The phone kept vibrating stubbornly. Lu Xiran held it stiffly, not daring to answer or hang up.

Lu Xiran suddenly looked up at the rearview mirror. The black car was like a ghost, steadily following behind them.

"Lin Chen," her voice trembled uncontrollably, "we're being followed."

Lin Chen didn't answer, but his eyes darkened, and he suddenly pressed the accelerator harder. The car engine let out a low roar, accelerated abruptly, and shot forward like an arrow, quickly disappearing into the deeper night.