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

The photo on the phone screen was so clear it was almost blinding. Lu Xiran's fingers trembled, and the phone nearly slipped from her grasp.

The person in the photo... is her mother, Qin Xuru, and a strange man, in an intimate pose.

She looked up abruptly, glanced at Jin Qiqi and Gu Yanxu who were still immersed in their emotions, and suppressed the turmoil in her heart: "Qiqi, you two... have a good talk. I have something urgent to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."

Before the two could react, she had already turned and walked away quickly.

Almost the instant she rushed into the garage, she dialed the car phone.

"That photo," her voice trembled slightly as she tried to control herself, "who else did you give it to?"

On the other end of the phone, Lu Hao's voice carried a nauseating calmness: "Finally willing to come see me?"

"Answer me!" Lu Xiran growled.

"If you come over alone right now," Lu Hao said calmly, with an air of absolute certainty, "I promise I won't send it to anyone for the time being. But my patience... is limited."

"And remember! Don't tell Gu Yanshen... otherwise, the photo will be on the front page of the Haicheng Daily!"

"Okay." Lu Xiran gritted her teeth and squeezed out the word.

The engine roared, and the car shot off like an arrow.

Lu's Group, Chairman's Office.

Lu Xiran practically burst through the door, which slammed shut behind her. She rushed to the large desk, demanding, "Where did this photo come from?! When was it taken?!"

Lu Hao leaned back in his expensive leather chair, leisurely watching her pale face, contorted with anger and fear. He didn't answer directly, but instead spoke in a nostalgic, hypocritical tone: "Ranran, actually... when you were little, I genuinely loved you too. You were smart, beautiful, and a particularly lovable child."

"Stop with your act!" Lu Xiran's chest heaved violently. "From the moment you repeatedly condoned and even facilitated those 'accidents' targeting me, is there even a shred of father-daughter affection left between us?"

"Father-daughter relationship?" Lu Hao seemed to have heard a joke, a cold smile curving his lips. "First of all, are we 'father and daughter'?"

Lu Xiran's pupils suddenly contracted: "What...do you mean?"

Lu Hao did not answer, but slowly took out an old folder from the depths of the drawer, pulled out a paper report from it, and pushed it in front of Lu Xiran.

Lu Xiran picked it up with trembling fingers.

It was a paternity test report. Her gaze was fixed on the cold, printed text in the conclusion section:

The probability of a parent-child relationship between Sample 1 and Sample 2 is 0.0001%.

The date in the bottom right corner of the report is clearly: ten years ago.

A chill instantly shot from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, and Lu Xiran felt icy cold all over, as if her blood had frozen.

She slowly raised her head and looked at Lu Hao, her eyes filled with disbelief and shock, and... a sense of sudden realization and sorrow.

—No wonder…no wonder he could be so ruthless to himself.

"Don't believe me?" Lu Hao looked at her face, which had instantly lost all color, and sneered, his tone tinged with a twisted resentment. "I didn't believe it back then either! Your mother, Qin Xuru, she acted so loving and dependent on me back then! And what happened in the end? She betrayed me long ago!"

"Betrayal?" Lu Xiran's voice trembled. "Lu Lichuan and Lu Xueyan are both older than me! Who betrayed whom first?!"

Lu Hao was taken aback by her words, his face darkening even further: "Is this her reason for betraying me?!"

"You have no right to judge her!" Lu Xiran forced herself to calm down from the huge shock, took a deep breath, and looked directly at Lu Hao. "What exactly do you want from me today? Tell me, show me your cards, and state your terms."

"Gu Yanshen forced me to put you on the board of directors." When Lu Hao mentioned this name, a barely perceptible hint of apprehension flashed in his eyes. The young man's methods and audacity made him think twice. "He threatened to kick Lu's Group out of the company if the Ruijing project wasn't completed within three days."

"The Lu Group's success today is built on the foundation of my maternal grandfather's Yunyuji!" Lu Xiran straightened her back. "Your conditions have been met. With my shareholding and abilities, my entry into the board of directors is perfectly legitimate!"

"Ha, the same old tricks again!" Lu Hao slammed his hand on the table, his facial muscles twitching. "Did Lu's Group achieve its current status solely through Yun Yu Ji? Are we supposed to remember favors for a lifetime, to crush us? Lu's Group was built step by step by me, Lu Hao! Could it have reached its current size with your grandfather and mother's rigid, inflexible approach?!"

"Without Yunyuji's initial funding and reputation, what would you have to rely on to build this business?!" Lu Xiran retorted without backing down.

"Looks like we can't reach an agreement." Lu Hao's eyes were sinister. He stopped arguing and turned the laptop screen on the table towards Lu Xiran. "Take a look for yourself."

On the screen were a series of automatically rotating photos. The main characters were always Qin Xuru and that gentle and refined man. The scenes were different, but without exception, the two were intimate and their eyes were lingering.

Some of them even involve private matters.

"How...how did you get these?!" Lu Xiran's voice completely changed, filled with terror.

"Of course, cameras were installed beforehand." Lu Hao said calmly, as if he were talking about the weather. "If you want to uncover someone's secrets, you always have to use some extraordinary means."

Lu Xiran's voice trembled with extreme anger and disgust: "You... are even more shameless than I thought."

Lu Hao shrugged indifferently: "Say what you will. Now, the condition is simple: give up all your shares in Lu's Group. Otherwise," he lightly clicked the mouse to bring up the email sending interface, the recipients of which were clearly the email addresses of several well-known media outlets, "I will send out these photos along with this paternity test report. At that time, you can imagine what kind of reputation your 'flawless' mother, Qin Xuru, the most envied socialite in Haicheng, will have."

—A blatant threat.

"No!" she retorted instinctively.

Lu Hao made a move to press the send button!

"Wait!" Lu Xiran's heart jumped into her throat.

Lu Hao stopped what he was doing and looked at her leisurely: "Have you thought it through?"

"I...I need time to think about it."

"Consider? Don't think I don't know you're trying to stall for time. Go find Gu Yanshen!" A ruthless glint flashed in Lu Hao's eyes, and his tone became more forceful. "Either give up your shares in Lu's Group, or give up your mother's reputation. Choose one, no discussion."

He leaned forward, lowered his voice, and said with a cruel pleasure, "The secrets of Haicheng's socialites, especially bombshells involving betrayal and family background, are the kind of gossip the public loves to hear. How will it escalate? How will everyone view her? Can you handle it?"