Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Bang!

My father hurled the coffee cup against the wall. Ceramic shards scattered across the floor.

Pointing at me, he roared, “Do you have any respect left for your father?”

I propped my chin on one hand, looked him in the eye, and asked the question that had been bothering me.

“Are you asking me to go to the Lin family for the company’s sake—or for your mistress?”

His hand froze in midair. Embarrassment and wounded fury crossed his face.

Lin Qing was clever. He knew I was difficult to control, so he had gone after the people around me.

Six months ago, he had played matchmaker and introduced his own cousin to my father. Even an aging playboy like my father could not resist the lure of a young, beautiful body. One whisper on the pillow from her mattered more than anything his biological daughter said.

When he did not answer, I called my secretary.

“Take some people to Villa Sixteen in Jingshan. Throw out whoever is living there.”

“Yes, Ms. Xu.”

The response came at once.

My father stared at me in disbelief.

“That’s illegal!”

I smiled. “Dad, have you forgotten? Everything you possess is in my name.”

Five years ago, a crucial company project collapsed. The cash chain broke, and Xu Group teetered on the edge of bankruptcy.

With the building about to fall, everyone scrambled to save themselves.

I was only twenty-two. My father tricked me into coming home from overseas and forced me to take over the wreckage before I understood what was happening.

Meanwhile, he liquidated his assets and fled the country with his mistress and illegitimate son.

He brought me back to serve as his scapegoat.

What he had not expected was for Xu Group to survive in my hands.

Now the company, the houses, the cars, and every other asset had nothing to do with him.

He had arrived full of righteous indignation and left with his head hanging.

Not long afterward, Lin Qing called me. He had presumably spoken to my father and finally understood my position.

His voice on the phone was unusually weary.

“Shuyin, can’t we at least part on good terms?”

I lit a cigarette and watched the smoke drift without answering.

I knew Lin Qing.

He was proud, yet deeply insecure. For the first twenty years of his life, the stigma of being an illegitimate son had bent his back. Only after meeting me had he slowly begun to stand straight.

But the insecurity carved into his bones would never disappear.

When the cigarette had almost burned to the filter, I finally spoke.

“Hand over the Hecheng project, and we’ll part on good terms.”

“Shuyin, you know how much that project means to me. I can’t do that.”

I hung up without another word.

People should repay what they owe. Not only had he failed to repay me; he wanted to finish using me and then walk away amicably.

There was no such bargain in this world.

I stepped out of my office and gave my secretaries the final order.

Launch a full-scale attack on Lin Group.

Scandal after scandal was thrown into the public eye as though they cost nothing. Trending topics rose, were suppressed, then rose again.

The offenses ranged from skimping on employee benefits to workplace accidents, tax violations, and even several deaths.

It wasn’t only me. Numerous companies with grudges against Lin Group joined the attack. Before long, no one could tell which accusations were true and which were not.

The struggle continued until eight the next morning. As employees arrived for work, Lin Group’s shares hit their daily lower limit.

Satisfied, I took a hot shower, changed clothes, and drove out of the capital alone.

By the time I returned, half a month had passed.

Lin Qing had been suspended the day after I left, forcing his father, Lin Tianhai, to take charge again.

Lin Tianhai still carried weight. In his prime, a stamp of his foot could make the capital tremble three times over.

But this disaster was too large. Public opinion could be managed; wave after wave of official investigations could not.

Unlike the hotheaded Lin Qing, however, Lin Tianhai had been navigating his particular world for decades. He knew plenty of ways to solve a problem.

The day I returned, more than a dozen black vans waited at the expressway exit. The moment my car left the ramp, they blocked the road.

Lin Tianhai opened my door himself. Beside him, Lin Qing knelt with his head bowed.

“Shuyin, I’ve brought this wretched brat to apologize.”

Lin Tianhai had begun in the underworld and turned legitimate only after marrying the eldest daughter of the Shen family. Dozens of bodyguards stood behind him, making it clear that if I did not accept the apology, I would not be leaving.

I surveyed the scene and smiled faintly. “You’re too courteous, Mr. Lin.”

Lin Tianhai shot his son a look.

Lin Qing shuffled toward me on his knees. His face was haggard, his eyes veined red.

“Shuyin, I know I was wrong. Please forgive me.”

I looked down at him.

“Lin Qing, you will never stand straight again.”

He went rigid. As if I had struck his deepest wound, he shouted, “Xu Shuyin, can you honestly say you’ve done nothing wrong? During all our time together, did you ever truly care about me? Yes, I cheated, and that was wrong—but ask yourself, were you ever as understanding as Xia Lin?”

Sometimes, I truly admired him. Even on his knees, he could still blame someone else for his mistakes.

Lin Qing tried to rise, but Lin Tianhai pressed a hand onto his shoulder.

“Even an execution only takes a man’s head,” the older man said. “You’ve gone far enough.”

The smile on his fleshy face never reached his eyes.

“We may die, but Xu Group will be buried with us. Hand over the Hecheng project. Isn’t mutual profit better for both families?”