My Ex-Boyfriend's Name Was in the Chairman's Will - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

In the half-hour since the photos were leaked, my phone had been ringing so much it was hot to the touch. The Board of Directors, the media, partners, the PR team-everyone was asking the same question.

Song Yucheng, what exactly is your relationship with Luo Yuncheng?

“Don’t take down the trending searches yet,” I told my team. “Pull up all the old posts and news related to North River Phase 3 and create a timeline. Also, find the account that first posted the photos.”

“Don’t take them down?” A young colleague was stunned.

“Right,” I said. “The more we delete, the more it looks like we have something to hide.”

Shen Kening stood beside me and lowered her voice. “Director Pan just called. He wants you to issue a statement immediately to distance yourself from Lawyer Luo’s personal life.”

“I can’t distance myself.”

“Then at least deny that you have any current professional interests together.”

I smiled. “By now, all of Haisheng knows that we do.”

A strange silence fell over the conference room.

When Luo Yuncheng pushed the door open and walked in, everyone instinctively looked toward him. He glanced at the large screen and placed a freshly printed document directly in front of me.

“Post this.”

I looked down and saw the title.

*Public Statement Regarding the North River Phase 3 Settlement Trust and the Re-investigation of Historical Accidents.*

“Are you crazy?” Shen Kening spoke first. “Publicly bringing up the old case now will only drag Haisheng down with it.”

“The old case was already underwater,” Luo Yuncheng said calmly. “Someone deliberately used our personal relationship to ignite the topic because they didn’t want the public to focus on North River Phase 3 itself. Since that’s the case, we might as well pull the conversation back to where it belongs.”

I looked up at him. “You want to meet them head-on?”

“It’s not just a head-on collision; it’s using their momentum against them,” he said. “The more the public focuses on our relationship, the more they’ll ask why Fu Mingzhang designated two people with a past to jointly execute this trust. And as long as they keep asking, North River Phase 3 can’t be suppressed.”

It was indeed the riskiest yet most effective strategy.

“Director Song?” Shen Kening waited for my decision.

I picked up the document. “Release it in half an hour.”

“And the matter with the photos…”

“Don’t respond to the relationship history,” I said. “Only respond to the facts. Fu Mingzhang’s will is real, there is a genuine need for a re-investigation into the North River Phase 3 accidents, and the subsequent progress will be jointly disclosed by Luo Yuncheng and me.”

“You’re putting yourself on the chopping block.”

“I was already on it.”

After the meeting adjourned, the office finally quieted down.

“You even understand PR tactics now,” I remarked.

“I learned from the best.”

I froze.

He didn’t look up, simply continuing, “I saw a lot of them on your computer back then.”

“Don’t go home tonight,” Luo Yuncheng said suddenly.

“What do you mean?”

“The trending search is still up and the photos are out. Reporters will likely stake out your place. Either come to my place, or I’ll go to yours.”

I scoffed. “Which one do you think looks more like adding fuel to the fire?”

“Then we’ll go to a hotel,” he said candidly. “Same floor, different rooms. At least it’s safe.”

I stared at him. “Luo Yuncheng, you’re certainly not being polite about bossing me around now.”

“It’s not bossing you around.” He finally looked up at me. “I’m just afraid something will happen to you.”

Those words sounded so much like the past that my chest tightened, and I almost instinctively wanted to retreat.

I looked away. “I’ll book it myself.”

At eleven that night, he and I checked into a business hotel on the north bank of Haicheng.

The elevator reached the twenty-first floor, and Luo Yuncheng and I stepped out one after the other. He swiped into room 2108, while I stopped at the door of 2106.

Just as I was about to close the door, he suddenly said, “Yucheng.”

I didn’t turn around.

“Before we go to see Jiang Youchuan tomorrow, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What?”

He was silent for a few seconds before saying, “When I left back then, it wasn’t because I was going abroad.”

My hand froze on the doorknob.

“Then why?” I asked.

“Because Fu Mingzhang came to see me.”