Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Song Mingzhu was even colder in person than in her photos.

She sat by the window with a cup of black coffee in front of her, untouched.

I took a seat.

Her first words were: “I don’t love Lu Chenzhou.”

“Congratulations,” I said.

She glanced at me.

“There’s no need for sarcasm. I don’t want to marry him either.”

“Then why the engagement?”

“Because my father wants it.”

She pushed a document envelope toward me.

“Song Qiming doesn’t just want me to marry into the Lu family. He wants to use the Lu family’s projects to fill his own financial holes.”

I didn’t touch the documents.

“What does any of this have to do with me?”

“Everything.”

Song Mingzhu looked at me.

“You are the only person who can make Lu Chenzhou lose control.”

She was too blunt.

So blunt that it made me uncomfortable.

“Miss Song, you shouldn’t be coming to me to solve your fiancé’s emotional problems.”

“He isn’t my fiancé,”

she said indifferently.

“At least, not after last night.”

I frowned.

Song Mingzhu opened her phone and showed me a photo.

In the picture, Lu Chenzhou was standing at the entrance of the Lu family’s ancestral residence.

Old Madam Lu stood before him.

He hadn’t entered the house.

Old Madam Lu had her hand raised, striking him across the face.

The photo was blurry.

But his humiliation was clear enough.

Song Mingzhu said, “The first thing he said when he went back last night was that he wanted to cancel the engagement.”

My heart skipped a beat.

I quickly looked away.

“It has nothing to do with me.”

“Wen Qiao, you’re very stubborn.”

I looked up.

“You didn’t ask me here just to critique my personality.”

Song Mingzhu gave a small smile.

She finally picked up the coffee and took a sip.

“Four years ago, the person who forced you to leave wasn’t just Madam Lu.”

My breath hitched.

“What do you mean?”

“My father was involved too.”

Her voice was flat.

“Back then, there was a car accident in the Lu family. Lu Chenzhou’s father died, and the Lu family’s capital chain snapped. The Song family stepped in to help, but the condition was that the Lu family and the Song family be tied together.”

A chill ran down my spine.

I knew a little about this.

The year Lu Chenzhou’s father passed away, he had transformed overnight from a carefree second son into the successor of the Lu Corporation.

But no one had ever told me that the Song family had already reached out their hand back then.

Song Mingzhu continued, “You were the variable.”

“Lu Chenzhou was too young then. If he had turned against his family for you, the Lu family would have fallen into chaos.”

“So, they worked together to clear you out.”

“‘They’?” I asked.

Song Mingzhu looked at me.

“Madam Lu, Song Qiming, and a group of people who knew the truth but chose to stay silent.”

My fingertips began to go numb.

“The truth about the car accident?”

Song Mingzhu didn’t answer immediately.

She pushed the document envelope a bit further toward me.

“My father was involved in the Lu family’s overseas financing back then. Before the accident, Uncle Lu was planning to cut him out. Then the accident happened.”

She spoke very slowly.

“I have no evidence to prove he caused the accident.”

“But I do have evidence that he swallowed a large sum of the Lu family’s money after the crash.”

I stared at the envelope.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“Because he wants to destroy me, too.”

A crack finally appeared in Song Mingzhu’s composure.

“He wants me to marry a man who doesn’t love me just to fill his holes. Once he gets the project, he’ll kick both me and Lu Chenzhou out of the game.”

She smiled mockingly.

“I refuse to be his tool.”

I remained silent for a long time.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Next week, the Lu family and the Song family are holding a project launch conference,”

Song Mingzhu said.

“He will definitely use your brother to threaten you again. He wants you to publicly admit that you were the one hounding Lu Chenzhou and that you intentionally crashed the engagement party.”

I gripped the document envelope tightly.

“And then?”

“Then, you do exactly as he says.”

I looked up at her.

Song Mingzhu met my gaze, emphasizing every word.

“But only say the first half.”