Love in the Midst of Mistaken Identities

“I understand.” Du Jingtang nodded and placed his hands on Chu Lui’s desk. He finally understood why Chu Lui was acting so weird recently. It was because of her.

“Cousin. You found her, right?” Du Jingtang asked heavily.

“Yes, I met her quite a while ago.” Chu Lui covered his narrowed eyes, which were aching slightly. Four years passed, but he still brought her only humiliation and harm.

“Cousin, tell me, did you realize that you were in love with her and can’t bear to let her go now?” Du Jingtang asked Chu Lui with a complex expression.

Chu Lui stiffened, and then he smiled sadly. “I’m not sure if it’s love. I just don’t want to let her go, but I have no choice but to do so…” He pointed at his chest. “It is always hurting here, even when I’m breathing.”

Du Jingtang sighed softly. “Cousin, perhaps you’re really unaware. I told you that you would regret, but do you know why I said that? You’ve never even considered the fact that whilst you were hating her, you might have also fallen in love with her. That’s why you did everything you could to force her to the brink of insanity. All you wanted was for her to admit her wrongdoings. You wanted to be able to find her so you cut off all her possible ways to survive. Isn’t that right?”

Chu Lui admitted at last. “Yes, you’re right. I just wanted her to come and beg me so I’ll have a reason to forgive her. I just didn’t know that she was so stubborn to disappear from my eyes for four years.”

He hadn’t wanted to treat her with such cruelty when they met four years later, but every time he thought about how she was selling her body at such a place, he went wild with jealousy. That led to his hurting Xia Ruoxin without restraints, which made things unsalvageable in the end.

Du Jingtang didn’t know what more to say. Blame him? Laugh at him? What he felt was more like pity. Chu Lui must have suffered a huge blow. He was feeling so guilty that it was almost driving him, a person as emotionless as a robot, mad.

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Cousin, I know that you’re feeling very sorry towards Xia Ruoxin and would give her everything you have.

“But there’s no need to give her half the company. It’s your company. I don’t know whether Aunt and Uncle will approve, but would your parents-in-law and your brother-in-law agree? Of course, what about your wife? Don’t forget that your company belongs to her son— your son—in the future. Would they be happy with just half?

“I can’t imagine a woman so generous to agree to her husband giving away half his fortune to his ex-wife.” Du Jingtang mulled. It was very like that his decision would be met with opposition from many ends.

If his predictions were correct, then the Chu household would be stirred into a tempest soon.

Chu Lui pursed his lips and flipped open the form for the transfer of assets, signing his name on it without any hesitation. He would find a lawyer to notarize it so that it was valid by law and couldn’t be changed by anyone.

Du Jingtang was right indeed. The storm that raged the Chu household was bigger than he had expected. They were all kicking up a row.

“Chu Lui’s mother, I want to know why on earth Ah Lui will give away half the shares to that woman. What about Manni? And the child she’s carrying? That child carries the blood of the Chu family.”

“Who is Xia Ruoxin to receive all of this? Even if she had them, it belongs to Manni, not her.” Mrs. Li bugged Song Wan constantly. Song Wan could only smile in reply, resignation frozen on her face. She had been talking for the last half an hour and wasn’t showing any signs of stopping, but Song Wan was tired of listening.

The blood of the Chu family all ran in their veins. They would all pay the due price for their actions. Since the one in charge of the Chu Enterprise was Chu Lui now, they couldn’t really interfere with his decision. Even though she was reluctant, too, it had already been decided and set in stone. All Mrs. Li cared about was her Manni, even though she or the Chu family was yet to die. She’d much rather the assets belong to someone else than the Li family.

Li Manni looked at Chu Lui with red-rimmed eyes. How could he do this? That was half of the shares of the Chu Enterprise… but her baby.

“Chu Lui’s father, look, Ah Lui made a mistake. If Xia Ruoxin had any ill intentions, she would be able to destroy the whole Chu Enterprise, the business that you built from scratch.” Mr. Li broke out in cold sweat. This couldn’t be happening. No matter how strong the Li family was, they couldn’t even compete with the Chu Enterprise. If not for Chu Lui’s help in recent years—if not for their daughter being his wife, the Li family might already have fallen.

Chu Jiang opened his eyes calmly. His head hurt from all the noise.

“I’ve already left the company in the hands of Chu Lui. If he really causes the company’s collapse, then it’s because of his incompetence. I won’t blame others. I won’t stop him from doing what he wants, either.” He decided not to mention why this happened. He wasn’t willing to transfer half of the company’s shares to Xia Ruoxin, too, but his son was now the CEO and could do whatever he wanted. He believed that his son would not let his life’s work fall into ruins.

Otherwise, he wasn’t his son anymore.

“Ah Lui, you can’t do this.” Mr. Li wasn’t able to convince Chu Jiang so he acted on his status as his elder to lecture Chu Lui. He gave such a big fortune to another woman—his daughter’s love rival at that. He couldn’t just sit back and let it happen.

It was supposed to belong to his grandson.

“Ah Lui, think about Li Manni. If people got wind of this, how would she face them? You can’t ignore the child she’s carrying right now.” Mrs. Li added.

“Yes, Ah Lui. You’re not a child anymore. You have to start thinking more about your family and your child. You can’t transfer the assets to her. We will never agree to it.”

Chu Lui sipped the tea the housekeeper had poured for him quietly. He was silent throughout the conversation and didn’t even spare them a glance.

At last, he put down the cup and stood up.