Chapter 208: The Divorce Agreement, For You, Please Take It

"And I’ve also thoroughly investigated my ’good’ little brother’s tax evasion and other financial crimes over the years. I’ve handed all of it over to the police."

"Goodbye, Chaoyang."

Lu Shijing smiled warmly, but his eyes were ice-cold.

After all these years, his investigation had been exhaustive. Did Chaoyang think he could establish a new persona with just a few half-hearted lies?

This was corporate warfare, not some celebrity trying to clear their name.

As he finished speaking, as if on cue, a flood of incriminating material and evidence against Lu Chaoyang instantly appeared online.

Lu Chaoyang collapsed weakly to the floor.

He never would have imagined that the person in control of LG Group was Lu Shijing.

Lu Shijing... ’How could I have never considered it? Now it’s too late. It’s all too late.’

His entire family, the second branch, had been played for absolute fools.

Police officers arrived shortly after and took Lu Chaoyang away to assist with the investigation.

Afterwards, Lu Shijing announced, "I will not be taking any interviews today."

The reporters were bewildered. ’Wasn’t this a press conference? Why are there suddenly no interviews?’

They had a million questions, but facing their capitalist overlord, they didn’t dare utter a single word.

Lu Shijing continued, "As for the articles you’ll be writing, I trust you all know what to do." The warning was clear: they had better know what to report and what to leave out.

"..." The crowd was dead silent. The cameras in their hands suddenly felt like hot potatoes.

Then, the staff began clearing the venue for everyone to leave.

As an onlooker, Gu Shengsheng realized that there was far more to Lu Shijing than met the eye...

In just a short time, the trending topics on Weibo were filled with scandals about the Lu Family’s second branch, including a video of Wang Shufen’s hysterical tirade.

But there wasn’t a single story about Lu Shijing.

’No wonder,’ she thought. ’He attends so many events, yet there’s never a peep about him in the news. It seems he controls the narrative himself.’

She then recalled the few times nasty rumors about her had popped up online. They were always taken down before she even had a chance to address them. ’That must have been Lu Shijing’s doing, too.’

Just as she was thinking this, Lu Shijing walked straight over to her and said, "I’m back."

Gu Shengsheng knew what he meant. The "I" who was back wasn’t just Ryan, but Lu Shijing as well.

Grandma Lu took this as her cue, leading a sobbing Madam Lu away from the area.

The remaining space was left for Gu Shengsheng and Lu Shijing.

Gu Shengsheng looked at him. "Should I call you Lu Shijing now, or Mr. Ryan?"

"I’m sorry." He finally sounded apologetic. "I just felt yesterday wasn’t the right time to tell you."

"Did you see the interview this morning?" he asked, his voice a mix of apprehension and hope.

"I did," Gu Shengsheng replied, her expression unreadable.

Lu Shijing took out a ring he had prepared in advance. "We didn’t have this for our wedding. I’d like to make up for that now."

"There’s no need." She looked down, rummaged through her bag, and pulled out a document she had printed earlier.

"Divorce papers," she said.

"Lu Shijing, with a status as impressive as yours, I doubt you need a wife like me. And I... I’m not prepared to spend the rest of my life with a stranger," she said, her words sounding as though they had been rehearsed countless times.

Lu Shijing froze for a moment, then gave a self-deprecating laugh. "I thought, after all this time, you might have developed some feelings for me. Even just a little."

’Was I just overthinking things all along?’

Seeing the flash of hurt in his eyes, Gu Shengsheng met his gaze.

"Lu Shijing," she said, "if you truly loved someone, I don’t think you would wait to be the last one to tell her your real identity. And you certainly wouldn’t conspire with everyone around her to deceive her."

Lu Shijing froze. "You knew..."

"Yes. I only found out recently. Before this, I kept hoping you would be honest with me." She lowered her head and quickly wiped away a tear, wondering why she was crying now when she was usually so emotionally stable.

Gu Shengsheng quickly composed herself. "But I figured out your identity on my own. I learned a bit from Zhao Dehai, I sensed something from Grandma Lu, and I had Zhao Han help me investigate."

"You see? This was something that could have been cleared up with a simple conversation. Why did it have to be so complicated?" She frowned, her voice rising unconsciously. "I found clues from all over the place, but when I asked you directly, you still said nothing."

Gu Shengsheng was disappointed.

She hated being deceived, and even more, she hated this feeling of always being kept at a distance.

All she wanted now was a divorce.

Lu Shijing stood rooted to the spot, only managing to force out a single word: "Okay."

He understood then. It wasn’t just that he had missed his chance to explain yesterday; he had missed every single chance before that, too.

Gu Shengsheng continued, "I’ll move out of the house. I’ll stay at the courtyard residence for now."

"If there’s anything else to hand over later, just message me."

"Okay," Lu Shijing nodded, watching her back as she turned and walked away. He watched for a long, long time...

「Ten minutes later.」

Lin Kai came running over, panting.

"Boss, you forgot the box for the Young Madam! The one we dug up yesterday."

"Huh? I heard from Grandma Lu that you confessed your love. Where’s the Young Madam? She must have fainted from happiness, right?" Lin Kai grinned to himself, imagining the sweet scene.

Lu Shijing shot him a look, not deigning to say a single word.

Lin Kai, taking his boss’s silence as confirmation, continued, "Oh, and I ran into Jin Ran on my way here. He was being his usual dandy self. He said the idea he gave you was foolproof, that no woman could refuse such a romantic gesture."

"After all, the head of the LG Group publicly declaring his love, complete with a romantic ceremony... and on such an important day, too! Miss Gu is bound to feel how important she is to you, how much you value her."

"..." Lu Shijing was getting very annoyed. "Is there more?"

"Jin Ran also said he deliberately picked this auspicious day for you. He said telling her any earlier wouldn’t have worked—it had to be today for everything to go perfectly."

"Hah." Lu Shijing practically ground his teeth. "Where is Jin Ran?"

"Right here!" Jin Ran appeared at the door, clad in a flashy suit. "So, how’d it go? Ready to treat me to a nice, big drink?"

"Get over here," Lu Shijing said, cracking his knuckles.

What followed was a one-sided beatdown we’ll spare you the details of.

Lin Kai heard Jin Ran’s wails and cries for help but had no intention of getting involved. Self-preservation was paramount.

He sat to the side, playing deaf and dumb. Then he noticed the papers on the table, picked them up, and read them. Divorce papers...

’Holy crap!’ Lin Kai wanted to rip his own mouth right off his face.

’If I don’t get out of here now, when will I?’

He scrambled to the door and, once he was at a safe distance, asked, "Boss, should I still deliver the box to Miss Gu?"

"Yes." Lu Shijing stared at him for a long moment before saying, "Send it over later. And don’t tell her it’s from me, or she won’t accept it."

Lin Kai was speechless. ’The boss has it so rough! It really is true... the one who falls in love first is always the more vulnerable one.’

’But the Young Madam is a good person. If she refused him, she must have had her reasons!’