Chapter 3 – The Girl with the Red Umbrella
The day he met Yu Lan, the sky was clear.
It was orientation day at Jinghai National University, and Lin Xian stood beneath a cherry blossom tree, waiting for the opening ceremony to begin. She appeared out of nowhere—red umbrella in hand, even though there was no rain.
"Rain's in the forecast," she smiled.
He raised an eyebrow. "It's 28 degrees and not a cloud in sight."
Yu Lan tilted her head. "You'll see."
That conversation was the beginning of something warm, something dangerous.
She was beautiful, sharp, and unlike any girl he'd met. She didn't care about his past, or his wealth—or lack of it. She cared about his eyes, the way they looked at the world, like he wanted to conquer it but was too polite to say it out loud.
They built something together. NovaGenics, a tech startup focused on AI-driven agriculture—a project Lin Xian conceptualized and she refined. With the help of their two other partners—Fang Rui and Li Hao—the company grew fast. Too fast.
Investors poured in. Media coverage exploded.
But the seeds of betrayal had already been planted.
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