The next morning, Yuexi woke to a world on fire.
Her phone buzzed nonstop, each notification harsher than the last. Headlines screamed across every news site:
"Shocking Photos! Lin Yuexi in Secret Affair With Married Investor!""Lu Corporation's Ex-Wife Exposed—Was She Two-Timing All Along?""Lin Yuexi: From Contract Starlet to Corporate Scandal."
Her hands shook as she scrolled. The pictures were grainy but damning—shots of her dining with a former film investor, Zhang Wei. In one, he leaned too close; in another, her smile looked intimate.
But Yuexi remembered the dinner clearly. She had been desperate to discuss a possible comeback role. Nothing inappropriate had happened. Still, the photos were spun into poison.
The comments were worse:
She's just climbing another ladder.No wonder CEO Lu divorced her.Disgusting woman.
Her stomach twisted.
She barely noticed when the door slammed open and Chenxuan strode in, phone in hand, fury etched across his face.
"Who gave you permission to meet Zhang Wei?" His voice was sharp, biting.
Yuexi's breath caught. "Excuse me?"
"You knew he had a reputation. You knew he would use you, and you still—"
Her eyes blazed. "I went to a business dinner! I was trying to rebuild my career, Chenxuan. You don't own me."
His jaw clenched, veins standing out along his neck. "And now the entire country thinks you're sleeping your way back into the industry."
The words hit like a slap.
Yuexi's chest heaved. "Do you even hear yourself? You sound just like them! Like every single person calling me names online. Instead of believing me, you're joining the mob."
Chenxuan froze, his anger colliding with something rawer—shame. He dragged a hand through his hair, exhaling harshly. "Yuexi, that's not—"
"Don't." Her voice cracked. "Don't tell me what you think I need to hear. You were supposed to know me better than anyone. And yet you're the first to doubt me."
The silence between them stretched, jagged and unbearable.
By noon, the scandal had reached stock markets. Lu Corporation's shares dipped as whispers spread: the CEO's personal life is a mess, his ex-wife a liability.
Chenxuan spent the afternoon in endless calls, his tone clipped, his temper razor-sharp. "I don't care what it takes. Every article comes down. Every rumor dies. If I see one more photo, one more slanderous headline, I'll bury the source myself."
When he finally returned to the mansion that evening, exhaustion hung over him like a shadow. But Yuexi was nowhere to be found.
He searched the guest room, the garden, the study. Finally, he found her on the balcony, staring out at the city lights. Her phone sat discarded beside her, screen still glowing with cruel comments.
"Yuexi," he said quietly.
She didn't turn. "Do you know what hurts the most?"
His chest tightened. "What?"
"That even after everything… after the contract, the divorce, the years apart… a part of me still hoped you'd defend me first, not question me."
Her voice was calm, but it cut deeper than any scream.
Chenxuan stepped closer, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms. "I was angry because I care too damn much. The thought of anyone touching you—of anyone twisting your name—makes me insane."
"Caring isn't the same as trusting," she whispered.
Her words landed like a blade between them.
He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them, determination burning there. "Then let me prove it. I'll destroy whoever planted this scandal. Zhang Wei. Zhang Min. Whoever's pulling the strings. They'll regret ever breathing your name."
Yuexi turned at last, her eyes shimmering with both defiance and a flicker of vulnerability. "And if you can't?"
"Then I'll burn with them," he said, voice low and absolute.
For a heartbeat, the night air hung heavy with unsaid things—regret, longing, love twisted into rage.
And beneath it all, Yuexi realized something terrifying:No matter how much she wanted to deny it, a part of her heart still beat in time with his.
Elsewhere, in a smoky private lounge, Zhang Min sipped his drink as he watched the chaos unfold on his tablet.
"Lu Chenxuan thinks he can play hero," he sneered. "Let him try. By the time I'm finished, both he and that woman will be nothing but headlines to laugh at."
A figure in the shadows chuckled, placing another envelope on the table.
"Phase two begins tomorrow."