Lu Shiyan was truly determined to draw a clear line with her, clean and decisive. Every word dripped with heartlessness.
Watching this scene brought me no pleasure whatsoever. I just found it utterly ridiculous.
So, if a man truly wants to cut ties, how could he possibly fail?
Look how resolute his words are now, leaving Su Ning'an not a single shred of hope.
But something so simple had caused me years of constant struggle with them. He'd rather let me suffer heartache again and again, then turn the blame on me, calling me petty and vindictive.
The colder he was to Su Ning'an now, the more it highlighted what a joke my past self had been.
What did I even mean to him?
Su Ning'an probably felt the same way. No matter how she treated me, at least her feelings for Lu Shiyan were genuine. To end up with this outcome after all that, how could she accept it?
As women, I knew all too well her step-by-step scheming, driving a wedge between Lu Shiyan and me, gradually usurping my place in his heart. From the very beginning, she wanted to replace me.
Now, Lu Shiyan's words had shattered that illusion, rendering all her years of effort worthless.
"Brother, what exactly am I to you?"
Lu Shiyan said, word by word, "From now on, you are just a sister. Don't come here anymore. It's inappropriate. I don't want your sister to see and overthink, to be hurt."
"Sister?" Su Ning'an sneered coldly. "Do you really think my sister can still come back?"
My heart tightened. She definitely knows something. But would she really expose herself in front of Lu Shiyan?
Lu Shiyan's gaze snapped towards her. "What did you say?"
"Brother, I know you've been looking for Sister these past days. Like you, I want to find her as soon as possible. But all the signs now indicate that Sister was kidnapped and sold overseas."
Su Ning'an wiped the tear stains from her face, a cold smile playing on her lips. "Brother, you're not a child. You should know what those telecom fraud compounds are like. Women suffer the most there, especially beautiful ones. I'm afraid Sister was passed around as soon as she got on the boat."
"Shut up!" Lu Shiyan stared at her, his face extremely cold. "How do you know this?"
"Naturally, I looked into it. Brother, do you know what 'running a train' means? Do you know what happens to women who refuse to work in that industry? Don't be naive. Sister is so beautiful; she's probably already been gang-raped."
SMACK!
Lu Shiyan slapped her hard across the face. "I told you to shut up! Didn't you hear me?"
"Even if you bring Sister back, she won't be the same person. Brother, you can't go back. From the moment you touched me, from the day Sister was defiled, it was already impossible!"
Su Ning'an threw her head back and laughed. "If people find out Mrs. Lu was once sold to a fraud compound, it would bring shame to both the Su and Lu families! We would all be implicated by her. A Mrs. Lu that filthy, can you still accept her?"
"Get out! Get out of here!" Lu Shiyan was furious.
Su Ning'an covered her cheek, laughing like a demon. "Brother, why be so naive? Weren't you quite happy when you were with me? It proves you don't absolutely need Sister. You've seen that Uncle has returned, clearly to compete for the inheritance. At a critical juncture like this, you're wasting time on this? It's utterly foolish."
"What exactly are you trying to say?!"
"I'm telling you, what's done is done. Neither of us can change the past. But what we can do is change the future. You wronged Sister, that's a fact. Saying sorry a thousand, ten thousand times won't make up for it. If Sister is really in that compound, whether she's been touched or not, even if you ransom her back, there are no walls the wind can't blow through. If word gets out, how do you think people will see you? How will they see her?"
Lu Shiyan didn't try to make her leave again. Su Ning'an walked to his side, pressed her hands on his shoulders, leaned down, and continued, "Brother, do you know the biggest difference between adults and children? Adults have to learn to make choices."
"I'm a woman too. If something like that happened to me, I'd only have one thought: to seek death. I couldn't face my lover, my family. My very existence would be a mistake."
"If Sister isn't dead, her psychology will have changed drastically. Even if rescued, the shadows in her mind will probably follow her for life. She could never be a normal woman again. Even the slightest disturbance might be enough to break her. Even if she doesn't commit suicide in the compound, it's highly likely she will after returning home. In this information age, no one is immune. Have you thought about the consequences then?"
"It's not just about our families losing face. Sister may be a victim, but the public opinion levied against her would be enough to crush her. And you would become the object of everyone's ridicule. What would they say? Your wife is tainted. Your wife has been ridden by thousands. You—"
"Enough!"
Lu Shiyan seemed to truly envision that scene, his face turning extremely grim.
"Brother, you know I love you. I'm really doing this for your own good. Even if you stand by Sister unwaveringly, people will mock you. If you choose to divorce her, they'll call you heartless. Once public opinion explodes, besides your personal reputation, the company's reputation will suffer. Uncle is watching like a tiger eyeing its prey. What decision do you think Grandfather will make?"
Cold sweat was already beading on Lu Shiyan's forehead. Su Ning'an pressed harder, whispering softly in his ear, "You being replaced by Uncle is just a matter of time."
Lu Shiyan shuddered. "So... this is a checkmate?"
"No. The only way out is simple: don't go. After all, Sister is already missing. No one can connect it to you. Even if something happens to her later, at worst, she'll be thrown into the sea to feed the sharks. No one will know she was once Mrs. Lu. She'll vanish from this world silently. No one will blame you."
Lu Shiyan stared straight at Su Ning'an. "So, you want me to stand by and do nothing, leaving my wife in that compound?"
Su Ning'an dropped the fragile act completely now, curling her lips into a smile. "Brother, what you need is a wife who can be an asset to you, not one with a dark, dirty past. Are you really willing to hand the Lu family over to someone else?"
"Absolutely not!"
"Uncle returns at this very time, and coincidentally, Sister disappears. Perhaps Sister's disappearance was orchestrated by Uncle himself."
"You're saying... he set a trap for me, for the sake of the Lu family, just waiting for me to jump in?"