Chapter 5

At a company-wide meeting, he exposed Su Xiaoxiao on the spot. He fired her immediately and ordered her blacklisted throughout the industry.

But he’d underestimated how difficult she could be.

Instead of leaving quietly, she returned the very next day with her overbearing parents and her thug of an older brother. They occupied the ground-floor lobby, unfurled banners, and played accusations through a loudspeaker.

“Pei Yan, the heartless boss who deceived our daughter!”

“He lured her into living with him, got her pregnant, then threw her away! He’s driving her to her death!”

The lobby filled with spectators.

Pei Yan came down with security to negotiate. Su Xiaoxiao’s brother charged at him and punched him in the face, drawing blood.

Her mother sat on the floor, wailing.

“You ruined our daughter’s virtue! Either marry her immediately or pay us five million yuan for wasting her youth!”

A violent scuffle broke out. It took the police to bring the situation under control.

The dignity and propriety Pei Yan had treasured were trampled into the mud by the Su family’s public tantrum.

Someone filmed him being beaten and the family screaming abuse, then posted the video online.

The scandal involving the head of Zhiyuan Technology and his subordinate shot to the top of the city’s trending searches.

They were tearing each other apart in spectacular fashion.

**10**

The disastrous public-relations crisis sent Zhiyuan Technology’s shares plunging to their daily limits.

To make matters worse, Pei Yan had fired several employees who’d gossiped about me in the group chat, taking out his anger on them.

Resentful, they took key clients with them when they joined the company’s bitterest rival.

His team fractured. Investors pulled out.

In less than a year, his superiors removed him from his position. He had to start again as an ordinary employee.

Everything he’d spent years building came to nothing.

I, meanwhile, hadn’t stood still over those past six months.

After resigning, I no longer wanted to live in anyone’s shadow.

With Jiang Yu’s encouragement and full financial backing, I opened my own studio.

My professional judgment soon brought in several major projects. I rediscovered my enthusiasm and confidence at work.

Even people who’d once looked down on me came seeking collaboration.

Jiang Yu was right. I’d always had something valuable to offer. Five years in a relationship hidden from daylight had merely dulled my shine.

The last time I saw Pei Yan was at the airport. Jiang Yu and I were flying to Haicheng to set up a branch of the studio.

After security, I happened to look back.

Pei Yan stood beyond the glass partition.

Only a year had passed, but he looked ten years older: crumpled suit, sunken eyes, exhausted face.

He stared at me through the crowd, his eyes filled with despair and profound regret.

He seemed to say something. He was too far away for me to hear, but his lips appeared to form:

“Zhaozhao, if I hadn’t hidden you five years ago, would we have ended up like this?”

Jiang Yu followed my gaze. Frowning slightly, he put an arm around my shoulders.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. Just a stranger who took a wrong turn.”

I looked away, slipped my arm firmly through Jiang Yu’s, and kept walking.

There are no what-ifs in this world. Only consequences.

**The End**

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