I want to slap you across the face.

"Why is she here?"

Su Qingli's eyes were not kind. What does Shen Luoyan want to do? Is she here to steal the groom?

There are such plots in romance dramas: when the hero and heroine are holding an engagement or wedding ceremony, the hero's childhood friend or ex-girlfriend appears, reminiscing about the past and pouring out her heart. The hero gets so moved that he abandons the heroine on the spot and runs away with the other woman.

Could such a cliché event happen to me?

"She said... she wants to witness my happiness."

Lu Han looked straight ahead, not lying because that was exactly what Shen Luoyan had said.

"You believed her just like that?"

Su Qingli pursed her lips, her tone carrying a hint of seriousness, "What if she tearfully declares she can't live without you at that moment? Will you soften your heart and leave with her?"

Her thoughts weren't wrong, but she was overthinking.

Shen Luoyan didn't know that Lu Han and Su Qingli's marriage was fake, so even if she judged it as a marriage of convenience, she understood that she wasn't on the right side, lacking legitimacy. She couldn't help but be cautious, aiming to make gains quietly.

On the contrary, Su Qingli had no confidence in this man, knowing that even their marriage certificate was fake. To her, Shen Luoyan was the white moonlight of this dog of a man, whose destructive power was imaginable, making her wary.

This led both women to see each other as the biggest threat, though in reality, neither could threaten the other...

"Don't joke around, what you described is impossible."

Lu Han patted Su Qingli's leg and said, "She promised she would only watch from afar. If you're still worried, we can arrange two bodyguards to stand by. They can remove her immediately if she attempts to approach."

"If that's the case, then give her an invitation."

Su Qingli snorted coldly; this wasn't compromise but rather, if she still refused after Shen Luoyan made her intentions clear, wouldn't it mean she feared her?

To women, showing weakness in front of a rival in love is a great disgrace.

Su Qingli didn't want to be looked down upon by Shen Luoyan.

However, bodyguards should still be arranged.

And to be on the safe side, they need to be instructed to keep a close watch.

...

As Lu Han and Su Qingli headed to the Summer Resort, Chu Ruoyan called Yuan Xiaotong into her office at Mingxue Game Company.

"Xiaotong, sit down, let's have a chat."

Chu Ruoyan pointed to the chair in front of her desk. After her assistant sat down, she calmly said, "If I remember correctly, you've been with me for almost three years, right?"

Yuan Xiaotong nodded and replied, "President Chu, it's two years and eight months."

"Hehe, you're quite precise."

Chu Ruoyan's slender fingers tapped lightly on the desk, and she asked again, "Then how do you think... have I treated you well?"

Yuan Xiaotong smiled and said, "President Chu has been very kind to me."

"Since you say I've been kind to you..."

Chu Ruoyan's tone suddenly turned sharp, questioning, "Why did you betray me?"

"President Chu... President Chu, what are you talking about? When did I betray you?"

Yuan Xiaotong felt her heart racing. Did President Chu find out about those things?

"A few days ago, Lu Han came to see me at the hospital. Dare you say you didn't tip off Ling Mo?"

Chu Ruoyan said coldly, "The only people who drank with me the night before were a few good friends, none of whom liked Ling Mo. Moreover, I asked them, and no one told him about my gastric bleeding and hospitalization." "Lulu mentioned seeing you downstairs waiting for Lu Han that morning. You knew Lu Han was coming."

"So aside from you, I really can't find another suspicious person."

Yuan Xiaotong dared not speak anymore. At this point, silence meant admission.

In fact, she regretted it too. That day, despite knowing the risk of suspicion was high, she still inexplicably called Ling Mo.

After President Chu finished her porridge, she went to wash the bowl.

Though she didn't know what happened during that time, seeing Ling Mo leave in a sorry state hinted at something serious.

Yuan Xiaotong had been uneasy lately, and her fears had finally come true.

"Tell me, what happened?"

Chu Ruoyan's expression was icy, feeling a hidden pain. Yuan Xiaotong was just an assistant, yet the feeling of betrayal was so painful.

What about Lu Han? On the day she accompanied Ling Mo to the concert, he must have felt a thousand times worse?

Awakened by Liang Silu, Chu Ruoyan realized her behavior that day was akin to betrayal. Therefore, no matter how Lu Han treated her now, she felt she deserved it.

Moreover, she had received her due punishment.

Fortunately, Lu Han gave her a chance to return to him.

Chu Ruoyan sadly thought, unfortunately... not as his girlfriend anymore.

"Ling Mo offered me five thousand yuan monthly to reveal some trivial whereabouts to him. Additionally, if he managed to win you over, he'd give me fifty thousand yuan."

With nothing left to hide, Yuan Xiaotong explained, "But I didn't tell him everything; just trivial matters. President Chu, please believe me, I never revealed anything important about your schedule or work."

"For five thousand yuan a month, you sold me out?"

Chu Ruoyan found it absurd. In Jiangcheng, executive assistants' average salaries ranged from 8K to 15K, with some reaching up to 30K. Yuan Xiaotong's nearly ten thousand salary was decent.

Yet, she had company shares gifted as incentives, earning at least a hundred thousand annually. How could she be so foolish, trading the big for the small?

But this explained why she was often encountered by Ling Mo; he had planted a spy right beside her.

"I... I don't know what got into me back then, I was blinded by greed."

Yuan Xiaotong was already crying, deeply regretting her actions, pleading, "President Chu, I know I was wrong. Give me another chance, please?"

Saying this, she voluntarily showed Chu Ruoyan her WeChat chat records with Ling Mo.

Chu Ruoyan reviewed them thoroughly and confirmed they were indeed trivial matters.

Even when Ling Mo offered fifty thousand to secretly drug her, she firmly refused.

Still, Chu Ruoyan didn't plan to forgive Yuan Xiaotong.

"You're fired."

She returned the phone to Yuan Xiaotong, her tone complex, "Not putting you on the industry blacklist is the most merciful thing I can do. Take care of yourself."

Yuan Xiaotong, knowing she was in the wrong, didn't dare say more and left in a daze.

A few minutes later, Chu Ruoyan's phone rang; it was Liang Silu.

"Ruoyan, I learned some things about Ling Mo through a friend. Do you know what my first reaction was?"

Her voice on the phone sounded disappointed, "Pining over such a man, I wish I could slap you!" 

...

...