6
Lucas began frantically calling me, but my number had long since changed.
He then went online to search for news about me. The internet was flooded with headlines like “Ruan Family Heiress Found” and “Ruan Group Facing New Changes”.
In the photos, I was wearing a tailored suit, standing beside my father Richard Ruan and Ethan, my expression cold and noble.
A far cry from the meek “Aria” who had lived in his house.
11:25 Thu, 10
<
Only then did he truly realize that he had lost the woman who loved him more than anyone else in the world.
As for me, after a month of careful recuperation at the Ruan family home, my body had
almost fully recovered.
The injury on my wrist had healed, leaving only a faint scar, as if reminding me of that unspeakable past.
That day, I was reading in the garden when Ethan approached.
“Young miss, Lucas Lin and Yvette Grant got into a fight at the hospital over debt issues,” he reported calmly.
I didn’t even lift my eyes. “Is that so.”
“Yvette’s legal team is trying to help her avoid joint debt liability. As for Lucas Lin, he’s refusing to divorce.”
“Of course he refuses,” I turned a page in my book and said flatly. “Yvette is the only lifeline he can grasp now. Although this lifeline is also about to rot away.”
Ethan looked at me, seeming to want to say something but hesitating.
“If you have something to say, just say it.”
He was silent for a moment before speaking: “Lucas Lin has asked someone to pass on a message. He says he wants to see you. He says… he knows he was wrong.”
I finally looked up at Ethan and smiled.
“Tell him, if he wants to see me, he’s not worthy yet.”
Lucas didn’t give up.
After being cornered by the Ruan family’s legal team and enormous debts, he thought of the most stupid method, which also best suited his selfish nature – playing the victim.
<
He limped on crutches, dragging his injured leg, coming to the gates of the Ruan family estate every day.
He didn’t make a fuss or shout. He just stood there from dawn to dusk, putting on an act
of deep regret and undying love.
Soon, some uninformed media outlets noticed this.
Under Lucas’s subtle guidance, some strange voices began to appear online.
“Who is this man? He looks so pitiful.”
“I heard he’s the ex-boyfriend of the Ruan family’s young miss. Seems like the Ruan family broke them up.”
“Rich families are so heartless. The poor guy’s leg is broken, but he still waits so devotedly at the gate. Isn’t the Ruan young miss being too cruel?”
E
Public opinion began to quietly ferment, attempting to paint me as a heartless rich girl who abandoned her disabled boyfriend for money.
When Ethan handed me these media reports, his face was very grim: “Young miss, Lucas Lin is trying to use public pressure to force you to give in. Do you want me to deal with
these media outlets?”
“No need.” I looked at those distorted reports, my eyes cold. “He wants to put on a show?
I’ll give him an even bigger stage.”
A few days later, Ruan Group held a grand press conference.
Ostensibly to announce that I would officially join the group’s board of directors as
executive CEO.
In reality, it was a public execution prepared for Lucas Lin.
At the press conference, I wore a crisp white suit, standing under the spotlight, poised and elegant.
<
Ethan, as my chief assistant, stayed close by my side.
During the Q&A session, a reporter eagerly directed the topic towards me.
“Miss Ruan, what’s your response to the recent online rumors about your relationship issues with a Mr. Lin? There are claims that you abandoned him because of his disability. Is
this true?”
All cameras instantly focused on me.
I picked up the microphone, a polite smile on my face, my voice clear and carrying
レコー
throughout the entire venue: “First, I’d like to thank the media for their concern.”
“Regarding this Mr. Lin, I do know him.”
I paused, looking at the countless flashing cameras below, and continued: “However, he is not my ex-boyfriend.”
“In fact, during the five years I lost my memory, he had been posing as my husband.””
“It wasn’t until I regained my memory that I discovered our marriage certificate was forged. And he already had a legal wife.”
With this statement, the entire venue erupted in commotion.
“As for why he was injured,” I swept my gaze across the room, my voice taking on a hint
of coldness.
“The reason is simple. When he and his ‘legal wife’ were assaulting and slandering me, my family arrived just in time.””
I raised my right hand, the faint scar on my wrist clearly visible under the high-definition
cameras.
“This is the ‘love’ memento he left me.”
The press conference venue fell into dead silence.
Then it exploded into unprecedented chaos
<
11:25 Thu, 10 Jul
98%
“Forged marriage certificate?”
“Cheating while married and deceiving an amnesiac girlfriend?”
“Illegal confinement? Intentional injury? This is criminal!”
Public opinion instantly reversed.
Lucas, still keeping vigil at the estate gates, watched all this unfold through a live stream
on his phone.
The blood drained from his face, leaving him as pale as paper.
He never expected that I would so decisively and thoroughly tear apart all his disguises and lies in front of the whole world.
He was finished.
This time, he was utterly and completely finished.
He threw away his crutches and rushed towards the estate’s main gate like a madman, only to be firmly blocked by security guards.
“Aria Ruan! Come out! You vicious woman! Why are you doing this to me!” he howled hysterically.
“I love you! I just didn’t know I loved you! Why can’t you give me another chance!”
His repentance came so late, and so cheaply.
I coldly watched through the security cameras as he made a disgraceful spectacle of himself outside the gate, feeling utterly unmoved.
Ethan stood beside me and asked softly, “Young miss, should we call the police?”
“No need.” I turned off the monitor.
“Let him yell. The wailing of a clown can’t affect me.”
<
11:25 Thu, 10 Jul
Lucas went from being a “devoted ex-boyfriend” to a universally reviled “scumbag of the century” and “fraudster”. Not only did he face lawsuits from the Ruan family’s legal team, but he also had to endure condemnation from the entire society.
His already teetering company declared bankruptcy and went into liquidation the day after the press conference.
He himself was officially placed under investigation by the police for multiple suspected
criminal offenses.
As for Yvette, upon learning that Lucas had no hope of making a comeback, she immediately distanced herself from him.
She issued a statement through her lawyer, claiming that she too was a victim deceived by Lucas, completely unaware of his forged marriage certificate and deception of me.
She tried to wash her hands clean of the whole affair, but she forgot that the internet has
a long memory.
Soon, netizens dug up her social media accounts from the past five years, showing how she had been flaunting her wealth using my money, as well as various intimate photos of
her with Lucas.
Her lies fell apart, and she too found herself caught in a storm of online abuse.
It was said that she had eggs thrown at her when she went out, lost her job, and eventually had to leave the city in disgrace.
A pair of “clever” people who once thought they could manipulate everything ended up disgraced and abandoned by all.
This farce finally came to an end.
As for me, I had already thrown myself wholeheartedly into my work at Ruan Group.
