The scandal of the Starlight Charity Dinner was like an eight-magnitude earthquake, shaking the entire upper class of City A.
Jiang Rou went from being an envied wealthy lady to a hypocritical and shameful liar overnight. The jewelry brand she founded suffered a devastating blow, with a large number of orders cancelled, partners terminating their contracts, and the stock price plummeting.
The Gu family, especially the words of Gu's mother Zhou Peilan at the dinner party, pushed her into the abyss. Everyone could see that Mrs. Gu had been abandoned by the Gu family.
When Gu Hanshen returned home, all he saw was a mess.
Jiang Rou smashed everything in the living room, including valuable vases and antiques, and broke them all over the floor. She sat on the carpet like a madman, with disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes.
Seeing Gu Hanshen, she seemed to have found an outlet for her anger. She rushed over, grabbed his clothes, and asked hysterically, "It was you! Did you leak those things? Have you been disgusted with me for a long time and want to force me to leave in this way?"
"Have you had enough of this?" Gu Hanshen shook her hand away in disgust.
Jiang Rou in front of him was so strange that he was afraid. The girl who was always gentle and considerate in his memory had turned into a suspicious and hideous woman since some time ago.
"I'm making trouble?" Jiang Rou laughed bitterly, "Gu Hanshen, don't forget who helped you maintain the reputation of the Gu family five years ago! Who helped you deal with that troublesome Jiang Wan! Now that you've achieved success, you want to burn your bridges? I tell you, it's not that easy!"
"Shut up!" What Gu Hanshen didn't want to be mentioned the most was what happened five years ago. It was a thorn in his heart.
"I'm going to say it!" Jiang Rou had already lost her mind. "If it weren't for me, you would be marrying a murderer now! Your Gu family would have lost all their face long ago! I've given so much for you, and this is how you treat me?"
Listening to Jiang Rou's lies, Gu Hanshen's heart grew colder.
He suddenly realized that he might never really know the person next to him.
That night, he did not argue with Jiang Rou again, but returned to the company's office alone.
In the empty office, he began to actively and seriously review the old case from five years ago for the first time.
His suspicion grew like a vine. Why did the woman named "Lin Wan", that is, Jiang Wan, want to overturn the verdict? If she was really a criminal, after serving her sentence, shouldn't she hide her identity and start over? Why did she risk having her scars exposed again to do this thankless task?
Unless she was really wronged.
Once this thought comes into being, it can no longer be stopped.
Gu Hanshen opened his encrypted mailbox, which he had used for more than ten years and contained many important emails. He somehow entered the name "Jiang Wan" in the search bar.
Many old emails popped up on the screen, most of which were sweet words from when they were in love. Looking at those familiar words, Gu Hanshen felt extremely complicated.
He flipped through the pages one by one, and suddenly, his attention was caught by an email from the "Deleted Items" folder.
The email was sent the day after the accident, from his then-chief assistant.
He had no recollection of deleting the email.
He opened the email, and the content of the email was like a bolt from the blue.
Mr. Gu:
There are preliminary results for the investigation you requested. According to the investigation, Jiang's company was in a serious financial crisis and on the verge of bankruptcy three months before Miss Jiang Wan's accident. But after you got engaged to Miss Jiang Rou and reached a cooperation agreement with the Jiang family, the Jiang family received a large amount of capital injection from Gu's company and successfully overcame the difficulties.
In addition, we found that one week before the incident, Ms. Jiang Rou had privately purchased a second-hand red sports car of the same model as Ms. Jiang Wan at a high price, with a license plate number of XXXXX, which is exactly the same as the vehicle involved in the accident. The transaction record of the vehicle has been deleted, but we have restored it through technical means.
The attached documents are the relevant evidence. Please make your own decision.
Boom--
Gu Hanshen's mind went blank.
He stared at every word on the screen and felt like his breathing had stopped.
He had no recollection of ever receiving the email, much less ordering it to be deleted!
With shaking hands, he clicked on the attachment. Inside was the financial statement of Jiang's company and the recovered vehicle transaction record, which was clearly written in black and white.
So... so that's how it is.
It turns out that the car accident was a carefully planned conspiracy from beginning to end!
In order to curry favor with the Gu family and escape bankruptcy crisis, the Jiang family and Jiang Rou jointly directed this self-torture tactic!
They sacrificed Jiang Wan and pushed her into hell in exchange for the Jiang family's revival and Jiang Rou's position as a wealthy wife!
And he, Gu Hanshen, was the biggest fool! He had been deceived by Jiang Rou's tears and disguise for five years. He personally sent the woman who truly loved him to prison, but married a vicious liar!
"ah--!"
Gu Hanshen let out a suppressed roar and slammed his fist hard on the desk. A clear fist mark was left on the hard mahogany tabletop.
He held his head in pain, and all the scenes of the past five years flashed back in his mind. Jiang Wan's desperate and expectant eyes when she was taken away, Jiang Rou's pitiful performance in front of him, and "Lin Wan's" cold and mocking eyes...
He was wrong.
He was really wrong.
He chose the wrong person, repaid the wrong favor, and he destroyed everything he could have with his own hands.
Intense remorse and anger gnawed at his heart like a poisonous snake.
He finally understood that Jiang Wan came back not for money or old love.
She came back to take revenge on all of them.
And he, Gu Hanshen, was the first person she wanted to settle accounts with.
He picked up the phone, trembling, and dialed a number.
"It's me, Gu Hanshen." His voice was hoarse, "I want to see you, Jiang Wan."
Jiang Wan received a call from Gu Hanshen.
Listening to his familiar yet unfamiliar voice full of pain and regret on the other end of the phone, Jiang Wan's heart was not moved at all.
"Mr. Gu, I think you dialed the wrong number." She responded coldly using the identity of "Lin Wan".
"No, I didn't call the wrong number! Jiang Wan, I know it's you!" Gu Hanshen's voice became anxious, "Come out and see me, please! I have something very important to tell you! About the truth of five years ago, I..."
"The truth?" Jiang Wan interrupted him and chuckled. The laughter was cold and sarcastic. "What the truth is, it doesn't matter to me anymore. Mr. Gu, what you should be concerned about is the upcoming court trial. I hope that by then, your testimony will be as 'full of sincerity' as you say now."
After saying that, she hung up the phone and blocked the number.
She would not give him any more chances, either to explain or to repent.
At this perfect time when Gu Hanshen discovered the truth and was shaken, and Jiang Rou was disgraced and deserted by everyone, Jiang Wan knew that it was time to throw the most powerful bomb in her hand.
She wants the whole world to know who the real murderer is.
She handed over the recording of Jiang Rou mocking her "sister is stupid" and the most crucial surveillance video showing that Jiang Rou was the real driver to Huo Yunchen.
"Send them to the most influential media that is least afraid of offending the Gu family." Jiang Wan's eyes were as cold as ice. "I want Jiang Rou to be judged by the whole nation before the trial begins."
"No problem." Huo Yunchen looked at the flame of revenge in her eyes, and raised the corners of his mouth. "I will make this scene more exciting than you can imagine."
That evening, the largest news portal in City A published an in-depth report with a bold title in the most prominent position on the homepage.
[Shocking reversal! The eldest daughter of the Jiang family was imprisoned for five years for her sister's crime. The surveillance video revealed the biggest scandal of the wealthy family! ]
The report first released the recording of Jiang Rou's phone call with her best friend.
"My silly sister...a dead person, how could she compete with me?" That contemptuous and vicious voice spread to every corner of the city through the Internet.
Next came the surveillance video that had been sealed for five years!
The high-definition footage clearly recorded that after the car accident, the person who climbed out from the driver's seat was Jiang Rou!
The audio and video recordings, like two sharp knives, instantly tore off Jiang Rou's last fig leaf, completely exposing her ugly and vicious face under her hypocritical mask in broad daylight!
This report, like an atomic bomb, created a huge wave of public opinion in City A.
The entire network was completely paralyzed!
"Oh my god! This is more exciting than a TV show! The real murderer turned out to be the younger sister!" "How vicious! He let his sister go to jail for himself, but he snatched her fiancé and enjoyed wealth and glory! Is this what a human being would do?" "Poor Jiang Wan, how did she get through the past five years? I feel so sorry for her!" "Gu Hanshen is not a good guy either! His fiancée went to jail, and he turned around and married his sister-in-law. There must be something fishy here!" "Punish the murderer severely! Give Jiang Wan justice! Send Jiang Rou to prison!"
Angry voices surged towards Jiang Rou and the Gu family like a tide.
Jiang Rou's social media accounts were instantly attacked by angry netizens, with millions of messages, all of which were insults and curses against her. Her jewelry company's official website was hacked, and a huge black-and-white photo of a "murderer" was posted on the homepage.
She didn't dare go out, turn on her phone, or even draw the curtains. She locked herself in her room, listening to the faint voices of reporters and protesters outside, feeling like a rat crossing the street, being chased by everyone.
The entrance of Gu Group was also surrounded by reporters and protesters who came to hear the news. The company's stock price plummeted, and billions of dollars evaporated in one day.
The Gu family, the once powerful and powerful family in City A, has fallen into such an embarrassing situation for the first time.
Gu's mother Zhou Peilan was so angry that she fainted on the spot when she saw the scandal rolling on TV. The reputation of the Gu family was completely ruined by Jiang Rou, the jinx.
Gu Hanshen sat alone in the office, watching the overwhelming accusations and insults on the Internet, and watching his photos with Jiang Rou being made into all kinds of shameful emoticons. He did not feel angry, but only felt a deep sense of powerlessness and fear of retribution.
He knew that this was Jiang Wan's revenge.
She nailed them to the pillar of shame in the most brutal and public way, preventing them from ever getting up again.
At this time, Jiang Wan and Huo Yunchen were standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of Genting International Apartment, overlooking the city that was in turmoil because of her.
On her phone was a message from lawyer Zhang Bo.
"Ms. Jiang, public opinion is very favorable to us. The court has decided to move the trial date forward to next Monday. Everything is ready."
Jiang Wan looked at the flashing neon lights outside the window. The city lights were reflected in her eyes, but they were brighter than the lights themselves.
"Jiang Rou," she said softly, "your good days are over."
In court, she will wield the first knife of revenge against her enemies.