Lu Family Estate – Private Tea Room
The old manor hadn't changed.
Antique vases, ancestral portraits, the faint smell of aged cedar, and bitter tea.
Shen Yue sat alone at the carved sandalwood table, waiting.
The invitation had arrived that morning, handwritten, formal, unavoidable.
"Come have tea, dear. Let's speak as women should."
Of course.
Lady Lu was a traditionalist.
A controller.
And in many ways, the true CEO of Lu Group is from behind her son's throne.
The door opened.
Madam Lu entered like a storm hidden behind silk.
Her qipao was ink-black, embroidered with phoenix feathers. Her makeup was sharp, posture perfect. She wore elegance like armor.
"You're bolder than before," Madam Lu said, sitting without preamble.
"You're older than before," Shen Yue replied, pouring tea. "Let's both deal with it."
A flicker of surprise.
Then a smile. Cold and calculated.
"I thought you would've learned after last time not to overplay your hand."
"You thought a lot of things. That I'd stay quiet. That I'd break. That I'd be dead."
The smile didn't fade.
"Emotion makes you sloppy, Shen Yue. You're a woman in business. In life, that already means you're on defense."
Shen Yue took a sip of tea.
"No. It means I play offense with a better disguise."
Madam Lu leaned forward.
Her tone dropped to something low and lethal.
"You're not going to marry my son."
"I'm already engaged," Shen Yue replied, tapping her ring with a faint click. "Publicly. Legally. Emotionally? That's none of your business."
"You're nothing but a stand-in."
Shen Yue smiled.
"I used to be. Until the real me died and left something sharper behind."
[Flash Memory Trigger – System Side Event]
[Flashback: Original Shen Yue crying in front of Madam Lu]"Please, I don't understand why he's turning on me"Madam Lu: "Because you're weak. And weak women get replaced."
Back in the present, Shen Yue's eyes hardened.
"I'm not here for Lu Yichen," she said. "I'm here to collect a debt."
She slid a manila envelope across the table.
Internal documents. Private property transfers. Tax evasion is tied to Madam Lu's charity fund.
"You're bluffing."
Shen Yue stood.
"If I were bluffing, I wouldn't be drinking your tea."
She paused at the door.
"Next time you invite me to speak 'as women should,' bring better poison."
[System Update:Influence Gained: Board of Lu GroupPublic Control Score: 70%Lu Yichen Regret Score: 58%Hidden Trigger Activated: 'Lu Yichen's Mother's Collapse']
Meanwhile…
Madam Lu sat frozen.
In her shaking hands, the proof of her empire's cracks.
"She wasn't bluffing."
"She's come back to kill us slowly."