The grand foyer of the Chen mansion felt like a mausoleum. The echoes of Mr. Chen's fury had faded, leaving behind a cold, heavy silence. Jia stood frozen, her mother's sobs a distant, irritating noise. Her eyes were fixed on her phone screen, on Selina's message.
*"Darling! Heard the awful news. Don't worry, we're all here for you! Let's have lunch tomorrow at the club. You can cry on my shoulder! xx"*
The words were sweet, but the timing was venomous. *How did she know?* The financial ruin wasn't public. Her father had just announced it minutes ago. A cold knot tightened in Jia's stomach. Leo's accusation—*"the snake in your inner circle"*—echoed in her mind. Was it possible? Was Mr. Ling not just an embezzler, but a leak?
Her thoughts were shattered by the sharp, imperious ring of the doorbell.
Meiling gasped, frantically dabbing her eyes. "Who could that be? At this hour?"
Mr. Chen, his face still flushed with anger, straightened his tie with a jerky motion. "Probably the bank. Coming to seize the silverware already."
But when the housekeeper opened the door, it was not a bank official who stood there. It was David Wei.
He looked like he had stepped out of a magazine spread, dressed in an impeccably tailored charcoal suit, a smirk playing on his lips. His eyes swept over the scene of devastation—the tear-stained faces, the shattered vase from her father's earlier outburst—with evident satisfaction.
"Mr. Chen, Mrs. Chen," he said, his voice oozing false sympathy. "I heard about your… predicament. I came as soon as I could."
Jia felt a wave of nausea. "How?" she asked, her voice sharper than she intended. "How did you hear, David?"
David's smirk widened. He walked in without an invitation, his expensive cologne filling the space. "In our world, Jia, news travels fast. Especially bad news. A little birdie told me." His gaze lingered on her, possessive and hungry. "But let's not dwell on the how. Let's talk about the solution."
Mr. Chen's anger was momentarily eclipsed by desperate hope. "David? You have a solution?"
"Of course." David paused, ensuring he had their full, rapt attention. "My father is prepared to extend a line of credit. Five million. Enough to cover the bank and give you breathing room."
Meiling let out a cry of relief, rushing forward to grasp David's hands. "Oh, David! You are our savior! I always knew you were the one for our Jia!"
Jia's blood ran cold. She knew there would be a price.
David gently extricated his hands from Meiling's grasp, his eyes never leaving Jia's. "There are, of course, conditions." He paused again, a master manipulator enjoying his performance. "First, my father would require a controlling fifty-one percent stake in Chen Enterprises. A mere formality, to ensure sound management."
Mr. Chen's face fell. He would be reduced to a figurehead in his own company.
"And the second condition?" Jia asked, her voice barely a whisper.
David's smile was triumphant. "The second condition is simpler. A clean break from the… dead weight." He gestured vaguely in the direction of Leo's room. "You file for divorce from that worthless impostor. Once the papers are signed, the money is yours."
The ultimatum hung in the air, brutal and赤裸裸的 (chì luǒ luǒ de - stark-naked). They were being asked to sell their daughter and their legacy to save their skins.
"Jia…" her father began, his voice thick with shame and need. "The company… your grandfather…"
"Think of it as an upgrade, Jia," David purred, stepping closer. "Trading a gutter rat for a king. I can give you the life you were meant to have. The life you deserve."
In that moment, staring at David's smug face and her parents' desperate ones, Jia felt something inside her snap. The pressure, the humiliation, the betrayal—it crystallized into a cold, hard resolve. She thought of Leo, walking out of the room with more dignity than any of them had shown. She thought of his calm, certain accusation.
She took a step back from David, her chin lifting.
"Thank you for your offer, David," she said, her voice surprisingly steady. "But I am not a business asset to be traded. And I will not be blackmailed into a divorce."
David's smirk vanished, replaced by a flash of fury. "Don't be a fool, Jia! This is your only chance!"
"Is it?" she countered, a newfound steel in her eyes. "Or is this exactly what you and your 'little birdie' planned? Create a crisis, then swoop in as the savior? Well, I'm not interested."
She turned and walked away, leaving a stunned silence in her wake. She didn't go to her room. Instead, she found herself walking down the dark hallway towards Leo's door. She had no idea what she would say. But for the first time, she was going to ask the silent, mysterious man she married a question.
She was going to ask him who he really was. The suspense was no longer just about her family's finances; it was about the man sleeping in the broom closet. The faceslapping had begun, and Jia had just delivered the first blow on her own behalf. The romance, born from a contract, was now tinged with a desperate need for truth.