Inside the exclusive VIP private room of Sky Bar, the atmosphere was thick with tension.
Fu Qingshen, Xie Niangli, and Ming Lan were lounging, casually sipping drinks surrounded by a few glamorous beauties. Only Lu Zhenyu sat completely isolated. He held a glass in his hand, his expression dark and grim.
"Second Brother, you still haven't told us why you suddenly came out today," Xie Niangli asked with a playful, teasing smile.
"And where is our sister-in-law? Why didn't you bring her along?"
Lu Zhenyu didn't bother to reply. Right then, his phone vibrated. A detailed message from Aunt Qin popped up on his screen:
[Young Master, I remember now. Yesterday, the Young Madam made a phone call, and right after it ended, she became furious. When I spoke to her earlier, she was hinting that you had betrayed her. Young Master, the Young Madam is a good person. I don't want you two to have a misunderstanding or be separated by a malicious third party.]
Crack!
As Lu Zhenyu finished reading, the glass in his hand shattered completely under his grip, shards of glass piercing the air. The sudden violence startled everyone in the room.
Sensing the shift in temperature, Xie Niangli immediately signaled the beauties to leave.
They scurried out without a word.
Lu Zhenyu didn't care about the blood on his palm. He grabbed his phone and called Lin Feng, who was standing guard just outside. "Get in here."
Lin Feng walked in instantly.
"Find out who my wife called yesterday," Lu Zhenyu instructed, his voice dripping with ice. "I want results in ten minutes."
"Yes, Sir!" Lin Feng replied, breaking into a cold sweat as he hurried out to work.
"You haven't said a single word since you arrived," Ming Lan spoke up, breaking the silence. "Don't tell me you actually had a fight with your little wife?"
Lu Zhenyu remained silent, but his grim expression gave them all the answer they needed. Ming Lan was entirely right.
"You can tell us what happened," Fu Qingshen offered, leaning forward. "Maybe we can help you figure it out."
Lu Zhenyu quieted for a long moment before finally giving them a brief rundown of the argument that had transpired.
"She definitely thinks you're cheating on her," Fu Qingshen concluded after listening.
"No woman would accuse her husband of cheating without a valid reason," Ming Lan countered calmly, analyzing the situation.
"Something must have happened behind your back that you aren't aware of."
Hearing this, a dark premonition settled in Lu Zhenyu's chest. Ming Lan's words hit the nail on the head.
Right on cue, the doors opened. Lin Feng walked back into the room, a deeply awkward and tense expression on his face.
"Speak," Lu Zhenyu demanded.
"Sir... Madam only made one phone call during that specific timeframe yesterday," Lin Feng reported cautiously, stealing a glance at his boss. "And... the person she called was you."
Lu Zhenyu frowned, completely caught off guard. "Me?"
"Second Brother, are you sure you were holding your phone the entire time yesterday?" Xie Niangli asked, picking up on the anomaly.
Lin Feng swallowed hard and spoke up slowly. "Sir, there is something else. I didn't think it was important at the time, so I didn't report it... but yesterday, around that time, I saw Secretary Jin holding your phone."
The temperature in the private room plummeted to absolute zero.
"Call Secretary Jin over here. Now," Lu Zhenyu ordered, his voice terrifyingly calm.
"Right away, Sir," Lin Feng replied, fleeing the room to make the call.
Just as the door closed, a bar staff member walked up to Xie Niangli, whispering a few hushed words into his ear. Slowly, a highly mischievous smile spread across Xie Niangli's face as he looked at Lu Zhenyu.
Downstairs, the chaotic energy of Sky Bar was in full swing.
Gu Anran rushed through the crowd and immediately spotted Ruan Qin sitting at the counter, completely drowning herself in alcohol. She rushed over and forcefully snatched the glass straight out of her hand.
"Ruan Qin! Why are you drinking like this? Have you completely forgotten what happened to you the last time you got drunk?" Gu Anran scolded, her voice sharp with protective anger.
The harsh reprimand acted like a splash of cold water, scaring Ruan Qin into becoming a little sober.
"Anran..." Ruan Qin looked at her, her eyes welling with fresh tears as she began to sob.
"My boyfriend... he broke up with me. He told me I'm not good enough for him!"
Gu Anran's heart ached for her friend, and her expression softened into fierce loyalty.
"He isn't worth a single one of your tears! It is entirely his loss for letting go of a pearl like you. I promise you, you will find someone a million times better, so cheer up."
"But I really fell for him," Ruan Qin whimpered, clutching her chest tightly. "It hurts... it really hurts right here."
"I understand exactly how you feel," Gu Anran said softly, her voice thick with emotion as her own suppressed pain surfaced. "Because my heart... my heart is hurting right now, too."
"What?!" Ruan Qin's drunken sorrow instantly flipped into fierce protection. She began aggressively stretching her arms and rolling her shoulders. "Who dares break my Anran's heart?! Give me a name! I will go and fight them right now!"
Seeing her friend's cute, exaggerated actions, Gu Anran couldn't help but let out a genuine laugh. The heavy tension in her chest loosened slightly, and under Ruan Qin's stubborn prompting, she finally spilled everything that had been weighing on her mind.
By the time she finished, the sheer shock of the story had sobered Ruan Qin up completely. She frowned, digesting the details thoughtfully.
"Anran, listen to me," Ruan Qin said, her tone turning dead serious. "I feel like that woman is purposely trying to sow discord between you two. Think about it—Mr. Lu has never had a single scandal. Not one."
She grabbed Gu Anran by the shoulders, her eyes locked onto hers.
"Instead of sitting here sulking and crying, you need to go out there and fight for your man. You are the legal Mrs. Lu! You are the wife! If anyone should be hiding in the shadows and trembling, it's that other woman—not you."
Ruan Qin's fierce words hit Gu Anran like a lightning bolt, snapping her fully awake. She was right. Why was she running away? She needed to claim what belonged to her.
"Anran, I think I want to go back home now... back to my family. Maybe that's the best option for me right now," Ruan Qin said, suddenly standing up from her barstool. She offered a brave, supportive smile. "I need to head out, so you need to go and get your husband back!"
Before Gu Anran could even open her mouth to ask another question or stop her, Ruan Qin turned around and swiftly disappeared into the bustling crowd of the bar.