Chapter 1
Luo Zhengzheng never expected that at nearing forty, she would be relentlessly attacked online as a homewrecker because of an interview with Su Zhilan.
In the interview, Su Zhilan revealed that the reason she had remained unmarried and childless and avoided relationships for so many years, was because she had a former fiancé she couldn't let go of. Their engagement was called off due to a third party's interference.
After the breakup, she suffered from insomnia and even developed depression as well as being afraid to pursue relationships, fearing further hurt.
To prove the truth, she even produced love letters her former fiancé had written to her.
Back then, after her family went bankrupt, the fallen heiress entered the entertainment industry, which attracted considerable attention. She starred in two idol dramas and became famous.
She seemed to have found the secret to gaining popularity, constantly releasing press releases claiming she wasn't afraid of hardship while filming. Even though she was once a wealthy heiress, she could humbly portray various roles, establishing a persona of a self-reliant fallen heiress. And her fans loved this.
Within an hour of that interview's release, Su Zhilan's fans had unearthed the fact that her ex-fiancé was the former president of the Ye Group and that the third party was his wife, Luo Zhengzheng.
This instantly ignited the fury of Su Zhilan's fans. The Ye Group's official website was flooded with malicious insults and curses, even affecting Luo Zhengzheng's son, Gu Chengjia, causing him unrest and harassment at school.
At this critical juncture, Su Zhilan arranged to meet with Luo Zhengzheng.
Su Zhilan was known for her malicious tactics and Luo Zhengzheng had always disliked her. If Su Zhilan hadn't spouted nonsense online, causing the company's stock price to plummet and her son to be constantly harassed at school, she wouldn't have bothered with her at all.
However, this all happened so fast. Before anyone could react, it had already spiraled out of control.
It was also possible that Su Zhilan was taking a desperate gamble and had long premeditated this.
In the private room, Su Zhilan looked at Luo Zhengzheng, whose charm hadn't faded with age, a flicker of jealousy crossing her eyes. This woman was truly lucky; though she'd lost her man, she had a good son who pleased her mother-in-law and still lived a life of luxury. Unlike her, who schemed and plotted for even the smallest resources!
She lit a cigarette and asked Luo Zhengzheng with slightly narrowed eyes, "You don't mind, do you?"
Luo Zhengzheng didn't answer. Even if she minded, would she put out the cigarette?
Su Zhilan chuckled lightly, looking at her and saying, "Do you know what I hate most about you?"
Luo Zhengzheng looked at her expressionlessly, her face showing indifference. What did other people's likes or dislikes have to do with her?
Su Zhilan exhaled a puff of smoke and through the swirling smoke, she said, "I hate your haughty face the most. You think your love is noble and everyone else's is cheap. You even refused the shares your aunt and uncle offered you. You're just a country girl. I really don't know what you're so high and mighty about. Do you really think Gu Shi married you because he loves you? How pretentious!"
Luo Zhengzheng admitted that in her early twenties, she was indeed pretentious. Back then, she held beautiful fantasies about love and was proud enough not to let money corrupt it. However, after experiencing certain things, all that so-called pride, pretentiousness, and naivety had long been forgotten.
As for whether Gu Shi loved her or not, Gu Shi was gone, so there was no point in saying anything.
Luo Zhengzheng looked at her and her voice laced with sarcasm: "When you entered the entertainment industry, the Gu and Ye families helped you a lot. Is this how you repay your uncle and aunt? By slandering their son online?"
"How did I slander Gu Shi? I'm telling the truth. As someone directly involved, you couldn't possibly not know, could you?"
As she spoke, she handed Luo Zhengzheng a stack of letters. The envelopes were yellowed, looking quite old, but without a single crease, they were very well preserved.
Luo Zhengzheng didn't touch the stack of letters, saying, "You invited me out just to give me these things?"
As the saying goes, often the person who understood you best wasn't your family, but your opponent. As Su Zhilan's opponent, she wouldn't say she understood Su Zhilan completely, but she knew her character—she wouldn't do anything without self-interest. Since she was willing to offend Father- in-law and Mother-in-law, who had been kind to her, to expose those true and false things online, she must have a grand scheme.
Su Zhilan's smile vanished. She tossed the stack of letters onto the table, extinguished her cigarette, and looked at Luo Zhengzheng with a mocking smile: "I never thought you were the one who understood me best."
Luo Zhengzheng lowered her eyes: "Tell me, what exactly do you want?"
Su Zhilan crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair: "You've lived a life of luxury for so many years. Protected by Uncle Gu and Aunt Ye, your life has been simple. You've only wanted to enjoy yourself. You probably don't know how fierce the competition is in the entertainment industry, or how complicated things are behind the scenes, or what I've sacrificed to get to where I am today. Even like this, there are still people who can't stand it and want to suppress me, to blacklist me. What can I do? Uncle Gu and Aunt Ye are getting old. Their energy is focused on educating their grandchildren and the company. A few years ago, they would look after me a little, but now… ha…"
Luo Zhengzheng looked at her: "You're doing pretty well now. How many female movie stars in the entertainment industry dare to mess with you? Do you want to be an empress?"
Su Zhilan scoffed: "You're too naive."
Luo Zhengzheng replied: "You're just too ungrateful."
Helping you is a favor, not helping you is my right.
“Maybe!” Su Zhilan didn’t deny it. “I don’t accept my fate. If I did, I wouldn’t have entered the entertainment industry in the first place.”
Luo Zhengzheng looked at her and said coldly, “So, Father-in-law and Mother-in-law haven’t had time to take care of you all these years, so you’re retaliating by spreading rumors and gossip online? Gu Shi has been dead for so many years, don’t you have any morals?”
Su Zhilan shrugged: “There’s nothing I can do. I’m just a small-time celebrity. I offended the daughter of a powerful figure I can’t afford to offend. My aunt and uncle don’t intend to care about me at all. To get their attention, I had to make the revelations eye-catching enough. You can’t blame me. After all, I didn’t lie. In this world, what does morals matter when striving for fame and fortune? Some people even lose their lives.”
Whether it was true or not, Luo Zhengzheng remained silent and stared at Su Zhilan: "So you want the Gu and Ye families to help you fight against the powerful heiress, which is why you revealed those things? Don't you know how much Mother-in-law suffered after Gu Shi's death? You're rubbing salt into her wounds. Do you really expect her to help you like this? Regardless of the truth of your revelations, the Ye Family can easily handle online public opinion. What you're doing is just self-destruction."
She couldn't help but feel she had overestimated Su Zhilan. How could she believe Father-in-law and Mother-in-law would still care about their past relationship after she revealed those things online?
Those revelations came quickly and overwhelmingly. Resolving them was indeed troublesome, but there were plenty of solutions. Even a cornered rabbit will bite, and Father-in-law and Mother-in-law weren't rabbits.
Su Zhilan glanced at Luo Zhengzheng, a slight smirk playing on her lips. She knew that in her haste, she had made a bad move. If she had sought help from uncle and aunt as soon as the matter occurred, they might have helped her.
Having already offended the Gu Family, she had no choice but to go all the way. She was gambling that Uncle Gu and Aunt Gu still had some affection for her, and that, out of consideration for her parents, they wouldn't be too ruthless and would at least leave her a way out.
Luo Zhengzheng stood up, not intending to waste any more words. Years of living in a wealthy family had gained a temper. Someone had slapped her in the face, so how could she let her off easily. Even if her in-laws wanted to let Su Zhilan off the hook out of past favors, she wouldn't agree. Su Zhilan had to pay the price.
Su Zhilan stretched out her arm to stop her. "As long as you convince Uncle Gu to help me solve my current predicament, I'll immediately go online and explain that the third party isn't you, but someone else."
Luo Zhengzheng glanced at her: "Even now you're still scheming? Do you think Father-in-law and Mother-in-law are fools? Or do you think I'm a fool?"
She was already trying to smear Gu Shi as a scumbag. Would her in-laws still pay any attention to her? She'd be lucky if they didn't slap her. She really thought Father-in-law and Mother-in-law couldn't do anything about her? It was just that things happened so fast and they didn't have time to deal with it!
Besides, this wasn't about being a mistress. Even if she wasn't a mistress, so what if she interfered in Su Zhilan and Gu Shi's relationship? There were countless examples of this in wealthy circles. Few of them would affect the company's development.
It was just that Su Zhilan was a celebrity with a huge following and they couldn't control her for a while.
Besides, Gu Shi was dead. She was not the head of Ye's Group, just a salted fish rich wife. They could criticize her for a few days and that was it. The company could do some public relations and the stock price would quickly return to normal.
What was giving her a headache was her son, Chengjia. Many of his schoolmates were fans of Su Zhilan and those kids wouldn't care about anything else. She was afraid they might do something extreme for their idol, i.e hurting her son.
Su Zhilan looked at her, grabbed the letters on the table, and said, "Why don't you look at these letters? These are love letters Gu Shi wrote to me. You didn't receive them, did you?"
Luo Zhengzheng stopped and looked at her, her face filled with anger: "Are you serious?"
"Why? Are you feeling guilty?" Su Zhilan said sarcastically, "If I had insisted on not breaking off the engagement with Gu Shi back then, do you think you could still be Mrs. Gu?"
Luo Zhengzheng's face was tense as she looked at her: "What went on between you and Gu Shi, I had no interest. You're an ex. As for how Gu Shi and I married,I have a clear conscience. Besides, Gu Shi had been dead for so many years, what's the point of saying all this?"
Su Zhilan shoved the letter into Luo Zhengzheng's hand, saying, "Didn't you say you didn't believe Gu Shi and I were ever dating? These letters are enough to prove it. For the sake of me giving you my fiancé and letting you be a wealthy wife for so many years, help me this once. After this, we'll be even. Otherwise, there might be more news circulating online. You'll help me for Gu Chengjia's sake." With that, she put on her sunglasses, strode out the door, and left.
Luo Zhengzheng squinted, watching Su Zhilan's retreating figure. Chengjia was her and her mother-in-law's Achilles' heel. Su Zhilan wouldn't think she'd let it go after being threatened, would she? Touching the recording pen in her hand, she could only say she had underestimated her.
Back home, seeing the stack of letters in her bag, she couldn't resist tearing one open. It was Gu Shi's handwriting.
She sat on the edge of the bed. Gu Shi had been gone for a long time, so long that her memories of him were hazy. Trying to recall, only a calm, handsome face surfaced in her mind; nothing else.
Unexpectedly, she recognized his handwriting at a glance.
Those letters were filled with the fervent emotions of a young boy. She found it hard to imagine that such a detached person could be so innocent and passionate in love with a girl, just like most boys—something she had never seen before.
She and Gu Shi met through a penpal website. At the time, she was looking for an internship. Her roommate had registered an account on a penpal website to chat and make friends, so she followed suit and registered one too. That was how she met Gu Shi. After chatting for a few months, Gu Shi suggested meeting in person. Only then did she learn he was from a wealthy family. She couldn't understand why a rich young man would use a penpal website. It wasn't until after she got married and learned that the website had been created by his cousin and a group of friends that she understood.
In her memory, whether before or after marriage, Gu Shi was always steady and calm, rarely showing emotion. Even when angry, he only gave off a heavy aura. She had always thought he was like this, never expecting that he too had a youthful, passionate infatuation.
Sunlight streamed through the gauze curtains, falling on the large bed in the bedroom. The person on the bed turned over, the silk quilt slipping from her shoulders to her waist and revealing her sexy shoulder blades. Her legs were pressed against the quilt and her fair and slender legs exposed. The person on the bed was oblivious, still immersed in sleep.
Gu Shi came out of the bathroom, watched the woman on the bed for a moment before walking to the bedside, bent down, and gently held the woman's slender ankle. The delicate touch in his palm made him pause slightly. With his other hand, he pulled the quilt over her, instantly covering her body.
The slight movement woke the woman from her dream. She opened her eyes groggily, vaguely recognizing the person in front of her, and was slightly startled.
Seeing this, Gu Shi asked, "Having nightmares again?"
Luo Zhengzheng nodded blankly. It had been half a month since her rebirth, but every morning when she woke up and saw Gu Shi, she still felt like she had come back to life.
And yet, the person in question was completely oblivious, pressing, "Why have you been having so many nightmares lately? See a doctor?"
The so-called doctor was, in effect, a psychologist.
Luo Zhengzheng shook her head. She suffered from rebirth syndrome. Even if seeing a psychologist was helpful, it wouldn't be easy to find one. She could only adjust herself. Besides, after half a month, she had slowly accepted her rebirth and the fact that Gu Shi was alive and not a corpse coming back to life.
Gu Shi glanced at her and said, "If you need a doctor, I'll have Assistant Chen contact one for you."
Luo Zhengzheng looked at him: "Really, no need." Seeing his silence, she thought for a moment and said, "You..."
"What's wrong?" Gu Shi asked.
Looking at the man's handsome yet aloof face, Luo Zhengzheng recalled how she too had once been captivated by such a face. Remembering the fright she had just experienced, she felt a surge of resentment and blurted out, "Can you write love letters?"
Gu Shi was taken aback, not understanding why his wife had asked such a question out of the blue.
Seeing his silence, Luo Zhengzheng said, "It's nothing. Luo Can is about to take the college entrance exam. I want to go back to see him. Also, Dad told me recently that his back hurts and I want to take him to see a doctor. If I don't go back to take him to the hospital, he won't go."
Her mother later developed breast cancer. She wanted to take her parents to the hospital for checkups.
With just over ten days until the college entrance exam, Gu Shi nodded: "Bring Aunt Wang, Uncle Wang, and Xiao Zhang over. Make a list of what you and Jiajia need. I'll have someone prepare it. I'll prepare gifts for your parents and Luo Can. I know some doctors; if your father needs anything, I'll contact them."
Luo Zhengzheng listened to his earnest instructions. Regardless of his feelings for her, he had shown her and their child all his patience. She said, "I don't plan to take Jiajia back this time. As for my father, I’ll take him to the hospital for a checkup first and we'll talk about it after that."
In her previous life, Jiajia was only six years old when Gu Shi passed away. Such a young child, at the age when he needed his father's love. During holidays, his uncles would come back and his cousins would all have their fathers' affection, while he sat alone to the side, watching them nestled in their fathers' arms with envy. Her heart ached unbearably.
Mother-in-law had told her more than once that she was still young and could find another husband and she would provide a dowry. She refused. Putting aside the fact that she had married the best man, she didn't want her son to lose his father as well as mother to remarriage.
By not remarrying and focusing solely on caring for her child, her in-laws actually looked at her highly. Fearing she might be mistreated, they transferred some shares to her. With money and a child, what did she need a man for?
Now that she was reborn and knew what the future held, she was determined to protect Gu Shi's life and prevent him from another car accident.
But she also feared the worst. If she couldn't save Gu Shi, she wanted him to spend these last few years with Jiajia, letting Jiajia know that even without his father, his father loved him.
Thinking of the recording pen, she felt a sense of relief. If she had died in her past life, her in-laws, Jiajia, and her younger brother would definitely have found out the truth! With the recording pen, they wouldn't have let Su Zhilan off easily.
Luo Zhengzheng always doted on Jiajia, so how could she bear not to take him to her maternal home? Gu Shi looked up and opened his mouth to speak.
Luo Zhengzheng immediately said, "I'm leaving the child with you."
Gu Shi looked at her and said helplessly, "I'll get off work early and come home to be with the child."
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