Fell Deeply In Love With My Ex-Husband's Fiancé - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: The Upheaval

The night he left the Lu family, Lu Feiran and…

“Yes, I heard that Tuowei and DeWitt will have more commercial cooperation next year. They say these two companies will become one family in the future.” Zhou Zihua devoured his food like a tornado, spilling the intelligence he had gathered to Lu Feiran like pouring beans.

The grease on the skewers chilled, and the aroma gradually dissipated, turning into unappetizing cold meat. Lu Feiran drank two mouthfuls of water to suppress the discomfort, wiped his hands clean, and said he was done eating.

So Zhou Zihua claimed the rest.

Lu Feiran felt that his cold from the past two days hadn’t fully cleared up, and sitting by the barbecue stall and catching a draft today had caused a relapse.

He needed to take some medicine. The medicine DeWitt gave him was very effective. What was it called?

Lu Feiran unlocked his phone and opened the chat window, hesitating for a long time without sending a single word.

His mind was filled with words like “wedding” and “wants to meet you.” His chest felt tight and uncomfortable, so he forced himself to start a different topic.

Lu Feiran told Zhou Zihua about his discovery of the abnormality at the Qiong Zhu Gallery. If he could secure that evidence and follow the trail, he could utterly ruin Zhai Qiance. He asked Zhou Zihua to help him find a businesswoman, Ms. Du, who had bought Jin Zhan’s painting.

Ms. Du emigrated to Europe with her family shortly after acquiring the painting, providing endless room for speculation regarding the reasons.

Zhou Zihua immediately promised to help with all his might.

“Ranran, why don’t you stay at my place tonight?” Zhou Zihua suggested.

Lu Feiran shook his head simply: “I’ll stay at a hotel for a day.”

Zhou Zihua finally put down his skewer, looked at Lu Feiran for a long time, and said caringly: “I know you. You look calm on the surface, but you like to keep things bottled up inside. Don’t be alone; you need company.”

Zhou Zihua added: “Don’t worry about anything else. Put yourself first. I just want to see you doing well.”

That night, Lu Feiran still allowed Zhou Zihua to stay with him at the hotel.

The night was quiet, but Lu Feiran tossed and turned, unable to sleep, which woke Zhou Zihua up.

Zhou Zihua hadn’t been in a deep sleep, so he immediately sat up and started chatting with Lu Feiran.

Like they did in high school, they sat together and cursed many people, starting with the Lu family name, then moving to the Zhai family. Zhou Zihua even wanted to curse the DeWitt family, saying that knowing Zhai Qiance was married and still proposing marriage, wasn’t that eagerly playing the third party?

Lu Feiran stopped Zhou Zihua: “I know him. He is a very good person. He is unaware.”

Zhou Zihua was wide awake: “You went to see Norn? You’re truly foolish, really! Even if Zhai Qiance concealed the fact that he was married, think about it—could the DeWitt family fail to find out? They must have investigated Zhai Qiance completely. Norn, that bastard, he definitely knows!”

“No,” Lu Feiran disagreed with Zhou Zihua, “He is being kept in the dark by his family! The DeWitt family introduced them under the pretense of business cooperation!”

“…”

The protectiveness in Lu Feiran’s words was too obvious, and Zhou Zihua didn’t know how to respond.

“Then what does he look like?”

“Hmm…” Lu Feiran thought of many adjectives that could be combined into a small essay, but it felt overly sentimental, so he only said: “He is very handsome.”

“How handsome? Can he be more handsome than you?” Zhou Zihua didn’t believe it. In his eyes, Lu Feiran was the most handsome person in the world.

“He’s different from me, but… he’s very handsome.” Lu Feiran seemed lost in a beautiful dream while saying this, perhaps thinking of something else.

Zhou Zihua’s expression twisted for a long time, like a string of firecrackers looking for a place to explode, but he finally said cautiously: “Did he put a spell on you?”

Lu Feiran bit his lip, feeling a little wronged: “You don’t know him.”

“That’s not it!” A light bulb went on for Zhou Zihua. “You already went to see him, and they are still chatting. Isn’t that knowingly being a third party?”

“I didn’t tell him who I am,” Lu Feiran lowered his head, not daring to look at Zhou Zihua, like a student who knew they had made a mistake waiting for the teacher’s lecture.

Zhou Zihua scratched his head, unable to understand: “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“What for? I’m not actually trying to catch a third party. What does it have to do with me if Zhai Qiance sleeps with ten thousand people or marries ten thousand people?” Lu Feiran was stubborn. “I only met him by chance. Is it necessary to tell him who I am? Should I hold a megaphone and tell every passerby that I am Zhai Qiance’s legal partner? Am I crazy?”

“You’re not crazy, Ranran, but why are you making such a big deal out of it?” And you seem very guilty. Zhou Zihua thought.

Lu Feiran immediately stopped talking, pulled the blanket over his head, and pretended to sleep.

After a while, he pulled the blanket down slightly, his voice muffled and unclear: “I can judge who the good people are.”

Zhou Zihua, however, was already snoring, and no one responded to Lu Feiran anymore.

Lu Feiran didn’t need a response. He was talking to himself; he had his own judgment.

The next morning, Lu Feiran received news of his dismissal. The reason given was that his absence on Monday was unauthorized and counted as unexcused absenteeism.

Lu Feiran found it ridiculous and didn’t bother arguing or replying.

There was no need to continue working at that job.

He extended his hotel stay for two nights, saw Zhou Zihua off, and then ran off to the Qiong Zhu Gallery again.

This time, Lu Feiran chatted with Jin Zhan without any ulterior motive. Jin Zhan asked Lu Feiran what he usually enjoyed doing.

Lu Feiran recalled his tedious, unexciting life over the past three years and shook his head.

But he thought further back and told Jin Zhan: “I like playing the violin.”

So Jin Zhan set up his easel again. This time, he didn’t ask Lu Feiran to model but drew a sketch purely from imagination.

In the black, white, and gray painting, Lu Feiran wore a white suit, the shimmering fabric hugging his lean waist, playing the violin with unrestrained elegance.

Before leaving, Lu Feiran posted a picture of the painting on his social media feed. Even high school classmates he hadn’t contacted in a long time gave him a like.

…

These past few days, Zhai Qiance had people thoroughly search Luyu Garden, but they couldn’t find the surveillance camera that had cost him his dignity.

Lu Feiran is utterly sinister. He installed a secret camera in the bedroom at home without anyone knowing?

He thought of the frenzy with Lu Xingli on the big bed a few days ago and wished he could chop Lu Feiran into a thousand pieces.

With such leverage in Lu Feiran’s hands, how could he possibly let Lu Feiran have an easy time! Didn’t he have a lover? He would drag both of them out and wipe them all out at once.

However, no matter how many people Zhai Qiance hired to investigate Lu Feiran, they couldn’t find out who that “lover” was.

The photos he received only showed Lu Feiran’s figure: him walking alone on the street at night, him sitting at a roadside barbecue stall in a bustling street with his shirt sleeves rolled up.

He looked lonely, yet more carefree, more vital, and even smiled more, which made Zhai Qiance feel strange.

Zhai Qiance frowned and flipped two photos back, seeing Lu Feiran frequently entering and exiting the Qiong Zhu Gallery. One photo even captured Jin Zhan personally walking him out.

His expression instantly turned cold, like a sudden snowstorm.

Flipping further back, there were a few surveillance screenshots.

The night he left the Lu family, Lu Feiran was seen in an intimate situation with a man. The man was crouching, looking Lu Feiran in the eye, holding his face to examine it carefully, and then taking Lu Feiran to his car.

That man had striking blond hair that was hard to ignore, and an extremely superior face and physique.

Not long ago, Zhai Qiance had discussed the DeWitt Group’s investment face-to-face with him in the conference room.

More urgent than the man’s perfect face, Zhai Qiance was frantically trying to acquire the commercial resources and all assets belonging to DeWitt.

Now that everything was going smoothly, was Lu Feiran trying to ruin it?!

“Lu Feiran, let’s meet,” Zhai Qiance called Lu Feiran.

Lu Feiran had just emerged from the hotel pool. Transparent water droplets constantly rolled down his pale skin, gathering at his feet.

He threw a towel onto the floor and stepped onto it, simultaneously answering Zhai Qiance’s call.

Lu Feiran felt quite weary of talking to Zhai Qiance. He dried his feet, kicked the towel away with some force.

The person on the phone was too noisy. He wanted to kick him far away too.

Lu Feiran patiently replied: “I made it very clear last time. If you contact me, it should be about the divorce. I won’t discuss anything else.”

“Jin Zhan, Norn, are these your bargaining chips? I warned you to be smart. If you make me uncomfortable, how many good days do you think you’ll have?”

Zhai Qiance’s tone was one of undisguised malice. He was eager to threaten Lu Feiran, hoping Lu Feiran would back off out of fear.

But Zhai Qiance hadn’t expected that they couldn’t even photograph Lu Feiran’s affair partner. Was Lu Feiran hiding too well, or was there simply no such person?

Impossible. A new person must have appeared in Lu Feiran’s life.

Zhai Qiance flipped back and forth through all the photos, his gaze lingering on the photo of Lance cupping Lu Feiran’s face for a while, but finally pinched the bridge of his nose and swiped all the photos away.

All useless things, can’t even find one person.

Lu Feiran wasn’t surprised that Zhai Qiance could trace his movements. He looked down from the floor-to-ceiling window. People and cars looked exceptionally small. Suddenly, he understood why Zhai Qiance liked high floors.

Looking down—the sense of superiority is addictive.

He had inadvertently grabbed the tail that would hurt Zhai Qiance. Zhai Qiance was scared.

But Lu Feiran knew well that he hadn’t secured any solid evidence yet.

He suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart and said casually: “Get divorced first, and I’ll consider it.”

During Lu Feiran’s long silence, Zhai Qiance also calmed down.

Jin Zhan was merely a tool for copying paintings; he could be pushed out to take the blame if necessary. He knew nothing.

And the cooperation with the DeWitt family was proceeding smoothly. Norn also certainly knew nothing.

“I’ll arrange for a lawyer to come over. Let’s discuss this and resolve it as soon as possible,” Zhai Qiance said.

A soft, white towel was draped over Lu Feiran’s head, covering half of his face. A faint smile appeared on the other half of his face: “Since you’ve decided to divorce, get out of Luyu Garden. You haven’t forgotten, have you? That’s my home!”

Zhai Qiance didn’t hesitate: “Fine.”

“I’ll give you two days. I’ll come to the company to talk tomorrow, and I’ll go back the day after. I hope to not see any of your belongings by then.” Lu Feiran really wanted to add a few threatening words, but he was afraid that Zhai Qiance might do something irrational if provoked, so he held back.

Getting the divorce first was the best outcome.

“I’ll send you the time and place.”

Lu Feiran chuckled: “You had me fired, but I’m still a major shareholder, so of course I can come to the company. What are you afraid of?”

A burst of static came from the other end of the line. A moment later, the call disconnected.

Lu Feiran stopped smiling, put on his bathrobe, and returned to the room, drinking the hot soup the hotel had just delivered to warm himself up.

He didn’t believe the divorce would be this easy.

Zhai Qiance was not a person who would compromise easily. When confronting any opponent, even if he was defeated, he would tear off a piece of flesh from the other party.

Lu Feiran’s heart chilled. More than failing to find Zhai Qiance’s leverage, he was more worried that Zhou Zihua, who was helping him investigate, might be in danger.

Once Zhai Qiance’s secrets were on the verge of exposure, he would inevitably go mad.

However, before that, Lu Xingli went mad first.

Since Zhai Qiance took Lu Feiran back to the Lu family, Lu Xingli’s world had been turned upside down.

Even his mother wasn’t supporting him, slapping him and cursing him for being useless. What’s wrong? What’s wrong with pursuing true love? His mother herself chased after true love recklessly back then, so why was it unacceptable for him?

And his father even told him to restrain himself, always speaking in favor of Lu Feiran!

Did that old man have amnesia? Did he forget how he unscrupulously chased Lu Feiran away back then?

Not only that, his father kept saying he was useless and didn’t have the ability to inherit the company.

Lu Xingli felt his father must have regretted his choice, regretting choosing him over Lu Feiran. But did he want to set things right now? Too late!

Lu Xingli tried to charm Zhai Qiance and complained to him about the recent absurdities, and also subtly inquired about Lu Feiran’s movements, which finally annoyed Zhai Qiance.

This time, his desperate efforts to please him were all useless. Was Zhai Qiance really tired of him?

He couldn’t stand Zhai Qiance’s cold shoulder and decided to stake out Tuowei to confront Zhai Qiance.