The Stand-In Alpha Goes Viral on a Dating Show - Chapter 68

Chairman? Wasn’t that the head of the Chi family? He actually knew about An Ran?

How could Lu Xin and the others not feel their hearts leap into their throats!

The Chi family had always kept a low profile, focusing mainly on overseas markets, but its standing in the business world was unquestionable.

Compared to the Chi family’s commercial empire, the Mo Group was practically insignificant.

“Miss Chi Tian, could you please explain this in detail?” Chu Rou asked, feeling waves of dizziness wash over her.

Could it be that their scheme against An Ran had already been discovered by the Chi family’s patriarch?

“Huh? Why are you all sweating so much?”

Chi Tian blinked in confusion at the group, muttering to herself: The weather isn’t even that hot…

And the more she looked at their expressions, the more guilty they seemed.

“Don’t tell me the ones who knocked An Ran unconscious were sent by you?”

She had no idea how much her offhanded suspicion would terrify them.

“I… how could it be me…” Lu Xin’s voice was already trembling.

“Really?”

Chi Tian narrowed her eyes at her. Lu Xin stiffened her neck, barely managing to hold herself upright.

Seeing nothing further, Chi Tian spread her hands. “If it wasn’t you, then fine. I only called because some idiot from one of Chi family’s branch lines falsely accused An Ran of stealing and even tried to stop her from leaving. Pathetic moves like that are just too much.”

She finished with a sidelong glance toward a dazed figure inside the room, sneering inwardly: Serves you right!

But another thought quickly followed—who would have expected the Chairman himself to step in personally, and with every intention of seeing it through to the end?

Heh. A certain arrogant someone was about to face serious misfortune.

The news of the Chi family head inviting the program’s guests to a private banquet spread quietly but swiftly.

Even the chairman of the Mo Group personally phoned his daughter. When he heard Mo Wei was planning to feign illness and skip the event, he exploded:

“Do you have no brains at all? How did I raise such a fool! That banquet is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—think of the connections you could make! We’re aiming to expand into overseas markets, and if you don’t attend, I’ll strip you of your position as successor!”

Although Su Yao was president of her company, she couldn’t ignore the opinions of her board and staff. Everyone believed this banquet was a golden opportunity. Helpless and unable to argue, she had no choice but to agree to attend.

Lu Xin, on the other hand, was pressured into going by her own fans’ insistence.

“Meng Lan, the rest of us have no choice. For one reason or another, we’re being forced to attend. And with the whole An Ran incident, we’ll be on edge the entire time. But you—you’ve always been aloof, indifferent to family matters. You could easily skip it.”

Chu Rou walked toward Meng Lan, who was smoking by the window, her brows creased with helplessness.

Meng Lan exhaled slowly, turned her head with a trace of boredom, and said, “Just think of it as me being too bored.”

“Huh?” Chu Rou was caught off guard by such a careless, perfunctory answer. For a moment she was stunned.

Her instincts told her Meng Lan was hiding something. But knowing her personality, if she didn’t want to talk, no amount of pressure would work.

Meng Lan turned her head back, her cold profile reflected in the glass. Her lashes trembled, veiling the emotions in her eyes.

She too weighed risks and rewards, and knew full well that with An Ran involved, attending the banquet would likely bring more harm than benefit. So why go anyway?

Because of the picture on the invitation—a partial view of a villa. It immediately stirred a long-buried memory.

That villa looked exactly like the one where she had met Mingyu in childhood, the very house Mingyu had once lived in.

She thought: perhaps this was her chance. A chance to make Mingyu remember everything. She had long believed she was the only one who remembered that past. Now, faced with such an opportunity, how could she let it slip away?

And besides, she couldn’t ignore the momentary panic that flickered in her heart. She needed to understand why.

“Chi Wan, what’s wrong?”

After seeing the doctor, An Ran’s strength had mostly returned. She noticed Chi Wan sitting on the edge of the bed, her expression heavy with worry.

“I…”

Chi Wan opened her mouth but didn’t know where to begin. Should she say that her father might have found her? But she had no proof—only speculation. Or should she confess her hesitation about telling her mother?

If her father was truly the Chi family patriarch, then why had her mother abandoned a life of wealth to endure hardship in the countryside?

Surely something unforgivable must have happened.

“Say it—why aren’t you speaking?”

An Ran sat beside her, her gaze urging an answer.

Chi Wan let out a soft sigh and shook her head. She couldn’t say it.

Elsewhere, Mingyu was ecstatic when she heard the news! She was convinced her father had finally discovered her existence and arranged all this for her.

“Yes! It must be because of me!”

She paced her room in excitement, repeating the phrase again and again. But soon her brows furrowed. She realized her father hadn’t invited just her—others were included too!

People like Su Yao and Lu Xin were all benefiting from her light.

Qu Huan quietly reminded, “Um… actually, I heard it was because of An Ran…” Not because of you…

She had no idea why Mingyu was acting so manic, so she spoke with extreme caution.

In truth, she felt Mingyu was becoming increasingly unstable.

“Hmph!” Mingyu scoffed at Qu Huan’s words, utterly dismissive. On the surface, it might seem like this was all because of An Ran, but in her mind, she was certain it had to be fallout from the livestream incident.

The online chatter that An Ran looked more like a Ming family member must have caught her father’s attention, which then led him to notice her.

Still, Mingyu was fuming. She hated that Su Yao and the others were piggybacking off her supposed recognition.

Her father should never have invited them to the banquet!

Qu Huan realized Mingyu wasn’t listening. She had originally wanted to explain the full story, but seeing it was pointless, she simply fell silent.

After her initial frenzy, Mingyu muttered again, “Right, I need to go to bed early and be well-rested, so I can present myself in the best possible way before him.”

Meanwhile, at the Chi residence, the family head faced a sleepless night. Though he still lacked conclusive DNA evidence, his instincts told him Chi Wan was the daughter he had lost nearly twenty years ago.

He sat alone in a darkened room, silently sorting through his emotions.

If not for his mother’s obstinate opposition, his fiancée would never have left with their child.

That disappearance had lasted almost two decades.

All these years, he had searched for them abroad, never realizing they were still in the country. His mother had deceived him—she had hidden their whereabouts from him all along.