Too Late to Regret, She’s Now With the Big Boss - Chapter 16

“Yao Yao, what did you say?” An elderly man in his eighties stood up excitedly in the grand hall of the Lu family’s ancestral home.

The old man was full of vigor, his face etched with deep wrinkles from the passage of time, yet his eyes still sparkled with wisdom.

“Grandfather, my third uncle got married.” Lu Yao hurried forward, supporting her grandfather with both hands.

“Thank heavens! Ruyi, did you hear that? Our third son has finally agreed to marry!” The old man turned excitedly to the beautiful young woman beside him.

But the young woman sat expressionless in her seat, neither excited nor displeased.

“What’s there to be excited about? I introduced so many well-bred young ladies to him, yet he wouldn’t even spare them a glance. Now he suddenly gets married, it must have been snatched by force. Like father, like son. What’s there to boast about?”

The young woman’s cold words left the old man, who had dominated the business world for over fifty years, momentarily speechless. He slowly sat back down, suppressing his anger.

“Ruyi, are you still holding onto what happened back then? I’ll admit to snatching, but I never forced anything,” he said through gritted teeth.

“You… you…” The word “shameless” lingered on the young woman’s Madame Lu’s lips, but she dared not say it aloud.

It wasn’t that she feared speaking in front of her stepsons or step-grandchildren, she wasn’t afraid of them. What she feared was her own flesh and blood, her wolfish son.

Madame Lu was fifty-one this year, but thanks to meticulous care, she looked like a graceful woman in her thirties.

Over thirty years ago, she had just been admitted to university. Coming from a poor family, she took a weekend job selling alcohol at a club to pay for tuition and living expenses.

One day, while promoting bottle worth millions in a private room, she was pressured into drinking by customers. Drunk, she accidentally bumped into Lu Zhiyan, who was about to leave, catching his eye.

That year, Lu Zhiyan was fifty-three, the head of the Lu family, widowed for many years without remarrying. She was only nineteen, young and beautiful.

Being noticed by a powerful man like Lu Zhiyan left her no room for resistance. The most infuriating part was her parents, who were nearly delirious with joy.

Seeing the lavish betrothal gifts, they forced her to break up with her then-boyfriend and become his caged songbird.

Fortunately, Lu Zhiyan treated her with respect, giving her a grand wedding and the best life possible.

Every time he took her out, people in their social circle flattered her. The wife of the Lu family’s patriarch didn’t need to live under anyone’s thumb.

She was forced to enjoy it all. The following year, she gave birth to a plump, fair-skinned son, whom Lu Zhiyan joyfully named Lu Jingchen.

He even bought a grand villa for her parents and arranged cushy, high-paying jobs for her brothers, sisters-in-law, and their families.

One day, she ran into her first love. Out of guilt, she helped him secure a job at the Lu Corporation.

Not only did her ex-boyfriend not blame her, he often messaged her, urging her to enjoy her wealthy life while lamenting his own hardships.

So she secretly promoted him and his family, ensuring they lived thousands of times better than before.

For some reason, though, as her ex-boyfriend’s family grew wealthier, they divorced not once, but three times in just a few years.

When she asked why, he replied, “After losing you, I could never find true love again.”

In her messages, she confided: “This life of luxury was never what I wanted. I’ve never loved Lu Zhiyan. I want a divorce to be with you again.”

Her ex-boyfriend was deeply moved upon receiving her message and ended up chatting with her for a very long time. While she couldn’t physically cheat (for fear of being beaten to death), her emotions certainly could.

Engaging in an emotional affair with her ex every day only intensified her aversion to intimacy with the older man.

No matter how skilled he was, she simply couldn’t stand it.

The more she resisted, the more domineering he became. Unable to retaliate against the old man, she took out her frustrations on her own son instead, beating him so mercilessly that the boy began questioning his existence. But the little wolf cub was just as ruthless as his father, by the age of six, he demanded to be sent to boarding school to escape her control.

The three Lu brothers had significant age gaps, but they shared a strong bond. The eldest was even a year older than her and had always preferred painting over managing the company. The second son loved acting and had no interest in the family business either, so the old man poured all his hopes into her biological son.

Though the couple still shared a bed, they no longer shared a blanket, maintaining a stark divide between them. The distance in the middle was vast. He channeled all his energy into raising their son, waking early and sleeping late, deliberately avoiding her.

The old man even slept with his back turned, sneering that she loved putting on airs, acting all high and mighty like some lifeless clay idol enshrined in a temple, utterly dull.

She couldn’t tell whether his lack of interest in intimacy was due to old age or self-awareness that she despised him.

With Lu Zhiyan keeping his distance and her son refusing to obey her, the lonely and empty woman grew increasingly dependent on her ex-boyfriend, bombarding him with daily calls and messages.

Then, at fifteen, the little wolf cub somehow found out. Not only did he confine her to the villa, forbidding her from leaving freely, but he also threatened, “If you dare cause trouble, I’ll make sure Dad divorces you!”

After being grounded, she tearfully complained to the old man, who, in a fit of ruthlessness, sent the fifteen-year-old abroad to study.

But her mother and siblings pressured her into arranging an engagement between her niece and the wolf cub before his departure.

For the first time, she gently brought him food, she still remembered the excitement on his face. Later, when he discovered her manipulation, he stormed out in anger, only to be kidnapped by enemies. The old man and his two stepsons all blamed her.

From then on, the wolf cub hated her. He stayed abroad for ten years without a single call home.

During that time, she spent years humbling herself to appease the old man, slowly mending their strained relationship.

But the old man was truly old now, useless, yet his controlling nature only grew worse. Wherever she went, bodyguards followed.

When her son finally returned, she only learned from the servants that the Third Master was back to take over the Lu Corporation.

Eager to reconcile, she kindly introduced him to the eldest daughter of her first love.

But what did he do?

Not only did he reject her goodwill, he expelled both father and daughter from the Lu Corporation and warned that if she dared interfere again, he’d kick her out of the Lu family!

Seeing the tension between her grandparents, Lu Yao cheerfully interjected, “Grandpa, Third Uncle is married now, don’t you want to meet Third Aunt?”

The old lady remained coldly silent, but the old man chuckled. “Yao Yao, call the manager of Lanjing Garden. We’ll have dinner at your Third Uncle’s place tonight.”

At Lanjing Garden Villa, Ye Qianqian and Lu Jingchen were chatting animatedly, inseparable as conjoined twins.

“Third Master, Madam, the butler from the old residence called to say that the Old Master and the First Master’s family are coming here for dinner.”

“You handle the preparations yourselves. Same as usual, don’t let them go up to the second floor,” Lu Jingchen said with a frown.