Volume 1 Chapter 25 Unable to Forget Her

Fu Yunzhen pressed his temples, his movements faltering when Assistant Lin mentioned the "sky lantern" auction.

He looked up at Assistant Lin. "What do you mean by 'sky lantern'?"

"Mr. Fu," Assistant Lin replied, "it concerns the scandalous photos of you and Miss Qiao. After the Qiao family went bankrupt, Miss Qiao used the 'sky lantern' method to bid for and buy them back..."

Fu Yunzhen was even more perplexed. "The Qiao family went bankrupt. Where did she get the money?"

Assistant Lin took a deep breath. "It was... it was provided by Madam."

Fu Yunzhen’s gaze sharpened. No further explanation was needed; he had already guessed the truth. It appeared that his breakup with Qiao Nian'an all those years ago had been orchestrated by his mother. As for the scandalous photos, there had only ever been one. He had taken a few at the time just for fun, never imagining they would become the death warrant that pushed her into the abyss. The leak of those photos was undoubtedly his mother's doing; she was the only one who had ever touched his phone.

Upon arriving at the family estate, Fu Yunzhen stormed into the presence of Leng Bingxin, radiating fury. He found her sitting elegantly on the sofa, sipping tea with an air of noble composure. Seeing him, she produced a photograph.

"I expect you to enter into a marriage alliance with Luo Yunzhu," Leng Bingxin said bluntly. "This is a girl who will not lead you astray."

Leng Bingxin was irritated. She had arranged for them to dine together yesterday, hoping to play matchmaker, only for Fu Yunzhen to never come home. That had infuriated her. Upon investigation, she discovered that he had been busy with his own schemes—spending a hundred million to acquire a debt-ridden small company and even visiting that company himself. She knew exactly what he was doing. Men were all the same: once they achieved success, the hardest thing to forget was their "white moonlight"—their first love.

Even Fu Yunzhen was no exception. Hadn't her own husband been the same? Once he had money, he began doting on his own "white moonlight," even keeping a second home. By the time she found out, he was already a grandfather. They had agreed on being child-free, yet he had a family on the side. She had been forty-something, an elderly primipara, and physically unable to conceive, which was why she had resorted to IVF using eggs frozen in her youth to conceive Fu Yunzhen.

Tragically, after Fu Yunzhen was born, her maiden family collapsed. Her own health was failing, and fearing the other woman might plot against the child, she had raised him away from home. It wasn't until he was in his twenties that she brought him back to be formally recognized. But now, he had a stumbling block in his life.

Even if that girl hadn’t come from a fallen family, she still wouldn't have been good enough. She required a match with a background like Luo Yunzhu’s. Luo Yunzhu’s father was the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, a connection of immense benefit to the Fu family.

"I cannot marry her," Fu Yunzhen stated firmly.

"Do you know what you are doing?" Hearing his refusal, Leng Bingxin slammed her teacup down, splashing tea everywhere.

"I am very clear about what I am doing, and I am very clear about what I want," Fu Yunzhen replied.

"Being favored by Luo Yunzhu is your good fortune, and only she can assist you in your career," Leng Bingxin declared. "As for other women, treat them as mere distractions; do not take them seriously."

"You are truly hypocritical," Fu Yunzhen looked at her. "When Father kept a mistress on the side, why couldn't you tolerate it? Yet now you are telling me to treat women as playthings?"

With her old wounds laid bare, Leng Bingxin’s face turned deathly pale. "You... you unfilial son!"

"Don't think that because you are a rising tech star in North America, with a net worth surpassing the Fu Group, that you would have achieved anything today without the Fu Group as your springboard." Leng Bingxin reached for her heart medication, trembling. "Are you truly willing to give up everything for that woman? To forsake the alliance with Luo Yunzhu? Do you not understand the benefits that marrying her would bring you?"

"I don't need them," Fu Yunzhen said coldly.

"Oh? And do you think the woman you remain so obsessed with is really that innocent?" Leng Bingxin sneered. "Back then, she took one billion from me to break up with you and promised me that she would never appear before you again."

She refused to believe that if he knew she had left him for money, he would still love her. Their relationship had to be fractured! What kind of woman could make Fu Yunzhen turn his heart to stone for six years and reject the daughter of the Chief Executive?