Three hours before the press conference, Tang Yueru stood in front of the mirror, her palms slick with sweat.
Wen Qi sat behind her, fixing the folds of her ivory blouse.
"You look like a woman about to slay a room full of wolves," Wen Qi said, then smiled. "And honestly? I think you might."
Yueru didn't reply.
Her eyes locked on the reflection of herself — and behind her, Lu Shenyan.
Standing tall in a black tailored suit. Unreadable. Inevitable.
He met her gaze in the mirror. "We don't have to do this."
"Yes," she said. "We do."
---
The press hall inside Lu Corporation's headquarters buzzed like a hornet's nest.
Over a dozen major outlets. Lights. Boom mics. Social media livestreams counting views in real-time.
The marriage contract scandal had gone viral.
And the world had gathered to see if it was real love or the biggest lie in the business world this year.
The moment they entered the room, silence fell.
Lu Shenyan and Tang Yueru walked side by side, calm, composed, lethal.
They stopped at the podium. Dozens of flashes burst around them.
He spoke first.
---
"I understand there have been… questions," Shenyan began, voice firm.
"The contract is real. The marriage is real."
"But so is the change."
He turned toward her, eyes softening by a fraction.
"When we began, it was a transaction. Nothing more. No expectations. No promises."
Yueru inhaled.
"But life," she continued, "is rarely so clean."
"There were arguments. Awkward silences. And yes… there were moments I thought I'd made the worst mistake of my life."
Murmurs rippled.
She met every pair of eyes in the room.
"But then he held my hand when the cameras weren't watching. And I cried in his arms when my father collapsed in the hospital. And when I wanted to run—he stayed."
---
The reporters began firing questions.
"Did you fall in love?"
"Is it still a business deal?"
"Are you divorcing after the contract ends?"
Yueru opened her mouth—but Shenyan beat her to it.
"We are not divorcing," he said, coolly.
"In fact—" He turned toward her. Slowly. Deliberately.
"—I'm asking her to stay. Not as my contract bride, but as my wife."
A gasp.
Not from the reporters—from her.
---
Then—
A man stood in the back row.
Clapping.
Zhou Linwei.
Wearing a camera-ready smirk.
"Well said, Mr. Lu. But does she know the real reason you signed the contract in the first place?"
A chill slid through the room.
Yueru's lips parted.
"What is he talking about?"
Shenyan's jaw clenched.
Zhou continued, "Because from what I know, this was never just about a company merger. It was about something you lost long ago… and someone you thought she could replace."
---