16

People all around turned to look.

She knew exactly how to pick an occasion.

I asked: "Have you paid back the money you owe?"

Tears welled up in her eyes again.

"I will pay it back, but there’s no need for you to bring it up on an occasion like this."

I asked: "Then what kind of occasion is suitable for you to pay it back? A livestream?"

Someone chuckled softly.

Mina couldn't save face.

Lu Jingran said: "Ms. Clara, being so aggressive is not a good look."

Before I could open my mouth, my mother set down her glass.

Her voice was low.

"Lu Jingran, your father said the same thing to me back then."

The surroundings quieted down significantly.

Lu Jingran’s expression shifted slightly.

My mother looked at him.

"He said, 'Lin Shu, don't be too strong, it’s not a good look for a woman.'"

She gave a small smile.

"Twenty years have passed. Evergreen is still here, while the Lu family has to rely on poaching others' corners to find projects. Who exactly is 'not a good look' now?"

The smile on Lu Jingran’s face vanished completely.

Chairman Fu stood not far away, his expression complex.

Julian kept watching me.

The host took the stage.

"Distinguished guests, welcome to the Evergreen Capital annual appreciation gala. Tonight, Ms. Lin will announce the heads of the new round of Evergreen's public welfare medical funds, as well as the management arrangements for the Evergreen family trust."

Mina looked at me sharply.

Lu Jingran also looked up.

My mother held my hand as we took the stage.

Whispers broke out in the crowd.

She took the microphone.

"Today, there is also a private matter."

She looked at me.

"My daughter, Clara Shen, has ended an unsuitable marriage. As a mother, my heart aches for her. As the founder of Evergreen Capital, I am also very happy that she finally has the time to return and do what she was always meant to do."

The crowd grew even quieter.

Julian’s face turned pale.

My mother continued: "From today on, Clara Shen will be the co-head of the Evergreen Public Welfare Medical Fund. At the same time, the 2.8 billion in assets under her personal trust will be taken over by her personally."

The whole room was in an uproar.

The glass in Mina’s hand almost fell.

Sia, who had arrived at some point, stood behind the crowd, completely stunned.

The voice of the mother (Julian's mother) came from nearby.

"2.8 billion?"

She had actually come as well.

She looked at me as if meeting me for the first time.

Julian stood motionless.

Lu Jingran stared at me, his expression finally changing.

My mother handed the microphone to me.

I took it.

"Good evening, everyone. I am Clara Shen."

No one spoke in the audience.

I looked toward the Fu family side.

"In the past three years, I rarely appeared at such occasions. Some people thought I wasn't qualified, some thought I had no background, and others thought that once I left a marriage, I would have nothing left."

Julian lowered his head.

I continued: "Today, I will only say one thing."

"What I lost was never my backing."

I looked at Mina.

"It was merely trash."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Then, someone burst into laughter.

Soon after, came the applause.

Mina’s face was deathly pale.

Lu Jingran stood there with a cold face.

Chairman Fu closed his eyes for a second.

Julian finally walked toward me.

"Clara."

I put down the microphone.

He stopped at the bottom of the steps.

"Why did you never tell me any of this?"

I looked at him.

"I gave you plenty of opportunities."

His voice was hoarse.

"I didn't know you were Ms. Lin’s daughter."

I said: "So what? If you had known, would you not have cheated?"

He had no answer.

17

I walked down from the stage.

He tried to reach out to stop me.

Gu Shi'an walked out from the crowd and stood beside me.

"Mr. Fu, please show some self-respect."

Julian looked at him.

"This is between Clara and me."

Gu Shi'an said: "You are already divorced."

Julian gritted his teeth.

"Gu Shi'an, don't think I don't know about what happened with your Gu family back then."

Gu Shi'an’s expression remained unchanged.

Lu Jingran suddenly laughed.

"It seems tonight isn't just Evergreen that has a story to tell."

I turned to look at him.

He raised his glass.

"Ms. Clara, since you have officially taken over the trust, some old debts indeed ought to be settled."

My mother looked at Lu Jingran.

"What are you trying to say?"

Lu Jingran produced a file folder.

"Ms. Lin, I have a copy of the original agreement for that public welfare medical fund from back then."

The room grew even quieter.

I saw my mother's expression change.

It was slight, but I saw it.

Lu Jingran slowly pulled out the document.

"Ms. Clara, did you really think that the assets under your name were all acquired cleanly?"

Julian was stunned.

Mina clutched at the document as if it were a life-saving straw.

"Mr. Lu, what does this mean?"

Lu Jingran looked at me.

"It means that since Ms. Clara is standing so high tonight, perhaps she should first ask Ms. Lin how she managed to take the Gu family's share back then..."

Before Lu Jingran could finish his sentence, the large screen in the ballroom suddenly went black.

A second later, the screen lit up.

It was not the so-called "original agreement" in Lu Jingran’s hand.

It was a surveillance video.

The footage was old, with a timestamp from twenty years ago.

In a conference room, a much younger Lu Huaimin pushed a document toward my father, his tone urgent:

"President Shen, I can't temporarily allocate the supporting resources on my end. Let's use your name to stand in first. Once the project is approved, the funds will be supplemented immediately."

My father frowned: "Lu Huaimin, this is a public welfare medical project, not a tool for your capital turnover."

Lu Huaimin smiled: "Don't be so rigid. Doesn't Lin Shu still have Evergreen? You and your wife have deep pockets; just front the money first, it will look better for everyone later."

The scene changed.

In another segment, Lu Huaimin stood at the end of a corridor making a call.

"Yes, release the news, say the Shen family embezzled the public welfare funds. And don't spare the Gu family either. If they speak up for the Shen family, drag them down with us."

"As long as the public opinion starts, who cares about the truth?"

The ballroom was deathly silent.

The smile on Lu Jingran’s face froze.

My mother stood off the stage, her expression calm, as if she had expected this scene all along.

I turned to look at her.

She only tapped the back of my hand gently.

"Clara, it’s not that Mom didn't have evidence."

Her voice wasn't high, but it reached everyone’s ears clearly.

"It was just that when your father fell critically ill, Evergreen’s foundation was unstable. I had to protect you first, and protect the company."

She looked up at Lu Jingran.

"The Lu family thought I endured for twenty years out of fear."

"In reality, I was just waiting."

The big screen continued to play.

Old emails, transfer records, and project correspondence were displayed one by one.

The supporting resources promised by the Lu family back then never arrived.

The anonymous tip-off regarding "the Shen family embezzling public welfare funds" was traced back to an IP address inside the Lu company.

The so-called original agreement in Lu Jingran’s hand was just a single page taken out of context, intentionally erasing the financial liabilities and default clauses the Lu family was supposed to bear.

Gu Shi'an stood beside me, his eyes as cold as ice.

"Lu Jingran, what your father owed the Gu family, and what he owed the Shen family, it’s time to pay it back today."

Lu Jingran gripped the file folder tightly, his expression finally darkening completely.

"Lin Shu, you set a trap waiting for me?"

My mother said indifferently: "You walked into it yourself."

Lu Jingran gritted his teeth: "Even if these are true, so what? It happened twenty years ago. You’re digging it up now; what can it change?"

"It can."

I took over the conversation.

Everyone’s eyes fell on me.

I looked at Lu Jingran, saying every word clearly:

"It can let everyone present know that the Lu family’s so-called medical channels were built by stepping on other people’s corpses and stealing public welfare resources."

"It can ensure that the Fu Medical assets you just wanted to snatch, no one will dare to sell to you."

"And it can allow your Lu family to undergo a fresh investigation."

As soon as the words fell, footsteps were heard at the entrance of the ballroom.

Several people in uniforms walked in.