The night wind cut across Lu Chenyuan’s face like a blade, carrying a bone-chilling coldness.
Lu Chenyuan stood on the rooftop of Lu Corporation’s headquarters, beneath him the bustling traffic and dazzling lights of Jingzhou City stretched endlessly.
This city’s prosperity was like a colossal steel beast, devouring everything in its path.
And he stood atop the beast’s head, ready to offer himself as the final sacrifice.
Endless exhaustion and despair surged like tides, drowning his sanity inch by inch.
In his mind echoed the tearful cries of his fake younger sister, Lu Qianqian.
The accusations and estrangement from his three younger brothers, all for her sake.
The shareholders’ aggressive faces in the boardroom.
The cold, disappointed eyes of his arranged wife, Mo Qingli...
All these images finally froze on the true daughter of the Lu family, Lu Ruoxi—the girl the Lu family had wronged for eighteen years—who was now nestled in another man’s arms, casting a gaze so venomous it pierced him to the core, looking at this crumbling family.
That man was Li Jinchuan.
He was the mastermind behind the Lu family’s downfall.
And Lu Chenyuan himself, the helmsman of the Lu family, had lost everything because of the twisted, forbidden love he harbored for Lu Qianqian. Time and again, he indulged her, retreated step by step, until he lost it all.
Guilt, self-blame, and helplessness consumed him.
Lu Chenyuan closed his eyes and took a step forward.
The sensation of weightlessness enveloped his entire body, the wind howling in his ears.
Death—perhaps it was the only release.
If there were gods, no, even if they were demons, please take my soul and exchange it for a sliver of life for my family.
Before Lu Chenyuan completely lost consciousness, this was his last thought.
...
“I... am I not in the Poverty Alleviation Office?”
Lu Chenyuan suddenly opened his eyes. Above him was the high-end, stifling ceiling of an office.
He sat up, bewildered, looking around.
Lu Chenyuan was an orphan from the village, raised by many families, who after graduating university resolutely returned to serve as the first secretary, dedicating his life to that barren land.
He clearly remembered dying suddenly from exhaustion after weeks of intense overtime.
But at least the last project was completed, a small repayment to the land that gave him life.
So what was happening now?
Before Lu Chenyuan could make sense of it, a vast flood of memories not his own, mixed with endless regret and pain, overwhelmed his thoughts.
This was a female-oriented, feel-good novel he had once casually read to pass the time, titled *“Return of the Heiress: The CEO’s Revengeful Sweet Wife.”*
In the story, the true daughter Lu Ruoxi returned to the wealthy family only to be coldly neglected, while the family doted on the fake daughter they had raised for eighteen years, Lu Qianqian.
Lu Ruoxi suffered physical and emotional abuse, but with the help of the male lead, Li Jinchuan, she rose like a phoenix from the ashes, exacted sweet revenge, and utterly crushed the Lu family, wiping out their entire clan.
And he, Lu Chenyuan, was the foolish, cowardly eldest brother who, in the end, jumped to his death out of despair over the family’s ruin and his own torment—the eldest brother of the true heiress.
What troubled him even more physically was that the ultimate trigger for the original owner’s suicide was the secret love he had long hidden for his nominal younger sister— the fake heiress Lu Qianqian.
This forbidden affection blinded him, making it impossible to treat his real sister Lu Ruoxi fairly. It led him to indulge Lu Qianqian’s every whim, and ultimately, he single-handedly dragged the entire family into ruin.
“Damn it!”
In his previous life, he had poured his heart and soul into securing a future for the villagers; yet this man who shared his name and identity, sitting atop the pinnacle of wealth and power, destroyed everything with this sordid personal obsession!
And now, he had become Lu Chenyuan from the book.
This was the president’s office on the top floor of Lu Corporation’s headquarters.
It was six months before the story’s official start. Lu Ruoxi was still in her final year of high school in that poor little town. The secret of the true and false heiresses had yet to explode. There was still time!
At that moment, a knock came from outside the door, followed by a voice.
“President Lu!”
Lu Chenyuan said, “Come in,” and a young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses and exuding a calm demeanor stepped inside.
He was Lu Chenyuan’s special assistant, Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan seemed momentarily stunned upon seeing Lu Chenyuan.
At this moment, Lu Chenyuan’s face was pale, beads of cold sweat the size of beans trickling down his flawless cheek.
“President Lu, you…” Lin Yuan called out nervously but stopped mid-sentence.
He had known Lu Chenyuan for years and had never seen him lose control like this.
“I’m fine.”
Lu Chenyuan waved his hand dismissively and walked straight to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.
Standing by the window, he calmly overlooked the sprawling city below.
His mind raced, rapidly processing the original owner’s memories and matching them against the plot he already knew.
His father, Lu Mingye, was mediocre in ability but ambitious, secretly keeping a mistress named Liu Mei, and even had an illegitimate child.
His mother, Lou Mengling, came from a prestigious family; gentle in nature but somewhat timid, she poured all her affection into Lu Qianqian, oblivious to her husband’s betrayals.
His second younger brother, Lu Chenxiao, was a genius doctor—cold and indifferent, focused solely on medicine, ultimately falling victim to a scheme.
His third younger brother, Lu Chenyan, a top celebrity with a fiery temper, was an unabashedly doting “brother complex” towards Lu Qianqian.
His fourth younger brother, Lu Chenjin, a rebellious and solitary race car driver, obeyed only Lu Qianqian.
And then there was Lu Qianqian herself, the fake princess cradled in the family’s hands.
Lastly, the true protagonist, Lu Ruoxi, was about to return.
What seemed like an impregnable, wealthy family was, beneath the surface, already riddled with countless wounds.
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
th】 【No prior gaming knowledge required】【The First Cultivation + Game Design Novel on the Platform】 In a world where the righteous path dominates and crushes the demonic sects, Lu Ze unlocks the "Son of the Demon Path" system. Killing righteous cultivators now grants him power-ups. Wait—deaths in illusions count too? As a former game designer, Lu Ze decides to give the cultivators of this world a little—no, a massive—shock... Sect Elders: "What is this 'Escape from the Demon Sect' game? Why have all our disciples abandoned cultivation to play it??" Elite Disciples: "You're saying... mastering 'Demon Slayer' can help us counter demonic schemes?" Reclusive Masters: "Why did I leave seclusion? Ask that backstabbing rat who ambushed me in 'Eternal Strife' yesterday!" Rogue Cultivators & Civilians: "'Immortal Abyss Action' is addictive! You can even earn spirit stones by loot-running..." Sect Prodigy: "My Dao heart is unshakable... except for that cursed black hammer." Royal Scions: "Can skins have stat boosts? I’ll pay 10,000 spirit stones for one!!" Sect Leader: "WHO IS CORRUPTING MY DISCIPLES?!!!"
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!