Old Grudges

Lu Chengsi returned alone to his study, his spirit utterly broken.

He dismissed everyone and shut himself in the darkness.

Outside the window, the Lu family estate glittered with lights as it always had.

But he knew—this grand mansion’s pillars were already rotten and fractured, its collapse only a matter of time.

He thought of Lu Chenyuan.

Of that child’s uncanny composure and calm from an early age.

Of the decisive leadership and meteoric rise of the corporation under his stewardship.

And of the chillingly indifferent look in his eyes when he left…

Regret, like a venomous serpent, gnawed viciously at his heart.

It was he who, to placate his useless sons and cling to some pitiful shred of paternal affection, had indulged and compromised step by step—until he drove away the Lu family’s last hope.

It was he who handed this vast empire into the hands of an arrogant fool with delusions of grandeur.

“Did… did I make a mistake…?”

………

In the dimly lit study of the Li family, the shadows mirrored its owner’s inscrutable mind.

Li Xiujian stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, calmly observing the financial storm he had orchestrated. On the tablet screen before him, the plunging green line of Lu Corporation’s stock was more satisfying than any masterpiece.

Divorce scandal, internal strife, stock collapse, the founder’s reputation in ruins…

Every step unfolded exactly as he had predicted.

The once-mighty tiger of the Lu family now lay in a pool of blood, its claws torn out, its spine shattered, gasping its last breaths.

The time was ripe.

It was time to deliver the final judgment.

“Notify our people,” Li Xiujian turned, his eyes glinting with a predatory coldness, his voice icy.

“Mobilize every short-selling force we can. Execute the final strike. I want Lu Corporation’s stock to never recover.”

“Yes, sir!”

“And one more thing,” he paused, the flames of vengeance burning brighter in his gaze, “contact Editor Zhao at Jingzhou Observer. Tell him the ‘gift’ we’ve prepared for eighteen years… is ready to be delivered.”

His subordinate stiffened, shock flashing across his face.

That “gift”—it was the most vicious trump card, one that would drag the Lu family from their moral pedestal into an abyss of disgrace!

“Make sure,” Li Xiujian’s tone was deceptively mild, yet brooked no argument,

“it looks like an accidental, in-depth exposé. The evidence chain must be flawless. Let the world see how filthy and rotten these so-called elite families truly are!”

“Understood!”

The subordinate left, and silence reclaimed the study.

Li Xiujian slowly returned to his chair, pouring himself a glass of red wine. As he swirled the deep crimson liquid, it mirrored the blood he imagined the Lu family drowning in.

Father, do you see this?

Lu Chengsi, the man who drove you to your death, is now tasting the bitterness of betrayal and ruin.

Soon, he’ll be disgraced, and the family he took such pride in will become the laughingstock of Jingzhou!

Your vengeance… is complete.

……

Dragon Abyss Technologies, top-floor office.

“President Lu,” Zhang Qi entered, his expression graver than ever,

“Our monitors detected an unprecedented wave of short-selling capital targeting Lu Corporation since market open. It’s a full-scale annihilation.”

Lu Chenyuan’s gaze fixed on the screen, where the stock line plummeted almost vertically. His eyes narrowed.

“Li Xiujian has made his move.”

“Yes,” Zhang Qi confirmed.

“His strategy is total eradication. At this rate, Lu Corporation’s stock will soon crash below net asset value, possibly triggering forced delisting.”

Just then, Zhang Qi’s phone buzzed urgently.

He glanced at the screen—and his face paled further, even more stunned than by the financial assault.

“President Lu… a—a disaster!” His voice trembled as he handed over the phone.

Lu Chenyuan took it.

Onscreen was a breaking news headline from Jingzhou Observer, the city’s most authoritative investigative outlet. The title exploded before his eyes like a nuclear detonation—

SHOCKING REVELATION: THE 18-YEAR SECRET OF THE LU FAMILY’S SWITCHED HEIRESSES—A LIFE STOLEN!

The report was meticulously damning.

It chronicled how Liu Mei, exploiting her hospital position eighteen years ago, bribed nurses to swap her own newborn with Lou Mengling’s legitimate heiress.

Anonymous “insider” testimonies, blurry surveillance stills from critical moments, even a dying nurse’s overseas “confession”—all wove a malicious chain of evidence pointing squarely at two figures:

Lu Qianqian, the “cuckoo child” who’d luxuriated as the Lu family’s princess for eighteen years.

And Liu Mei, the “mastermind” behind the scheme, now branded an adulteress whose “illegitimate daughter” had usurped another’s life.

The Lu family? Portrayed as pitiable dupes, deceived for nearly two decades.

The article’s cruelty lay in its dual aim—not just exposing the switch, but framing Liu Mei and Lu Qianqian as monstrous conspirators, while dragging the already scandal-ridden Lu name through fresh ethical hell.

Lu Chenyuan’s expression remained calm.

Li Xiujian had finally played his ace.

But what Li Xiujian didn’t know—couldn’t know—was that Lu Qianqian was his biological daughter.

The irony was exquisite.

Li Xiujian’s killing blow wasn’t just striking the Lu family—it was hurling his own flesh and blood into the court of public execution.

“BOOM—”

As if on cue, the news detonated across the internet within minutes.

Trending tags with a scarlet “EXPLOSIVE” suffix erupted atop every platform.

OMG this is like a real-life “Switched at Birth” but with billionaires?!

That Liu Mei and her daughter are actual demons!

No wonder Lu Mingye cheated—his mistress planted her kid as the heiress!

My heart breaks for the real Lu heiress… and the whole family, fooled for 18 years!

Lou Mengling’s life is a tragedy—husband’s affair, raised a stranger’s child… how does anyone survive that?

Online, countless netizens, misled by this meticulously crafted report, transformed into self-righteous judges, hurling the most venomous curses at Lu Qianqian and Liu Mei like a relentless storm.

A financial siege, compounded by an ethical nuclear blast.

Under this dual assault, the already crumbling foundation of Lu Corporation was shattered completely in an instant.