Monday coincided with the end of the month, and it was customary for Jinghui Venture Capital to hold a meeting of all departments at the end of each month to facilitate communication between departments. After IV arrived, Lu Xintou strongly opposed such lengthy routine meetings. However, as the meetings had been a long-standing tradition, they could not be cancelled immediately and were thus tacitly accepted. Lu Xintou himself never attended, always delegating the vice president to represent him. Yet, today was a rare occasion when he actually showed up.

As usual, the meeting involved various departments bickering with each other. The biggest issue was the project department's opposition to some of the company's procedures, arguing that they affected the enthusiasm of clients to cooperate with the company. Lu Xintou, of course, supported the project department and pressured the functional departments during the meeting. Although everyone felt that changing the procedures was somewhat inappropriate, they could not withstand the power of the general manager and had to nod in agreement.

Lin Yanyan thought that Lu Xintou's purpose in attending the meeting was just this. However, just before the meeting dispersed, he suddenly said, "I would also like to emphasize one point to all employees of the company."

His gaze suddenly swept over Lin Yanyan. "The company opposes sexual harassment, but I also ask some female colleagues to be mindful of their words and actions. It is not through some devious means that one can achieve life's goals. If the height of one's career and the value of one's life are realized in this way, it is an insult to both the company and the individual. IV will absolutely not tolerate this!"

After a pause, he continued in a cold tone, "I hope that all departments will improve efficiency, the human resources department will strictly control overtime, and if it is not necessary, all departments should leave work on time and avoid meaningless tasks! Meeting adjourned!"

After he finished speaking, he took the documents from the table and left, leaving even the secretary stunned for a few seconds before hurriedly cleaning up the table and chasing after him in a trot. Dozens of people in the conference room remained astonished for a long time before the room burst into an uproar. Lin Yanyan was simply shocked, then felt ashamed and angry. What was going on with Lu Xintou? What did his words mean? Why on earth would he say such a thing in the conference room? Thus, the entire day everyone was discussing the implications of President Lu's words. Lin Yanyan's heart was trembling. Although she had nothing to regret, she intuitively felt that Lu Xintou's remarks would bring her a great deal of trouble. Sure enough, within a couple of days, Lin Yanyan felt that her colleagues around her were 'very different' towards her. When she went to the break room, the colleagues who were chatting together would suddenly fall silent; when she walked down the hall, she could always hear people in front of her asking who Lin Yanyan was; when she took the elevator to work with colleagues, their smiles when greeting her were very fake and perfunctory; even at work, she felt that other colleagues were inexplicably angry with her. Later, she learned that the company had already 'figured out' who the woman was that had angered President Lu. She had been working overtime the most recently, and on Friday night, only she and Lu Xintou were working overtime, making it easy for everyone to associate her with it. Lin Yanyan was isolated. Even though she was strong inside, she couldn't withstand the cold mockery and skepticism from all her colleagues in the company. Finally, during a lunch break in the building's cafeteria, when Xue Fen from the administrative department, who was on relatively good terms with her, came to probe her for information, Lin Yanyan couldn't bear it any longer and didn't say a word to Xue Fen. She picked up her tray and left.

Under normal circumstances, she would never do such a thing. Xue Fen realized she had misspoken and chased after her: 'Sister Yan, Sister Yan, I'm sorry for my inappropriate words, please don't be angry. I also believe that you are not that kind of person, but they... they all say...' Lin Yanyan turned back to look at her: 'Xiao Fen, thank you for your kindness, but I just want some quiet.' She knew that no matter how she explained, others would not believe her, not even her colleagues who got along well with her. President Lu personally spoke at the meeting, who would think that President Lu would say such things without reason? Moreover, she was just a junior clerk, how could anyone not believe that she 'seduced' Lu Xintao, the accusation was always easily dominated by the powerful, and she could only suffer the injustice innocently. Lin Yanyan took the elevator to the top floor of the building and stared blankly on the rooftop, looking at the scenery in front of her, suddenly feeling heartache, and tears uncontrollably overflowed. Because it was really too painful, no matter how much hardship she had endured since childhood, she had never suffered such doubts, this was a doubt about her character and dignity, it was a serious psychological harm to her! Lu Xintao, in order to strike at her, actually resorted to such despicable tactics! But did she really have to accept her fate and suffer like this? Lin Yanyan clenched her fists, hearing the sound of the rooftop door opening, she turned around and saw that it was actually Lu Xintao, he had actually come up. Lu Xintao strolled leisurely to her side, crossed his arms, tilted his head and curved his lips into a smile: 'Heh, tears, not easy, I should really let Zi come and see this scene, to see how this wicked woman is tormented to tears by me!'

Lin Yanyan was utterly fierce, as if her eyes could shoot fire, she would have already burned Lu Xintou to death. She restrained her emotions and said in a low voice, 'Lu Xintou, I really have no grudge against you. Apart from what Lin Zi said, I don't understand why you would treat me like this?' Lu Xintou spread his hands and shrugged, 'I've told you, our hatred goes beyond this. If you must find a reason for an explanation, then blame it on Lin Zi!' 'That little third party's daughter, why, why do you love her so much?' Lin Yanyan's voice was still very low, her expression one of great sorrow. Lu Xintou pinched her chin, smiling triumphantly, 'Look at that, this is exactly the words of a vicious female antagonist! Why? Because she is innocent, kind, and lovely, that's why I love her! And you are like the wicked queen behind Snow White, truly detestable!' Lin Yanyan was agitated, unable to control her emotions when she looked at Lu Xintou's face. Even if others saw Lu Xintou as handsome and charming, and she had once been infatuated with this face, having pursued him desperately for three years in her youth, now she only felt this face to be detestable, uglier than anything else. Seeing his smug expression, she wanted nothing more than to smash his face! Lin Yanyan raised her hand and swung it fiercely at Lu Xintou's face, using all her strength in an attempt to avenge past humiliations. She thought she could land a satisfying slap, but to her surprise, Lu Xintou dodged to the side, steadily catching her hand. Lin Yanyan was shocked, then angry and frantic, shouting without caring about her image, 'Why, why? Do you love her so much?'

The daughter of that mistress, I would not have fallen on such hard times! If you have even a shred of conscience and morality, you should understand that she has brought disaster to a happy family. My mother died because of her, my father's business failed, and my family was torn apart because of them! I haven't done anything, why do these people treat me this way, and I haven't offended you, why do you hate me so much?"

Perhaps she is just a weak person, wanting to defeat him, but she has no choice, her power is too weak, her status too lowly. He is a highly successful person, he is very powerful, even slapping her is not so easy.

She is continuously humiliated by him, and she is powerless to fight back, she is such a failure, she is a loser! So she can only be like a clown, continuously suffering, struggling, and shouting out!

Because of deep anger and a sense of frustration, Lin Yanyan's tears fell in large drops. She knew she was in a pitiful state, she knew she should be strong, and not show such vulnerability in front of the enemy to let them gloat. But at this moment, she still couldn't control her emotions.

Lu Xintou shook off her hand and made her step back. Lin Yanyan staggered a few steps, almost falling.

Lu Xintou, with a twisted smile on his face, said: "Seeing you like this, I am truly happy. You are just in pain and distress, but Lin Zi said he lost both legs, do you know what a pair of legs means to a person?"

Lu Xintou roared loudly. Tears slid down Lin Yanyan's cheeks as she stared at him in despair, her voice low and heavy: 'Just a pair of legs... and my mother died, my father's business failed, our family was ruined, and my life and Lin Weiwei's life changed dramatically because of her. And she was just a pair of legs... and it was clearly their mother and daughter who were at fault first...' 'In my eyes, only Zishi's feelings matter!' Lin Yanyan nodded: 'I see now...' She stopped struggling. She wasn't unaware of Lu Xintou's despicability. She had once humiliated herself, kneeling in the pouring rain at the entrance of his family's courtyard, and he clearly saw her but didn't come out, letting her get drenched all night. Afterwards, she caught a cold, developed a fever, got pneumonia, and he didn't even look back at her once. Later, he even mocked her coldly. She should have understood. Lu Xintou was not her Mr. Right; he was her enemy. Lin Yanyan clenched her fists, struggling to gather her strength, then wiped away her tears and said: 'I won't be defeated by you, Lu Xintou. You will surely pay for what you've done to me!' Finally, she glared at him fiercely, grinding her teeth: 'I hope you and your mistress's daughter die a terrible death!'

She turned and left. Her departure was resolute, this turn of hers just like the one seven years ago, signifying the absolute death of this relationship, only this turn was even colder and more decisive. Lu Xintou watched her retreating figure, his lips originally curling up in a triumphant smile, but slowly, his smile faded, his gaze turned gloomy, as if the bright spring light suddenly turned cold in the face of a chill wind, his expression very complex, his mood equally so. He lowered his head, then squinted at the scenery in the distance, his actions somewhat at a loss. He didn't know why, but there was a slight pain in his heart, a slightly bitter taste. After their encounter on the rooftop, Lin Yanyan's mood had actually become calmer, for there is no greater sorrow than a dead heart, and when one is most desperate, they actually have no emotions, no matter how the rumors around them grow, she could ignore them all. However, she would still wake up from nightmares in the deep of night, probably because the knot in her heart was formed, it was still very hard to let go. Her work pressure was very high, yet Lu Xintou still ordered strict control over overtime. Miss Li was a conservative and sycophantic person, not daring to defy her boss's orders at all, and with the company's rumors, it led Miss Li to suspect Lin Yanyan's character, and she watched her overtime even more closely, so Lin Yanyan couldn't work overtime at the company anymore. With no other choice, she had to bring her work home. But working at home couldn't be counted as overtime pay, nor could she take compensatory time off. After pulling several all-nighters, the pressure on her mind and body couldn't be released, bringing her to the brink of collapse. One night, after working overtime until 10 p.m., she finally abandoned herself and put down her work to wander the streets.