CHAPTER 596: CHAPTER 376:

"I divorced Li Congxing. It’s almost laughable to say it, as to be precise, we never had a marriage. Everything was a sham; we weren’t married at all, and that marriage certificate was nothing but scrap paper—a tool for his deception, because he never divorced his wife. I left without looking back; I left the company, but not my shares. I won’t leave those to him. The company was founded by both of us; I deserve to take what’s mine."

The chilly wind brushed against Shen Qinglin’s face, her complexion pale. Even the delicate makeup couldn’t conceal the exhaustion on her face, nor the sickly frailness.

At this moment, she was no longer the powerful businesswoman who had sent ripples through the corporate world.

As she looked back on her life, she had weathered many storms, but only after those did she find her rainbow.

"Li Congxing’s wife was dying, and he offered me a deal. A kidney for the company. I found it utterly ridiculous. He loved his wife so much, and I was just a pawn to be discarded. I refused. I didn’t want his money; I only took my fair share of the company’s stocks. But Li Congxing didn’t let me off so easily. He might not be a big-time boss, but he had his connections. His friends all turned down any further collaboration with me."

Li Congxing was cruel.

He didn’t leave a single path open for Shen Qinglin.

Step by step, he cornered her.

Having no other choice, Shen Qinglin sold her shares. She had some money, which would serve as capital for her fresh start.

As Li Congxing’s wife lay dying, he approached Shen Qinglin again, claiming that if she agreed to donate her kidney, he would divorce his wife to be with her, to marry her.

Shen Qinglin laughed heartily at that moment. "What is he worth? A scumbag, saying he’ll come back to marry me. Does he think I love him? I don’t love him; I just wanted a stable life."

She just didn’t want to keep thinking about Lu Yanlin all the time.

"After Li Congxing’s wife died, he placed all the blame on me, believing her death resulted from my refusal to donate my kidney. Under his scheming, I could no longer stay in this city. I swore I wouldn’t let him get away with it. At that time, he had an important deal in the works. If he secured it, the company had a chance to go public, but I was determined not to let him succeed."

"That man, Xu Yunjie, was an investor Li Congxing wanted to rope in. I knew him, but he probably didn’t know me. After an accident, my face had to be slightly altered. Xu Yunjie has been interested in Shu Jingli since we were children, preferring to follow me around, so I was delighted to learn that he was the one. I understood Xu Yunjie’s preferences very well since he was once my little follower. It was easy for me to win him over."

At that time, Shen Qinglin also needed backing, someone to protect her, and Xu Yunjie was the perfect target. In a karaoke lounge, she approached Xu Yunjie who was intoxicated. They spent a tumultuous night together. Although Xu Yunjie greatly disliked her, he had no choice but to pay her off to keep quiet.

Shen Qinglin felt that her former little follower had changed. When with Shu Jingli, Xu Yunjie would obediently do whatever Shu Jingli said. If Shu Jingli told him to go east, he’d go east.

But Xu Yunjie was different now.

He was aloof and haughty.

Difficult to get along with.

It was then Shen Qinglin realized that his tenderness was reserved solely for Shu Jingli.

Actually, Shen Qinglin wanted to tell Xu Yunjie that she was Shu Jingli, but she didn’t want to expose herself. She didn’t want to be found by Shu Chong’an, didn’t want to return to the Shu Family, to be used as a pawn in a marriage alliance. With Lu Yanlin gone, she no longer wished to be the daughter of the Shu Family.

She wanted to be an ordinary person and carve out her own path.

To raise her daughter on her own.

She maintained a relationship with Xu Yunjie, an ambiguous one, like lovers. She even joined Xu Corporation and successfully persuaded Xu Yunjie to withdraw his investment. Using Xu Yunjie’s tactics, she pressed down on Li Congxing. She got her revenge, and she succeeded.

But she didn’t feel the thrill of success; she just felt very sad.

Xu Yunjie got married, to a socialite, and they had a child.

That child is Xu Yiran.