CHAPTER 118: CHAPTER 118; FIRST STEP IN REVENGE (F)

The podium stood in the center of the stage like an altar, flanked by two chairs where he and Shuyin would sit after the initial statements were complete.

Behind them, a large screen displayed the Lu Group logo alongside the words "PRESS CONFERENCE - TRUTH AND JUSTICE" in both Chinese and English, the typography designed to convey official importance and moral authority.

Wang Jing’s idea, making it look formal and significant, like they were conducting an actual investigation rather than sophisticated damage control.

The noise level dropped precipitously as Lu Zeyan and Shuyin walked onto the stage, hundreds of eyes tracking their every movement with predatory focus, analyzing every gesture, every subtle shift in posture.

Shuyin’s hand rested lightly on his arm in a detail that the cameras would capture and analysts would dissect for meaning, the touch both steadying and performative, real and calculated in equal measure.

They reached the podium together, and Lu Zeyan adjusted the microphone with hands that remained steady while Shuyin stood slightly behind and to the side, visible but not commanding attention yet, her positioning perfect for the narrative they were building.

"Thank you all for coming," Lu Zeyan began, his voice steady despite the adrenaline that coursed through his system. "I know you have many questions. I hope to answer them today with complete transparency and honesty."

He paused deliberately, making eye contact with various sections of the crowd in the way Wang Jing had coached him, show them you’re not afraid, show them you’re facing this directly, make them believe in your sincerity through the power of direct connection.

"Several weeks ago, my fiancée, Shuyin, was convicted of serious crimes. Embezzlement. Fraud. Corporate espionage... And murder..." His voice took on the appropriate tone of somber regret, each word weighted with the gravity of the accusations. "The evidence seemed overwhelming. The courts found her guilty. And I... I believed the verdict. I trusted the system."

Another calculated pause, letting that admission sink in, giving the reporters time to scribble their notes and the cameras time to capture his expression of pained acceptance. "I was wrong."

The room erupted into chaos, questions shouted from every direction in an overlapping cacophony that made individual words impossible to distinguish, cameras clicking frantically like a swarm of mechanical insects.

Lu Zeyan held up a hand in a gesture requesting patience, waiting for the noise to die down to manageable levels before continuing.

"I was wrong," he repeated, giving the confession additional weight through repetition. "And my failure to question that verdict immediately, my failure to fight harder for someone I loved from the very beginning, is something I will regret for the rest of my life."

He could see reporters scribbling notes with furious intensity, producers speaking rapidly into their headsets as they coordinated coverage, the entire machinery of modern media attention churning at full speed to process and disseminate this moment.

"Almost immediately after the conviction, I began to have doubts. Small inconsistencies in the evidence. Witness statements that didn’t quite align. Financial records that seemed... too convenient." He was threading the needle carefully here, suggesting he’d been investigating without claiming direct responsibility for the evidence dump that had started this whole cascade of revelations. "I hired private investigators. Legal consultants. I asked them to review everything with fresh eyes."

"What they found was disturbing." Lu Zeyan’s voice dropped into a lower register, became grave and weighted with the implications of what he was about to reveal. "The evidence against Shuyin was not just flawed, much of it was fabricated. Witnesses had been coached or bribed. Financial records had been altered. The entire prosecution was built on a foundation of lies."

The room exploded again with renewed energy, and this time Lu Zeyan let it go on longer, allowed the reporters to work themselves into a frenzy of questions, accusations, and demands for details, understanding that their excitement would translate into better coverage and more sympathetic framing.

Finally, he spoke again, his voice cutting through the chaos with practiced authority. "I take full responsibility for not seeing this sooner. For not fighting harder. For letting someone I claimed to love spend even weeks in prison for crimes she didn’t commit. That failure is mine, and I own it completely."

He turned slightly, gesturing to Shuyin with genuine respect that wasn’t entirely performance. "But I’m not the story here. She is. The woman who survived hell with her dignity intact. The woman who has every right to hate me, to hate the system that failed her, and yet stands here today with grace and forgiveness that I don’t deserve."

That was her cue, and Shuyin stepped forward to the microphone with measured grace while Lu Zeyan moved aside, consciously giving her the spotlight and the power that came with it.

Now this was what it meant to be a public figure... If only the original Shuyin had been a private person, she would have had to clean up this image for her future and normal daily life.

Shuyin turned around and signaled to him that she needed to see the balance in her account on her phone before even conveying the message. Who knows what would happen once she is done with the speech?

Lu Zeyan was frustrated, but at that point, he had to give in and sent the remaining amount of money since they had agreed... And she didn’t want to have to deal with someone reneging on his deal.

After seeing the message, for a long moment, she simply stood there, silent and still, letting the cameras capture her in all her striking uniqueness, the jade eyes that marked her as fundamentally changed by her ordeal, the simple elegant dress that spoke of dignity rather than vanity, the posture that somehow conveyed both strength and vulnerability in perfect balance.

When she spoke, her voice was soft but clear, carrying to every corner of the packed room without any need for shouting or force. "My name is Shuyin. Several weeks ago, I was convicted of crimes I didn’t commit. I was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment in Breakwater Ridge Prison."