Chapter One Hundred and Three: Long in the Making (Grand Finale)

The stars shimmered in the night sky. Fu Zhichen held Pei Susu in his arms, and after the room had been filled with lingering warmth, a hushed silence settled over them.

Yet there was nothing left unsaid; everything rested between them without words.

“Was the revelation about M Group today too easy on them?” Pei Susu had already reviewed the press conference recap. They had only exposed M Group’s plot against them, without bringing up the several staged cases of murder.

“You can’t push a person too far in anything,” Fu Zhichen said, his voice low. “Otherwise, he may do something that harms us.”

But he would not let them off so lightly.

“They nearly cost several lives. All for a scrap of immediate gain, they were willing to do anything. If people like that stay at our side, they’ll be a huge hidden danger.”

“When this is over, Sister, promise me one thing, all right?”

Fu Zhichen had always been so considerate and almost never asked for anything. Sometimes he seemed to want nothing at all, and Pei Susu found herself oddly pleased to hear him say this.

At least this man would no longer keep such a careful tally with her.

“All right. Once we’ve completely settled this matter, let alone one thing, I’ll promise you several.”

At her words, Fu Zhichen lowered a gentle kiss to her forehead.

“If Sister trusts me so much, then I can’t disappoint you.” His eyes deepened as he spoke. “The man at the head of M Group must be desperate now. The next part will still need Sister’s cooperation…”

A few days passed with Pei Susu working as usual, and she could not detect anything amiss. Life, however, had to go on. After the storm had passed, when she returned to the company, everyone in the department was waiting for her.

“President Pei, you’re finally back.” Zhou Haoyue and the others crowded around her, talking over one another. “People in the company have been saying that once you got together with President Fu, you wouldn’t come back to work.”

“Though I know your character isn’t like that, I still couldn’t help worrying.”

Pei Susu could not help but smile at that.

She had not expected the company to be full of such imaginings.

“He is him, and I am me. Even though we’re together now, I’m still your President Pei.”

Amusement rippled in Pei Susu’s eyes.

“If you put it that way, then I’m relieved.”

Zhou Haoyue teased from the side.

After several quiet days, the previous incident was finally brought to a close. To celebrate, Zhou Haoyue took the initiative to pay and invited everyone in the department out to dinner.

“It’s rare for our Zhou president to treat us. There’s no way I’m missing this meal.”

During this period, Pei Susu had almost always been driven to and from work by Fu Zhichen. Although it felt as if they were coming and going together, the moment work ended each day, he vanished without a trace.

“And to think, President Fu is this clingy in a relationship.” Zhou Haoyue sighed and shook his head. “It’s really enough to make you jealous. We ordinary wage slaves work all day for you two, and then at night we still have to watch you show off your affection…”

Pei Susu was speechless.

“The Fu Group pays you a considerable salary. If you’re going to say things like that, I may have to dock your pay.”

“Don’t, boss’s wife!”

“…”

The group chatted and laughed as they walked out, while in a dark corner, a pair of eyes watched Pei Susu intently. When that person saw her come out alone, with Fu Zhichen nowhere beside her, a hint of a smile finally surfaced.

“Pei Susu… so this day has come for you too.”

Pei Susu suddenly felt as though someone were staring at her from behind. A chill crept over her, but when she turned around, there was nothing there.

The others were laughing and talking so loudly, yet she could not help but shiver.

“President Pei, what’s wrong?”

Zhou Haoyue noticed that something seemed off about her. Pei Susu came back to herself and shook her head with a smile.

“Nothing.”

Even as she said that, she took out her phone and sent Fu Zhichen a message. Seeing this, Zhou Haoyue let out a long sigh.

“Even going out to dinner requires a report, President Pei!”

Pei Susu calmly put her phone away amid the teasing of the others and gave a soft “mm.”

“Maybe people without a family wouldn’t understand.”

Zhou Haoyue exclaimed in outrage, “If you keep hitting me like this, you’re paying tonight!”

The restaurant they had reserved in advance was a small eatery with a fairly quiet atmosphere. Everyone liked lively places, of course, but since they still had work the next day, it was reasonable enough to choose somewhere like this.

Zhou Haoyue went out to order, while the others chatted in little clusters. Perhaps because of Pei Susu’s position, very few dared to speak to her directly.

This was exactly as she had expected.

When she had merely been the deputy general manager, she already carried herself with a certain severity, unlike Zhou Haoyue, who was always easygoing and unserious. Now that she had become Fu Zhichen’s girlfriend, she was probably even harder to approach in their eyes. They could still speak normally at work, but the easy warmth they had once had in private was gone.

Only Zhou Haoyue, with his thick nerves, had noticed nothing at all.

“I’m going out for a bit of air.”

Pei Susu stood up. The atmosphere had become somewhat heavy because of her, and if that was the case, she had better not stay here and make herself unwelcome.

The moment she stepped out of the restaurant, fresh air rushed into her lungs. She took two more steps forward before hearing a dragging sound behind her.

Her eyes flashed, and she slipped into a corner.

“Susu, you’ve finally been left alone.”

A figure hurried after her. Pei Susu turned and saw Liang Wenru standing not far away, staring at her with dead-set eyes.

It was clear that he had not been doing well lately. The branded suit he had once worn to preserve an air of dignity had been on him for who knew how many days; it was wrinkled and tired-looking now. This was something Liang Wenru probably would never have imagined for himself just a few days ago.

It seemed the seed M Group had planted had finally taken root and sprouted.

But the person Pei Susu had been waiting for was not him. A trace of disappointment rose in her heart, and she folded her arms, looking at the somewhat down-and-out man before her.

“Looks like you’ve been watching me for several days.”

Otherwise, he would not have said that she had finally been left alone.

Liang Wenru moved closer and closer. His breathing grew rapid in the confined corner, and every detail of it was clear in Pei Susu’s eyes.

“You have no idea how long I’ve watched you,” he said, his expression gradually twisting. “Seeing you happy every day is like a mockery of my own foolishness.”

“I loved you sincerely. Why can’t you change your mind and look at me? You’re only attached to the money in Fu Zhichen’s hands. A woman like you isn’t worthy of any of this!”

As he spoke, he lunged straight toward her.

Pei Susu frowned, glancing toward the shadows, but still instinctively dodged, trying to calm Liang Wenru down.

“Without you, Susu, I have nothing left.”

At that, Pei Susu’s brows drew together. Liang Wenru’s mental state did not look good at all. She did not know what had happened to him these past few days to make him appear so disheveled. Even when he had fallen on hard times before, he would never have reduced himself to this.

“Calm down first. We can talk about anything.”

Liang Wenru could not hear a word of it. Helpless, Pei Susu then saw him pull a dagger from his pocket, a feral light glinting in his eyes.

“You vain, greedy woman. You’re not worthy of any of this!”

She had thought he was merely a little deranged. She had never expected him to be carrying a knife.

He had not come here planning to let Pei Susu go alive.

Sensing the danger, Pei Susu turned and ran at once. The heels on her feet did not slow her sharp movements, and the instant she darted through the alley, two figures sprang out and blocked her path.

Pei Susu looked at the scene before her and immediately understood that these two were not Liang Wenru’s people.

At that moment, a man in a black suit slowly walked over from the opposite side.

“Long admired, Miss Pei.”

The man before her was none other than the CEO of M Group. There was a wolf ahead and a tiger behind, and Liang Wenru, with bloodshot eyes, closed in. In an instant, Pei Susu understood something.

“You’re all in this together?”

At her words, the head of M Group smiled leisurely.

“Before, you and Fu Zhichen ruined our good plan. Of course this debt has to be settled properly.”

They had not expected things to backfire so badly. Although the press conference that day had not exposed all of their crimes, based on what he knew of Fu Zhichen, Fu Zhichen must already have other evidence in his possession.

In that case, none of them would be spared.

“Isn’t Fu Zhichen the one who cares about you most? Tell me, if I were to take you away, do you think he would choose you, or the evidence against us?”

Pei Susu’s face was cold.

“You tried to kill my friend before, and now you want to kidnap me. Do you really think the police don’t exist?”

The man seemed to hear a joke and burst into laughter. “What can they do to me? Even if I really killed someone, so what?”

A faint smile touched Pei Susu’s lips, and then a stern shout rang out.

“Don’t move!”

The man’s smug smile froze. Seeing the police appear from nowhere, he seemed to realize something at last.

“I keep turning up in these little hidden corners. Didn’t you think that was strange?” Pei Susu said with a sharp edge to her voice. “Looks like your brains really aren’t much to rely on.”

The police escorted the group away. “The evidence you provided before was sufficient. This time we’re taking them in directly. We will certainly give Miss Pei and Mr. Fu an explanation.”

Fu Zhichen came from the other side and draped his suit jacket over Jiang Xueran’s shoulders.

Watching the few of them being placed into the police car, Pei Susu curved her lips and turned around.

“At last, it’s completely over. Xiaozhen, can you tell me now what that one thing is?”

Seeing the sly light in Pei Susu’s eyes, he nodded and took out a plain ring before dropping to one knee.

Pei Susu froze, then let out a soft laugh.

“Isn’t this a little too hasty?”

The plain band glimmered faintly in the sunlight.

It was not hasty at all.

It had been planned for a very long time.