Shen Yunmian took Qiao Wei's words to heart.
A few days later, at the auction, she made a rare personal appearance. After several rounds of bidding, she finally secured the stunning sapphire necklace at a high price.
She specifically instructed the brand to package it in the most exquisite gift box.
Meanwhile, in the general manager's office of Qiyun Pictures, the atmosphere was completely different.
Lin Ruoyan held a top-tier big-IP film project proposal, her tone filled with dissatisfaction. "This project clearly suits me. Why isn't the company allocating resources to me? What I need right now is this kind of big production that can win awards and stabilize my position!"
Yu Sheng didn't even look up, her tone calm. "Resource allocation needs to consider return on investment and overall strategy. This project carries too much risk and requires too much capital. It doesn't align with Qiyun's current plans. If you're interested, you can negotiate it yourself. The company won't stop you, but it also won't provide additional funding."
Lin Ruoyan choked with anger. "You! You're clearly targeting me! When Yunmian was in charge, things weren't like this!"
"That was before." Yu Sheng lifted her eyes coldly. "Now I'm in charge here. If you have objections, you can terminate your contract and go find Shen Yunmian to set up a separate company just to promote you."
Just as the tension between them escalated—
The secretary knocked and entered, holding an extremely luxurious and eye-catching gift box. "President Yu, this was just delivered. It has to be signed for by you personally."
Yu Sheng frowned and opened the box.
The dazzling sapphire necklace, set against black velvet, was almost blinding.
Lin Ruoyan's eyes locked onto it, jealousy practically bursting out!
Yunmian actually gave Yu Sheng something this valuable—why?!
Unable to help herself, she sneered sarcastically, "Not bad—cold war or not, the gifts keep coming. Seems like you're pretty good at handling Yunmian, huh?"
Yu Sheng looked at the necklace, her gaze completely unmoved—if anything, a hint of annoyance flickered.
Seven years of marriage—how could she not understand Shen Yunmian's personality?
Sensitive, suspicious, prideful, and extremely controlling.
All these years, because she loved Shen Yunmian and understood her unhappy childhood, she had tolerated those flaws and cooperated in maintaining the illusion of a loving marriage.
But now she was done.
She no longer wanted to keep up the act.
Shen Yunmian had sensed the anxiety—the illusion of a perfect marriage was about to be exposed, turned into a joke.
For someone as proud and controlling as Shen Yunmian, that was completely unacceptable.
So now she was willing to make some concessions.
Nothing more than sending gifts, softening her words, trying to coax her back into being that obedient, virtuous wife.
Dream on.
Yu Sheng casually closed the priceless gift box and tossed it to Lin Ruoyan, whose eyes were practically glued to it.
With a cold laugh, she said, "You like it? It's yours. Perfect—take what your 'Yunmian' gave me and go complain to her. Maybe she'll hurry up and terminate your contract so you stop bothering me."
Lin Ruoyan was stunned by the sudden "gift."
She instinctively caught the box, froze for a few seconds, then a wave of humiliation and jealousy surged up!
Yu Sheng had so casually tossed Yunmian's gift to her?!
Her face flushed red with anger as she grabbed the box and stormed out.
The moment she left, she couldn't resist opening it again. The stunning sapphire gleam nearly burned her eyes.
Driven by overwhelming resentment, she put on the necklace and marched straight to Shen Yunmian.
She was going to complain—let Yunmian see just how Yu Sheng had trampled her sincerity!
Ignoring Secretary Li's attempts to stop her, she barged into Shen Yunmian's office.
"Yunmian! Look at what Yu Sheng did!"
Pointing at the necklace around her neck, Lin Ruoyan spoke with grievance, "She just tossed your gift to me like it meant nothing, even mocked me. She doesn't care about you at all—she—"
Her words abruptly stopped.
Because when Shen Yunmian looked up and saw the glaring blue at her neck—
Her expression turned terrifyingly dark.
In those usually calm eyes surged a terrifying fury of humiliation.
"Who told you to wear that?" Shen Yunmian's voice was harsher than ever. "Take it off."
Lin Ruoyan had never seen her so furious. She stammered, "It—it was Yu Sheng—"
"I told you to take it off!" Shen Yunmian snapped.
Terrified, Lin Ruoyan hurriedly removed the necklace, her hands trembling.
Shen Yunmian's chest heaved violently. Looking at the necklace that Lin Ruoyan had worn, she felt only irritation.
She had put thought into trying to ease things, only for Yu Sheng to trample it so carelessly.
Even tossing it to someone else as a provocation.
"Get out!" Shen Yunmian pointed at the door, her voice shaking from suppressed rage.
Lin Ruoyan fled in panic, leaving the necklace behind.
In the vast office, only Shen Yunmian's heavy breathing remained.
She collapsed back into her chair, staring at the cold blue gems on the floor that seemed to mock her. A surge of helplessness and overwhelming anger intertwined, nearly swallowing her sanity.
Closing her eyes, she tried to steady herself.
She had always been composed, never indulging in meaningless arguments.
But this time, with her sincerity trampled, her control finally slipped.
Unable to endure it any longer, Shen Yunmian stood and strode toward Yu Sheng's office.
Perhaps her last bit of restraint made her turn back at the door.
She casually grabbed a file from Yu Corporation and went down to Yu Sheng's floor.
Pushing open the office door, Yu Sheng was discussing something with a department manager, fully focused.
When Shen Yunmian entered—
The manager immediately straightened nervously. "President Shen."
Yu Sheng merely glanced at her, her gaze as indifferent as if looking at a stranger, then lowered her head again, tapping the document. "This data needs to be verified again. I want an updated version before the end of the day."
She completely ignored Shen Yunmian.
Taking a deep breath, Shen Yunmian suppressed the surging anger in her chest.
She stepped forward, placing the file on the corner of Yu Sheng's desk, her voice as steady as possible. "There's an issue with this Yu Corporation project submission. You'll need to recheck the financial data before resubmitting."
Yu Sheng flipped through it casually. "Alright, got it. I'll have someone verify it. Anything else, President Shen? We have a short meeting coming up."
The dismissal was blunt.
Sensing the strange atmosphere, the manager quickly excused herself.
Shen Yunmian remained where she stood.
Looking at Yu Sheng's emotionless eyes, she held back and held back, but couldn't stop herself in the end. Her voice came out hoarse: "Yu Sheng… is there nothing else you want to say to me?"
About the necklace—even just an explanation.
Yu Sheng seemed to hear something utterly ridiculous, a clear mocking curve lifting her lips.
She set down her pen, leaned back in her chair, and looked at Shen Yunmian coldly.
"Say what?" she sneered. "Shen Yunmian, if you're here because of Lin Ruoyan, just say it. No need to beat around the bush. I'm not blocking her resources—she's just overestimating herself. As for terminating her contract, that can be discussed anytime. I won't stop her. As for anything else…"
She concluded mercilessly, "There's nothing left between us to talk about. Please don't disturb my work."
Every word cut like a blade.
Shen Yunmian felt heat rush to her face, as if she'd been slapped.
Her voice was strained with suppressed anger. "The necklace I gave you—why did you give it to Ruoyan?"
Yu Sheng finally looked at her properly, a mocking smile at her lips.
"Haven't you always wanted me to get along with your dear 'sister'? I gave her a generous gift—doesn't that suit your wishes?"
For once, Shen Yunmian caught the sarcasm.
A flicker of hope rose—was Yu Sheng jealous?
Was she angry because of this?
That thought clung to her like a lifeline.
Her voice grew urgent without her realizing. "Yu Sheng… are you jealous?"
She was answered with a short, cold laugh.
Shen Yunmian's heart sank instantly, panic gripping her.
She hurried to explain, "I take care of Ruoyan only because her father died saving me. I have to repay that debt! That's why I help her career—nothing more! Believe me, Yu Sheng. Maybe I didn't do well, but I would never betray our marriage!"
She laid everything bare anxiously, but Yu Sheng only looked at her with impatience.
Yu Sheng believed her words—but what did it matter?
Because no one dared to speak nonsense in front of Shen Yunmian, and she herself never cared, she had always allowed those rumors to exist unchecked.
Naturally, she would never know the embarrassment Yu Sheng faced when attending banquets and social events, hearing others gossip about her behind her back.
Perhaps… she herself was also at fault.
After being reborn, Yu Sheng had reflected on this too—it was because she had indulged Shen Yunmian too much.
She had never made a scene with Shen Yunmian over these matters, enduring it all the way into depression, until her death.
Perhaps she had always known why she never voiced her grievances to Shen Yunmian.
Because she knew Shen Yunmian would not easily change for her—what she wanted was simply an obedient, compliant wife.
Even now, thinking back on those past years, Yu Sheng still felt suffocated and pained.
She refused to dwell on it any further, looking at Shen Yunmian coldly, her tone full of annoyance. "Shen Yunmian, whatever relationship you have with Lin Ruoyan—whether it's gratitude or something else—I don't care anymore."
"Yu Sheng, I…" Shen Yunmian was still unwilling to give up, trying to continue explaining.
"Shen Yunmian, are you done yet?!" Yu Sheng completely lost her patience, her voice rising sharply with irritation. "Let me tell you—your nonsense, your excuses—I don't want to hear a single word of it, and I don't care at all!"
"I don't love you anymore!"
Decisive. Ruthless.
Shen Yunmian froze completely, her pupils shrinking as she stared at the woman before her in disbelief.
Those eyes that once held nothing but tenderness and love now contained only cold indifference and irritation.
The office fell into a deathly silence.
After a long time, Shen Yunmian finally seemed to find her voice, forcing out a few strained words:
"…What did you say?"
"I said I don't love you anymore. Who you're with now, what you do—it has nothing to do with me."
"I'm really busy right now. I have too much to do every day—my head's about to explode. I don't have time to argue about this nonsense with you."
"Can you stop bothering me?"
As if she had just heard something absurd, Shen Yunmian stared at her blankly for a long, long time.
Not a single word came out.
The impatience on Yu Sheng's face pierced her deeply.
"I still have things to do. If there's nothing else, please—"
Yu Sheng took several deep breaths, trying to suppress her anger to avoid making things completely irreparable. But looking at Shen Yunmian's expression as if she couldn't understand a word—
She ultimately couldn't hold back and snapped, "Get out!"
—
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