Chapter 16 — Called Off Right on the Spot

Uncle Chau was also reassigned to a different post, entirely removed from the jurisdiction of the Shen Corporation. The elderly patriarch of the Shen family found himself under formal investigation for document forgery and coercion. Meanwhile, the entire portfolio of pending drug approvals submitted by the Shen enterprise became subject to rigorous audits. The research institute harbored no malicious intent for retaliation; we simply did what was required. Every document was examined strictly by the book. The results revealed that among the filings submitted by the Shen conglomerate, numerous reports had been falsified, critical side effects meticulously concealed, and incomplete clinical trial records fraudulently passed off as valid.

Once the news broke to the public, the stock price of the Shen Corporation plummeted in an unbroken freefall. Business partners severed ties one after another, and major financial institutions froze all credit lines. The corporate empire that had once arrogantly boasted that not even a single leaf could fall in the city without the Shen family's consent finally collapsed under the weight of the very transgressions they believed no one would ever dare to challenge.

A month later, I returned to the research institute. Before my departure, Uncle Chau brought a bag of oranges to the guesthouse to see me.

"Oranges from my own orchard, not worth much."

I accepted the gift with a nod.

"Thank you, Uncle Chau."

He lowered his head, his voice choked with emotion. "Thank you for not holding a grudge against me."

I shook my head. "You only wanted to protect your family. The one truly at fault is the person who used your family to coerce you."

Duong Duong, standing beside me, casually plucked an orange from the bag. "Don't worry, Uncle. Just make sure your granddaughter focuses on her studies. Even without the financial backing of the Shen family, there are still plenty of kind-hearted people willing to help."

Uncle Chau nodded repeatedly. On the day I left the city, Shen Zhi Xing intercepted me at the railway station. In the span of just a month, he had lost a noticeable amount of weight. His tailored suit remained immaculately pressed, but gone was the haughty arrogance he had worn during our very first encounter. He handed me a sealed evidence bag containing the shattered fragments of a jade bracelet.

"I had someone repair it."

I refused to take it. "Things that are broken need not be mended."

His grip tightened around the plastic bag. "Qing He, I know anything I say right now is entirely useless. But I still want to apologize to you."

I looked straight into his eyes. "You owe apologies to many people. Apologize to Uncle Chau. Apologize to his granddaughter. Apologize to everyone who was bullied by Lam Man while you conveniently turned a blind eye. As for me, your apology is entirely unnecessary."

Shen Zhi Xing asked with a raspy voice, "Is there truly no chance left for us at all?"

The automated announcement for boarding echoed through the station. I pulled the handle of my suitcase and walked past him. "The very moment you refused to review the security footage, any chance we had was already gone."

I boarded the train without ever looking back. Through the tinted glass of the window, I watched Shen Zhi Xing standing motionless on the platform, clutching the mended jade bracelet in his hand. Yet, the ugly cracks remained clearly visible. Some things, once shattered, can somehow be pieced back together, but they can never return to how they once were.

The train slowly pulled away from the station. Duong Duong sent me a text message. "We've finally escaped that madhouse. Hotpot tonight?"

I smiled softly and replied, "Deal."

Outside the window, brilliant sunlight pierced through layers of clouds, casting a warm golden glow over the vast expanse of fields. I closed my phone. The marriage that outsiders believed I should have begged on my knees to preserve turned out to be nothing more than a hollow facade constructed entirely upon deceit. Fortunately, I never knelt. Even better, I had never entrusted my future into the hands of anyone else. From this day forward, the road ahead was mine alone to walk.