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Chapter 40: The Public Lie, The Private Truth
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2025-12-10 03:45:01[The Public Lie, The Private Truth]
“An empire is not rebuilt in a day, but in the small, meticulous steps taken together when the rest of the world is watching.”
Panni woke to the relentless, low-frequency hum of Jinyan's command. She was not in a luxurious bed, but draped across the leather chaise lounge in his sprawling office suite, cocooned in a shared blanket with the CEO himself. The exhaustion of the boardroom confrontation and the subsequent hours of strategic planning had claimed them both, a temporary lapse in control that only served to deepen the intimacy of their alliance.
The vast glass wall, which hours ago had shown the menacing black of the pre-dawn city, was now bleeding with the aggressive hues of the morning sun. Jinyan was already upright, his suit jacket discarded but his tie still perfectly knotted. H
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TIME TO FALL IN LOVE Chapter 70: The Boardroom Coup (P 2)
…continuationPanni didn't argue. She simply walked to the projector at the end of the table and laid the ledger down. She turned to Jinyan."You wrote in here that you wondered if a person could change their soul," Panni said, her voice soft but carrying to every corner of the room. "You wondered if the 'Annie' you knew was finally becoming someone worthy of your trust."Jinyan’s jaw tightened. "Stop.""I won't stop," Panni said. She flicked to the back of the ledger, where a small, thin microchip was taped to the inside of the leather. "Because while Annie was busy planning her 're-entry' into your life, she was also meeting with the Han Group’s rivals. She wasn't planning to save the merger, Jinyan. She was planning to short the stock and vanish with the liquidation fees."The room erupted. Annie’s face transformed, the polished mask shattering into a snarl of rage."That’s a lie!" Annie screamed, lunging across the table toward Panni. "She’s making it up! She stole that ledger!""
TIME TO FALL IN LOVE Chapter 69: The Boardroom Coup (Part 1)
The interior of Madam Lu’s Bentley smelled of aged cedar and the cold, sharp scent of iron-willed resolve. Outside, the city of Lu-Sheng blurred into streaks of neon and rain, but inside the car, the atmosphere was as still as a tomb.Panni sat stiffly, the leather-bound ledger clutched against her chest like a shield. Beside her, the matriarch of the Lu family looked straight ahead, her jeweled fingers resting atop a silver-headed cane."You took the ledger," Madam Lu said, her voice a dry rasp that cut through the silence. It wasn't a question."I didn't take it for Chen," Panni said, her voice surprisingly steady despite the chaos of the night. "I took it because Jinyan was too hurt to see that he was leaving his throat exposed. Annie and Chen... they’re going to tear him apart at nine A.M."Madam Lu turned her head slowly, her gaze raking over Panni’s rain-soaked hair and trembling hands. "My grandson is a brilliant man, Panni, but he has one fatal flaw. He believes that honesty i
TIME TO FALL IN LOVE Chapter 68: The Anatomy of a Fall (P 2)
...continuationI walk into that board meeting tomorrow morning and introduce myself as the real fiancée. Imagine the headlines: CEO Tricked by Twin Towers of Deception."Jinyan turned his gaze back to Panni. The hurt in his eyes was so profound it felt like a physical weight in the room. "Is this what you were doing in the alley? Setting the price?""No!" Panni screamed. "Jinyan, I told her no! I told her I wouldn't steal from you!""But you already did," Annie interjected smoothly. "You stole his trust. You stole his heart. You’ve been a very busy little thief, haven't you?"The door opened again, and this time it was Chen Lu, clapping his hands slowly. The entire Lu family hierarchy was now gathered in one room, a nest of vipers circling a dying fire."What a spectacular show," Chen said, leaning against the doorframe. "I was going to wait for the fountain, but this is much more theatrical. Jinyan, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Or two.""Get out, Chen," Jinyan said, his voice
TIME TO FALL IN LOVE Chapter 67: The Anatomy of a Fall (Part 1)
[The Anatomy of a Fall]The silence in the conservatory was no longer the intimate, orchid-scented hush of a private dinner; it had become the pressurized, suffocating stillness that precedes a structural collapse. The photograph on Jinyan’s screen seemed to glow with a malevolent light, the two identical faces—one polished and elite, the other desperate and frayed—mocking the very foundation of the last month of Panni’s life.Jinyan didn't move. He stood with the moonlight catching the sharp bridge of his nose and the tense line of his jaw. He looked like a marble statue of a god who had just discovered his temple was built on sand."Jinyan, please," Panni whispered, her voice trembling so violently she had to catch the edge of the obsidian table to stay upright. "I wanted to tell you. I was going to tell you tonight. Before the phone rang, I was—""Tonight?" Jinyan’s laugh was a short, brutal sound that sliced through her sentence. He finally looked at her, and the warmth she had se
TIME TO FALL IN LOVE Chapter 66: The Mirror's Edge (P2)
...continuation"Jinyan, I...""We’re going to have dinner tonight," he interrupted, his gaze intense. "Just us. No board members, no grandmother, no business talk. I want to talk about the future. Beyond the contract."Panni felt a tear prick her eye. The kindness in his voice was more painful than any threat Chen could make. "I’d like that."The dinner was held in the small, private conservatory of the mansion, a room filled with rare orchids and the soft glow of candlelight. It was intimate, a far cry from the cold, grand dining hall where the Lu family usually conducted their "negotiations" over soup and salad.Jinyan sat across from her, his blazer removed, his tie loosened. He looked younger in the candlelight, the sharp edges of the CEO softened by the flickering shadows."You haven't touched your wine," he noted, swirling his own glass."I’m still a bit lightheaded from the fever," Panni said, forcing herself to take a bite of the sea bass. It tasted like cardboard. All she co
TIME TO FALL IN LOVE Chapter 65: The Mirror's Edge (Part1)
[The Mirror's Edge]The dawn was a jagged line of grey and violet against the horizon, cold enough to make the moisture on the white marble of the south garden fountain shimmer like crushed diamonds. Panni pulled her wool coat tighter around her chest, the fabric doing little to stop the tremors that started deep in her marrow. She wasn't sure if it was the lingering chill of the fever or the sheer, paralyzing terror of what she was about to do.She stood by the fountain, the sound of the cascading water echoing through the silent gardens. This was the moment of the "Mirror’s Edge"—the sharp, narrow point where her two lives were colliding. In her pocket, her phone felt like a hot coal."You’re early. I suppose the fear of being unmasked is a better alarm clock than any butler could provide."Panni spun around. Chen Lu wasn't dressed in his usual sharp corporate attire. He wore a heavy black overcoat, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, and his eyes—dark and predatory—were fixed o
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