Wronged

In the room, a handsome man stood in the center, his posture casual and his expression relaxed and natural. In contrast, the woman sitting behind him had her head down, making it impossible to see her expression, but the air around her exuded a subtle chill, revealing the woman's less-than-pleasant mood at that moment.

You're definitely not in a good mood because of the news the man brought.

"So, have you found out who it is?" you ask.

In the past week, the store has been plagued by problems, with extensive media coverage and intense scrutiny. Customers, the media, and the board of directors are all exerting pressure. Even my father, who was on vacation with my mother after retirement, called one evening to inquire about the progress. I had to repeatedly assure him on the phone that it would be handled properly before he felt at ease. This shows how serious the situation is.

The more you think about it, the angrier you get. Everything seems to go wrong. You've attended seven or eight meetings all day, and all you've gotten is a bellyful of tea to cool down. You haven't found a solution to the problem. Looking at the cautiousness and exhaustion on everyone's faces, you wave your hand in frustration, suppressing your anger, and tell them all to leave. You sit alone in your chair, close your eyes, pinch your nose, and have no thoughts in your mind.

The company employees were also walking on thin ice, and everyone was being careful, fearing that a small spark could cause a major fire. They all thought that the next few days would be easy, but unexpectedly these things happened, and they were all discussing it in private.

Chen Peiyuan had walked with you all this way and saw everyone buried in their work, with only the clatter of typing. The cheerful laughter that used to accompany him was gone. It was easy to imagine how miserable everyone had been these past few days.

It was heartbreaking, truly heartbreaking. Chen Peiyuan silently lit three candles in his heart for these hardworking people, but his face remained expressionless. Alas, what could he do? He was a ruthless capitalist.

You coldly watched Chen Peiyuan's face shift between regret, happiness, and indifference, then tapped the corner of the table twice with your fingers to forcefully bring him back to his senses.

Seeing him looking at you with an embarrassed expression, you snorted coldly, "If you're here to waste my time, you can turn right and leave now. Goodbye."

"Heaven and earth bear witness, I really found it." Chen Peiyuan bit his finger with teary eyes, his sincere expression almost making him want to swear an oath.

"Then hurry up and tell me," you said impatiently, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay."

Seeing that playing the victim was useless, Chen Peiyuan regretfully composed himself and stepped forward. He had only taken a few steps when he was stopped in his tracks. He looked at you in confusion, and seeing your strange expression, he was even more puzzled.

"Lanlan?"

"Stop, stop, stop. If you're going to talk, just talk. Why are you coming over here?"

As you watched him get closer and closer, you panicked and quickly called out to him to stop. Although you didn't know why you were panicking, all you wanted to do was tell him not to come any closer.

I feel like I'm sick. Could it be that I've been working too hard lately and ruined my health?

Before you could even process your thoughts, Chen Peiyuan's deep voice reached your ears. Startled, you instinctively took two steps to the side and glared at him.

"You, why didn't you say anything before coming over? You scared me to death!" you shouted, glaring at me. You couldn't help but rub your reddened ears with your fingers. You had been too close to him, and his breath was blowing on your earlobe. The heat made your ears itch. You rubbed your ears again, trying to get rid of the itching.

Chen Peiyuan lowered his eyes and looked at you innocently, "I called you so many times, but you didn't hear me, so I..."

Hearing his aggrieved words, the words of accusation you wanted to utter fell silent. You guiltily looked away. Well, you were indeed too immersed in your own world at the time, so it's probably true that he called you, but you didn't hear him at all. So, could it be that you misunderstood him?

You glanced at him; the man had his head down, his emotions unreadable, but you inexplicably sensed that he seemed even more aggrieved. This made you feel even more guilty, and a feeling of guilt welled up inside you. At that moment, you felt like a grasshopper in a hot oil pan, jumping back and forth. You felt terrible, wanting to speak but afraid of upsetting him even more.

You unconsciously rubbed your earlobe, which turned red. Unbeknownst to you, the man noticed. He raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "Actually, I know who it is. That's why I came to find you at this time today. I want you to cooperate with me in putting on a good show."

The deliberately raised volume completely drew your attention back. You kept touching your earlobe and looked at him, as if waiting for him to continue.

Acting? You're eager to know the name of the person behind it all, and you're also curious about what he said at the end. You're not an actor, and you don't have any acting talent, but he seems to have no choice but to have you. You can't help but wonder what kind of play he wants you to act in next.

So cute, Lanlan is so well-behaved and adorable. She's looking at you so intently right now. I really wish this could last forever. This thought softened his heart, and a smile crept onto his lips. But when he saw you looking over, he immediately composed himself.

You think you just saw him smile, but then you glance at his tightly pursed lips. This action seems to have caught his attention, and his gaze immediately turns towards you. When you see him looking at you, you silently look away. "Maybe you just imagined it," you tell yourself.

“These past few days, I received some terrible news. A group of people are secretly involved in and planning a shocking scheme that will jeopardize the common interests of both our families. So, as soon as I received the news, I came to find you without delay. However, given that someone has been hiding—no, busy—these past few days, I haven't been able to communicate with them in time. Therefore, the terrible news has become a reality.” The man said, letting out a deep sigh, as if expressing his helplessness.

Your face immediately flushed red. You were furious. Your eyes darted around. You had intended to skip over this matter, but you never imagined that behind your stubborn refusal to contact them, these things had happened. These past few days, you'd been working with your team until one or two in the morning, only getting a few hours of sleep before rushing to the office. Every day was filled with endless complaints and negative reviews; even industry media called to inquire about the truth, which had alarmed your parents. Even though you managed to appease everyone, you knew you were seething inside, gritting your teeth and wanting to find the culprit and beat them to a pulp.

Now, someone is telling you that all of this could have been avoided in advance, but because of that one small action, you missed a clue. If you hadn't avoided him because of shyness that day, perhaps none of this would have happened. If you had just hesitated a little longer, you might have known about it.

You crouched down in agony, clutching your head, which throbbed. Thinking of the past few days of utter chaos, you wished you could go back to a few days ago, back to the moment you could have stopped it all. It was all your fault. You angrily pounded your head, but Chen Peiyuan stopped you. He pulled you up from the ground, forcing you to look up at him. He stared directly at you, his tone earnest, "Lanlan, listen to me. I'm not saying this to make you hurt yourself. Since it's already happened, let's try our best to resolve it. Besides, I don't even know if the news I heard was true or false. I said that, I said that, just..."

"But what?" You stared at him, waiting for him to continue. But he stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, his words becoming hesitant. He bit his lip, looking at you again, as if he couldn't quite bring himself to say what he was about to say.

After a long while, he finally exhaled and, with his eyes closed, spoke as if facing death, "I'm just feeling wronged, Lanlan. You're ignoring me. I want Lanlan to see me and care about me." His voice was several times louder than before, and it seemed as if his words were still echoing in the empty office.

Your eyes widened in surprise, and you involuntarily took a few steps back, pointing at him and stammering, "You, you, what are you complaining about?" A flash of insight crossed your mind, and you were momentarily at a loss for words. No, no, this isn't right!

Is it right for your mortal enemy to say these things to you?! Faced with such a scene, it has long exceeded the capacity of your brain to bear it. Your nerves are throbbing with pain, as if the world is spinning, your body becomes light, and you start spinning along with it.

The next moment, you lay heavily on the ground. In the last second before losing consciousness, you saw Chen Peiyuan muttering something as he rushed over with a pale face. An absurd thought involuntarily surfaced in your mind.

Is all of this a dream?