He wasn't killed in an accident; he was a victim.

The Jin family's film and television companies are all very prestigious in China. Lin Zhen'er didn't know how her husband, after several days of meetings, managed to overcome all opposition and complete the joke they had made during their argument. All she knew was that the relatives in the family had been making so much noise that they almost broke the ceiling of the family's company building.

Some family members, like the ex, rely on family resources and act all high and mighty outside, forcing talented but poor young people to secretly work as ghostwriters to gain fame and fortune. Others take their family projects and endless money to bravely enter the entertainment industry, playing leading roles in eight hundred different dramas but never becoming famous, endlessly burning through money.

And then there are those older folks who, despite their age, are still traveling abroad with actresses and shopping with younger men. The names on the luxury goods stores' lists for rare and high-end jewelry are always the same few familiar names.

That young CEO Jin was decisive and ruthless outside, but at home he was an extremely soft-hearted person. He had no interest in dealing with these matters and seemed to be deliberately turning a blind eye, as if he could pretend not to see the deficit as long as it wasn't too big to be filled.

However, the climate in the film and television industry has changed in the past two years. Mrs. Jin, who has been following several projects based on her connections and has spent half a year abroad, is far more sensitive to the possibility of big trouble if things continue like this than her husband, who is in charge of overall planning.

Jin Chaosheng, who bullies others, his cousins ​​who act in terrible dramas but are obsessed with showing off their wealth, and his uncle who changes lovers several times a year—they are all parasites growing on the big tree of the film and television company. Sooner or later, they will bore into the tree stump until it is hollow and collapse.

So, the first thing she did upon taking power was to confiscate the privileges that her relatives shouldn't have and fire those who spent their days at the company drinking coffee and watching short videos. Her reputation was already bad enough; she didn't need any more gossip.

"President Lin, aren't you afraid they'll have a problem with such drastic layoffs?"

That noon, under the pretext of attending a meeting, General Manager Jin stayed in the office for lunch. He noticed the densely packed optimization plans on his wife's desk. Somewhat curious, he spoke up. For a new boss to start by targeting a relative—that's a rare and ruthless tactic.

"With you here, why would I be afraid they'll have a problem with me?"

The fried noodles were very chewy today, and as usual, the people around her piled meat into her bowl. Lin Zhen'er knew that saying this would please the usually decisive CEO Jin. She looked at the man with interest, suppressing the urge to grin, and only raised an eyebrow with restraint.

They've been preoccupied with many trivial matters these past few days, so the other person must have something else to say since they came to have lunch with them today.

Sure enough, after placing the dessert from lunch on a spoon, Jin Yanzhi, tactfully touching his nose, awkwardly glanced around the room before returning his gaze to his lover:

"Um, Jiang Chengjing came back these past two days. He came to my office crying this morning..."

Qiao Jie's cooking skills were consistently excellent; the mango pomelo sago was sweet and sour, but the woman suddenly lost interest in drinking any more. She put down the bowl, crossed her arms, and looked defensively at her husband, who was trying to appear relaxed.

"What do you want? To tell you that the child really is yours?"

Upon hearing this, the husband hurriedly stood up, his reaction mirroring previous mentions of Miss Jiang: a mixture of embarrassment and panic.

"What nonsense... I have a completely innocent relationship with her, there's no way we could have a child."

She called me to say that after investigating Chengxu's case for so many years, they've finally made progress. Not only have they made progress, but they've also identified a confirmed suspect. It's not just a simple family feud; it's even related to my father's case..."

She reached for two tissues and began wiping the stains on her husband's trousers. She realized this wasn't so simple, but his reaction was ridiculous, and she didn't want to let the opportunity to tease him slip by so easily.

"Since we're here to talk business, why are you so nervous!"

"Yeah, why am I nervous..." Jin Yanzhi looked at the woman with her head tilted, wondering what was wrong with him, that he got nervous and started stuttering whenever she questioned him. He clearly had nothing to do with that woman from the Jiang family, but every time he saw his wife frown, he would jump around like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

When his father suddenly passed away, he searched for a long time but couldn't find any clues. Naturally, he never thought that this matter would be related to the death of his close friend many years ago.

Unfortunately, the recording Jiang Chengjing brought in the morning was irrefutable evidence. The two veteran actors who had been acting for many years were exposed in the love trap she had set for them. One of them was Jiang's maternal uncle, who had been domineering and arrogant for many years because of his sister's status in the Jiang family.

The other one was actually his cousin Jin Chaosheng's father, who had seemed detached from worldly affairs all these years, practicing qigong every day and establishing several health resorts.

"Everyone has their own destiny. Sometimes, going too high can lead to death."

Back then, the CEO of our Jin family was really riding high. My brother from the Jiang family told me that if things continued like this, we'd never get ahead, so we might as well have someone tamper with his car and kill him on a business trip.

Who knew that the driver who took the money wouldn't actually do it? Instead, when the pickup truck rolled down the logs, he tried to protect him and lost his life in the process. "As for you, my little darling, you don't need to dream of becoming a big star. Being with me is the best kind of life—a life of leisure and wealth."

It's true what they say, like father, like son. When the middle-aged man's lewd and greasy laughter rang out, Lin Zhen'er felt nothing but disgust. The cunning face of her ex-boyfriend overlapped with that of his murderous father, making it hard not to feel nauseous.

"Was that log arranged by them? And was it Miss Xia, who always acts like a tyrant on set and never acts properly, who found the clue about that old man from the Jiang family?"

No wonder this popular actress couldn't fight or cry during filming; it turns out her heart wasn't in it. I should have cast that detective prodigy as the female lead in the company's new crime drama.

"No, that old man... fell for a famous male model in China and was swindled out of a lot of money by that kid."

As it turned out, Jiang Chengjing offered even more. Seeing that this big fish, the old man Jiang, was about to escape from the hook, he simply took a large sum of money and accompanied the old man to Macau for a few days. While the old man was drunk, he obtained clues about Chengxu's case. According to him, the original intention was simply to cripple Chengxu so that he would be unable to hold the highest position in the future.

As a result, he was chased too relentlessly, and being so young, he rolled down the highest slope, which caused things to spiral out of control…

Before Jin Yanzhi could finish speaking, both of their eyes reddened. She didn't know what she was thinking; she had never met the boy before, yet her love for the man in front of her caused her intense heartache.

When he was only thirteen or fourteen years old, his elders forced him to fall off a cliff. The terrified boy in the forest, facing the rolling logs and having nowhere to escape, never imagined that the reason they left was a conspiracy by their relatives.

Unfortunately, fate was kind. The passing of the Jiang family's young man and the departure of Uncle Jin did not allow those two maggots in the gutter to rise again. Despite their scheming and plotting over the years, they remained far from their desired position due to their own incompetence.

"I arranged for her to take the children to her husband's family abroad for refuge this morning."

The cases involving Chengxu and my father are from a long time ago, and we can't get any solid evidence anymore. Convicting them based solely on recordings is difficult. Fortunately, they've committed quite a few other crimes over the years, and they should be in custody by now. Hopefully, the police can get some information out of them in the next couple of days.”

These two things were too heavy, so heavy that even as the man struggled to control his emotions, his voice still trembled slightly. And those two people were so wicked, so wicked that even with all the profanities on the tip of her tongue, she still felt it wasn't heavy enough. She pulled her husband's head into her arms; the woman who had been joking just ten minutes ago was now unable to utter a single word.

It got dark unusually early in Pingyang today, and the couple had no appetite for dinner. They sat side by side in front of the TV, absentmindedly turning on a random show, and then focused on waiting for news from the front lines, staying up until almost midnight.

A voice, utterly exhausted, finally answered the phone:

"Brother, both cases were ruled accidents back then. Today, they both insist that the other secretly recorded the conversation while drunk and made it up. There's no other clear evidence now, so it's too difficult to overturn the case."

But they have a lot of other problems too, so there's no way they'll get out. Their sentences will be enough for them to enjoy their old age in prison. Please try to accept my condolences.

Although Jin Yanzhi's emotions were trembling, she still politely hung up the phone. The tall voice slumped onto the sofa in a daze for an unknown amount of time before getting up, going upstairs to the study, and sitting down against the sun totem on the wall.

The woman, quietly following behind, looked at the small photo frame on the table: the spirited Uncle Jin with his arm around the boy who was holding a basketball and smiling brightly. She felt as if a thousand-pound stone was pressing on her heart, making it hard to even breathe.

They couldn't remember when it got light. The two, who were half-asleep and huddled together, were startled awake by the sharp cries from downstairs.

It was her arrogant ex-wife's mother. Realizing what was happening, Lin Zhen'er ran down the stairs without even putting on her shoes. The mother and son, who had been blocked in the lobby by Qiao Jie and her assistant, became even more excited upon seeing her.

"You're such a slut! First you seduced your boyfriend's uncle, then you seized control of the company, and you even sent this old man to jail."

What terrible things did our family do to deserve such a jinx like you? If it weren't for Chaosheng, you'd still be a pariah, unable to even pay your rent.

Sure enough, after all these years of being refined, this lady can still be incredibly filthy when she starts cursing.

For the first time, the woman felt that the wickedness and stupidity of human nature were so overwhelming. The insults didn't strike her, but her protective instincts towards the man behind her made her afraid that this crazy woman might say something else that would hurt her husband.

She rushed forward quickly, grabbed the table runner from the coffee table, and covered Jin Chaosheng's mother's mouth without thinking.

Fortunately, when the spendthrift son rushed to rescue his mother, Jin Yanzhi's assistant grabbed his wrist tightly and pinned him to the ground before he could reach her. This assistant, though skilled in combat, was a new face.

Looking at the somewhat scholarly face that stood in front of her and her husband, Mrs. Jin felt a strange feeling rising in her heart, though she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.