A huge sense of loss engulfed her completely. She turned her head abruptly, staring at Fu Chen with her eyes. Her dry fingers dug into his arm tightly, and her nails seemed to be embedding into his flesh through the fabric of his suit.

"Fu Chen! You treat me like this? I saved your life! If it weren't for me, you would have died long ago! You just watch them gang up on me? Are you going to abandon your savior like this?"

She emphasized the words "life-saving grace", as it was almost the last piece of driftwood she could grasp.

Fu Chen's eyes were as cold as ice, without any fluctuations.

He slowly pried open Su Yao's fingers one by one, his movements revealing an undisguised disdain, and his voice was colder than the wind outside: "Miss Su, 'life-saving grace' is not a pass for you to do whatever you want. It was you who took the initiative to find me and proposed cooperation, saying that you wanted to use me to deal with Ning Nanxue, on the condition that I help you get Jiang Tingchen."

"What about now? Your plan failed miserably, and you almost dragged the Fu family into the water. It was you who first destroyed the foundation of our cooperation, Su Yao, this account must be settled clearly."

He paused, looking at Su Yao's face, which was as pale as if she had just been pulled out of the water, and continued: "According to the supplementary agreement we signed at the beginning, because of your unilateral reasons, the cooperation has made such a big mistake, causing reputational and potential economic losses to the Fu Group. The Su family needs to pay the Fu Group a considerable amount of liquidated damages. My legal department will send someone to have a good talk with the Su family about the specific amount."

"As for your fantastic plans," Fu Chen's lips curled up into a cold arc, but there was no smile in his eyes, only a stinging chill.

"The Fu Group can't afford the compensation, and we don't want to go crazy with you. Miss Su, instead of arguing with me here, you should think about how to explain it to your father, Chairman Su, when you get home. How will the Su family cover the penalty? Also, because of your 'merit', the Su family may have to face joint commercial suppression from Huayun and Ning's companies."

Su Yao staggered back several steps. Every word of Fu Chen was like a big hammer, hitting her heart squarely.

Her mind was in a mess. It was over, completely over.

Su Yao stepped into the Su family villa. The living room was as bright as day, but the air was heavy, making people feel stuffy in the chest.

Father Su sat in the middle of the sofa with a grim face. The purple clay teacup in his hand looked like it was about to be crushed by him, and the veins on the back of his hand were bulging.

Su's mother sat next to him, her eyes red, her lips moved, and she swallowed the words back, leaving only an inaudible sigh.

"Dad, Mom..." Su Yao's voice was tense, with a hint of luck that she didn't even notice.

She was responded with a crisp sound - Father Su threw the teacup in his hand to the ground, and the purple clay fragments mixed with tea leaves flew everywhere.

"You still remember to come back!" Father Su stood up suddenly, pointing at Su Yao's nose, his fingers shaking, "Fu Chen's phone call even reached me! Forged evidence? Framed? Su Yao, do you want to lose the entire Su family? Where's your brain?!"

"I went abroad to discuss business, and you and your daughter turned the house upside down. He invested in other companies without telling me?"

Su Yao was startled and tears came down: "Dad! How can you blame me for this! It's all Ning Nanxue! It's all her! She took away everything from me! Tingchen... Tingchen should have been mine!"

"Shut up!" Su's father shouted, "You refuse to repent! For a man, you have disgraced the Su family! You did a good thing yourself, and you want to blame others? Who is Jiang Tingchen? How could he be interested in someone as vicious as you? Does Huayun Group eat vegetables?"

"Jiang Tingchen has already said he's joining forces with the Ning family to sue us for patent infringement! Don't you know what's going on with our technology? If they could really catch us, the Su family would be finished, don't you know?"

Father Su's fingers trembled with anger. "And Fu Chen! He just called me again to 'take care' of me! The terms of the contract that our Su family signed when we invested in Fu Corporation were written in black and white. Because of your stupid behavior, the cooperation has fallen through! Fu Chen said that if you dare to provoke Ning Nanxue again, not only will they make us pay for breach of contract, but they will also make the contract public! When that happens, I'll see what the Su family will do!"

Su Yao's face instantly lost all color. How could Fu Chen treat her like this?

"Dad, I..." She opened her mouth, but her throat felt like it was blocked by a ball of cotton and she couldn't utter a word.

Su's mother, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke, her voice thick with disappointment and exhaustion. "Yaoyao, this time... you've really lost all your dignity. Our Su family may not be as wealthy as the Jiang and Fu families, but we're still a well-known and reputable family in the business world. How could you do something so... so shameful?"

She looked at her daughter with an expression so complicated that it was hard to describe: "You disappoint us so much, really disappointing."

Her mother, who used to be so obedient and indulgent to her, was no longer on her side. Su Yao's heart sank bit by bit into the icy abyss.

Father Su looked at his worthless daughter, his chest heaving violently. Finally, like a deflated ball, he waved his hand wearily, his tone brimming with determination. "I've decided. From today on, all credit cards and bank supplementary cards in your name will be suspended, and your authority over all company projects will be revoked. You will stay home and reflect on your actions! Without my permission, you are not allowed to leave this villa!"

"No! Dad! You can't do this to me!" Su Yao screamed. This decision was even more painful to her than killing her.

Without money, without the aura and power of the eldest daughter of the Su family, what would she, Su Yao, be?

"This is for your own good, and for the Su family!" Father Su's voice was cold and without a trace of warmth. "Think carefully. If you keep making mistakes like this, no one can save you!"

After saying that, Father Su turned around and went upstairs with a sullen face without even looking at her.

Su's mother silently looked at her distraught daughter, sighed heavily, and followed her husband upstairs.

In the huge living room, Su Yao was the only one left in a blink of an eye.

She looked at the teacup fragments scattered on the ground and listened to her father's cold and ruthless words echoing in her ears again and again. An indescribable despair and overwhelming anger swept over her like a volcanic eruption.

She turned around abruptly and stumbled back to her bedroom. Looking at the bottles and jars on the dressing table that were usually her most precious things, she felt that they were extremely glaring.