Chapter 182 She's quite adept at throwing herself into people's arms.
Lu Rang was surrounded by people like a star, and he handled the situation with ease.
He refused drinks offered by others, ignored business cards from people he looked down on, and was full of confidence. He also knew how to protect himself, never touching a drop of alcohol.
Shang Wu's eyes welled up with tears, and she finally realized that Lu Rang really didn't need her anymore.
She lowered her head, suppressing her rising emotions, and quickly went downstairs.
Lu Rang was talking to someone with his back to the stairs, and no one behind him paid any attention to the people coming and going.
Shang Wu thought they would just pass each other by, but Lu Rang saw her and stared in surprise.
Lu Rang turned around sharply.
Before Shang Wu could react, their eyes met unexpectedly.
She froze, standing there at a loss for what to do.
The next second, a hint of disgust and cold indifference appeared in Lu Rang's beautiful eyes.
He frowned and ignored Shang Wu as if he had seen some persistent bug.
In an instant, Shang Wu felt so suffocated that she could hardly breathe.
She almost forgot.
Now, in Lu Rang's eyes, she is just an unfaithful ex-girlfriend who cheated on him.
I feel disgusted just looking at it.
Shang Wu's eyes trembled slightly, and she turned and left silently.
As I stepped out the door, the noise was shut out behind me by the heavy doors.
The night breeze carried a chill, instantly enveloping her slender frame.
Shang Wu walked down the steps in her high heels, each step feeling like stepping on broken glass, each step bringing sharp pain.
Lu Rang's cold, mocking, and disgusted eyes kept flashing through her mind.
He remembers everything except loving her.
She only firmly remembered one fabricated "betrayal" that she never personally acknowledged.
Shang Wu walked to the roadside.
The luxurious neon lights reflected the bitterness in her eyes.
She finally couldn't hold back any longer, tilting her head slightly back, trying to force back the tears welling up in her eyes.
Don't cry.
To allow him to live without pain would only come at the cost of endless misunderstanding.
It's fine as it is.
If we meet, we can pretend we don't know each other; at least we'll see Lu Rang living a good life...
Just as Shang Wu was lost in thought, a drunken figure suddenly bumped into her from the side!
Caught off guard, she lost her balance and was about to fall to the ground in a sorry state.
The expected pain did not come; instead, a strong hand suddenly gripped her arm, with such force that it almost crushed her bones.
Shang Wu was roughly pulled into an embrace filled with a chilling aura.
The scent was so familiar that it sent shivers down her spine, yet so cold that it instantly brought her back to her senses.
Almost immediately, the owner of that hand, as if he had touched something dirty, shoved her away without hesitation.
Shang Wu staggered a step, barely managing to steady herself, and looked up to meet Lu Rang's unfathomable black eyes.
There was no trace of the warmth from the physical contact just now; only intense disgust and mockery.
"Miss Shang is quite adept at throwing herself into my arms."
Lu Rang's lips curled into a cold smile. "Or are you saying that you'd be so blind as to bump into any man you see?"
Every word was ruthless and cold.
Shang Wu could barely bear the overwhelming disgust.
She felt utterly powerless, and instead developed a numb sense of resignation.
Shang Wu took a deep breath, suppressing all her surging emotions. When she looked up again, a nonchalant smile had appeared on her face.
She deliberately raised her hand to straighten the sleeves he had just crumpled, the movement carrying a deliberate flirtatious air.
"So it was my ex-boyfriend."
Shang Wu's voice trembled slightly as she tried her best to hide her sadness: "I'm so sorry, I didn't see the road clearly, but..."
Her eyes darted around as she looked Lu Rang up and down, her red lips curving into a deeper smile. "Even if you throw yourself at me, you're not my type anymore."
She saw Lu Rang's face instantly darken to the point of being dripping with gloom, his jawline taut, and the disgust in his eyes almost overflowing.
"Shang Wu, you're shameless."
"This is the first time I've seen someone talk about cheating so confidently."
Shang Wu's face turned pale, and she swayed.
Just then, a sports car quietly pulled up to the side of the road.
The car door opened, and a man in a pink shirt with a bright smile strode over and called out affectionately, "A-Wu!"
Chen Chunzhi naturally reached out to put his arm around Shang Wu's shoulder.
Shang Wu froze, wondering why he was there, but she didn't move away.
Lu Rang's sharp gaze lingered on Chen Chunzhi's arm around Shang Wu before returning to Shang Wu's bright face.
Is this the kind of person she cheated on with?
Lu Rang felt a surge of rage and nausea that he couldn't understand, along with... a strange irritation, rising in his chest.
The emotion came on so suddenly and violently that it almost overwhelmed reason.
But in the end, he just gave a cold, mocking laugh.
"Your taste is truly astounding."
Lu Rang didn't look at them again, as if looking at them would taint his eyes. He turned around abruptly, his back resolute and cold, and quickly blended into the night and disappeared.
The next second, all the pretense that Shang Wu had been putting on collapsed instantly, the color drained from her face, leaving only a pale and exhausted expression.
Chen Chunzhi looked at her with concern: "Are you alright? I heard from Aying that you were attending an exchange meeting here, and I saw you and Lu Rang seemingly arguing, so I..."
Shang Wu gently brushed away his hand from her shoulder, her voice low: "Didn't I tell you not to bother me?"
Chen Chunzhi clicked his tongue: "I've never failed in pursuing a woman, and I'm not going to give up after being rejected by you twice. Shang Wu, don't think you can get rid of me so easily. Anyway, you've already broken up."
Shang Wu ignored him, opened the car door, sat in the back seat, rested her head against the cold car window, and closed her eyes.
"drive."
The driver stepped on the gas and drove her away.
Chen Chunzhi scratched his head, unsure whether to leave or chase after the others.
The tall buildings outside the window rushed past.
Shang Wu watched silently, her heart filled with desolation.
Lu Rang left with an even deeper sense of disgust.
She acted very well in this scene.
Hopefully, Lu Rang will no longer want to talk to her.
Shang Wu closed her eyes again, tears silently sliding down her cheeks and disappearing into her hair.
Tonight, some are destined to have their hearts broken, some will suffer unrequited love, and some will find themselves sleepless and lonely.
...
the next day.
Shang Wu suppressed all her emotions and got up early to go to the company.
She slept fitfully throughout the night, constantly thinking about Lu Rang's disgusted gaze, and woke up in a fright several times.
If this continues, she won't be able to hold on, so she might as well go to work at the company to distract herself.
Upon arriving at the company, the employees frequently observed Shang Wu's expression as she made her first public appearance since the breakup.
Surprisingly, apart from being slightly pale, Shang Wu's face showed no abnormalities.
However, this forced calm was soon shattered.
Aying practically burst through the office door, her face showing an unusual look of panic.
"President Shang! Something's happened! Our internal core system has been hacked."
Shang Wu looked up from the table, frowning as she looked at her: "What did you say?"
"Financial and customer data were locked, and the other party...the other party even left a server address, as if they were deliberately trying to get us to investigate."
Shang Wu's heart sank, and she quickly walked to the computer.
On the screen, the complex flow of code was frozen, and the system could no longer function properly.
This tactic... she was all too familiar with it.
She used it before when dealing with Gu Ziqian.
Now, who is using these methods to attack her group?
A strong sense of unease filled my heart.
Shang Wu quickly regained her composure, her voice tense: "What did the technical department say? Have they traced the source?"
Aying's face turned pale as she handed over a preliminary report: "The technical director said the method was very professional and highly targeted, like the work of a professional hacker. The other party is very familiar with our internal defense weaknesses. Preliminary IP tracing..."
"Where?" Shang Wu's voice turned cold as she mentally considered all the people who might be targeting her recently.
“…pointing to the Wanhu server cluster.” Aying uttered these words with difficulty.
Shang Wu's vision went black for a moment, and she managed to steady herself by holding onto the edge of the table.
Lu Rang.
It was him.
Shang Wu's heart ached from the cold.
She took a deep breath, her nails digging deep into her palms.
"Prepare the car."
Her voice was devoid of emotion. "Go to the dock."
...
Wanhu Wharf.
Shang Wu pushed open the office door without an appointment.
Lu Rang was standing at the window, overlooking the operation of the dock.
Hearing the noise, he turned around.
The sunlight gilded his body with a golden edge, but it couldn't melt the coldness in his eyes.
"It is truly a rare honor for Mr. Shang to grace us with his presence."
He said sarcastically, "What, did yesterday's banquet not satisfy you? Or was that pink shirt not enough for you, and now you want to come back to me?"
Shang Wu had never seen Lu Rang like this before.
Is this what it means for Lu Rang to completely hate someone?
Shang Wu ignored his harsh words, walked straight to his desk, and placed a document in front of him.
"Lu Rang, what do you mean by this?"
She stared at Lu Rang, her voice trembling slightly.
Lu Rang glanced at the document and scoffed, "What do you mean? After all these years in the business world, President Shang, you can't even understand the most basic business competition? Or are you saying that only you, Miss Shang, are allowed to play with emotions and stab others in the back, while others aren't allowed to fight back?"
"Business competition..."
Shang Wu almost laughed out loud, but her heart ached terribly.
She asked softly, "Lu Rang, do you really have to be so ruthless?"
“Absolutely?” Lu Rang narrowed his eyes, walked around the desk, and approached her step by step, his tall figure exuding a strong sense of oppression.
"Shang Wu, when you chose to betray me without hesitation, didn't you feel heartless?"
He leaned down, each word carrying a ruthless warning: "No one can get away unscathed and live a carefree life after doing that to me. I was recuperating at the Yu family before and didn't have time to deal with you. Now, you should pay the price you deserve."
Shang Wu clenched his fist.
Yes, there's no such thing as having the best of both worlds.
She couldn't pretend to be a traitor, yet she couldn't bear the consequences of Lu Rang's betrayal.
Lu Zheng simply let Lu Rang hate her and take revenge on her.
No one considered what her options were.
She didn't even have a choice, she didn't even have time to say a final goodbye to Lu Rang, she had to immediately accept the outcome of turning against the person she loved and the relationship falling apart.
The immense grievances and heartache nearly overwhelmed Shang Wu.
She looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar man in front of her.
The hatred in his eyes was so real, so real, that she could barely hold on.
Shang Wu closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, all that remained was a weary, deathly silence.
"good."
Her voice was as soft as a sigh.
"Lu Rang, what do you want from me to let my company go? Or rather, what do you want from me to forgive me?"
Lu Rang, dressed in a somber black suit, stepped back with his hands in his pockets, distancing himself from Shang Wu, and then looked her up and down.
His eyes held an extreme sense of humiliation as he slowly said, "Fine, then kneel down and beg me. Maybe if I'm in a better mood, I'll consider showing leniency."
Shang Wu's body trembled violently, and her face turned ashen.
The office was deathly silent.
A few seconds later, she suddenly moved.
Instead of kneeling, she stepped forward and approached Lu Rang.
Lu Rang frowned, and before he could even react, he instinctively reached out and grabbed Shang Wu's arm to stop her from kneeling.
"Don't……"
The sound abruptly stopped.
Lu Rang frowned, not even realizing why he had stopped her.
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