Chapter 116


    Lanfen


    Ten minutester, I was sitting in the coffee shop, and Lanfen was sitting in front of me. Did the feeling


    that it could be a trap cross my mind? Of course, but I wouldn’t miss the chance to get to know my


    enemy. Jack trained me a little about observation, but it didn’t look like someone was following us. The


    people inside the cale thatnten invited me to seemed nommal as well Nevertheless, I knew that I


    couldn’t lower my guard just because I thought it Was safe around


    “I’m corn,” I corrected, underlining thest name before I took the first cautious sip from my coffee cup


    Her lips curled up gracefully. “Of course, you are, Mrs Lan,” she said, her voice polite and


    I had to give it to her she was mesmerizing from the top of her head to her small feet adorned by Dior


    ck high heels, she was wless I couldn’t stop staring at her porcinplexion and her almond


    eyes with glowing irises in a trame of thick eyshes, not to mention her ideal jawline and tiny round


    chin. For God’s sake, could she be a little less perfect?! It her face wasn’t making me jealous enough,


    she had an hourss figure with curvy hips and quite impressive breasts. As she sat in front of me in her


    posh ck female suit, I seriously wished that she was at least stupid, God would make it fairer that way.


    “You wanted to talk to me, so let’s talk,” I said, curling up one corner of my lips. She lowered her gaze,


    her hands nervously wrapping around her cup of coffee. She seemed vulnerable and sad, which puzzled


    me I kept reading her face and gestures, but I couldn’t find even an ounce of hostility


    I could hear her pulling a deep breath into her lungs before she raised her eyes to meet mine.” I assume


    that you already know who I am… am I right?”


    i nodded, trying to keep my emotions in check


    Lanten smiled briefly at my confirmation and continued, “I wanted to talk to you because I knew that Aren


    wants nothing to do with me. I chose you because I’m a coward” She looked away, her eyes betraying an


    odd kind of sorrow


    asped at the realization “How did you know where to find me.”


    She shook her head. “Our meeting here was coincidental. I’d just closed an important deal and then


    noticed you walking behind me. I would say that it waste.” She shrugged and let out of small chuckle


    I narrowed my eyes at her. “Closing a deal!”


    “Yes, I’m a director of apany selling herbal medicine. We’ll be opening our third store in New York


    City.” she exined confidently


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    “A sessful businesswoman.” I muttered under my breath, feeling that she had to be God’s favorite


    after all


    “I haven’t seen Aren for yours and I have never searched for him,” she continued, but sincet moved to


    New York, the way things ended between us started haunting mean.”


    My jaw tensed. “So you wanted to talk to me so I would be your messenger.” I asked,


    irked by that thought. Her smile widened in amusement. “No, of course not. Let’s just say that I have to


    let it out of my system. I know that I’m selfish, but I need someone to hear me out, and you are his wife


    now…” Lanfen paused, sadness shing in her eyes before she formed her lips into a bright grin again.


    “I thought that you’re the kind of person who’d agree to hear me out.”


    I kept trying to take a glimpse behind her smile and check if it wasn’t al) a fa?ade, but I saw no signs of


    viciousness within her. She was either a master maniptor or a genuinely good person. However, I


    sensed that she controlled her emotions quite well, not raising the volume of her voice even once she


    hadughed, and that fact alone was telling me not to trust her. I took a deep breath.”Fine… Go ahead


    and tell me your story,” I said, fisting my hand under the table since I predicted that I might not like what I


    would hear. She locked her eyes on me. “Let me be honest with you, I loved Aren deeply, and I knew


    that he loved me as well. We would be married right now if it wasn’t for my family.” Her words were like a


    sword that pierced my heart, making the air escape from my lungs in a rush. I clenched my fist under the


    table harder but did my best not to show how much it hurt.


    AT


    “I heard that you moved out with your family the day before you were supposed to marry Aren, leaving a


    few assassins to kill him,” I smirked coldly at her. Her hand rushed to cover her mouth. “W-what?” she


    breathed out as her eyes widened. Her reaction surprised me. “You didn’t know?” She shook her head,


    still mping her mouth. “But you must have known that you were going to leave the one you allegedly


    loved and that your parents were going to present Aren’s business ideas to Aren’s grandfather as their


    own, right?” I tried to remain unmoved by her shocked expression. Lanfen sighed heavily and lowered


    her head. “Yes,’ she admitted. “I knew that my parents initially agreed to our marriage because they


    wanted to get a contract with Lan Wang Corporation. As soon as they realized that Aren wasn’t even an


    official Lan Jing’s grandchild, they wanted to annul our engagement… But then they learned that Aren is


    a genius when ites to business and his proposals could buy their way into the coboration with the


    Lan family. I didn’t know about their ns until it was toote. I was tricked by my own family,


    p, and when I woke up the next day, I was in China. That was also the day when my father announced


    that I was going to marry Yang Shen, an heir of the Yang family. I had never even met him, and I wanted


    to refuse this ridiculous proposal, but my whole family went against me. They held me locked in my room


    until I agreed. I was imprisoned for more than a week with food and water given to me only once a


    day…” she suddenly paused andughed humorlessly. “I know that it sounds like a cheap drama script,


    but my family stated that as the only child I have an obligation to multiply the family’s wealth… It was the


    only thing that mattered.”


    I seriously didn’t know how to react. Should I feel sorry for her for being born into a family like that? Or


    perhaps her story was faked? Yet, it didn’t sound as if she was lying, or at least not about the major


    issues.


    “So you left Aren, and you married Yang Shen against your will?” I stretched my lips into a thin,


    ufortable smile.


    Lanten nodded and gave me a faint smile before shifting mindlessly her eyes to a coffee cup.” Yang


    Shen wasn’t a nice person… He was abusive and treated me horribly… I spent three horrible years of


    my life being married to him,” she said as she stirred her coffee with a spoon.


    Was it possible that we had so much inmon? If she suffered that much, then I guess she must have


    been stronger than I was. I wasn’t married to Can, but when our rtionship ended, he left me


    completely broken. Even though I healed in time, I still had issues and problems with my self esteem.


    Lanfen seemed different; underneath that delicate expression was a confident woman. The more time I


    spent looking at her, the stronger she appeared. Then I realized the way she talked about Yang Shen,


    using the past tense…


    “You said that you were married… but you divorced?” A nervous smile painted my lips.


    Lanfen shook her head, “Shen loved to party and drink… One day, he went for a ride in his Ferrari after


    he had just drunk a whole bottle of whiskey by himself. He fell off the road…”


    I knew that she was probably d that her toxic rtionship had ended… tragically, but it ended for


    good. But something about Lanfen’s story felt off. She hadn’t contacted Aren for many years; she had


    never tried to exin to him what had happened, and then suddenly, she appeared in New York as a


    sessful and again single woman?! it pissed me off that her story actually sounded pitiful, and, looking


    into Lanfen’s stunning eyes, anyone could forgive her… And that was the one thing that truly scared me.


    Nheless, there was something else I needed to know.


    I leaned forward on the table and looked at her suspiciously. “Were you the one who sent Aren your


    photos from New York?”


    “What?” She stared at me, surprised. “Why would I ever do that? I know that he hates me…”


    “Then who could have done it?” I inquired coldly.


    Lanfen spread her hands wide. “I… I don’t know… My enemies maybe?


    I raised one eyebrow. “You have enemies?”


    HER


    She chuckled and smirked. “I run a business in New York, so, of course, I have enemies. Some of them


    might have learned about my rtionship with Aren and how it all ended and decided to give Aren a tip,


    perhaps hoping that he hates me enough to kill me.”


    I didn’t believe her theory, but she acted as if she didn’t know about the photos, so maybe she truly


    wasn’t the one who had sent them to Aren. However, I didn’t care about those photos that much


    anymore. I had one more important question to ask, and I was looking forward to her exnation…


    “Why did you sneak to Aren’s room while he was lying in aa in Crawford’s clinic?” I asked, observing


    every inch of her mimic muscles.


    Sheughed. “Let me guess… Surveince footage by the fire escape door?” “Yes,” I confirmed calmly.


    “Mind exining why you visited my husband?”


    “I wanted to see him. I was worried about him, that’s all.” She shrugged.


    I couldn’t believe her arrogance. “You were so worried that you had to bring a crew to escort you?! A


    crew that had killed six people along the way just so you could sit by my husband’s bed?!” 1 snapped.