Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Xu Nianchu’s case progressed faster than I had expected.

Not because she had suddenly found her conscience.

But because Shen Yi had no intention of going down with her.

The people inside Qiming Technology were afraid the matter would blow up as well, so they proactively submitted part of the communication records, trying to pin the responsibility on “individual actions.”

In those records, Xu Nianchu sounded nothing like her usual self.

She said, “Zhou Yan still can’t bear to give up Lin Jianwei’s money and resources, but I can make him turn against her completely.”

She said, “As long as Xinglan collapses fast enough, he’ll have no choice but to come to Qiming.”

She also said, “A woman like Lin Jianwei cares about her reputation more than anything. All I have to do is cry, and everyone will curse her out.”

After Chen Cheng finished reading, her hands were shaking with anger.

“How can she be this vicious?”

I wasn’t surprised.

Xu Nianchu wasn’t weak.

She had simply turned weakness into the cheapest weapon available.

That night, Zhou Yan came to see me.

This time, he did not put on his vice president airs again.

He sat across from me and said in a low voice, “I saw the records from Shen Yi’s side.”

“And?”

“She tricked me.”

I looked at him and suddenly felt exhausted.

He was always saying he had been tricked.

Tricked into neglecting me. Tricked into taking her side. Tricked into hitting someone. Tricked into indulging her overstepping her access permissions.

As if as long as he pushed all the blame onto Xu Nianchu, he could become an innocent husband again.

I asked, “Did she make you hit me?”

Zhou Yan froze.

I asked again, “Did she make you use company money to buy things for her?”

His face turned deathly pale.

“Did she make you tell everyone I was just an employee?”

He lowered his head.

I said, “Zhou Yan, her lying to you is her problem. Your willingness to believe her is yours. You enjoyed her treating you like a savior. You enjoyed watching me get trampled under her feet. You enjoyed finally not having to admit you relied on me. Don’t push all of that onto her.”

His eyes reddened. “Jianwei, I really know I was wrong.”

“I don’t need that.”

“But I still love you.”

Those words came far too late, and far too cheaply.

Calmly, I said, “The person you love isn’t me. You love the Lin Jianwei who always cleaned up your messes, never exposed you, and always let you win.”

I pushed the divorce agreement toward him.

“She’s already dead.”

Zhou Yan did not sign right away.

He began to stall.

One moment, he said the lawyers’ terms were unfair. The next, he said he needed time to calm down. Then he claimed he was cooperating with an investigation and couldn’t deal with private matters.

I was in no hurry.

Because the company’s liquidation would not wait for him.

After Xinglan’s trademark authorization was terminated, the old system’s external services entered the migration period. The building lease was signed anew, and Hengwei took over the preservation of the servers and client data. The group’s transfer list was finalized, and more than seventy percent of the employees chose to move to the new business line.

That new business line was under my charge.

When Zhou Yan heard the news, he stormed straight into the handover office.

“Why are you in charge of the new company?”

I was signing the employee transfer confirmations. “Because the group appointed me general manager of the new company.”

He looked as if he had heard a joke. “On what grounds?”

I looked up. “On the grounds that I wrote the original proposal for the Qingqiong Project, maintained the client relationships, and the core team is willing to follow me.”

His face went livid. “I am Xinglan’s vice president.”

“Xinglan is being dissolved.”

“Then I still have priority for reassignment!”

The HR director spoke from the side. “Mr. Zhou, you are currently involved in an investigation into improper approval of data access permissions and an audit of abnormal expenses. The group is unable to offer you a management position.”

Zhou Yan stiffened.

I pushed an intent form for an ordinary position toward him.

“If you’re willing, you can apply for a junior business role. Your salary will be recalculated according to the role level.”

Some people in the office lowered their heads.

They weren’t laughing.

They had simply realized, all at once, that the once-spirited Vice President Zhou who had shone so brightly at the annual meetings had been stripped bare by reality.

Zhou Yan stared fixedly at the form. “Are you humiliating me?”

“The position is open to everyone who meets the qualifications,” I said. “You included.”

“There is no way I’m working for you.”

“Then don’t sign.”

I took back the intent form and continued reading the next document.

He stood there for a long time before finally saying in a low voice, “Lin Jianwei, do you really not care about our history at all?”

I did not look up.

“I did.”

That was why Xinglan existed today.

That was why he had enjoyed three years of glory.

That was why he had mistakenly believed I would always stand where I was, waiting for him to turn back.

But old affection was not a get-out-of-jail-free card.

And it certainly was not a license to hurt me over and over again.