The night she fell into the sea.
The rich man's yacht was so huge that Fu Lian was afraid Wen Baozhu might get lost on her way back, so he waited for her at the same spot.
As the sea breeze turned chilly at night, considering she was pregnant and couldn't catch a cold, he walked into the cabin to get a blanket for her.
It took only two minutes. Even if she came back, she wouldn't have to wait long.
However, instead of seeing her, he saw two waiters coming out from the corner of the boat corridor.
Normally, this wouldn't have caught his attention, but the moment they saw him, their faces changed slightly. It wasn't awe, but more like... guilt?
Fu Lian narrowed his eyes and walked straight over to block their way.
At first, the waiters tried to remain calm, saying they were going to the storage room to get wine. But Fu Lian knew the layout of this yacht better than anyone: "The storage room and the dining room aren't in this direction. Where are you getting the wine from?"
The two waiters' faces turned deathly pale.
On the sea, anything could happen.
Especially on the seas of the rich.
Any means and crimes weren't strange here. As long as they covered their tracks well enough, no matter how dirty things got that night, when the sun rose the next day, it would still be a bright day.
Looking at the trembling men in front of him and thinking of Wen Baozhu, who hadn't returned for a long time, Fu Lian's eyes instantly turned cold.
He had a premonition.
He grabbed one of them by the collar. His face was so gloomy and cold that it seemed he could kill someone: "I'll find out everything about you, including your parents, within an hour. Do you want to confess on your own or wait for me to have someone deal with you?"
The man panicked instantly.
Having worked as sailors on the sea for a long time, they didn't really know much about the current situation in Hong Kong.
The contact person had told them that all they had to do was deal with a country girl from the mainland. As long as they did it secretly, no one would investigate.
Shivering and trembling, he finally told the truth.
Hearing that Wen Baozhu had been thrown into the sea, a fierce look flashed in Fu Lian's eyes. He tightened his grip on the man's collar, almost choking him.
There was no time to waste. He immediately let go and contacted all the patrol boats on the sea to conduct a full - scale search and salvage.
The safety factor of the rich man's yacht was very high, but it only protected the rich and powerful.
When Fu Lian gave the order, the whole yacht and the entire sea area began a large - scale search and rescue operation. They finally found the dying Wen Baozhu in the shortest possible time.
Seeing Wen Baozhu, soaked all over, eyes closed, and face completely bloodless, Fu Lian's eyes were as deep as the night. He didn't realize that his voice had already become hoarse due to extreme worry: "Head to shore."
Just these two words, without much other emotion, were enough to send a chill down one's spine.
True to the head of the Fu family, once he gave an order, the whole yacht had to change its course according to his instructions.
The originally planned night of revelry had to be temporarily suspended, and the yacht was forced to return to the port along the original route.
Fu Lian had blocked the news in advance, and only a few people knew the truth.
But watching the rich man's yacht dock, Fang Yuan was in a daze for a moment. When she came to her senses, she realized that she was sweating with fear.
Even without any news leaking out, she could vaguely guess who was behind it.
Since Fu Lian could rescue the person so quickly, it was only a matter of time before he found out that she had hired someone to kill Wen Baozhu.
In a panic, she turned to ask for help from Fu Shuyi, but the latter's assistant politely refused on the grounds that she was unwell.
After being rejected, Fang Yuan suddenly woke up.
Fu Shuyi had made her stance clear from the start. She could only help Fang Yuan in the public opinion war to consolidate her status as the proper wife. How could she be an accomplice in hiring someone to kill?
She had already reminded Fang Yuan: Wen Baozhu was carrying a child of the Fu family!
Fang Yuan had been blinded by jealousy.
As a carefree princess who had lived a life of luxury for decades, she felt for the first time what it was like to be on the verge of a great disaster.
Her palms trembled, her body shivered, and she felt dizzy.
...
The news of the engagement being called off wasn't completely unexpected, but when she actually received the notice, Fang Yuan felt a momentary blackout in front of her eyes.
A letter calling off the engagement was like a slap in the face of the Fang family.
This not only meant the end of Fang Yuan and Fu Lian's engagement, but also that eight out of ten of the business deals the Fang family had made with the help of the Fu family were likely to fall through.
People in this circle always fawned on the powerful and looked down on the weak. They respected people based on their appearance and status first.
Without the halo of the Fu family, who would really give the Fang family face?
Even if there were some, it would mostly be based on interests, rather than one - sided flattery.
Suddenly hit by such a thunderbolt, Fang's father's face turned ashen. He slammed the door and left, not returning for three days and three nights.
When he came back early on the fourth morning, there was a young man behind him who looked somewhat like him.
There was no need to ask. This was the illegitimate son of Fang's father that the outside world had been talking about.
Why else would he bring him back at this critical moment?
Since his eldest daughter was useless, he naturally needed to quickly let a promising successor take over.
After years of living in harmony, the couple finally tore their faces apart and exposed their indecent private lives to the public.
Fang's mother began to cry all day long. She became haggard and thin, so fragile that she seemed to break at a touch.
Having been pampered for too long and grown up in a comfortable environment, Fang Yuan experienced for the first time what it meant to be powerless.
Fang's mother held her hand and couldn't help but feel sad. "Yuanyuan, it's all Mommy's fault for not teaching you well. You're about to be a wife. How could you throw a tantrum with Mr. Fu?"
Fang Yuan didn't dare to tell the truth. Her parents only thought that Fu Lian and Fang Yuan couldn't get along, which was why they had reached the point of calling off the engagement.
In fact, she was still a bit incredulous.
She had thought that Fu Lian would come to her to question her like last time or give her a subtle warning.
But unexpectedly, he called off the engagement so simply and neatly.
This undoubtedly made her feel frustrated. She couldn't accept that Fu Lian would call off this well - known engagement in Hong Kong just to protect Wen Baozhu.
Even if she wasn't qualified enough to marry into the Fu family, she was still nobler than Wen Baozhu, wasn't she?
She didn't understand what was wrong with herself and firmly believed that it must be Wen Baozhu's fault.
It must be Wen Baozhu who was causing trouble!
Not wanting to become a laughingstock in Hong Kong and not willing to let her father's illegitimate son openly take over the Fang family, Fang Yuan decided to talk to Fu Lian.
However, before she could even try, she was rejected.
A Yan seemed to have received Fu Lian's instructions long ago and refused politely but firmly: "Sorry, Miss Fang. Mr. Fu said that he has already talked to you about everything that needed to be talked about."
Fang Yuan was a bit anxious. "Assistant Yan, there's a misunderstanding between Mr. Fu and me. Please help me to intercede."
A Yan's voice remained calm. "Miss Fang, Mr. Fu said he's too busy recently."
"How does he know he's busy if we haven't even set a time?" Fang Yuan was extremely angry. "He said I would be his qualified wife and the future mistress of the Fu family!"
A Yan sighed regretfully. "I'm sorry, but for Mr. Fu now, you're no longer that person."