Chapter 93: How Will You Choose?
Ten minutes earlier—
Shen Xi hurriedly got out of a taxi, from which white smoke was billowing from the hood. As soon as she stepped onto the pavement, she spotted three police cars parked outside the entrance of Gu Corporation's headquarters.
Her heart tightened with unease.
Did something happen to her brother?
She quickened her pace toward the entrance but suddenly noticed a man and a woman being escorted out by the police.
As she got closer, she finally saw their faces clearly.
It was the fake Susie.
The woman looked pale, her eyes filled with panic, and she kept muttering under her breath. A young police officer leading the group recognized Shen Xi and jokingly greeted her,
"Well, if it isn’t our good civilian, Miss Shen, the one from the kidnapping case last time."
After all, she was stunningly beautiful, hard to forget.
Shen Xi gave a polite smile and nodded before cautiously asking,
"What happened to them?"
The officer gestured toward the two people being escorted into the police car.
"They’re involved in a major fraud case. Wait, do you know them?"
Hearing this, Shen Xi instantly felt relieved.
"My husband was one of their victims. I’ve already gathered all the evidence."
As soon as she said this, "Susie" suddenly froze in her tracks. She turned around sharply, her face full of disbelief.
"You... how do you know!?"
She quickly realized, it must have been Gu Hanling who told her.
Shen Xi stepped closer, a mocking smile on her lips, and whispered in her ear,
"I am Susie. The real Susie."
The woman's eyes widened in shock, as if she had just seen a ghost. Then, slowly, her expression twisted into madness. She burst into laughter.
"So I was just a clown all along. A clown dancing right under you and your husband’s noses! Hahaha!"
The officer escorting her frowned impatiently.
"Enough stalling. Get in the car!"
The young police officer then instructed Shen Xi’s younger brother to go to the police station to officially file a report so they could merge the cases for investigation. Shen Xi nodded in agreement and stood there, watching as the police cars drove away with a blaring "Woo-woo-woo" siren.
Just as she felt relieved, a sudden realization struck her.
With the fake Susie arrested, wouldn’t that mean her brother’s deal with the European representatives was ruined?
If the deal fell through, her boss would be unhappy.
And if her boss was unhappy, he would definitely take it out on her, the poor worker, by cutting her salary… and enjoying every second of it.
In Shen Xi’s mind, Gu Hanling was exactly that kind of ruthless, heartless capitalist.
Panicked, she spun around and sprinted toward the company’s entrance.
"Big Brother, watch closely! Your little brother is about to save the collapsing tower and turn the tides—"
"You can’t go in."
"Uh…"
At the entrance, four security guards blocked her path. She didn’t have an appointment. Desperate, she had no choice but to reveal her identity.
"Actually, I’m your CEO’s wife. I have urgent business with him."
The security captain was stunned for a second before bursting into laughter.
"Just because you’re pretty doesn’t mean you can dream about being the CEO’s wife! If that’s the case, then I must be the head butler!"
"......"
Shen Xi’s face darkened. Just as she was about to pull out her phone to call the man himself—
"Wait a minute, weren’t you with that fake Susie who just got arrested?"
"What, now you’re trying to impersonate the CEO’s wife? You must be a scammer too! Arrest her and send her to the police!"
Shen Xi’s eye twitched.
The officers who actually knew her had just left, and if she really got dragged back to the station now… by the time she explained everything, it’d be too late to save the deal!
Thinking fast, she looked past the four security guards and suddenly waved excitedly behind them.
"It’s Mr. Gu!"
"Honey! I’m over here!"
The guards panicked and instinctively turned around to check. But behind them… was nothing but empty space.
Taking advantage of the moment, Shen Xi suppressed a grin, swiftly jumped over the one-meter security gate like a nimble little cat—
And ran for her life.
Run!!
Without hesitation, she sprinted toward the lobby at full speed.
"Hey! Stop right there!"
The four security guards finally snapped out of it and turned to chase after her.
Shen Xi dashed into the crowded lobby, weaving through the sea of people as she sprinted straight toward the private elevator.
"Stop her!"
In her rush to get past the security gate, her phone slipped from her pocket and hit the floor, but she had no time to pick it up.
Ding!
At last, she reached the top floor. Since no one here had been informed about her little stunt downstairs, she quickly asked where CEO Gu was and went straight to the conference room.
Internally, she smirked.
"Boss Gu, don’t panic. The great Susie is here to save you!"
She dodged the pursuing security guards and shoved open the conference room door, only to hear:
"I am your father!"
...What?
Once everyone else was dismissed, only three people remained in the room.
Shen Xi and the middle-aged man sat on the sofa, while Gu Hanling stood alone by the window, gazing into the distance. He held a cigarette between his fingers, something he hadn't touched in a long time for some reason, though he hadn't lit it.
Shen Xi stared at the man in front of her. His eyes were light blue, just like hers.
The middle-aged man handed her an old, yellowed photograph.
The woman in the picture was breathtakingly beautiful, her sorrowful eyes eerily similar to Shen Xi’s own.
No wonder the original owner of this body was so gorgeous, she really was mixed-race.
"My name is Edward. This is your mother."
Edward's voice was gentle, tinged with barely concealed emotion.
It turned out that the original Shen Xi’s biological mother was not Liu Qiulan, but actually her distant cousin.
When Shen Xi was still very young, her mother had succumbed to depression, passing away far too soon.
And Shen Xi herself? She was actually an illegitimate daughter of the European royal family.
After years of searching, Edward had finally discovered that his daughter was Susie. The one studying abroad in Europe.
But thanks to the original author’s modifications, the world had changed. The clues leading to Shen Xi had mysteriously vanished. Until Shen Xi transmigrated into this world, causing yet another shift in the timeline.
Edward kept apologizing, expressing his deep regret. He shouldn’t have abandoned them. He should have stood up to his family’s pressure, and so on.
Shen Xi sighed.
"You’re too late."
The current Shen Xi was no longer the original owner of this body. The real Shen Xi would never hear her biological father’s apologies.
But according to the original story, the old Shen Xi probably wouldn’t have cared about anything other than Shi Jingyan anyway.
"I know I’m late, but I can make it up to you. Come back to Europe with me, my daughter."
"I’ve already convinced the family to restore your status as a princess. As long as you agree to come with me, everything will be yours."
Edward gripped Shen Xi’s hand tightly, his voice growing more and more emotional.
"She can’t go with you."
A cool, composed voice cut through their conversation.
Gu Hanling turned around and walked over, standing beside Shen Xi. His large hand naturally rested on her shoulder.
"She is my wife now. Legally, we have a valid marriage. She can’t leave."
His voice sounded calm, but the authority in his tone was no less than Edward’s.
Shen Xi could feel the warmth of his hand through her clothes, like an electric current spreading through her body. A subtle shiver ran down her spine.
That warmth crept up to her ears, turning them a deep shade of red. A faint heat spread across her face.
"Why am I blushing like a shy schoolgirl just because a guy touched my shoulder?!"
She couldn’t understand why she had suddenly become so sensitive.
Sure, it had been ten days since they last saw each other, but back in her previous life, she had no problem casually hanging out with male classmates.
Maybe it was because, for the first time, she could sense that this man was making a statement with his actions.
Possessiveness?
Yeah, that had to be it. After all, she was the wife Gu Hanling had spent a fortune to acquire.
She had been freeloading off him for so long, there was no way a ruthless businessman like him would just let her walk away without getting his "investment" back.
As the saying goes, a father-in-law looking at his son-in-law only grows more frustrated the longer he stares.
No matter how capable Gu Hanling was, in Edward’s eyes, he was just a wolf that had stolen his precious cabbage.
Edward frowned as he stood up, his sharp gaze locking onto Gu Hanling’s “dishonest” hand. His voice carried an undeniable authority.
"Mr. Gu, this is not your decision to make."
Then, he turned to Shen Xi. His expression softened, and his voice became gentle.
"Daughter, what do you choose?"
"Uh…"