Chapter 5: The Final Storm

Just as Gu Yichen had predicted, Bai Chengkang and the Chengfeng Group didn’t stand by and watch their ally fall. Only a week after the board meeting, Chengfeng launched a massive media campaign, counter-accusing Miaomei of colluding with their rival Yuelong to stage an illegal “corporate coup,” and threatening to sue for breach of the business cooperation terms previously signed between the two families.

“It’s the oldest trick in the book,” Gu Yichen said at an emergency meeting in Yuelong’s office. “When they can’t win on legal evidence, they try to win in the court of public opinion. We need to respond quickly and precisely.”

Miaomei thought it over. She knew this was the decisive moment. If public opinion swung toward Chengfeng, no matter how solid her evidence was, she could still lose the support she needed from business partners and investors.

“I think,” she said, a new resolve flashing in her eyes, “it’s time we faced them head-on instead of just playing defense.”

She decided to hold a public press conference, inviting every major media outlet in the city, and sent a personal invitation to Bai Chengkang and representatives of the Chengfeng Group to attend and confront her in front of the public.

The press conference was held in the grand ballroom of the Golden Moon Hotel, the very place that had witnessed the most humiliating moment of her life four weeks earlier. This time, Miaomei stood on the stage completely differently: confident, strong, and full of authority.

Bai Chengkang appeared with his personal lawyer. He was trying to look calm, but his eyes couldn’t hide his worry when he saw how thoroughly the other side had prepared.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Miaomei began, her voice echoing through the ballroom, “four weeks ago, in this very room, I stood waiting in humiliation for four hours. Today I’m standing here not to ask for sympathy, but to reveal the whole truth.”

She presented every piece of evidence verified by the financial investigators: not only Zhou Yingyue’s misconduct, but also the Chengfeng Group’s role in the entire conspiracy, including the shady “commissions” Bai Chengkang had received to agree to the arranged marriage plan from the very beginning.

“This is pure slander!” Bai Chengkang stood to object, but his voice had lost all its former confidence.

“Then how do you explain,” Miaomei asked, producing her final piece of evidence, a recording Feng Zhiqiang had secretly obtained of a conversation between Bai Chengkang and Zhou Yingyue, in which the two of them discussed in detail their plan to stage the no-show at the engagement as a convenient excuse to break it off on terms favorable to them, while keeping their secret business partnership intact, “this recording?”

The ballroom erupted. Reporters captured every moment, camera flashes going off nonstop. Bai Chengkang stood frozen on the stage, his face white, with nothing left to say in his defense.

The next day, the whole story flooded the newspapers and social media. Chengfeng’s stock plunged, and many major business partners announced they were suspending cooperation pending the official investigation. Bai Chengkang was forced to resign as vice president, and Zhou Yingyue was formally charged with financial fraud and abuse of trust.

In the middle of that storm, only Kewei came to see Miaomei, not to justify herself, but to apologize.

“I’m sorry,” Kewei said, tears streaming down her face. “Mom used me from the start, but that doesn’t make me innocent. I went along with the Chengkang thing because I thought you’d never measure up to me in Mom’s eyes…”

Miaomei looked at her sister, a complicated feeling rising inside her. Not complete forgiveness, but no longer hatred either. “I can’t forget what happened,” she said. “But I don’t want to live in hatred forever either. Take responsibility for your choices, and start over, the way I’m doing.”