CHAPTER 279: CHAPTER 261 BUT I LOVE HER

Mu Shuoqian’s gaze lightly swept across the two photos, finally settling on one of them.

In the photo, the girl was holding a trophy, her smile beaming as she looked into the camera, as if that smile pierced through the thin paper straight into the depths of his heart,

After calming down from her initial anger, Qiu Lan directly took a seat in the chair opposite the table, placing the bag in her hand onto the table. But then, as if remembering something,

"Shuoqian, you’ve disappointed me greatly. What was our plan, and yet you deceived me for a woman." Qiu Lan took a deep breath, trying hard to suppress her fury, "After all these years, I thought Gu Dezhong’s daughter had become a social butterfly, contracted that disease, and received the karma the Gu Family deserved, but I didn’t expect that you would find a look-alike to replace her, that his daughter is still alive and kicking. Not only that, you even got entangled with her."

Mu Shuoqian held the cigarette case in his hand, his fist tightening more and more.

"Shuoqian, you’ve deeply disappointed me. You’re intimately involved with the enemy’s daughter, and you’ve even plotted schemes and tricks on me for the enemy’s daughter. If I hadn’t happened to see her and by chance learned that her last name was Gu, if I hadn’t grown suspicious upon seeing you two together... When I entrusted that matter to you back then, it was because I believed in you. And you?"

"No wonder since I’ve come back, your behavior has been strange. It turns out you were afraid I’d discover her existence. You’ve been hiding her, not letting me know. But human calculations are no match for fate’s. If I hadn’t attended this wedding, you might have continued to bamboozle everyone." Qiu Lan pointed at the scattered papers on the ground, "What is this supposed to mean? Upon being discovered by me, were you hoping to sneak away and never see your mother again?"

Mu Shuoqian still kept his eyelids lowered, the cigarette case in his palm distorted and deformed.

"Shuoqian,

Mu Shuoqian slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

How could he forget? Those past ten-plus years were simply too agonizing to look back upon, being alive yet feeling tormented as if in hell. He often thought, since living is more painful than death, why keep living, why suffer the tortures of life.

But he refused to compromise with fate, so he had to continue living, and moreover, he had to live even more brilliantly.

Now, he lived in luxury, occupying a lofty position, but that period of his life was like a nightmare, which would suddenly strike in the dead of night, making him wake up from dreams in a cold sweat.

During those years, what drove him to open his eyes every day was revenge. He wanted those who had caused his desperate situation to pay the price.

"You haven’t completely trusted me either, have you? Since your return, although I’ve been with you all the time, you still had someone keeping an eye on me."

He was actually monitoring Qiu Lan, who was almost inseparably close to him, for fear that she would detect the existence of Gu Qili. During that time, he had hardly any contact with Gu Qili, sometimes hanging up the phone when she called, fearing that Qiu Lan might become suspicious, and when she sent a video call, he uniformly didn’t answer.

"I was just afraid you’d become too attached to Mu Haotian, father and son, and in the end, you’d hesitate to confront them. You’re the one who’s paranoid."

Qiu Lan could clearly feel the sudden cold fury emanating from the man. She stood up and walked over, her gaze cold and focused as she looked at him: "Son, the reason I’ve survived is to seek revenge. There are three people in this world I will make sure do not die a good death: Mu Haotian and his wife Miao Yuan, and another is... Gu Dezhong. I had someone follow you because I was afraid you’d forget the great mission of revenge, ah."

"Now Miao Yuan and Gu Dezhong are both dead, only Mu Haotian is left, and now you’ve already gained his trust. Taking over his Muguang Entertainment will be a matter of time. Son, our great revenge is at hand, don’t let a woman ruin it all. With your current status and wealth, you can have any woman you want. Why must it be the enemy’s daughter? Think about what Gu Dezhong did to us back then; seeing his daughter, don’t you feel any hatred or desire to make her end up like her father, dying a horrible death?"

"Stop talking." Mu Shuoqian suddenly interrupted her, his gaze returning to calm as he looked straight into Qiu Lan’s eyes, speaking deliberately, "But I love her."

"You bastard." Overcome with rage, Qiu Lan raised her hand subconsciously and slapped Mu Shuoqian’s face.

The slap seemed to carry all her rage; Mu Shuoqian’s head was forced to the side, and the taste of blood lingered faintly at the corner of his mouth.

"I will take control of Muguang Entertainment, but you cannot touch her."

"You’re setting conditions with your mother?" Qiu Lan suddenly sneered, "You’re negotiating terms with your mom for a woman? I have raised you for so many years, yet I’m not even comparable to a bastard child of an enemy? Fine, I will make it clear to you now: Gu Dezhong’s death will not exonerate him from the injustices he created. His daughter has to bear his debts as well. I will make sure he rests without peace in the underworld, I will see to it that he regrets in his reincarnations for three lifetimes."

By the end of Qiu Lan’s words, her facial features had almost twisted into a hideous snarl, "And you, I would rather agree to you being with a prostitute than with Gu Dezhong’s daughter."

"I will take her away." Mu Shuoqian finally looked at her again, "The sins her father committed have nothing to do with her."

"Thinking of leaving? Haha." Qiu Lan scoffed again with fury, "Our mother-son’s great vengeance is not even settled, and you want to leave just like that? Mu Shuoqian, don’t even think about it."

"If I want to leave, you can’t stop me."

"Yes, indeed, I cannot stop you. Everyone respects you and addresses you as Young Master Qian. You can disregard your own mother, you can forget about the agony we have endured over a decade, but, Mu Shuoqian, do not forget who your stepfather is, and do not forget that I have an Execution Order in my hands. I had originally intended to use it on Mu Haotian, but now there’s no need for that. For a man like him who only sees profit and glory, nothing could be more satisfying than witnessing his life’s work fall into someone else’s hands, so he must live a good long life."

Mu Shuoqian’s calm face suddenly bore a trace of nervous unease.

He most certainly knew what kind of person his stepfather was.

Jason once gave Qiu Lan an Execution Order. As long as this Execution Order is initiated, there is no expiration—it lasts until the request is completed. It is said that Jason had only given out five such orders, and each was fulfilled to completion. That tycoon, despite all attempts to protect himself, was not spared death and died a pitifully horrible death.

Finally, Qiu Lan saw a look of panic on Mu Shuoqian’s face, she curled the corners of her lips in a smile, but her tone was icy cold: "Shuoqian, you’ve seen for yourself the potency of the Execution Order. What do you think would happen if I use it on Gu Dezhong’s daughter? You are surely powerful enough now, you could throw everything into protecting her, but the woman you love will lose all her freedom. She won’t be able to shop for pretty clothes on her own, she can’t appear at any public event, she would have to sneak around just to watch a movie. Every step she takes will be shadowed by someone, your people and my people. Can you protect her for a year, two years, can you protect her for a lifetime? Every day, living in terror and walking on thin ice, even if you don’t tire of such a life, she will."

Because of her words, Mu Shuoqian’s pupils contracted tighter, emitting an intimidating chill.

"In fact, you’ve known it all along, haven’t you? That’s why you dare not let her see me, nor dare to let me know she’s Gu Dezhong’s daughter, because once everything is exposed to daylight, you will have no perfect solution, not even elopement is possible."

The cigarette case Mu Shuoqian was holding was completely crushed, the unfinished tobacco inside spilled onto the ground. His knuckles turned white, and his hands were covered in bulging veins.

Yes, he had known all along. He had pondered all the possibilities, yet had not found a perfect way to sustain their life together.

"My son." Qiu Lan sighed, "Don’t blame your mother for being heartless. We cannot coexist under the same sky as Gu Dezhong, it’s absolutely impossible for the two of you to be together."

Yes, he had known this too, yet he still wanted to try. To forget the vendetta, forget his identity, just to treat her as the woman he loved and to live out this plain and brief lifetime.

"Now you have two choices," Qiu Lan’s voice softened, seeing her son in pain saddened her too, but as a mother, it was her responsibility to correct his misguided path, and despite the lack of compassion, she continued: "First, continue to deal with Mu Haotian, you must not have any involvement with Gu Dezhong’s daughter anymore, in exchange, I won’t bother her again, ensuring her a smooth and carefree life ahead; Second, you two can continue to be together, but then, I will immediately tell her that the Gu Family’s bankruptcy was all thanks to you, it was you who meticulously planned for three years to bring down the Gu Family. If not for you, her father wouldn’t have suffered a sudden illness due to the shock of bankruptcy, nor would he have passed away three years later. To her, you are indeed a—murderer of her father."

These four words struck like a sharp sword, piercing through all of Mu Shuoqian’s pretenses.

A wrenching pain shot through his chest, causing cold sweat to gather on his forehead instantly as one hand clutched the corner of the table, his fingers almost embedding into the solid wood.

Although he had contemplated all these outcomes, to be confronted with reality so unexpectedly shattered his illusions completely, leaving not even a shred of hope.

Qiu Lan picked up a few pieces of paper from the ground and looked at Mu Shuoqian, who was still barely maintaining his composure.

"My people are in her hospital room now, tell me your choice, one or two."