The Villain's Wife

An audible sigh drifted over from the woman in the red dress. "I heard that your daughter has been facing a lot of trouble lately. It's all over the news. Aren't you concerned?" she asked.

"I am… but what can I do?" He Xinlan glanced down as she bit her lips, looking very long-suffering. Mu Lihua is smart and strong, so she should know how to deal with a scandal like this. Of course, He Xinlan was not truly confident that her daughter could spin this. After all, her enemy is Zhuo Jingren.

"Don't worry about it. I will help you out one last time."

"Really?" He Xinlan instantly beamed.

"Of course, I am your friend. I will create some trouble for that woman to lessen their pressure on your daughter."

"I…" tears instantly pooled in He Xinlan's eyes. In the midst of all this, she was still lucky enough to have a friend- a true friend at that.

…..

After Mu Lihua's ruthlessness had been questioned by the netizens, numerous board members expressed their concerns about the matter. After all, many people had chosen to boycott Scarlet City and this consumer action had negatively impacted their sales. This was not something a savvy investor would allow.

After a few days, a Special Board Meeting was called at the investors' requests. For once, Mu Lihua chose to deal with everything openly and be completely transparent about the matter. However, before the meeting, Mu Lihua scheduled a press conference to explain to everyone her side of the story to the media.

"Why did you wait this long to address the matter?" one of Mu Lihua's advisers asked in exasperation. This is not considered a small matter. Why wait for close to two weeks to hold a press conference?

"I was waiting for Zhuo Capital to clear up the misunderstanding," she explained. "The bankruptcy of Scarlet City would mean a loss of profit for Zhuo Jingren. As a businessman, he should have made an announcement about the matter, unless he doesn't care about the millions of dollars that he's invested in the company." In Mu Lihua's analysis, Zhuo Jingren was simply trying to teach her a lesson and to send her a firm warning against interfering with his business ever again. She thought that after a day or two he would issue a statement about the matter to clarify things, however, that did not happen. Instead, many netizens had been throwing curses at her and accusing her of other things.

While this was all hearsay, she was certain that Zhuo Jingren had some involvement in this matter. It seems that Xuan Hui's words about the Zhuo couple were indeed true. They would not hesitate to kick you when you are down, even if it meant they stood to lose millions of dollars.

"Well, that is not the case now," her adviser said. "You touched his bottom line. Did you really expect him to care about a few lousy millions?"

"Blaming me won't resolve the situation. The press conference is about to start." She rose from her seat backstage. As she walked towards the stage she looked at the excited reporters who were busily talking amongst themselves. Mu Lihua mentally sneered at the sight of these people. The media would not hesitate to fabricate lies that could ruin someone else's life. Mu Lihua wondered if these people had a conscience at all.

After a few minutes, Mu Lihua heard the host call her name. She immediately walked towards the stage, her face devoid of any expression.

"Good morning," she said. It was only ten in the morning. Her plan was to stay here for at least an hour before returning to her office for the Special Board Meeting  at one in the afternoon. "Thank you for giving me the chance to explain my side of the story. I want to explain everything from my perspective. I will accept questions when I have finished," she said as she expertly established eye contact with the crowd before her.

"First and foremost, let me inform you that I had no ill intentions towards the orphanage. I sincerely bought it with a view to creating a new one. My only mistake was not discussing the matter with President Zhuo. We all know that President Zhuo is very influential and his capabilities are far greater than mine. I was not expecting that over the span of a few days, he would secure land and transfer the children to a new facility. This all happened due to a lack of communication. This is my mistake and I take responsibility for it."

Mu Lihua's gaze was clear and her voice was full of confidence. Her words instantly caused a few murmurs to arise from the audience.

"Please let me clarify one point in particular. I am not an ungrateful individual. I recognize President Zhuo's capabilities, and I am very grateful for his assistance and expertise in dealing with Scarlet City's situation several years ago. My actual reason for buying the orphanage was not to antagonize him, but to create better opportunities for the children." Mu Lihua paused for effect before select documents were shown on the screen behind her.

"What you see here is documentation of my every attempt to reach out to President Zhuo before I bought the orphanage. I wanted to speak with him regarding a potential collaboration with various children's charities, but I was not given the opportunity to speak with him. I understand that he is truly busy, so I made the decision to stop reaching out and instead be proactive."

The murmurs only got louder and louder, prompting Mu Lihua to stop talking as she waited for the media to calm down when suddenly a shrill voice interrupted her train of thought.

"Are you blaming President Zhuo for what you did?" Everyone turned their heads only to see another cold beauty walking confidently towards the stage. "Is the miscommunication really because of President Zhuo? Or is it because of your heartless and greedy nature? Are you going to deny that you knew he grew up in that orphanage, yet you still chose to use your connections to obtain it despite the fact that it is a government owned property?"

"Why don't you tell everyone about your plans to construct another Scarlet City mall in Hong Kong, sister?" Mu Qingling beamed at Mu Lihua, who stood there speechless and unprepared for this onslaught of questions and accusations.

Why the hell is Mu Qingling here?! Mu Lihua asked herself before the realization hit her. It seems that Zhuo Jingren was not planning to let this go after all.