CHAPTER 56 — The Rumor That Struck Like Lightning
The building was too quiet.
Too still.
Too heavy.
Shi Yunxi sensed it the moment she stepped into Phoenix Entertainment's 32nd floor that morning.
The air felt… pointed. As if every whisper stopped the second she walked past. As if every pair of eyes held something sharp behind them.
She didn't slow down.
She didn't look left or right.
But she felt it.
The way a hunted animal sensed arrows nocked in the shadows.
Lin Meixi hurried behind her, juggling her tablet.
"Jie, something feels a little weird today," she whispered. "People keep looking at you."
Yunxi hummed but continued walking.
Her mind was already full—of Mu Lingchen, the confrontation, the DNA report, the shock still rattling inside her bones.
Her children.
His children.
His eyes that burned through her when he said, "We will talk later."
She hadn't slept.
She doubted he had either.
But right now, she needed to breathe. To plan. To—
A notification popped on Meixi's tablet.
She froze.
"Jie…" her voice cracked. "You need to see this."
Yunxi turned.
Meixi's face had gone pale.
She handed her the tablet with trembling hands.
A trending headline flashed across the screen.
[BREAKING SCANDAL] Rising Actress Shi Yunxi Seduced CEO Mu Lingchen?! Forced Herself into His Life After 'Convenient' Pregnancy!!
Yunxi's pupils shrank.
More headlines rolled beneath it—each one worse than the last.
"Shi Yunxi used her children to climb into the Mu family!"
"She forced herself on the young master three years ago!"
"She seduced the CEO and pretended to be innocent!"
"She's a gold-digger who used pregnancy to bind him!"
And beneath the posts—
Pictures.
Edited pictures.
Staged screenshots.
Fake chat logs of her "begging" Mu Lingchen to "take responsibility."
A single breath left her lungs. A cold one.
She scrolled further.
The source of the first leak—
Shi Roulan.
And not far behind her—
Qin Yuhan's account had reposted it.
Not with words.
But with an ambiguous line:
"Some people never change."
Then—
The comments section.
It was a battlefield.
And she was the target.
Her fingers tightened around the tablet.
The more she read, the more she felt her pulse roar in her ears.
Meixi grabbed her arm.
"Jie, stop! Don't read more, please—this is all fake! Someone is framing you on purpose! They're—"
"I know who it is," Yunxi whispered.
Roulan.
And Yuhan.
And whoever else they dragged with them.
The two people who should have protected her most once.
The two people who destroyed her most now.
She inhaled slowly, steadying the tremor under her ribs.
Meixi spoke again, softer:
"Should I call Lawyer Zhu? We can start drafting a statement immediately—"
"No."
Yunxi lowered the tablet.
"No statements yet."
She would not react emotionally.
She had learned that lesson the hard way.
Besides… there was one more truth.
Mu Lingchen hadn't reacted yet.
And whatever he was doing — the world would feel it soon.
She set the tablet aside.
"Meixi," she said calmly, "book a private room downstairs. Tell the director I'll be late for rehearsal. And don't worry. I'm not falling apart."
"You—you're not?"
A ghost of a smile touched Yunxi's lips.
"Let them bark. I don't move because of barking."
Meixi stared at her as if seeing her anew.
This wasn't the weak daughter of the Shi family.
This was a woman forged from betrayal and fire.
And she was no longer alone.
⸻ At the Mu Group Headquarters
Mu Lingchen threw the tablet across the table.
It hit the wall with a violent crack.
Han, his assistant, froze.
No one in the entire building had ever seen him like this.
Not even on the day of the Mu Group hostile takeover.
Not even when the market crashed and he rebuilt the company overnight.
His eyes were red.
His jaw was clenched so tightly it could snap.
"CEO Mu…" Han whispered carefully, "the PR department is preparing a response. They said—"
"They said what?" Lingchen's voice was a low, shaking growl.
"That my woman seduced me? That I am too weak-minded to know when someone manipulates me?"
Han swallowed.
CEO Mu never said things like my woman.
Never claimed someone as his.
Never sounded like something precious had been touched.
And now—
Something precious had been touched.
"A list," Lingchen said.
"Get me every account that posted or forwarded the rumor. Every IP address. Every device. Every person connected to the incident. I want them all traced."
Han stiffened.
All?
"CEO Mu… that will include…"
"Yes," Lingchen cut in coldly.
"The Shi family. Qin Yuhan. And anyone else stupid enough to join them."
His eyes darkened with a fury that chilled the room.
"They laid hands on the mother of my children."
Han felt a shiver run down his spine.
This wasn't anger.
This was war.
⸻ Back at Phoenix Entertainment
Shi Yunxi stepped into the empty rehearsal hall.
Alone.
She walked to the center, her footsteps echoing softly.
Her heart was heavy, but her eyes—her eyes carried a new fire.
Roulan thought ruining her reputation would crush her?
Yuhan thought shaming her would silence her?
The Shi family thought she would bow again?
She lifted her chin slowly.
No.
She wasn't the girl who cried under the stairs.
She wasn't the fiancée who endured humiliation.
She wasn't the daughter begging to be seen.
She was a mother.
A fighter.
And a storm no one could cage again.
Her phone buzzed.
A message.
From one name she didn't expect.
Mu Lingchen:
Don't be afraid.
I'm handling everything.
Wait for me.
Her chest tightened.
She exhaled—
A soft, trembling breath she didn't know she had been holding.
And then—
Another message followed.
Mu Lingchen:
And Yunxi…
Don't go anywhere alone today.
She stared at the text.
At the man behind the words.
At the war about to erupt because of her.
A quiet, fierce determination settled inside her.
She wasn't running.
And she wasn't breaking.
Not this time.
Not ever again.