CHAPTER 72 — The Collapse Begins
The Shi family villa had seen chaos before—arguments, scandals, broken vases, slammed doors—but nothing compared to the storm that erupted the morning Qin Yuhan's twelve-year-old scandal flooded the internet like wildfire.
It began at dawn.
A single anonymous post.
Ten blurry screenshots.
Three damning documents.
And one video clip—half-muted, grainy, but clear enough to ignite a national firestorm.
"QIN YUHAN INVOLVED IN TWELVE-YEAR-OLD COVER-UP — EVIDENCE OF BRIBERY, MANIPULATION & FALSE TESTIMONY LEAKED."
Within twenty minutes, the hashtag hit number one on the trending list.
Within an hour, the Qin Corporation's stock price slipped by 11%.
By sunrise—
The entire country was screaming.
And by eight o'clock—
The Shi family finally woke up to disaster.
The villa felt strangely cold that morning, the sky a dull grey that seemed to signal the beginning of a long, merciless downfall. Shi Zhenghong paced the living room with a shaking hand pressed to his forehead, refreshing the trending feed every two seconds as if the results might magically change.
But they only got worse.
Accusations.
Public outrage.
Journalists swarming outside corporate buildings.
Every time he refreshed, another piece of evidence had been verified by independent reporters.
Behind him, Old Master Shi sat on the couch in stunned silence, his wrinkled hands trembling as he clutched his cane. His normally domineering presence seemed smaller today, his authority cracking beneath the weight of public wrath.
"This—this can't be happening," he muttered for the tenth time. "This boy… Yuhan… he promised the matter was buried. He promised the investigators were all paid."
Shi Zhenghong spun around.
"You FOOL!" he snapped. "You trusted him?! This is the Qin Corporation we're talking about! They protect their own! Do you think they will let the Shi family drag them into this mess?!"
Old Master Shi glared weakly. "Watch your tone—"
"WATCH MY TONE?" Zhenghong exploded. "Our company shares just dropped another eight percent! Our investors are pulling out like rats escaping a burning ship! And Roulan—"
As if summoned, Roulan stormed down the stairs, eyes swollen from crying but still burning with fury. She held her phone tightly as if she wanted to crush it.
"Dad," she choked, "I—I can't log in to my endorsement groups. They removed me. Every one of them. All of them!"
A heavy silence fell.
Shi Zhenghong stiffened.
Old Master Shi looked up sharply.
Roulan's lips trembled violently.
"My manager just sent me a message. They terminated my contract. All of them. My dramas, my ads, my brand deals—every single one!"
Her voice cracked into a hysterical pitch.
"They said… they said I'm 'temporarily unfit for public image representation due to association with ongoing legal investigations.'"
"Association?" Old Master Shi hissed. "How—how dare they!"
Roulan laughed bitterly.
"I WAS on a date with him twelve years ago, remember? I was with him when the incident happened. I was the 'witness' who lied for him. Now the whole internet is dragging me into the water—calling me an accomplice!"
Her breathing became uneven.
"They're calling me a liar. A manipulator. A sl*t who seduced directors for roles—"
She froze.
Her father and grandfather both went still.
"What did you say?" Zhenghong whispered.
Roulan swallowed.
The words came out strangled.
"…Someone leaked it."
The room fell deathly silent.
Shi Zhenghong slowly walked toward her, voice trembling with fear.
"What did they leak, Roulan?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"The hotel photos… the voice messages… the receipts… everything I hid. Everything I denied. They leaked everything!"
Her phone buzzed violently with notifications—millions of people calling her names she swore no one would ever call her again.
In seconds, Roulan dropped the phone as if it had burned her.
"No…" she whispered. "No, no, no—this can't be happening. Those were sealed. Destroyed. They were supposed to be gone!"
Old Master Shi slammed his cane against the floor.
"YOU INCOMPETENT FOOL!" he roared. "Do you have any idea what this will do to our reputation? To your fiancé? To our investors?!"
Roulan shook, tears streaming uncontrollably.
"I didn't know they still had copies—I didn't know someone saved them—it wasn't supposed to resurface!"
"You should have been more careful!" Zhenghong yelled.
Roulan snapped her head up, eyes blazing.
"How was I supposed to be careful? YOU were the one who told me to do whatever it took to secure roles! YOU were the one who said fame mattered more than pride! YOU were the one who said the Shi name protected me! AND NOW LOOK!"
Old Master Shi struck her across the face with his cane so hard the sound cracked through the room.
"SHUT UP!" he shouted. "You wretched girl!"
Roulan staggered, holding her cheek, eyes wide with shock and fury.
"You blame me?" she whispered. "After all the sacrifices I made for this family?"
"Sacrifices?" Zhenghong spat. "You destroyed us!"
A small sound escaped her throat, half-sobs, half-laughter.
Destroyed them?
No.
Someone else was responsible.
Her eyes darkened.
"Shi Yunxi…"
Her father turned sharply. "What?"
Roulan's voice shook with hatred.
"She did this. She leaked it. She wants revenge. She wants to ruin us. She wants to destroy EVERYTHING."
Old Master Shi stiffened.
"That girl has already become a threat," he said coldly. "We should have finished her years ago."
Roulan swallowed.
Her mind raced.
Yuhan's scandal.
Her own downfall.
The Shi Corporation collapsing.
Everything was crumbling, piece by piece.
And there was only one person who benefited.
Only one person whose life seemed to improve while theirs fell apart.
Shi Yunxi.
Roulan clenched her fists so hard her nails dug into her skin.
"She thinks she won."
Her voice trembled, low and venomous.
"She thinks she can ruin us… expose us… humiliate us."
A tear slid down her cheek—but her smile twisted into something sharp and dangerous.
"No matter how high she climbs… I will drag her down."
Old Master Shi nodded slowly.
"Then prepare," he said. "Because to survive… we destroy her first."
Roulan wiped her tears.
A smile—cold, vengeful, and trembling with obsession—spread across her lips.
"Then let the war begin."