Free Web NovelChapter 52: Chapter 52; Su Wan
Because independent money inside families like theirs meant independent influence. And influence eventually became loyalty networks, information channels, private protection, and leverage.
Su Wan was not asking to spend money. She was preparing to survive.
Lu Shaohan understood that immediately.
The silence between them deepened slightly before he asked, "And the shares?"
Su Wan’s gaze remained steady. "If I’m expected to stand inside this family during what’s coming next," she said quietly, "then I refuse to stand here empty-handed."
The hall fell silent again.
And for the first time since the confrontation began, some of the older members of the Lu family started looking at Su Wan differently—not as the wife, not even as the mother of a potential heir, but as someone beginning to position herself inside the structure of power itself.
The realization unsettled the hall far more than the money itself, because wealth was common inside the Lu family while power was not, and Su Wan had just openly asked for both.
Old Master Lu remained silent for a long moment, his fingers resting lightly against the armrest beside him while his gaze stayed fixed on her.
The hall around them had gone completely quiet; even Lu Meiqi, who normally rushed to speak first, seemed momentarily unable to decide whether outrage or disbelief suited the situation better.
Finally, Old Master Lu spoke. "You understand what two percent represents?" His voice remained calm, though heavier now. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Su Wan nodded once. "Board influence, voting rights, and internal positioning."
"And yet you still asked for it publicly."
"Yes."
No hesitation. The answer landed harder because of how calmly she gave it. Old Master Lu’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Most people in your position would ask for protection."
"I am."
That drew another silence. Su Wan’s gaze remained steady as she continued. "Money disappears, promises change, but position does not." A faint shift moved through the room, because everyone present understood the truth in that statement, especially inside a family like theirs.
Lu Meiqi let out a sharp breath. "You’re acting like this family owes you something."
Su Wan turned her head slightly toward her. "It does." The response came so directly that even Lu Meiqi fell silent for a second.
Su Wan looked back toward Old Master Lu. "The Lu family expects me to remain calm while unknown people move against this household, while multiple women carrying potential heirs enter the estate, and while my own child becomes part of a succession struggle before birth." Her voice remained even. "And after last night’s attack, you still expect me to stand here trusting that position alone is enough protection?"
That shifted the atmosphere again immediately, because she had deliberately brought the attack back into the room as a reminder. The silence deepened.
Old Master Lu’s expression darkened slightly, not from anger but from thought. He understood exactly what she was doing now: she was linking everything together—the attack, the succession crisis, the instability, the unborn heirs—and herself standing directly in the center of all of it.
Denying her publicly now would also mean admitting that the Lu family expected her to carry enormous risk without protection, which would weaken the family internally and, worse, weaken Lu Shaohan publicly beside her.
Lu Shaohan understood it too. His eyes remained on Su Wan for several seconds before he finally spoke again. "You planned this before entering the hall." It was not an accusation but recognition.
Su Wan did not deny it. "I adjusted quickly."
That answer almost made Lu Shaohan laugh, because only someone extremely confident would describe dismantling a succession crisis, cornering the Zhang family, stabilizing three pregnancies, and demanding corporate shares as adjusting quickly.
Second Madam spoke again, quieter this time. "And if we refuse?"
Su Wan looked at her calmly. "Then I continue protecting myself privately." The answer was simple, clean, and dangerous, because everyone in the room understood what that meant now: independent money, independent networks, independent leverage.
The Lu family would lose the ability to fully control her position once she started building outside protection structures alone.
Old Master Lu slowly leaned back in his chair. For the first time since the conversation began, a genuine, thoughtful silence settled across the hall—not chaotic silence, but the kind that appeared when everyone realized the conversation had already moved beyond ordinary family negotiation.
Su Wan was no longer asking to remain Mrs. Lu. She was negotiating the terms under which she would continue standing beside the Lu family at all.
The hall remained trapped in silence after Su Wan’s final words, with no one speaking immediately—not Old Master Lu, not Second Madam, and not even Lu Meiqi.
The conversation had already moved beyond ordinary family disagreement, and the balance inside the Lu Residence had shifted too dramatically within a single afternoon for anyone to pretend otherwise.
Su Wan remained seated calmly despite the exhaustion that was beginning to settle visibly beneath her composure.
The strain in her injured arm had worsened during the confrontation, though she had hidden it well enough that most people only noticed now: the slight stiffness in her posture, the careful way she avoided moving her shoulder too much, and the faint loss of color beneath the steady control on her face.
But Lu Shaohan noticed.
His gaze lingered on her for several long seconds before he moved.
The sound of his footsteps crossing the hall immediately drew everyone’s attention toward him; his pace was calm, measured, unhurried, yet something about the shift in atmosphere made the room tense again instantly.
Su Wan lifted her eyes toward him as he stopped beside her chair.
"What?" Lu Meiqi asked instinctively, the uncertainty in her voice more obvious than she intended.
Lu Shaohan ignored her completely. His attention never left Su Wan. "You’re done for today," he said calmly, and before she could respond, he bent slightly and lifted her directly from the chair.
The movement happened so suddenly that several people in the hall visibly froze. Even Su Wan herself looked momentarily caught off guard as one arm instinctively moved against his shoulder for balance.
