Free Web NovelChapter 55: Chapter 55; Su Wan
The Lu Residence did not calm after Lu Shaohan left Su Wan’s room. If anything, the silence grew heavier. Servants moved quickly through the corridors, but their lowered voices couldn’t hide the tension.
News traveled fast in families like this, especially after public confrontations. Madam Lu had cornered the Zhang family, demanded shares of the Lu Conglomerate, and openly negotiated succession rights in the main hall. Most shocking of all, Young Master Lu had carried her away himself.
The atmosphere shifted subtly. Servants no longer looked at Su Wan with quiet pity but lowered their eyes faster whenever her name was mentioned. Fear had entered the conversation, and fear changes hierarchy faster than authority ever could.
---
At the opposite end of the residence, Second Madam’s private sitting room remained brightly lit despite the approaching evening. Lu Meiqi paced restlessly. "I told you something was wrong with her. She’s completely changed—like a different person!"
Second Madam sat near the tea table, fingers resting lightly against her porcelain cup, expression unreadable.
"She publicly asked Grandfather for shares," Lu Meiqi continued. "Two percent. Does she even understand what that means?"
"Yes," Second Madam said quietly. That stopped Lu Meiqi mid‑step, because the problem was that Su Wan understood exactly what it meant.
"And Cousin carried her away in front of everyone."
Second Madam lifted her gaze. "That was the most dangerous part."
"Dangerous?"
"Your cousin does not protect people publicly without reason." Everyone knew Lu Shaohan was cold, controlled, ruthless—a man who valued usefulness over emotion. If he had publicly reaffirmed Su Wan’s position, then somewhere in his mind, her value had already changed. That altered the balance of the entire household.
Lu Meiqi sat down, unease replacing anger. "She’s trying to take control."
"No," Second Madam corrected, tapping once against the cup. "She’s preparing for war." The difference mattered: one was ambition, the other survival—and survival made people far more dangerous.
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Inside the master bedroom, the silence after Lu Shaohan’s departure lingered. Wind scraped branches against the windows while the darkening sky cast uneven shadows across the room. Su Wan remained seated, still and thinking. The dull pain in her arm pulsed beneath the bandage, but her thoughts had moved elsewhere.
The plotline had broken—not shifted, but broken. Originally, she was meant to remain isolated, gradually abandoned. The succession pressure was supposed to weaken her position, not strengthen it. But now three pregnancies had entered the Lu Residence months too early, the sperm bank had been compromised, major families were involved, and she had become central to the story before it fully unfolded.
Worse, Lu Shaohan had started looking at her differently—not with affection, but like someone standing beside him on the same battlefield. That was infinitely more dangerous. Once a man like him recognized someone as strategically valuable, the relationship stopped following predictable rules.
For the first time since transmigrating, she no longer knew exactly where the story was going. Unpredictability frightened her more than enemies ever could.
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Far beyond the Lu Residence, inside a dimly lit office overlooking the city skyline, a phone call ended. The man by the window turned toward the figure behind the desk.
"She interfered."
Silence. Then: "Unexpected?"
"No. But she stabilized the situation faster than anticipated."
City lights reflected across the desk. The seated figure remained mostly hidden in shadow. "Accelerate the next phase." The order came calmly, without hesitation.
Somewhere inside the Lu Residence, the danger surrounding Su Wan quietly deepened.
---
The room had grown darker by the time another knock came. "Come in."
Li Chen entered first, followed by Mo Chen carrying files and sealed envelopes. Both men seemed heavier, more guarded after what had unfolded in the main hall. Li Chen closed the door and approached the bed.
"We received updates," he said quietly. Mo Chen placed the documents on the nearby table. "The other families are already reacting."
That didn’t surprise her. Su Wan adjusted slightly, suppressing the pull in her injured arm, and reached for the nearest folder. "What kind?"
"Concern publicly, pressure privately," Mo Chen said. Li Chen folded his arms. "The moment you allowed the women to stay, the situation changed."
Su Wan flipped open a file: photographs, corporate records, family structures, political affiliations. Li Chen watched her carefully. "You’re giving them proximity. Access. Visibility."
"Miss, keeping them here may have been the wrong move."
That made her look up. "Why?"
"Because once the children are born, their existence alone threatens your position. People will naturally start protecting them. You risk being pushed aside."
Su Wan closed the file. "No. It’s better this way."
"If they stayed outside, they’d be far easier to eliminate." Neither man spoke; they both understood she was right.
"Do you really think they can safely give birth to Lu blood outside this house?" Her gaze remained sharp despite exhaustion. "The Lu Residence is dangerous, but at least the danger can be seen. Outside, anything could happen before the children are even born."
Mo Chen’s expression sharpened. Three unborn heirs represented enormous political value, and valuable things attract enemies.
"You’re both thinking too narrowly. You’re worried they’ll threaten my position later. I’m worried they won’t survive long enough to become threats at all."
The sperm bank theft, the timed exposure, the attack on her, the coordinated pressure—none of it pointed to ordinary family competition. Someone was building succession instability deliberately. If so, the unborn children were no longer leverage but targets.
"You think someone may try removing them?" Mo Chen asked.
Su Wan gave a cold, quiet laugh. "I think there are already people here calculating which children are worth allowing to exist." No one needed clarification: Second Madam, Lu family factions, extended relatives, corporate interests—everyone smiling politely while privately recalculating inheritance structures.
"This situation was never their fault. But it was their mistake to exist carrying Lu blood at the wrong time." free𝑤ebnovel.com
Wind pressed against the windows. Su Wan lowered another file onto the blanket. "More children means more division of inheritance. More heirs means more shares split, more succession instability. Do you really think the Lu family factions will simply allow that to happen peacefully?"
