Confessing the Truth
You’re the One Who Provoked Me First
Shen Man returned to Lin Shu’s residence and went downstairs after packing her luggage.
She got into the car and sent Lin Shu a message, “Shushu, I’m leaving.”
Lin Shu’s heart trembled as she read the message.
She put her phone aside, staring blankly ahead.
Shen Man returned to her own place.
Everything inside the house was exceptionally quiet, even seeming cold and desolate.
She sat on the sofa, watching the sky outside gradually turn dark.
The completely darkened room felt even more indifferent.
With a somber expression, Shen Man stayed awake the entire night.
She stared as the morning sun illuminated the living room, then stood up mechanically.
After taking a shower in the bathroom, the color in Shen Man’s face improved slightly.
She returned to her room, lay on the bed, and prepared to catch up on sleep.
Her phone rang at that moment. It was a call from Lin Shu.
Shen Man’s spirits lifted, and she answered immediately, speaking with her usual light laugh, “Shushu, what’s up?”
Hearing the familiar address, Lin Shu’s lips curled into a triumphant expression as she said, “I think I have a file you might be interested in.”
Shen Man opened her computer, carefully examining every line of text.
The file clearly listed the differences between her and the original owner of the body, even down to various minor habits.
However, the DNA that was collected was completely identical.
After reading the file, Shen Man’s mood was unusually calm.
All her previous worries and concerns vanished the moment she faced the truth.
“Your investigation was very thorough,” Shen Man praised with a smile, her tense expression relaxing. “If you want to know the truth of the matter, you can come over for a visit.”
“I’m not…” Lin Shu was about to refuse, but the word ‘going’ stopped on her lips. After a pause, it turned into an arrogant, cold snort. “I’d like to see just what tricks you’re playing.”
Shen Man put down her phone and got up to do her makeup in her room.
She changed into a special outfit and cheerfully arranged the red wine on the coffee table.
In less than half an hour, Lin Shu arrived.
Shen Man opened the door with a gentle smile. “Shushu.”
Lin Shu ignored her, walking to the sofa with a cold expression on her little face and sitting down.
She looked at the red wine on the table and said in a cold voice, “If you have something to say, say it quickly.”
Hearing this, Shen Man sat down opposite her and unhurriedly poured two glasses of red wine.
She placed one of the glasses in front of Lin Shu and said with a smile, “Have a glass of wine, and I’ll tell you a story.”
Lin Shu frowned.
She was clearly the one who had leverage on Shen Man, yet Shen Man still had the calm and collected demeanor of someone devising strategies within a command tent1. In comparison, she was the one being led by the nose.
The two stared at each other quietly for a moment before Lin Shu picked up the wine glass.
She took a sip and said commandingly, “You can speak now.”
“Do you believe that parallel worlds exist?” Shen Man said, her gaze deepening.
Hearing this, Lin Shu wanted to scoff, but when she met that pair of profound eyes, her heart shook, and she couldn’t help but believe it a little.
“My name is Shen Man. I come from another world, and I came to this world because of an accident,” Shen Man said slowly.
When she mentioned the ‘accident,’ her eyes turned cold.
Lin Shu caught this expression, and as if she had found her confidence in this negotiation, she asked with a smile, “What kind of accident?”
“Just a car crash,” Shen Man said faintly, lowering her head to take a sip of red wine.
“Do you think a three-year-old would believe that?” Lin Shu asked with a cold smile.
“It doesn’t matter if others believe it. Shushu, do you believe it?” Shen Man leisurely asked back.
Lin Shu paused, a sudden sense of relief washing over her. It seemed it didn’t really matter whether the person before her was Shen Man or not.
The person who hurt her back then was this person, and the person she was getting revenge on now was also this person.
From beginning to end, it had always been the same person.
“What does it have to do with me whether you’re Shen Man or not?” Lin Shu raised an eyebrow, her proud little face not deigning it a single glance2.
Hearing this, Shen Man’s eyes turned cold, but a moment later, she let out a light laugh. “If you hadn’t come back, there would be no more relationship between us.”
“But you did come back, and everything became different.”
“Different?” Lin Shu frowned, as if understanding, yet not understanding3 these words.
Shen Man smiled but didn’t explain further.
At this moment, Lin Shu was no longer just a character in a book to her.
She was a living, breathing person, whose every frown and every smile4 had long been etched into her heart.
“Now that you know the truth, what do you plan to do?” Shen Man asked, with her breath settled and spirit at ease5.
Hearing this, Lin Shu puffed up her little face in anger and drank the rest of the red wine in her glass in one gulp.
She slammed the glass on the table, making a loud noise, and said loudly, “Don’t you get cocky…”
Before she could finish, her wrist was grabbed, and her body fell forward uncontrollably.
“Shushu, you shouldn’t have come back to the country to provoke me,” Shen Man said in a low voice, wrapping an arm around that slender waist.
“You’re clearly the one who provoked me first…” Lin Shu retorted angrily, a layer of mist welling up in her bright eyes as she glared stubbornly at Shen Man. “I’m not the same Lin Shu I was before. Don’t even think about toying with me again.”
Hearing this, Shen Man chuckled and said softly, “Shushu has grown up.”
“I don’t need you to humor me!” Lin Shu’s face flushed red as she pushed Shen Man away.
She stood up and said coldly, “Shen Man, this is far from over between us.”
“I’m very much looking forward to it,” Shen Man said, her eyes curving into a gentle smile.
Lin Shu bit her lip and left in a huff.
The room fell silent.
Shen Man cleared the table and rested on the sofa.
A short while later, she fell into a deep sleep.
By the time she woke up, it was already dark.
Shen Man made a simple bowl of noodles. As she ate, she sent a message to Lin Shu, “Shushu, have you had dinner?”
“None of your business!” Lin Shu replied in a second, the simple line of text revealing her anger.
Shen Man couldn’t help but smile as she looked at it, typing with one hand, “Shushu is still the same as before.”
Seeing this sentence, Lin Shu puffed out her cheeks petulantly and replied with a [‘speechless’ emoji].
Shen Man laughed out loud, finishing the bowl of noodles before she knew it.
After spending the weekend at her own house, Shen Man went to work full of vigor.
Wen Lan entered the president’s office with a stack of documents. Seeing that Shen Man’s gloomy mood from the past few days was gone, she said with a light laugh, “President Shen, did you have a pleasant weekend?”
“It was quite nice,” Shen Man replied with a smile, a faint sweetness in her words.
Wen Lan didn’t say more. She put down the documents and said with a serious expression, “President Shen, a problem has come up with the company’s finances.”
Hearing this, Shen Man instantly switched into work mode.
She read through the documents carefully and said in a heavy voice, “I will inform Chairman Tian about this.”
“Understood, President Shen,” Wen Lan said before turning to leave the office.
Shen Man tossed the documents on the desk, a contemptuous smile touching the corners of her lips.
She picked up the phone and dialed Tian Yi’s number. When it connected, she said, “Chairman Tian, there’s a transaction in the Finance Department that wasn’t approved with my signature.”
“I know about that. Meiying signed it,” Tian Yi said with a laugh.
“That’s against company rules,” Shen Man reminded him.
“That transfer was very urgent at the time, and you weren’t in the office, so I had Meiying sign on your behalf,” Tian Yi explained.
After hearing this, Shen Man said no more.
The amount of this transaction wasn’t large, but the meaning behind it was significant.
It was an invisible message to everyone else that Tian Meiying could already call the shots in this company.
“President Shen, let’s have dinner together this Friday night. I’d like to thank you for taking care of Meiying during this time,” Tian Yi said with a hearty laugh.
Shen Man thought for a moment, then agreed with an “Mm.”
She put the documents away, a look of indifference in her eyes.
The week passed quickly. When it was time to get off work on Friday, Shen Man turned off her computer and headed for the appointed hotel.
As soon as she entered, a waiter led her to a private room.
The room had been meticulously decorated.
There were vibrant and beautiful roses on the table, and the lighting and music were both soft and romantic, which was not Tian Yi’s style.
Shen Man’s elegant brows furrowed slightly.
The sound of high heels came from behind her. She turned to see Tian Meiying walking toward her.
“What are you doing here? Where’s Chairman Tian?” Shen Man asked.
“My Uncle6 had something come up last minute, so he asked me to come,” Tian Meiying said with a sweet smile.
She was carefully dressed up, adding a touch of sexiness to her usual pure and cute appearance.
Shen Man instantly understood the purpose of this dinner.
Staring at Tian Meiying, she asked in a cold voice, “What did you ask me here for?”
Tian Meiying was a little surprised to hear this, but she quickly smiled. “As expected of President Shen, you figured it out so quickly.”
“Since you’re here, President Shen, why don’t you sit down and have a meal? I have some very important things to say to you,” she said, drawing out her words with a hint of flirtation.
Shen Man sat down with a cold expression, crossing her legs.
“President Shen, don’t you like the food here?” Tian Meiying asked with a smile.
“I’m not hungry,” Shen Man replied, her expression elegant and calm.
She was in no hurry to leave, nor was she in a hurry to ask questions.
Tian Meiying took a few bites of food, wiped the corners of her lips, and said with a smile, “President Shen, aren’t you curious about my purpose for inviting you here today?”
Shen Man raised her hand to look at her watch and said in a cold voice, “This week, you have repeatedly used Chairman Tian’s name to exercise authority that doesn’t belong to you. Are you that impatient?”
Tian Meiying was immediately infuriated by her lecturing and scolding tone.
She picked up her red wine, took a sip, and slammed the glass on the table with a loud thud.
“You’re the president of the company. I think you should be well aware of who this company will belong to in the future,” she said with a haughty expression.
“I have no interest in knowing that,” Shen Man replied faintly, a sneer appearing on her lips. “With your abilities, you are incapable of managing this company well.”
“You…” Tian Meiying stood up in anger, staring at Shen Man and threatening in a low voice, “President Shen is a smart person. If you know what’s good for you, you should know not to offend me.”
Shen Man’s face darkened, but she said nothing.
Tian Meiying immediately became smug, a satisfied smile on her face. “If you keep me company tonight and make me happy, you’ll be able to work peacefully at the company.”
“Is that so? Then what if I resign?” Shen Man retorted with a light laugh, her eyes filled with coldness.
Tian Meiying was stunned for a moment, then his breath quickly became rushed and his spirit got ruined7. “Do you dare to resign? Do you think anyone will still call you ‘President Shen’ after you leave the company?”
Shen Man stood up with a placid expression.
Tian Meiying instantly grew agitated, her voice rising. “If you dare to leave, don’t even think about ever coming back.”
Shen Man stuffed her ears and didn’t listen8 and walked straight out the door.
She got into her car and called Tian Yi.
“President Shen, how did your chat go? Meiying said she had a lot of things she wanted to ask you about and didn’t want me to tag along. That child can be a bit willful. I hope you can be patient with her,” Tian Yi said with a laugh, his tone full of doting affection.
“Chairman Tian, something has come up. I’d like to request a month’s leave,” Shen Man said.
“What?” Tian Yi was shocked, asking with a mix of concern and panic, “President Shen, what on earth happened?”
Shen Man didn’t answer, saying calmly, “Chairman Tian, I won’t be coming to work starting tomorrow.”
She said that, paused, then added, “You spoil her too much. It seems many things no longer require my presence.”
Tian Yi was rendered mute-mouthed with no words9 for a moment. He wanted to offer an explanation, but the call had already been disconnected.
Shen Man put her phone aside and drove to her house.
When she got home, she quickly took a shower, washing away the pungent perfume from her body.
Her phone suddenly rang.
Seeing the call was from Lin Shu, Shen Man answered with a smile, “Shushu, what’s up?”
“Something happened to my dad. I need you to come over.”
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