Before I could even head home the next morning, the entire inner circle erupted over a bombshell headline: [The Shocking Truth Behind the Crown Prince’s True Identity].

The TL;DR version: Lin Sichen was not a blood relation to the Lin family.

His grandmother was the one who reached out to me first. She looked as though she had aged a decade overnight, her voice trembling as she laid bare the past. All those years ago, Lin Sichen’s mother had been assaulted and left pregnant. Shortly after, she met Mr. Lin. They fell in love and rushed into marriage, but by then, the pregnancy was too far along to terminate. And so… Lin Sichen was born into the Lin family. His grandmother and the rest of the household embraced him as their own.

As he grew older, however, he began to look more and more like the man who had violated his mother. Compounded by her fragile health after giving birth, she grew deeply bitter. She lashed out at him—beating him, verbal abusing him, weeping hysterically, wishing he would simply disappear. In the end, his grandmother stepped in to raise him, while his mother succumbed to severe depression and passed away a few years later. Heartbroken, Mr. Lin never remarried, throwing himself into charitable work around the globe instead.

As for Lin Sichen:

At fifteen, he began training under his grandfather.

At eighteen, he took the helm of the entire conglomerate single-handedly, forcing a boardroom of ruthless, seasoned shareholders to bow their heads.

His grandmother clasped my hands, her voice thick with tears. “He… he has suffered so much since he was a child. He’s the only grandson I have, A-Yuan. Could you… could you please talk to him for me?”

I froze, the pieces suddenly falling into place. No wonder… when he was drunk, he had asked, “Why doesn’t anyone like me?”

I went straight to find him. He was at an Internet Tech Summit—broadcasted via live stream across the entire country.

The live chat was exploding. When the host opened the Q&A segment to read online comments, the atmosphere in the hall instantly turned to ice.

The internet mob—adoring one minute, bloodthirsty the next. It wasn’t necessarily personal… but it was lethal all the same. Lin Sichen sat on stage, his posture impeccably straight. Yet it felt as though something deep inside him had just snapped. He offered no reaction, remaining completely silent.

Just then, an obnoxious voice cut through the room.

“Well, well, CEO Lin. Looks like everyone is deeply invested in your personal life, huh?”

“Honestly, we only showed you respect in the past because of your late grandfather. Who would’ve guessed… you’re not even a legitimate heir! But man, you sure have a weird taste, picking ‘soiled’ women… Just like your mother… or that little girlfriend of yours—”

Lin Sichen stood up. I immediately realized what Ye Sheng was doing. He was deliberately baiting Lin Sichen into losing control on a national broadcast. One misstep, one physical outburst, and Lin Sichen would lose the bidding project—leaving Ye Sheng to swoop in and profit. A pathetic scum like him didn’t deserve a victory.

Right before Lin Sichen’s fist could fly, I shouted at the top of my lungs:

“Lin Sichen!”

The entire auditorium turned to look at me. I strode forward, snatched a microphone, plugged a flash drive into the control console, and cast the files directly onto the main screen.

…Thirteen pieces of ironclad evidence in total. Not a single detail missing.

I locked eyes with him, my voice echoing through the speakers. “This refined executive of Ye Enterprises… is nothing more than a predator. He preys on vulnerable women, repeatedly engaging in vile, abusive behavior. In this day and age, we no longer measure a woman’s worth by outdated notions of ‘purity’—but as for you, Ye Sheng, you are truly filthy.”

I turned to address the crowd and the cameras. “As for Lin Sichen, his success was never built on bloodlines. Every single person here has witnessed his capability. The circumstances of his birth are not his fault—and they are certainly not a stain on his character.”

Finally, I dropped the ultimate trump card: proof that Ye Sheng had paid off media outlets and hired online bots to leak the scandal right in time for the project bidding.

“So I have to ask—is this CEO Ye’s idea of fair competition?”

The live stream was cut. The police arrived. Ye Sheng was hauled away in handcuffs.

As for me? I wasn’t doing much better. I had never stood in front of a massive crowd before, let alone engaged in such high-stakes drama. My knees felt like overcooked noodles.

Reporters instantly swarmed Lin Sichen, thrusting microphones in his face. “CEO Lin, do you have anything to say?!”

He let out a low, breathless laugh. “It feels pretty incredible to be protected by my girlfriend.”

Without another word, he walked straight past the press and stopped right in front of me. He swept me up into his arms. I buried my face in his shoulder. “Okay, I know I look a little pathetic right now… but don’t you dare laugh at me.”

His arms tightened around me, a smile lingering in his deep voice. “Not pathetic at all. You were badass.”

I stayed quiet for a moment, only one thought running through my mind: That twenty million is starting to feel like an absolute bargain.

On the drive back, Lin Sichen’s eyes were glued to me as if I were a critical quarterly financial report he couldn’t afford to take his eyes off of.

His voice dropped to a quiet murmur. “Jiang Yuan… why did you help me today?”

“Me? Oh… well, I already had that evidence compiled anyway, so I just dumped it out while I had the chance.”

“Is that all?”

Maybe it was just my imagination, but there seemed to be a flicker of… expectation deep in his eyes. My heart skipped a beat.

“Well… I mean… aren’t we playing lovers? If you commit to a role, you have to give it your all. I’m always this professional when it comes to my ‘boyfriend.'”

“Nothing else?”

“Nope. That’s it.”

He let out a quiet chuckle, though there was something subtle and unreadable behind it. “Then being your boyfriend… is quite a privilege.”