62. The Scumbag's Transformation

Tong Zhenzhen felt her right eyelid twitch, a premonition that nothing good was coming.

The rear door of the black car blocking their path opened, and Long Tianyu stepped out, flanked by Ah Qiang and another bodyguard. They walked over to Tong Zhenzhen’s car.

Ah Qiang tapped on the car window on Tong Zhenzhen’s side.

At a glance, Tong Zhenzhen saw that Long Tianyu’s right arm was in a cast, supported by a sling. Why on earth was this guy risking his life to block her car? What could he possibly want?

Out of sheer curiosity, she rolled down the window. "Is something the matter?"

Long Tianyu took a step forward. "Zhen'er, I have something important to tell you. Could you please step out for a moment?"

"Are you out of your mind, Mr. Long? Stopping a car like this, have you got a death wish?" Juli demanded ungratefully, startled and angry.

Tong Zhenzhen noticed that Jun Lengche’s brow was furrowed as well, his expression deeply displeased.

However, seeing him unhappy somehow brought her satisfaction. Tong Zhenzhen pressed a hand on Juli’s shoulder, signaling her old friend to remain calm. To everyone's surprise, she agreed to step out of the car.

"My girl, you..." Her decision prompted Jun Lengche to turn around.

"He wants to talk to me, not you!" Tong Zhenzhen cut Jun Lengche off flatly, opened the door, and got out.

Juli followed her down, looking uneasy.

"Young Master Long, what is this about?" Tong Zhenzhen stood before Long Tianyu, raising her chin. She noticed that today’s Long Tianyu lacked his usual high-spirited arrogance; instead, he bore a trace of the melancholy she had seen when they first met years ago.

What could possibly trouble the undisputed tyrant of City G?

Long Tianyu’s gaze fixed on her face. Her chin had grown even sharper, which surprisingly lent her a fragile, delicate air rather than her former edge.

Seeing him stare at her in silence, Tong Zhenzhen frowned slightly. "Young Master Long..."

Her impatience did not escape Long Tianyu’s notice. It felt as though a tiny crack had formed across his rock-hard heart, sending a dull pang of hurt through him.

"Can we talk over there? And... can it be just the two of us?" Long Tianyu asked cautiously, glancing back at her car and Juli.

Tong Zhenzhen raised an eyebrow, secretly baffled. Why was Long Tianyu being so polite and what momentous news could he possibly have? With a sudden lapse in judgment, she actually nodded.

"Little Zhenzhen, you..." Juli took a step forward and grabbed her arm.

"He won't do anything to me." Tong Zhenzhen patted her friend's hand, then followed Long Tianyu a little further ahead.

She caught a sudden flash of light in Long Tianyu’s eyes, like a shooting star streaking across the night sky.

"What on earth are you playing at, being so mysterious?" She steadied her mind and asked coldly.

Long Tianyu waved Ah Qiang and the bodyguards back, then bent down and lowered his voice close to Tong Zhenzhen’s ear. "You need to be careful lately. Long Tian扬 is plotting against me behind the scenes, and I'm afraid you might get dragged into it. Did some reporters come to bother you this morning?"

"Was that Long Tianyang's doing?" she countered, though in her heart, she already believed him.

Tong Zhenzhen was well aware of the bitter hatred between the two brothers. Long Tianyang was the son of Long Tianyu's stepmother and had plotted to eliminate Long Tianyu on multiple occasions. That was why she had been so shocked to see them together at the wedding.

Throughout the brothers' feud, Long Tianyu’s father had always remained a detached spectator. According to Long Tianyu, his father believed that only the strongest deserved to inherit the position of group president. Consequently, having lost his mother at a young age, he had been forced to fight his way up entirely on his own.

Perhaps growing up in such an environment was why Long Tianyu had developed an isolated, deeply untrustworthy personality.

Long Tianyu had always been lonely.

Back then, it was precisely because she saw through his tough exterior to his vulnerability and loneliness that she had wanted to save him with her love. What a pity...

Suppressing the emotional turbulence in her chest, she asked, "And what about Michelle's suicide attempt? What was that about?"

"Someone forced sleeping pills down her throat, though the dosage wasn't fatal. She had her stomach pumped and she's fine now." Long Tianyu’s eyes turned icy. The moment he went to the hospital to pick Michelle up, he knew the matter was far from simple.

An heiress like Michelle, who had been pampered all her life, would never commit suicide.

Regrettably, he couldn't extract a single piece of useful information from her. She had simply gone to a private club, had a glass of red wine, and blacked out.

That club was notorious for its high membership barrier and strict security and privacy, keeping ordinary people out entirely. Clearly, the mastermind behind it all was no ordinary person. As it happened, Long Tianyang was a member there as well.

"I see. I couldn't figure out why Michelle would try to kill herself. Was that Long Tianyang's doing too? What is he trying to achieve?" Realization dawned on her, and she voiced her thoughts aloud.

"Long Tianyang wants to ruin my reputation because the board meeting is in a few days. He and his mother have proposed re-electing the chairman, and I heard they've found a powerful backer." Mentioning his stepbrother made Long Tianyu's expression turn chillingly cold.

Hearing his explanation, she still didn't understand how it concerned her. "That's a matter between you brothers. Why drag me into it?"

Long Tianyu paused, his expression softening once more. "Because you are my weakness."

She let out a scoff and arched a brow. "What a joke. Your weakness is your ambition, or at worst, Michelle—how could it possibly be me? Has he lost his mind?"

"Zhen'er," Long Tianyu murmured softly, sounding deeply aggrieved, "you have always been in my heart."

She had no desire to test the truth of his words. His acting skills had always been top-tier; his current display of deep affection was likely just the prelude to another round of exploitation. Her face froze over. "Young Master Long, things between us ended a long time ago!"

"Zhen'er," Long Tianyu gazed at her intensely. "Back then, their mother and son drove me into a corner. Without finding a strong backing, I would have lost my right to compete for the chairmanship. So, I..."

"That's your business, don't tell me. I just want you and your brother to stay far, far away from me." She cut off his justification.

Long Tianyu frowned in pain. "Can't you ever forgive me? I've already prepared to divorce Michelle. I want to..."

"Stop right there! Your affairs have nothing to do with me! Fine, I'll be careful." Growing impatient as he dwelled on feelings that no longer existed, she cut him off.

"Zhen'er," Long Tianyu sighed helplessly. "Alright. Just be very careful. I'll deal with Long Tianyang as soon as possible."

"He was never a match for you anyway. But your hand?" She could hear the chilling edge in his voice, yet she remained puzzled about how he had even been injured. Long Tianyang was hardly a competent mastermind.

Her inadvertent question fell like a spark on dead wood. His phoenix eyes lifted, starlight shimmering within them. "Zhen'er, are you worried about me? I got this because someone rammed my car yesterday."

"Wasn't that his doing too?" She was somewhat surprised. Hadn't Long Tianyang's influence been completely purged by Long Tianyu previously? He had even been driven out of the country.

Sensing her deliberate alienation, Long Tianyu said desolately, "This time, Long Tianyang has the backing of a mysterious syndicate, which is why he's stirring up trouble again."

"And you have been targeted to serve as his weapon against me," Long Tianyu stated with a grave expression, delivering the crucial point.

"How can you be so sure he'll target me?" She found it hard to believe.

Long Tianyu furrowed his dark brows. "I have an insider."

That, at least, she believed. Long Tianyu was cautious by nature and would undoubtedly have planted informants close to Long Tianyang.

"Can't you uncover anything at all about the forces behind Long Tianyang?" She found that part rather bizarre.

Long Tianyu said with bitter frustration, "Every time we get close to a clue, it gets cut off. Moreover, the mastermind behind this is extremely strategic. Over the years, Long Tianyang has set many traps for me, but this is the only one that struck a direct blow."

He hadn't expected to be injured this time; he was always an exceedingly cautious person.

The vehicle he took was always decided at the last minute, and the safety of the car was personally inspected by him before boarding.

Yesterday was no exception.

As they drove out onto Zhongshan 2nd Road, another car suddenly changed lanes and collided with theirs.

Normally, a minor traffic scrape was nothing, but that car unexpectedly burst into flames.

His car was equipped with bulletproof glass, but it couldn't withstand fire.

Consequently, he left the driver to handle the accident while he took Ah Qiang and the others to flag down a taxi on the street.

Five empty taxis passed by before he hailed the sixth one.

To his shock, as they drove onto the elevated highway, the speeding taxi suddenly veered toward a bridge pier.

Fortunately, Ah Qiang was experienced and sharp-witted; he knocked out the driver and pulled the emergency brake, causing the car to merely flip onto its side.

Even so, he only ended up with an injured arm.

Yet this attack left him deeply shaken.

The attackers were clearly intimately familiar with his habits. He had even deliberately chosen the sixth taxi, only to fall straight into their trap.

What gave him an even greater headache was that the taxi driver had vanished right under his nose. At the time, he had assigned three bodyguards to stand guard outside the driver's hospital room.

This incident convinced him there had to be a mole in his inner circle.

Being as cunning as a fox and as suspicious as a wolf by nature, he grew even more vigilant.

Today, when the people he sent to tail Tong Zhenzhen reported that reporters had swarmed her in the morning, he instantly realized the opposition was preparing to use Tong Zhenzhen as leverage against him.

That was why he had to come and warn her.

Although his motives for approaching her again were impure, the mere thought of her getting hurt threw his heart into turmoil. The emotional debts he owed always had to be repaid.

Seeing her turn serious, and fearing she might be terrified, Long Tianyu repeated himself, "Zhen'er, I will handle everything. I won't let you come to any harm."

Hearing this, she finally believed Long Tianyu’s panic was genuine. People only tended to repeat themselves when they felt uncertain.

Would Long Tianyang really make a move against her? Thinking back carefully, the reporters that morning and the middle-aged woman earlier truly felt like the work of an invisible hand manipulating the strings.

What should she do then? She pressed her lips into a tight line.