The atmosphere inside the Song family villa had dropped to freezing point.
Song Qingzhi looked at the photos and documents sent by Gu Chengyu, which showed how his daughter had been in contact with Lin Man and how she had hired people to plant malicious articles. His face was ashen, and the hand holding the papers trembled slightly. He had never imagined that the daughter he shared with Shuhua could be so despicable in private!
And when he saw the information on Song Shurou, his rage was mixed with shock and suspicion.
"Wan'er, how could you have dealings with her?" he demanded sternly, unable to comprehend it.
Song Shuhua felt as if she had been struck by a bolt from the blue.
At first, she couldn't believe her daughter was capable of such underhanded schemes, and her heart ached so much she could barely breathe.
When she saw the photo of Song Shurou, she covered her mouth in horror, her face deathly pale. "How could she... she didn't look like this before!"
Although Song Shurou bore some resemblance to Song Shuhua in her youth, it was nothing like now, where she seemed almost surgically altered to mirror Song Shuhua's appearance. This eerie similarity sent chills down her spine.
Song Qingwan stood by the living room sofa, facing her parents' fury and disappointment. Only two words echoed in her mind: It's over.
Everything she had meticulously maintained for years came crashing down in this moment.
Yet, beneath the fear, deep down, there was a sense of relief.
After pretending for so many years, living in constant anxiety for so long, she finally didn't have to continue. She was truly... a little tired.
Amidst the chaos, suspicion, and pain, Song Qingzhi made a decision.
Suppressing all his emotions, his expression grave, he pulled the despondent Song Qingwan over and said to his pale-faced wife, Song Shuhua:
"Shuhua, go and get a paternity test. Now, immediately!"
He had to uncover the truth!
He had to find out if this daughter was truly his Wan'er.
And he had to understand what that woman's motives really were!
Song Shuhua looked at her husband's resolute eyes, then at her daughter's dazed and despairing expression. Her heart felt as if it were being sliced by a knife, but she could only nod, trembling.
...
The test results came back quickly.
When the report was delivered to the Song couple, Song Qingzhi almost snatched it, flipping directly to the last page.
The similarity of the identification result is 99%.
Seeing this line, Song Shuhua's tightly wound nerves instantly relaxed. Her legs gave way, and she nearly collapsed to the floor, but Song Qingzhi caught her in time.
Clutching her chest, she gasped for breath, tears streaming from her eyes—a mix of belated fear and immense relief. "She is my daughter, she is my Wan'er..."
Thank goodness, it wasn't the result she had most feared.
However, Song Qingwan, standing to the side, looked at the appraisal report with confusion and disbelief.
She was actually her mother's biological daughter?
Then what about Song Shurou?
What about all those things she had said—about switching babies, about a child dying of illness... Were they all lies? Was it all a trick?
Her fears, her anxieties, her schemes over the past decade or more...
What had they all been for?
Song Qingwan stood there dumbly, feeling as if the whole world had become illusory and unreal.
She felt like a colossal joke.
No one knew what happened later in the Song family.
Only that Song Shurou went mad, was locked away in an asylum, and died soon after.
Song Qingzhi took his wife and daughter abroad for a change of scenery. They would not be returning for a long, long time.
...
Having decided to go public, Gu Chengyu was not one for half-measures.
He did not choose the common route of a social media announcement. Instead, at a top-tier business dinner hosted by the Gu Group, he brought Su Qianqian as his guest and invited leading journalists.
That evening, dressed in an expensive bespoke suit, tall and straight with an imposing aura, he took Su Qianqian's hand under the gaze of all the media cameras and the assembled dignitaries and introduced her formally to everyone.
"This is Su Qianqian, my fiancée."
Camera flashes instantly went into a frenzy, nearly drowning out the slender figure on the stage.
Su Qianqian wore a light purple dress specially customized for her by Gu Chengyu, her temperament was elegant and refined.
Standing beside him, she appeared slightly youthful but complemented him perfectly, stunningly beautiful.
This scene spread rapidly via major financial sections and entertainment headlines.
"Gu Group's heir publicly confirms relationship for the first time! The lady is Shen Group's new actress, Su Qianqian!"
"A Cinderella story come true? The real-life version of a commoner marrying into wealth!"
Tracing Su Qianqian's journey of reversal: From a small assistant to the future Mrs. Gu!
Public opinion instantly reversed.
The previous rumors about Su Qianqian being kept by Shen Que, though forcibly suppressed, had still left the public whispering and viewing her with prejudice.
But now, under Gu Chengyu's strong and formal public presence, those speculations were truly and utterly dispelled.
They were replaced by overwhelming waves of envy, jealousy, and reevaluation.
"Holy crap! So it's a legitimate relationship? And not with Shen Que, but with Gu Chengyu, already at the fiancée stage?"
"Did Su Qianqian save the galaxy in a past life? She's got incredible luck!"
“Where are all those people who were happily cursing before? How's that for a slap in the face? They're a perfect match, with proper status.”
I'm so jealous. This is true love from a real wealthy family!
"It seems the reason Song Qingwan got jilted the very next day was also because of this Su Qianqian."
For a time, Su Qianqian seemed to become the real-life Cinderella.
