Chapter 194 Can’t You Stand to See Lu Er Doing Well?

In the president’s office of the Lu Group, the height of the ninety-eighth floor sealed off the noise of the city below.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the afternoon sunlight poured in unobstructed, filling the entire office with a bright, translucent glow.

A faint scent of cedarwood lingered in the air. Leng Qinghua sat on a white sheepskin sofa in the reception area.

On the glass coffee table before her lay an open document: a debt clearance certificate.

The paper looked blindingly white under the sunlight. The line that read “All debts have been fully repaid” felt like a silent slap across her face.

In just half a month, Lu Er had actually paid off a massive debt—it was simply unbelievable.

Her fingers unconsciously traced the edge of the document.

This had completely exceeded her expectations.

When she had set up this scheme, she had calculated everything meticulously.

Although Lu Er was a top-tier celebrity with astonishing annual income, his personally accessible liquid assets would at most be tens of billions.

Faced with a sky-high debt exceeding Ten billion, his only way out should have been to come home and admit his mistakes.

At that time, she would step in to repay the debt.

Not only would that preserve her son’s dignity, but it would also naturally allow her to pull him out of that chaotic entertainment industry.

After that, he would marry into the Lu family alliance, join the Leng Group, and steadily take over the family business step by step.

That was the most stable life path she had planned for her younger son.

Glorious, respectable, and without risk.

But now, Lu Er had actually repaid the debt himself.

The heavy solid-wood office door was gently pushed open.

Lu Chen walked in, dressed in a tailored dark gray suit. His posture was upright, his steps steady.

Seeing his mother sitting on the sofa, he paused briefly before quickly regaining his composure and taking a seat behind the desk.

“Mom, what brings you here?”

He casually straightened the documents on the desk. “Didn’t you say you had afternoon tea with Madam Li and the others today?”

Leng Qinghua raised her head, her gaze sharp as a blade.

“Lu Chen, tell me honestly—did you secretly give Lu Er money?”

The air in the office seemed to freeze for a moment.

Lu Chen’s hand paused slightly as he organized the files, then returned to normal.

He looked up, meeting his mother’s scrutinizing gaze without the slightest evasion.

“Since the day Xiao Er left home, I haven’t given him any financial support.”

Leng Qinghua stared at him, trying to find even the smallest flaw on his perfectly controlled face.

But his expression was too flawless—so flawless it felt unreal.

“What about Bingbing?”

She pressed further. “Did she secretly give him money?”

Lu Chen fell silent for a few seconds.

“Yes.”

He admitted it straightforwardly. “But only thirty million. She said it was her personal savings. I had no reason to stop her.”

“Thirty million?”

Leng Qinghua let out a mocking laugh. “Really? Only thirty million?”

She stood up, her high heels making dull sounds against the thick carpet.

“Then tell me—where did his money come from? Half a month, over Ten billion—even robbing banks wouldn’t get him that much.”

“Did you move company funds behind my back?”

Lu Chen looked at his mother—her face slightly flushed with agitation, her eyes filled with almost obsessive suspicion—and suddenly felt an overwhelming exhaustion.

Not the kind that came from the body, but one that seeped out from deep within his bones.

Thirty years of accumulation, and now it was finally about to crush him.

“Mom,” Lu Chen said. His voice remained calm, but faint cracks had begun to show beneath that calm.

“Does it really matter where Xiao Er’s money came from?”

“What matters is that he paid it off. This debt wasn’t repaid by the Lu family—it was repaid by him.”

“Since that’s the case, what reason do we have to keep pursuing this?”

“What reason?”

Leng Qinghua’s voice rang sharply in the spacious office.

“I’m his mother. I have the right to know where he got that money.”

“What if he did something illegal? What if he borrowed from loan sharks?”

“What if someone gets leverage over him and drags the entire Lu family down?”

“There is no ‘what if.’”

Lu Chen interrupted, his tone still calm, but now carrying undeniable force.

“Lu Er is my brother. I know what kind of person he is.”

“No matter how difficult things get, he would never do anything illegal, nor would he touch loan sharks.”

“You know him?”

Leng Qinghua laughed. “What do you know about him? Do you know he abandoned his family for a man?”

“Do you know he would rather bear a hundred-billion debt than turn back? Lu Chen, do you also think I’ve gone too far?”

Lu Chen said nothing.

“Why aren’t you speaking? Even you think I’m wrong? Even you’re standing on Lu Er’s side?”

His silence was like a bucket of ice water poured over Leng Qinghua’s blazing anger.

Lu Chen simply looked at her—for a long time.

So long that the anger on her face gradually stiffened. So long that the air in the office grew heavy like lead.

The sunlight outside shifted slightly, a beam falling directly across his face.

His profile was sharp and defined, his features somewhat similar to Lu Er’s—but their temperaments were entirely different.

Lu Er was bright and expressive; Lu Chen was brooding and restrained. Lu Er would cry and make a fuss; Lu Chen was always calm and controlled.

But at this moment, something beneath that calm was cracking.

“Mom,” Lu Chen finally spoke. His voice was soft, yet like a dull blade,

completely slicing through the false calm.

“Did you come here today to ask where Xiao Er’s money came from… or…”

“Just to find a reason to prove that you’re right? To prove that everything you forced on him was for his own good?”

Leng Qinghua’s face turned pale instantly.

She straightened abruptly, pointing at her son with a trembling finger.

“Y-you… what did you say?”

“I said,” Lu Chen stood up as well, his gaze colder than ever before, “do you insist that he must live according to your will?”

“Lu Chen!”

Leng Qinghua screamed, her well-maintained face twisting with anger.

“How dare you speak to me like that?”

“I’m your mother! I gave birth to you, raised you, brought you to where you are today—and this is how you repay me?”

Her emotions suddenly spiraled. She stood up abruptly, pointing at him.

“Can’t you stand to see Lu Er doing well? Are you afraid he’ll come back and fight you for the inheritance?”

“That’s why you’re letting him go further and further down the wrong path? As his brother, you’ve failed in your responsibility—you’re harming him!”

Those words were vicious.