After leaving the company, Chu Luyao didn't hesitate. She immediately booked an appointment for an abortion.
She had no intention of giving Song Yuhuan any leverage to harm Yaodu.
And if she wanted to win Zhou Du back, this child in her womb absolutely could not be kept.
As the cold anesthetic was pushed into her veins, her consciousness detached from her body. In the final split second before the darkness completely swallowed her, she hallucinated. She saw Zhou Du lying on a hospital bed, his eyes tightly closed, his face deathly pale and void of any vitality.
When Chu Luyao woke up, the effects of the anesthesia hadn't fully faded. She felt as if she had been plunged into a world of ice and snow—cold, lonely, and utterly helpless.
A fine, dense pain spread from her lower abdomen, surging up to strangle her heart.
Using her authority as the highest executive of Yaodu, Chu Luyao issued an immediate notice of termination for Song Yuhuan.
Furthermore, she beat him to the punch by exposing the entire sordid story of her infidelity online herself, uploading a handwritten letter of confession alongside it.
The moment the news of Chu Luyao and Zhou Du's shattered marriage broke, countless netizens cried out that they no longer believed in love.
Once, news reports of their "perfect marriage" had blanketed the media; there was almost no one who didn't know their fairy-tale love story.
Even if you asked a child on the roadside, they could recite a few anecdotes about how much Zhou Du doted on Chu Luyao.
When the [Ai Yao] red wine was released, countless couples had rushed to buy it, using it as a sacred totem to bless their relationships.
But after Chu Luyao self-destructed and exposed her affair, their former "CP fans" instantly turned on them, the backlash fierce and biting.
Both Yaodu and Chu Luyao's law firm became targets of public scorn.
Many passersby, under the banner of upholding justice, leaked multiple intimate photos of Chu Luyao and Song Yuhuan acting ambiguously.
Countless netizens flooded Yaodu's official accounts with abuse, stating that they must have been blind to have ever worshipped Chu Luyao and Zhou Du's love.
Yaodu's stock price plummeted continuously. Even the wine estate that produced [Ai Yao] was now spurned by the public.
[Ai Yao], which once symbolized true love, was now deemed worthless trash by the internet.
The foreign entrepreneur who had previously acquired the wine estate immediately put it up for auction at a low price after hearing the news.
He had only thought of buying the estate because he had heard of the legendary love between Zhou Du and Chu Luyao. He never imagined that beneath this illusion of romance lay something so rotting and riddled with holes.
Chu Luyao bought the estate back.
This wine estate held all the love Zhou Du could give to Chu Luyao at that time.
From the selection of the site to the breeding of the grape varieties, and finally to the production and release of [Ai Yao]—it had taken five whole years.
Zhou Du had given all the love he could give. But what about Chu Luyao?
Chu Luyao looked at the familiar decor in the wine cellar. Why did it turn out like this?
The wine racks, once filled with [Ai Yao], now held only a single bottle.
When the estate was transferred, all the grapevines in the vineyard had been pulled up by the roots.
Chu Luyao found the original research and planting staff, begging them to re-cultivate the grapes.
"The grape variety used to brew [Ai Yao] was brought here by President Zhou personally. Now that he isn't here, we don't know what to do either."
Chu Luyao felt herself sinking into a swamp of despair.
Just what do I have to do to find Zhou Du?
She was utterly helpless, with nowhere to start.