The sudden rough treatment sent panic and fear shooting through Lin Xia.
The move made Lin Xia's skin crawl.
She knew this was Shanghai, so odds were low they'd actually kill her, but she still couldn't stop herself from being scared.
By now Lin Xia had lost every trace of her usual composure; her face was twisted in terror, her voice thick with sobs as she shouted, "What do you people want? Let go of me! Please, just let me go… I'll leave right now, I'll walk away this second, okay?"
Yet the Bodyguards showed no sign of stopping, dragging her steadily deeper into the alley.
As Lin Xia's little drama ended, the Aman staff began whispering among themselves.
"Hey, wasn't that woman they just hauled out the mother of Wang Yuyan, the presidential-suite butler?"
"Yeah. Total nightmare—she cornered me begging me to buy face cream, whining that Wang Yuyan won't give her money so she has to hawk stuff herself."
"Seriously? I heard she snagged some tycoon a few months back. He supposedly opened half a dozen accounts for her—should've made a bundle."
"I heard the same. Her whole department praised her at the meeting, but the guy must've lost interest or she wouldn't still be here, right?"
"Haven't you heard? She got fired. If a rich guy really wanted her, would she be out on her ear?"
While everyone chattered, a company-wide notice about Wang Yuyan's job status flashed across the internal system.
The announcement landed like a bombshell, instantly igniting office gossip.
Wang Yang knew how to play the game.
Even though Wang Yuyan had resigned, the official memo framed it as a lateral transfer—complete with a promotion.
Word spread like wildfire.
Within minutes all of Aman Shanghai's work-chat groups shared the news.
Front-desk agents and fellow butlers who'd been gleefully bad-mouthing her watched the update and turned green with envy.
"WTF? I thought she quit—why the promotion?"
"Lucky her: straight from room butler to supervisor. That's several pay grades in one jump."
"She really must've landed a sugar-daddy."
The snide remarks dried up, replaced by new speculation.
"I heard the woman dragged out just now isn't her real mom—it's her Stepmother."
"Oh, so that's the story. Makes sense now."
A stepmom… no wonder she bad-mouths her own daughter in public—total witch."
Two hours later Jiang Cheng and Wang Yuyan finally left the rental flat.
Spotting the bright-yellow Lamborghini parked at the gate, Jiang Cheng muttered, "Your complex not having underground parking is toxic."
Wang Yuyan laughed. "Lots of older neighborhoods around here don't. They're cheap. When I rented I didn't own a car, so it didn't matter. Now it's a pain."
Jiang Cheng slipped an arm around her. "Come on, this area's too remote. Let's head somewhere with a bit of prosperity."
An hour later the rolls-royce pulled up outside the Cui Lake sales center on the Bund.
Wang Yuyan blinked. "Hubby, why are we here?"
"To buy a place, of course."
She caught the drift and stayed quiet.
He'd already gifted her a million-yuan Lamborghini Urus and slipped her a million-yuan red envelope on New Year's Day, but she'd never dared dream of real estate in Shanghai.
Average prices had rocketed past fifty-three thousand per square meter—and that included the distant outskirts.
Yet the complex Jiang Cheng had chosen sat squarely on the Huangpu riverfront.
She remembered a top-tier actor who'd stayed at their hotel lived in Cui Lake; back then the listed price was a hundred-fifty thousand per square meter.
That was last year—God knows what it is now.
As they walked toward the showroom a saleswoman rushed up.
Eyes locked on Jiang Cheng, she beamed. "Good afternoon, you must be Mr. Jiang?"
He inclined his head.
"I'm Wang Wenli, the top sales agent here. Welcome to Cui Lake—please, follow me."
She glided ahead, sneaking glances at Wang Yuyan's profile, envy flickering in her eyes.
Wang Yuyan might not know why they'd come, but Wang Wenli did: Jiang Cheng was here to buy her an apartment.
Wang Wenli had been tipped off and assigned personally; word was the deal was so big the developer himself would handle the contract.
Inside the bright showroom she launched into her pitch.
"Our Cui Lake project is designed to be Shanghai's most luxurious residential address. You may have heard the saying: 'Out-of-towners prize Tomson Riviera; locals worship Cui Lake.' The location is second to none…