After the Tchaikovsky Competition, in a hotel suite in Moscow.
Lu Cheng and Mu Xing were sitting side-by-side on the sofa, watching the live broadcast of Anya's 'Thank You, Scumbag' interview after she won the championship.
Mu Xing's expression was extremely complex.
There was genuine joy for her sister's successful ascent to the top.
There was deep guilt for having personally participated in this 'deception'.
And there was also a strange feeling for the man in front of her, who seemed nonchalant and had the whole world in the palm of his hand.
Lu Cheng picked up two pre-prepared champagne glasses, handing one to the uneasy Mu Xing beside him, a gentle smile on his face.
"Congratulations, Miss Mu Xing."
His voice truly sounded like praise.
"Our performance was very successful."
He was not in a hurry to 'conquer' this little beauty who had just become his 'accomplice'.
Instead, he maintained a polite yet distant 'partner-like' relationship.
This elusive demeanor made Mu Xing even more curious about him, and even more... fascinated... Mu Xing took the champagne glass, which exuded the scent of victory, but did not drink it.
She hesitated for a long time, and finally couldn't help but ask softly, with a hint of uncertainty in her voice:
"Now... my sister, she must hate us to death."
"What should we... do next?"
Lu Cheng seemed to have anticipated her question.
He took a seemingly ordinary USB drive from his pocket and handed it to her.
"This is the..."
"Final act of our play."
He looked at Mu Xing's confused, beautiful eyes, his tone calm, yet with an unusual sense of control.
"Go."
"Go tell your sister the truth."
"Tell her that all of this was just a carefully planned play by us to ignite her imprisoned artistic soul."
He paused, the smile on his lips deepening.
"Tell her that I, Lu Cheng, for her dream, am willing to play the role of a'scumbag' cursed by the whole world."
"I'll be leaving now!"
Mu Xing took the small USB drive, feeling a slight sweat on her palms.
She suddenly realized that this man, from the very beginning, had clearly calculated everyone's reactions, all emotions, and even the global public opinion storm, into his script.
He... was simply a devil.
But he was willing to go so far for her sister, to bear such infamy.
She wondered what he would do for her own sake... Meanwhile, in another room.
Anya sat alone, quietly, her eyes vacant, as if all her soul had been drained.
Jiang Chen, beside her, was still righteously scolding Lu Cheng, that 'unpardonable' scumbag.
Just then, there was a knock on the door of the room.
Mu Xing had arrived.
Facing her sister's question about where she had been for the past two days... she no longer delayed, but began to confess according to the script Lu Cheng had prepared for her.
"Sister! You've misunderstood Mr. Lu! All of this... is fake!"
She took out the USB drive and played it on the laptop in the room.
The footage was exactly the scene of Lu Cheng and Mu Xing in the room the night before last.
But in the video, the two maintained an absolutely safe social distance, and although the content of their conversation was indeed those suggestive words... Lu Cheng was completely 'reading from a script' into his phone, reciting these lines.
This video was not fake; it had indeed happened.
However, it was a re-shot and edited version created afterward.
Perfectly, it only left the so-called 'truth' of'sacrificing for art'.
Afterward, Mu Xing told her the entire'storyline' of Lu Cheng... During this time, Jiang Chen, who wanted to listen to the two sisters talk, was directly sent out by Mu Xing, which was also part of Lu Cheng's instructions.
"Your brother has a prejudice against me, so don't let him listen."
"It's good for a child to have some hatred towards me; it will be his motivation."
Jiang Chen didn't understand why, from his perspective, his second sister, who had clearly not interacted with Lu Cheng, had now become so fond of him.
...Anya looked at the 'truth' on the screen, listened to Mu Xing's words, and was completely stunned.
What did it mean?
So the person in the room at that time was her younger sister, and she... actually didn't recognize her voice.
Had Lu Cheng and her sister conspired to stimulate her emotions?
Deliberately making her suffer setbacks and experience the breakdown of a breakup?
All of this was for her?
But!
She still had too many questions in her heart; why did it have to be this way?
Then, was the confession that day also fake?
Was it just to let her taste the sweetness of love first?
Mu Xing looked at her older sister's expression and, at the opportune moment, began to add:
"Sister..."
"People online have started a crowdfunding campaign to hunt down this scumbag."
"They're saying terrible things!"
Anya seemed to be awakened, only then realizing the consequences Lu Cheng would face by doing this... Not only her own misunderstanding, but also being cursed by the entire world, although they might not be able to uncover Lu Cheng for a while.
But the feeling of being condemned by thousands of people would surely not be pleasant.
It turned out that Lu Cheng was not some scumbag playing with emotions, but rather... he was willing to sacrifice his reputation for her dream.
A huge wave of guilt and emotion completely overwhelmed her!
I... I actually misunderstood him!
She looked up at her sister beside her, and in her beautiful eyes, blurred with tears, there was only self-reproach.
"He... why did he do this?"
Mu Xing, still following the script, delivered her final lines.
"Because he loves you, Sister."
"He said your talent deserves to be seen by the whole world."
After speaking, a sour feeling welled up in her heart.
And at this moment, Anya's feelings for Lu Cheng, which had been a 'mix of love and hate', completely transformed into 'guilt, emotion, and deeper love'.
She was completely won over.
She felt that in this life, she would never be able to repay this man for everything he had done for her... Just as a dramatic reversal was unfolding here.
A stunning woman dressed in a gray Taoist robe arrived in the Demon Capital.
Her face was unadorned with makeup, yet her exceptional beauty was still undeniable.
She was none other than the second sister of the Jiang family, who had been missing for two years—
Dongfang Yue.
She opened her phone and scrolled through the latest news.
Soon, the trending news about "#AnyaWinsChampionship,ThanksScumbag#" caught her eye.
Instantly!
A chilling... murderous intent erupted from her!
Dare to bully my eldest sister?
No matter who you are... I will make you pay the price.