Chapter 53: Winning the Gamble

"I'm sorry, Jianan."

He apologized first, wearing a solemn expression that was in stark contrast to his previous demeanor.

Wen Jianan seemed completely caught off guard. She arched both eyebrows and stared at him in utter bewilderment.

"I didn't know it was Li Ruoruo. I'm truly sorry. It was my fault. I honestly never imagined..."

The next second, Wen Jianan was left completely speechless by what he went on to say.

She raised a hand to interrupt Wei Ming. "Are you saying that this entire matter was solely Li Ruoruo's own idea?"

Wei Ming paused for a second, then brazenly shifted all the blame onto Li Ruoruo. He completely washed his hands of the matter, acting as though he had never been involved at all.

"She came to me with a complaint last time, saying you made them work overtime every day. It's probably because of that, but I never expected she would actually frame you behind your back over such a trivial thing."

Having known Wei Ming for so many years, Wen Jianan had considered herself to have a decent understanding of him. Today, however, she realized she didn't know him at all.

She gained a whole new appreciation for the thickness of his skin.

"Don't worry, I will definitely hold her accountable. Once we resolve the issue with Quantum, I'll have her apologize to you and then I'll fire her."

Wei Ming offered his guarantee, and then asked tentatively, "Since it wasn't your responsibility, I'll issue a statement clearing your name, Jianan. Can you stay after all?"

Wen Jianan couldn't fathom how he could manage to say such things.

At a time like this, she no longer cared about maintaining a superficial veneer of politeness.

Wen Jianan shook her head, let out a cold laugh, and directly sent him a video via WeChat.

It was the scene from the underground parking lot yesterday morning.

Wei Ming opened it with a puzzled look, but upon hearing those unbearable, sordid sounds, he backed out of the chat instantly.

He stared at Wen Jianan with wide eyes, only to meet her gaze of icy indifference and profound disappointment.

Wen Jianan took a deep breath. "Let's part ways cleanly."

She was no saint; she didn't possess the magnanimity to forgive everything. She simply felt it wasn't worth it. These people and matters were not worth wasting her time getting angry over or demanding justice for.

Yet she knew that whatever bond she had shared with Wei Ming ended right here, right now.

The depth of her past gratitude toward Wei Ming matched the chill of her disappointment today.

Wei Ming was suddenly struck dumb, completely at a loss for what to say.

He swore to himself that he truly meant no malice.

If Wen Jianan hadn't repeatedly and stubbornly rejected his attempts to make her stay, he would never have chosen this path.

He just felt that after all these years, someone like Cheng He who had only appeared for a month could have a chance, so why couldn't he?

Through open moves and covert actions, using both soft and hard tactics, his only goal was to prevent Wen Jianan from leaving.

He had induced Li Ruoruo to frame Wen Jianan, but he had never intended to fire Wen Jianan herself.

Even if the accusation of leaking secrets had been firmly established, making it impossible for Wen Jianan to survive in this industry, Wei Ming didn't care—he could support her.

If Wen Jianan still wanted to work in this field, he could also keep her in the company.

He simply didn't want Wen Jianan to leave him.

Suddenly snapping back to reality, Wei Ming lunged forward to grab Wen Jianan's hand, pouring out all these justifications in a chaotic rush.

Wen Jianan felt as though she were listening to the most absurd joke in the world.

She pulled her hand back, feeling no sense of touch, only rising anger and ridicule.

"I simply cannot afford such affection."

She turned and left, knowing for certain that she had to walk away.

Just as she stepped out of Wei Ming's office, Wen Jianan ran into Li Ruoruo.

Li Ruoruo looked completely wilted, her complexion deathly pale.

The very first thing she blurted out upon seeing Wen Jianan was, "Were you doing that on purpose last night?"

Wen Jianan admitted it frankly. "Yes."

Ever since the investigation team arrived and she had that fierce argument with Wei Ming, everything that followed had been part of a deliberate design.

Wen Jianan knew very well that a single video proved nothing, and that most evidence of previous wrongdoings had likely been cleaned up and destroyed. Therefore, they still needed concrete proof to pin the leak on Li Ruoruo.

At the same time, with the investigators present, both Wei Ming and Li Ruoruo were growing desperate; they also needed an opportunity to nail the accusations firmly onto Wen Jianan.

So Wen Jianan gave them that exact opportunity.

She purposely argued with Wei Ming, talking back and provoking him to panic. He grew frightened, and thus suspended her.

Wen Jianan played along, deliberately leaving her work account logged in when she departed. Then, once Quantum provided their feedback, she seized the right moment to leak it to Li Ruoruo.

The only thing she hadn't anticipated was how smoothly everything would unfold.

Knowing that Li Ruoruo would inevitably find a way to access her work account, Wen Jianan had long since installed remote monitoring software on her computer. She thus captured direct evidence of Li Ruoruo using her work credentials to add someone from Xinhui and sending the newly finalized proposal to them.

That proposal wasn't actually of much practical use to Xinhui, but Li Ruoruo and Wei Ming had been driven to desperation; they had to take this step so that the investigators and Quantum would believe and conclude that the data leak was Wen Jianan's doing.

In truth, both sides had been gambling, and Wen Jianan was no exception.

But Wen Jianan had won her bet.

She walked up to Li Ruoruo, her gaze extremely calm and detached. "Was it worth it?"

"For Wei Ming, you've ruined your entire future. Do you know what he just told me?"

Wen Jianan recounted everything Wei Ming had said to her just moments before.

Li Ruoruo clearly refused to believe it.

"I've already resigned and won't be staying. There's no benefit in me lying to you," Wen Jianan said.

Li Ruoruo hadn't lost her mind entirely. Even now, she hadn't implicated Wei Ming—not because of how deeply she loved him, but simply because she still hoped Wei Ming could save her.

If even Wei Ming went down, there would be no one left to rescue them.

Wen Jianan added fuel to the fire. "If Quantum pursues this to the bitter end, you will be facing a prison sentence."

That was when panic finally flickered across Li Ruoruo's face.

Yet she merely bit her lip and muttered, "You don't need to worry about that."

Wen Jianan smiled faintly, said nothing more, and walked straight past her.

She went to pack her belongings.

Learning that she had resigned and was leaving immediately, Chen Ling and Little Jiang were the most reluctant to see her go.

"See you in the jianghu!"

With a packed box of her possessions, Wen Jianan smiled and said goodbye to the two of them.

Her resignation had been decided long ago, yet she hadn't expected her departure to turn out so ugly.

As the saying goes, plans can never keep up with sudden changes.

Just as Chen Ling and Little Jiang were preparing to see Wen Jianan off, Zhang Yufei happened to arrive.

Zhang Yufei had actually contributed her share of effort to this whole ordeal.

Wen Jianan had always thought Zhang Yufei held deep hostility toward her, so she was surprised the woman had been willing to help.

Zhang Yufei shrugged and said, "Mostly because I always assumed you got ahead through Wei Ming, so I was extremely bitter when I lost to you back then."

Who would have thought that this absurd mishap and brief period of interaction would turn former rivals into friends?

Wen Jianan just smiled without a word.

Before leaving, she encouraged her: "Keep it up. The remaining tasks of the Quantum project are in your hands now."

Stepping out through the front doors of the company building, Wen Jianan looked up at the cloudless sky, remembering her very first day on the job—it had been just as fine a day as this.

Now, this chapter had finally been brought to a close, with a proper beginning and a proper end.

Her only regret was not being able to see the Quantum project through to the very end herself.