Chapter 89
Lu Heng paused for a moment, then moved his head to An Le’s right side before asking, “Le Le wants to know how my younger brother died, right?”
“Can I… can I know?”
He had asked before, but Lu Heng hadn’t answered. He thought Lu Heng didn’t want to answer the question, especially since Gu Chen had mentioned that it involved the reputation of two families and was very complicated.
Lu Heng: “Of course you can. Le Le can know anything he wants.”
An Le smiled softly and said, “Then… I want to know.”
He wanted to know how Lu Heng’s brother died. He wanted to know everything about Lu Heng.
Lu Heng knew so much about him, everything about him, but he knew so little about Lu Heng. It wasn’t fair.
Moreover, he wanted to love Lu Heng with all his might, including Lu Heng’s past, just as Lu Heng loved him, including his past.
Lu Heng thought for a moment and said, “Regarding my brother, the matter is, strictly speaking, quite complicated.”
An Le nodded, “I… I know. Gu Chen mentioned before that it concerns the reputation of two families, but I didn’t quite understand, and he didn’t explain clearly.”
Hearing this, Lu Heng looked at An Le with some surprise. So An Le had secretly chatted with Gu Chen to ask about this while he was away.
He chuckled softly and nodded, “It does concern the reputation of two families, which is why it’s so complicated.”
In the past, anyone who brought up the subject of his brother would have been dealt with severely. He would never have allowed anyone to be so brazen in front of him.
But An Le was different. He tolerated anything An Le did to him.
Lu Heng thought for a while before saying, “Lu Yuan… he wasn’t my father’s son.”
An Le: ???
Who was he talking about?
For a moment, An Le didn’t understand who Lu Heng was referring to. After a while, he realized that Lu Yuan was his Omega brother.
And Gu Rou had called him “Xiao Yuan” before him.
But how could Lu Yuan not be Lu Chuan’s son?
Could they… could they…?
After Lu Heng’s single sentence, An Le imagined a wildly dramatic scenario in his mind.
Seeing An Le’s expression, Lu Heng suddenly felt that this matter wasn’t as difficult to talk about. He smiled and said, “Don’t be so surprised. In wealthy families, these things are quite common. My mother isn’t an exception.”
Gu Rou and Lu Chuan did have feelings for each other. Their arranged marriage was fortunate and happy, and Lu Heng also enjoyed several good years.
His parents were very fond of him, and they carefully cultivated him to be the future heir of the Lu family.
But sometime later, Lu Chuan was frequently away on business and, taking advantage of his low sperm count and difficulty in causing pregnancies, he began to lead a dissolute life outside the family.
He knew that no matter what he did, Lu Heng was his only son, and Gu Rou was his only wife.
For others, perhaps Lu Chuan’s strategy would have worked, because as his wife, if she held firmly onto Lu Heng, the Lu family would eventually be theirs.
But Lu Chuan’s wife wasn’t just anyone; it was Gu Rou.
Gu Rou quickly discovered Lu Chuan’s infidelity. She couldn’t accept her husband’s betrayal, but she also knew she couldn’t change the fact.
She was despondent at home for a long time, and then she began an affair with the personal driver Lu Chuan had assigned to her.
While Lu Chuan was away from home, they acted boldly, as if the driver were the true head of the household.
Soon, Gu Rou became pregnant again.
Gu Rou also forgave Lu Chuan. She decided they would each go their separate ways, and their lives would never intertwine again.
But when Lu Chuan found out that Gu Rou was pregnant, he became suspicious. Because of his low sperm count, the chances of causing a pregnancy were low, and the number of times he and Gu Rou had been together wasn’t that many, so he shouldn’t have been able to father a child.
Yet Gu Rou was pregnant, and a year later, she gave birth to a healthy Omega son.
After the son’s birth, though he still had doubts, he was overjoyed by the arrival of his second child.
Because of Lu Yuan, he stayed home with Gu Rou for a long time.
Later, the novelty wore off, and Lu Chuan started staying out again, until one time he unexpectedly returned home and saw the driver coming out of his room. That’s when he realized something was wrong.
Lu Chuan didn’t show it on the surface, but secretly he took hair samples from his youngest son and himself for a paternity test, which confirmed they weren’t father and son.
Lu Chuan couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t accept his wife’s betrayal.
So he began to plan. Two years later, when the driver went to pick up Lu Yuan from preschool, he got into a car accident and died on the spot.
In Lu Chuan’s plan, not only the driver but also Lu Yuan was supposed to die.
But Lu Yuan survived.
It took him two years to get the driver killed, so that time would wash away everything, making Gu Rou believe it was a genuine accident, not something he orchestrated.
Gu Rou suffered greatly during that time. She no longer sent Lu Yuan to preschool, but stayed at home, and the atmosphere in the house was so heavy it was stifling.
Lu Heng was still young then, and he longed for his parents’ love and care. Seeing that the driver had died in a car accident, he specifically bought flowers to pay his respects and comfort Gu Rou.
He proactively cooked for Gu Rou, hoping she would recover quickly.
But she didn’t.
Gu Rou’s condition worsened, and as Lu Yuan grew older, he increasingly resembled the driver.
Lu Chuan couldn’t tolerate the presence of this illegitimate child any longer. So, on Lu Yuan’s fourth birthday, he went home intending to come clean with Gu Rou.
Either they would send the illegitimate child away, or they would divorce.
But that day, Gu Rou seemed unusually cheerful, sitting downstairs shelling peanuts.
Lu Heng took Lu Yuan upstairs to play. As they reached the top of the stairs, they saw Lu Chuan standing by a pillar, watching them with a sinister look.
Lu Heng: “Dad.”
Lu Yuan rarely saw Lu Chuan, but he liked him very much. The moment he saw Lu Chuan, he ran to hug his leg, sweetly calling, “Dad! Dad!”
But Lu Chuan didn’t bend down to hug the child, instead, he said disgustedly, “Who’s your dad?!”
Then he kicked the boy, sending little Lu Yuan flying. His head hit the railing hard, leaving a bloody mark before he tumbled down the stairs.
Lu Heng had never imagined his father would treat his brother like that. He was too surprised to react. Seeing his brother fall, he instinctively reached out to grab him.
But that very movement caused Gu Rou, who was shelling peanuts downstairs, to turn around, and she forever believed that Lu Heng had pushed Lu Yuan down the stairs.
Lu Chuan, who kicked the child and then immediately left, wasn’t seen by Gu Rou.
Later, when Gu Rou accused Lu Heng of killing his brother, Lu Chuan, to protect his reputation, didn’t come forward.
Instead, he clarified that Lu Yuan was young and had fallen down the stairs accidentally.
But no matter how much he clarified, it couldn’t change Gu Rou’s belief.
From that day on, Gu Rou went mad.
The man she loved was gone, and the son she had with him was also gone. The world no longer had any meaning for her.
As for Lu Chuan, the man who betrayed her, she didn’t even want to look at him again.
And the fact that her beloved eldest son, Lu Heng, had killed her youngest son, was even more unbearable for her.
All her hatred was directed at Lu Heng: insults, abuse, and even attempts to kill him to accompany Lu Yuan.
After hearing all this, An Le couldn’t stop his tears. His voice trembled, weak and fragile, he whispered, “How could this be… How could Lu Chuan be so heartless? Why didn’t he help you explain?”
“And sir, did you… did you tell Gu Rou? Did she not believe you?”
Lu Heng smiled. An Le was crying even harder than he had at the time. He wiped An Le’s tears and said helplessly, “He wouldn’t admit it to protect his reputation. If he had confessed, it would have involved his affair and Gu Rou’s affair with the driver – it’s not that simple.”
“Whether or not I explained doesn’t matter anymore.”
Whether Lu Heng explained or not, Gu Rou wouldn’t believe him. She would only think it was an excuse, that he was so vicious at such a young age, that he didn’t deserve to live.
That’s why Gu Rou tried to kill Lu Heng with a knife, but she failed, only leaving a scar on his eyebrow.
An Le understood Lu Heng’s suffering and hugged him, whispering, “Sir, don’t be sad. They don’t deserve to be your family. Let’s forget about them. Let’s forget them.”
Lu Heng: “Good. Let’s forget them. I only need Le Le.”
An Le was inconsolable. Both Lu Heng’s actions of catching a knife with his bare hands to save him and his being wrongly accused of killing his brother in his childhood made An Le heartbroken.
After making sure that Gu Rou was no longer outside, he went back to his room, changed his clothes, and insisted on taking Lu Heng to the hospital to have his wound redressed.
Lu Heng was a bit helpless, but he could only obey.
After having his wound dressed, Lu Heng took An Le to the company.
Recently, all of An Qiang’s remaining assets had gone to An Le. The properties and the company were being auctioned off because An Le didn’t want to run them.
At the company, despite his injury, Lu Heng continued to work.
An Le, seeing the ever-increasing amount of money in his account, pouted. They had so much money, why did they still have to work? Why didn’t he rest when he was injured?
He pouted, wanting to share his feelings with Xiao Xiao. With so much money, Xiao Xiao wouldn’t have to work anymore. He would support Xiao Xiao from now on.
He wanted to call Xiao Xiao, but he couldn’t find Xiao Xiao’s phone number after searching for a long time.
Xiao Xiao had previously told him not to contact him, saying he would contact him when he was free, but so much time had passed, and there was still no news from Xiao Xiao.
An Le felt a little sad, “Did Xiao Xiao… forget me?”
“Or maybe he’s angry because I didn’t pay attention to him while I was busy with my mother’s affairs?”
An Le sniffed and slowly his eyes reddened.
But he wiped his eyes, deciding to ask Li Jie, as Xiao Xiao had been in contact with him before.
He searched everywhere and found Li Jie smoking in the restroom.
Li Jie had become silent recently, no longer smiling as before, and rarely scolding people.
An Le didn’t understand what had happened and asked from the doorway, “Brother Li, what’s wrong with you lately?”
Seeing An Le, Li Jie extinguished his cigarette and smiled, “Nothing much. Is there anything the boss needs?”