The implication beneath the words sharpened instantly. The hall grew colder.

Lu Shaohan’s eyes shifted briefly toward Mo Chen, then toward Su Wan. Silent. Watching.

Su Wan lifted the teacup calmly, the steam warming faintly against her fingers. "And the Zhang family seems unusually interested in my staff," she replied.

A faint ripple moved through the room.

Zhang Wei’s expression tightened immediately.

Mr. Zhang smiled thinly. "Given current circumstances, caution is understandable."

"Of course," Su Wan said softly. "Especially for families already under investigation."

The temperature inside the hall dropped again.

Zhang Wei suddenly rose from his seat—not violently, but fast enough to fracture the carefully maintained composure of the conversation. "You should be careful with accusations, Madam Lu."

Su Wan slowly lowered her teacup onto the table. The sound of porcelain touching wood echoed lightly through the silence. Then she looked up at him fully for the first time since entering the hall.

"And you," she said quietly, "should be careful mistaking desperation for leverage."

The words landed cleanly and directly.

Zhang Wei’s face darkened at once.

Beside her, Li Chen subtly shifted position. Across the room, several of the Zhang family bodyguards straightened instinctively.

And just like that, the confrontation stopped being polite.

The atmosphere inside the hall tightened until even the servants along the walls no longer dared to move.

Zhang Wei remained standing beside his chair, his composure visibly strained. The polite corporate mask he had worn since arriving had begun to slip, revealing something colder beneath it.

Across from him, Su Wan stayed seated—calm, unmoved. The contrast only sharpened the tension.

Mr. Zhang spoke before the situation could escalate further. "Madam Lu," he said slowly, "some words are dangerous once spoken publicly."

His tone remained measured, but the warning beneath it was unmistakable.

Su Wan met his gaze without hesitation. "And some actions become dangerous once exposed publicly."

The hall fell silent again.

Near the far side of the room, Lu Shaohan still had not intervened. He stood watching quietly, one hand resting loosely against the arm of the chair beside him.

His expression remained unreadable, yet his attention had sharpened completely—toward the Zhang family, and toward Su Wan. She was moving aggressively.

Too aggressively.

One wrong step here could trigger retaliation far beyond the Lu Residence.

Mr. Zhang’s eyes lowered briefly toward the black folder beside her. "You seem very confident in whatever information you believe you possess."

Su Wan lifted the teacup again, calm. "I’m confident enough."

The answer landed lightly, which somehow made it more threatening.

Zhang Wei let out a short laugh, though there was no humor in it. "Interesting. The Lu family invites us here to discuss children and bloodlines, yet suddenly we’re discussing business investigations instead and getting threatened."

"No," Su Wan corrected softly. "You arrived here uninvited to use children and bloodlines as business leverage, of which we aren’t ready to offer."

The words struck directly. A faint murmur rippled through the room before dying at once.

Mr. Zhang’s expression hardened. "Careful," he said quietly. This time the warning carried real weight—the kind backed by influence, power, and connections.

But Su Wan did not retreat. She leaned back slightly in her chair despite the pain pulling through her injured arm. "And what exactly should I be careful of?"

Zhang Wei took a slow step forward. "People who stand too confidently during unstable situations often fall first."

Li Chen’s eyes darkened instantly.

Mo Chen remained silent, though his attention shifted subtly toward the Zhang bodyguards near the entrance.

Even Lu Meiqi looked unsettled now. The conversation had crossed beyond ordinary confrontation. This was a threat meeting threat directly.

And then Su Wan smiled—faint, cold, controlled. "Then perhaps," she said softly, "your family should stop standing so confidently on top of murder investigations, tax fraud, and illegal financing."

Everything stopped.

The words hit the room like shattered glass.

Mr. Zhang’s expression changed instantly—not anger first, but real shock. Because she should not have known about the murder case.

Zhang Wei’s face lost all color for half a second before hardening violently. "You—"

"Enough."

Old Master Lu’s voice cut through the hall. Not raised, but absolute.

The pressure in the room shifted at once. Old Master Lu rose slowly from his seat, his gaze moving first across the Zhang family before settling briefly on Su Wan.

The silence afterward felt suffocating. Because now everyone understood something clearly: Su Wan had not simply embarrassed the Zhang family. She had cornered them publicly inside the Lu Residence.

And cornered people—especially powerful people—became dangerous very quickly.

"No."

Su Wan’s single word cut through the hall before anyone else could speak.

The atmosphere froze. Even Old Master Lu’s expression shifted, because no one interrupted him publicly inside the Lu Residence. No one.

Yet Su Wan remained seated, posture composed despite the visible strain in her injured arm.

Steam from the now untouched teacup curled faintly upward between the gathering silence. Her gaze rested directly on the Zhang family—steady, controlled.

"You came here because you wanted certainty," she said evenly. "So let’s stop wasting everyone’s time pretending otherwise."

Zhang Wei’s jaw tightened visibly. Mr. Zhang stayed silent, watching her far more carefully than before.

Su Wan continued without hesitation. "Your daughter may remain in the Lu Residence until the child is born." The words landed so abruptly that the room itself seemed to pause. "If the child is confirmed to be male and carries the Lu bloodline, then naturally the child will receive inheritance rights consistent with the Lu family structure."

The hall became deathly quiet. Not because of the statement alone, but because of how directly she delivered it—no emotional resistance, no public jealousy, no attempt to suppress the child’s existence. Only pure structure. Pure calculation. And that frightened everyone far more.

Su Wan lifted the teacup slowly with her uninjured hand. "If the child is female, future arrangements can be discussed after birth."

Mr. Zhang’s eyes narrowed, caught off guard. They had expected conflict, suppression, and public resistance. Not controlled acceptance—and certainly not terms delivered by the legal wife herself.