The Breakup Didn’t Stop Me From Owning the World - Chapter 2

Cloud City

A flash of white light appeared, and Lan Muyu’s heart began beating again. When she opened her eyes, the chaotic train compartment was gone—no shattered glass, no unstoppable bl00d from Li Ruonan. Instead, she found herself in a grand, opulent hall.

Lan Muyu’s vision blurred for several seconds, a tear still clinging to the corner of her eye. The murmurs around her made her head throb.

Hadn’t she died?

Strands of her hair, disheveled from the earlier commotion, fell across her cheeks, partially obscuring her captivating peach-blossom eyes—though the faint red mole at the outer corner remained visible. The disarray only added to her beauty. Then, someone shoved her shoulder again.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, big star. I wasn’t looking where I was going. You won’t hold it against me, will you?”

A deliberately saccharine voice rang out. Lan Muyu looked up and recognized the speaker—Fu Yaotong, Fu Yao’s cousin. The Fu family matriarch had two sons: the elder branch had a son and daughter, Fu Yiming and Fu Yaotong, while the younger branch had only one daughter, Fu Yao.

The Fu family’s wealth had been built by Fu Yao’s father, but they all lived together under the matriarch’s roof. In her past life, Fu Yaotong had always looked down on Lan Muyu, preferring Jiang Qianrou, who came from a prestigious family and could offer her benefits. Back then, Fu Yaotong had often schemed against Lan Muyu behind the scenes—tripping her up like this was practically routine.

In her past life, Lan Muyu had endured everything for love and never fought back. But now, having relived Li Ruonan’s death, her love had long been buried the moment Fu Yao betrayed her. Raised as a cherished prodigy, why would she tolerate such bullying now?

Before Lan Muyu could react, another young woman gasped, “Oh my, are you crying? They say actors can cry on cue, but I didn’t know it was this easy!”

The comment outright accused her of fake tears. Lan Muyu rubbed her ankle—still sore from the high heels—and winced at the sharp pain.

Damn it. Why couldn’t she have been reborn just a few seconds earlier?

An older woman approached, frowning at Lan Muyu sprawled on the floor. “How can you be so clumsy? Can’t even walk properly? People will think we’re bullying you. No wonder you’re from some no-name family—utterly lacking in grace.”

Fu Yaotong chimed in with a laugh, “Exactly, Auntie. Look at her, so flustered she won’t even get up!”

The woman dripping in jewelry was Fu Yao’s mother. Perhaps because she had suffered hardships in the past, she now flaunted her wealth at every opportunity, as if desperate to prove she had money.

Lan Muyu scanned the room, finally piecing together her current situation. Fu Yao wasn’t yet the nationally acclaimed actress she would become. The Fu family had initially made their fortune in coal mining, taking advantage of national policies, but with mining now restricted, their newly established Tianhao Entertainment was still in its infancy.

A few days ago, Lan Muyu had won the Best Newcomer Award, and Fu Yao had wanted to sign her to the family’s agency. In her past life, Lan Muyu—blinded by love—had naturally made unusual demands. So, Fu Yao had brought her home to meet the family during her grandmother’s birthday celebration.

The reason Lan Muyu remembered this day so clearly wasn’t because the Fu family’s behavior was particularly disgusting—she had long grown numb to that—but because Fu Yao’s white moonlight, Jiang Qianrou, was returning to the country today. Back then, she had accompanied Fu Yao to entertain this overseas-returnee screenwriter, unaware that Jiang Qianrou was far more familiar with the Fu family than she could ever be.

Once she understood the situation, the rest became much easier to handle.

Lan Muyu slowly steadied herself against the wall and stood up, her ankle still slightly numbs from twisting in her high heels. She straightened her clothes, then cast a glance at Fu Yitong before walking directly toward the elderly woman seated at the head of the table.

The crisp sound of high heels echoed as she moved, revealing delicate features and soft, cascading waves of hair trailing behind her. Raised like a star since childhood, Lan Muyu didn’t need to force any pretense—she effortlessly drew everyone’s attention, even making the opulent decor pale in comparison.

It was as if she hadn’t come to attend a birthday banquet but had arrived fully prepared—to crash the party.

But wasn’t that exactly what she was here to do?

Though crashing a party didn’t necessarily require violence. How could a lone, seemingly fragile girl like her take on a room full of people?

Lan Muyu couldn’t help but regret her earlier confident stride. Was it too late to turn back and start over?

Still, there was room for redemption.

After all—some people just couldn’t resist the urge to put on a show.

Lan Muyu stopped a meter away from Old Madam Fu’s seat. Behind her, Fu Yitong, already jealous of Lan Muyu’s beauty, rubbed her eyes in disbelief at the sight of the retreating figure. But she dismissed it as a trick of the eye—Lan Muyu had always been meek and subservient to the Fu family. How could she possibly ignore someone like this?

“Lan Muyu, why are you running away?” Fu Yitong shouted loudly.

Sure enough, the next moment, Lan Muyu trembled as she nodded at Old Madam Fu, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, making her appear even more pitiable. “I—I’m sorry for blocking my younger sister’s way. I didn’t mean to ruin the mood. I’ll leave now so I don’t cause any more trouble.”

See? She was so frightened she wanted to leave early—no wonder she had walked so quickly just now. Of course, Fu Yitong wouldn’t let her leave so soon. The contract hadn’t been signed yet, and if Fu Yao blamed her, she wouldn’t have an excuse. “Grandma’s celebrating her birthday today. Is this really appropriate?”

As if reminded by Fu Yitong’s words, Lan Muyu opened her small purse and reached for the gift box inside. But after a moment’s hesitation, her hand stilled. Inside was a jade bracelet she had spent months securing through a specialized jeweler—a priceless treasure. In her past life, it had been dismissed as worthless simply because it lacked a brand label.

But the value of jade was never determined by a label or some designer’s name.

Though she wasn’t short on money, not everyone deserved her gifts. At the very least, if she fed a stray dog, it would wag its tail in gratitude.

Subtly withdrawing her hand from the box, she pulled out nothing from her purse under Old Madam Fu’s scrutinizing gaze. Instead, she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and said sweetly, “Happy birthday, Madam Fu. May you live a long and healthy life.”

The deliberate use of “Madam Fu” created a clear distance. Old Madam Fu frowned at Lan Muyu’s empty hands, her already narrow eyes—obscured behind reading glasses—squinting further in displeasure.

A young man nearby spoke up, “So you’re the Lan Muyu Yaoyao mentioned. Isn’t it customary to bring gifts for Grandma when visiting for the first time? Didn’t your parents teach you any manners? How uncouth.”

That was Fu Yiming, Fu Yao’s cousin.

Parents? Lan Muyu’s grip on her small bag suddenly tightened as images flashed through her mind—her parents standing before her grave, aged overnight. She momentarily lost focus.

This brief distraction gave the Fu family an opportunity to misinterpret. Thinking he had the upper hand, Fu Yiming continued, “Clearly she forgot. Grandma, someone like this isn’t worthy of our Yaoyao.”

The elderly woman seated at the head of the table shot an increasingly displeased look at Lan Muyu, then signaled to her grandson who had just spoken.

Lan Muyu’s heart leapt with hope: Are they going to kick me out? Finally, freedom?

The slightly prematurely balding Fu Yiming reached into his briefcase with a pudgy hand, rummaged around, and pulled out a contract along with a bank card. He slammed them onto the table in front of Lan Muyu with a loud “smack.”

With an arrogant expression, he declared, “There’s a million here. Sign the contract to join Tianhao, and we’ll be family.”

Not far away, Fu Yu stepped forward, picked up the card, waved it in front of Lan Muyu’s face, and then tossed it back onto the table. “Stunned by all that money, aren’t you? Hurry up and take it. If it weren’t for your relationship with Yao-jie, you wouldn’t even get this much. Be grateful.”

She had signed this contract in her past life—she only got 10% of the profits and had to mentor countless newcomers for Tianhao Entertainment. It was essentially a bottomless pit of indentured servitude.

But this one million?

If not for her professional acting training, Lan Muyu would have burst out laughing. What kind of love filter had Fu Yao cast over her in her past life to make her think this amount was reasonable?

One million? Forget her parents’ generous allowance—even a single acting paycheck of hers was far more than this. Who gave the Fu family the audacity to flaunt this card with such condescension?

Lan Muyu lazily scanned the room, then leisurely picked up the bank card with her slender fingers, lowering her gaze to examine it.

The Fu family couldn’t resist sneering again, “Look at her—born from a low-class family, can’t take her eyes off the money.”

“Who knows what Yaoyao sees in her? She’s nowhere near as good as Jiang—” The speaker was abruptly elbowed by someone nearby and immediately shut up, glancing nervously at Lan Muyu. Seeing her unchanged expression, they relaxed.

But the next second, Lan Muyu cradled the bank card in both hands and asked softly, “So… this is extra compensation for me?”

“Exactly.”

“So much money?” Lan Muyu nodded, her eyes narrowing slightly. Under the Fu family’s disdainful stares, she snapped the card in two with a crisp “crack” and tossed it at Fu Yiming’s chest before it fell to the ground.

Still unsatisfied, she stomped on it hard.

The banquet hall fell dead silent.

Before Fu Yitong could react, Lan Muyu stepped forward to face the Fu matriarch. Biting her lower lip, she whispered, “I… I truly love Yaoyao. I don’t want the money.”

The old woman’s stern expression softened slightly. She lifted her chin and said, “The Fu family doesn’t bully people. Take what’s given to you.”

Another bank card was pressed into Lan Muyu’s hand.

Lan Muyu trembled as she weakly waved her hand, shrinking back as if the bank card might devour her. Panicked, she retreated, “B-but I truly like Yaoyao. Where… where is she? Does she think I’d ignore her just because I took the money?”

Fu Yiming, having received a signal from Old Lady Fu, stepped forward to block Lan Muyu’s path. “Don’t worry, Yaoyao is just stuck in traffic.”

Lan Muyu stared blankly at Fu Yiming. “Really?”

“Really.” Fu Yiming gazed at Lan Muyu greedily up close, swallowing hard before picking up a bottle of baijiu and filling a wine glass to the brim. He handed it to her. “Since it’s your first time here, little sister, have a drink as an apology. What just happened was just a minor misunderstanding. Don’t upset Grandma—you wouldn’t want Yaoyao to get scolded because of you, would you?”

Lan Muyu looked at Fu Yiming in confusion, only understanding his intentions when his eyes lingered on her chest. Suppressing her disgust, she blinked and forced a sweet smile, as if truly seeing Fu Yiming as her savior. Already dressed meticulously for the birthday banquet, her smile now made her even more radiant.

Softening her voice, she asked, “If I drink this… you won’t blame Yaoyao anymore?”

Fu Yiming, who spent his days indulging in debauchery, was too entranced by Lan Muyu’s obedient demeanor to remember the situation. He nodded eagerly. “Of course, of course! Grandma dotes on me the most—I can definitely make that decision.”

Fu Yitong immediately interjected, “Brother, what are you saying? Just let her leave!”

“We’re all family, Xiao Yu. Stop making a fuss.” Fu Yiming clearly understood Lan Muyu’s value far better than Fu Yitong did. He pushed the glass toward her again, his gaze growing even more covetous, as if already envisioning her drunken state later.

Lan Muyu had lived two lifetimes, but this was the first time she’d seen an “apology drink” served in such an overflowing glass. Should she compliment the Fu family for their generosity—or their wealth?

She took the glass, giving it a gentle swirl, her sweet smile widening. “But…”

“But wh—” Before Fu Yiming could finish, Lan Muyu staggered as if tripped by someone behind her again.

At the same time, the wine in her glass splashed forward, drenching Fu Yiming’s face in an undignified mess.

Lan Muyu clutched her skirt in panic, though only a few drops had landed on it, acting as if the entire fabric were soaked. “I—I didn’t mean to! I really didn’t!”

Old Lady Fu had invited other guests to her birthday banquet, and such an unseemly incident—a woman’s skirt being stained—made her frown. “Hurry up and go clean yourself!”

Lan Muyu acknowledged with a sound and immediately dashed out.

The commotion happened so quickly that before the guests could process what had occurred, Lan Muyu had already fled the banquet hall.

Finally free, Lan Muyu turned a corner, her earlier timidity vanishing. Remembering the sight of Fu Yiming, drenched in baijiu, grabbing Fu Yitong before she left, she clutched her stomach and laughed unrestrainedly.

She exhaled deeply. This feeling of rebirth… wasn’t so bad after all.

In her past life, it was these very people who had stood in her way. And if she remembered correctly, her fiancée, Fu Yao, was currently enjoying the company of another beauty.

Lan Muyu’s lips curled with a hint of mockery. How had she actually sunk to this state?

Yet just as she was about to leave, her footsteps halted. The corner of her eye caught two familiar figures—Fu Yao and Jiang Qianrou, tugging and pulling at each other in a scene straight out of “she flees, she pursues,” looking about ready to kiss.

Since they’d delivered themselves right to her doorstep, how could she leave without giving Fu Yao a proper “gift”?