The next morning at 10 o’clock, in the Clemens Group headquarters meeting room, Shang Xinglu, dressed in formal attire, attended the board meeting on behalf of Lin Heng.

The board meeting wasn’t anything special.

It mainly involved deciding on the next investment directions and hearing the executive CEO’s plans for the second half of the year, as well as some other directional matters.

Although Lin Heng had resigned from his position as the executive CEO of Clemens, he had immediately taken his place in the board of directors, succeeding his father Lin Maoxian.

As of today, his three-year term was still unfulfilled, and he hadn’t stepped down.

Shang Xinglu, as Lin Heng’s wife, attended on his behalf.

Although Shang Xinglu was currently managing Bichen quite well and had briefly worked at Yunshi, neither Bichen’s nor Yunshi’s scale could be compared to Clemens, and she had never experienced a board meeting before.

But today, Shang Xinglu had to be there because Lin Heng couldn’t attend, and this meeting was important for him.

Out of the thirteen people in the room, Shang Xinglu only knew Lin Yan.

Lin Yan walked over, casually approaching her, and said, “Don’t be nervous, sister-in-law. Just listen to the reports. Later, whatever I approve, you approve, and whatever Lin Maosen approves, you oppose.”

After speaking, Shang Xinglu couldn’t help but glare at him.

Lin Yan smiled, “Simple enough, right?”

Shang Xinglu: “…………”

The directors at the meeting weren’t unfamiliar with Shang Xinglu.

They all knew Lin Heng had married an Eastern wife, but Westerners often had some face-blindness when it came to Eastern people.

Even if Marilyn walked in wearing a suit today, she would probably be mistaken for Lin Heng’s wife.

That day, Lin Maosen was also present.

His expression was as cold as usual, with a proud arrogance in his eyes. When he saw Shang Xinglu, there was a fleeting moment of malicious glee.

The meeting officially began.

After listening to the reports, the first half of the meeting, as Lin Yan had said, was quite simple. Shang Xinglu was just a voting tool in Lin Yan’s hand.

In the second half, Lin Maosen took the lead and proposed that Clemens should acquire M&E.

He provided a solid reason.

“Although M&E was founded by Edmond, it was once a subsidiary of Clemens. Its involvement in several biotechnology projects will bring significant profits to Clemens in the future.”

Lin Maosen’s argument was solid, but other directors had concerns.

“M&E’s stock price is stable at the moment, and with this momentum, acquiring it isn’t a small sum. Furthermore, Edmond has worked hard to take it away, so would he really hand it back to Clemens?”

At this point, Lin Maosen smirked, revealing a premeditated smile.

To Shang Xinglu, that smile was tainted with malice.

Lin Maosen said, “According to the information I have, unfortunately, Edmond had a car accident last night and is now in the ICU. I believe, with him out of the picture, acquiring M&E won’t be difficult. Am I right, Miss Shang?”

Everyone in the room looked at Shang Xinglu, their eyes not filled with concern but with a greedy gleam.

Shang Xinglu’s face didn’t show a single crack. She had mastered the poker face Lin Heng often wore.

Shang Xinglu replied, “Oh? Edmond’s in the ICU? How come I didn’t know? As his wife, I was at home all night and didn’t even go near the hospital.”

Lin Maosen sneered, “Then may I ask, if Edmond wasn’t in the hospital, why didn’t he come today?”

Shang Xinglu: “He caught a cold and is resting at home.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Maosen laughed loudly.

It was as if he was saying, “Who would believe such an excuse?”

He instructed his assistant to hand over a tablet and connect it to the large screen for the boardroom to see.

“Look, I’m not the only one who knows. The newspaper reported this morning that Edmond’s in the hospital and in critical condition. This has also been confirmed by the NYPD.” He then switched to the stock market interface, where M&E’s stocks were all showing a rise. “Miss Shang, it seems your confidentiality work hasn’t been quite up to par.”

Shang Xinglu maintained a poker face, “No need for you to worry.”

The issue of acquiring M&E was only raised recently, so no concrete plan had been presented.

Naturally, no conclusion was made at the meeting, but all the directors were certainly interested in the acquisition.

When leaving the meeting room, Shang Xinglu walked a step behind, and Lin Maosen also followed her out a step later.

He had something to say.

Shang Xinglu asked, “Are you shorting M&E?”

Short selling, in simple terms, is when someone sells a stock at a high price during a downward trend, then buys it back at a lower price to make a profit.

This usually involves borrowing stocks through a third-party brokerage to sell them at a high price and then buying them back at a lower price.

Lin Maosen replied, “What if I am, and what if I’m not?”

Shang Xinglu firmly said, “If you are, whatever you sell, I’ll buy. But don’t regret it later.”

Although Shang Xinglu said it confidently, Lin Maosen didn’t believe her words at all.

The amount of money needed would be a bottomless pit!

Now that Lin Heng was absent, Lin Maosen didn’t believe Shang Xinglu could hold on for long.

Lin Maosen smirked disdainfully and said, “If the funds aren’t enough, you can sell your Clemens stock to me. I’ll offer you a good price.”

After saying this, he slowly stood up and walked out with a determined attitude.

This was one of Lin Maosen’s goals.

As the founder of M&E, if something were to happen to Lin Heng, it would undoubtedly affect M&E’s stock price.

Lin Maosen could then take advantage of the situation.

With M&E’s stock price likely to fall sharply, Shang Xinglu, if she didn’t want it to plummet too much, would have to buy.

Buying would require a large amount of money, and where would the money come from?

— Selling other stocks.

At this moment, the most valuable asset in Shang Xinglu’s hands was the Clemens stocks.

By doing this, Lin Maosen could not only acquire a large number of M&E stocks at a low price and reap enormous profits, but he could also take away the Clemens shares that Lin Heng had been holding onto.

A perfect two-birds-with-one-stone move—at the cost of Lin Heng’s life.

Shang Xinglu clenched her jaw tightly, using all her self-control to stop herself from rushing forward and smashing Lin Maosen’s head open.

Lin Yan appeared in the conference room once again.

He handed Shang Xinglu a bottle of ice-cold sparkling water and said, “Don’t get yourself worked up. How am I supposed to explain that to Lin Heng? You don’t have to worry about what comes next. We have professionals handling it.”

Shang Xinglu took a few gulps of the sparkling water, nearly crushing the bottle in her grip.

“Ugh! That smug look on his face makes me want to punch him!”

Lin Yan was momentarily stunned by her bold way of drinking, then he leaned in and beckoned to her.

Shang Xinglu moved closer.

Lin Yan whispered, “Want to see Lin Heng?”

Her eyes lit up instantly. “Can I?”

Lin Yan put on a solemn expression and said, “Calm down. Right, a serious face. How do you look like a grieving widow about to lose her husband? I shouldn’t have told you.”

Shang Xinglu: “……”

She cleared her throat and immediately switched to a deep, sorrowful expression—the very essence of a widow among widows.

Lin Yan nodded. “Good.”

Shang Xinglu asked, “So… when are we going?”

Lin Yan: “Tonight.”

Her expression fell once again.

Ah, tonight.

She was severely lacking her daily dose of Lin Heng.

Oh, she meant that Lin Heng, not this unserious Lin Yan.

Here’s what had happened.

Last night, Lin Yan came to see her. Shang Xinglu had a bad feeling—and as it turned out, she was right. Because the first thing Lin Yan said was: “Lin Heng is injured.”

Shang Xinglu let out a sigh of relief.

“Good, at least I don’t have to be a widow yet…”

Lin Yan: “……”

Shang Xinglu quickly followed up, “Where is he? What happened? I want to see him.”

Lin Yan replied, “You can’t see him yet.”

Shang Xinglu was sharp. “Why? Is this related to Lin Maosen?”

Then Lin Yan patiently explained their plan.

The weaker and more helpless she appeared in front of Lin Maosen, the greedier he would become.

Once Lin Heng came forward to debunk the car accident rumor, M&E’s stock price would rebound.

Lin Maosen, who had attempted to short M&E, would instead suffer huge losses.

Before this, under Lin Heng and Lin Yan’s relentless pursuit, Lin Maosen was already a cornered beast.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have resorted to such despicable tactics.

Failing once or twice was one thing, but attempting a third time was a serious gamble—one he wouldn’t have made unless he saw an opportunity to turn the tables.

At the same time, his assets were running low.

When M&E’s stock price rose instead of falling, Lin Maosen’s short position would leave him with a massive debt.

And to cover that debt quickly, he would have only one option left.

—Sell his Clemens stocks.

At that moment, they would pull the last bit of power out of Lin Maosen’s grasp.

After listening to the plan, Shang Xinglu summed it up for Lin Yan.

“So, basically, I just need to act like a heartbroken but strong widow with no other options in front of Lin Maosen?”

Lin Yan froze for a second.

This widow joke isn’t going away, huh?!

But… she wasn’t wrong.

Lin Yan nodded. “Yeah, that’s about right.”

Shang Xinglu gave him a thumbs-up. “Leave it to me!”

Lin Yan: “……”

Why did Lin Heng’s wife feel so unreliable?

After spending the day getting angry at Lin Maosen, Shang Xinglu changed into a different outfit that night and waited for Lin Yan at the designated location.

Then she sneaked into his car.

Half an hour later, they arrived at a hidden residence.

The security was extremely strict, allowing only a few people to enter.

Even though she knew the full plan, Shang Xinglu still felt nervous on the way there.

She hadn’t forgotten Lin Yan’s words—Lin Heng was injured.

She hadn’t asked how serious it was.

She could only pray for the best.

Standing in front of a room, Lin Yan gestured for her to go inside.

But he didn’t follow. Instead, he casually said, “Prepare yourself.”

Shang Xinglu immediately panicked. “You—you—you better not scare me! I really don’t want to be a widow!”

Then—creak—

The door opened from the inside.

Lin Heng stood there, upright, wearing only a dress shirt. He raised an eyebrow and asked, “Widow? Hmm?”

Shang Xinglu: “…………”

She immediately bowed deeply.

Sorry, sir. I didn’t say a thing.