Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Black-Gold Business Card

A business card edged in black and gold appeared in Ji Chang An’s hand.

“Hiss…”

“It’s that…”

Ji Chang An placed the card on top of the invitation. “Consider this my apology. In the future, no matter which of my industries you visit, you can enjoy the highest level of treatment.”

With that single sentence, the lobby fell silent.

Some faces went pale with envy. Some hardened with jealousy. Others simply stared, as if they couldn’t accept what they’d just heard.

Everyone knew what it meant to be connected to Yan Jing’s richest man.

But the woman at the center of it all didn’t show the slightest excitement. Her gaze remained calm—so calm it felt excessive.

She slipped both the invitation and the business card into her bag without ceremony, then looked back at the attendant. “May I go in now?”

Her voice was soft, almost gentle.

And yet, for some reason, it made the air feel heavy.

The attendant nodded stiffly and stepped aside.

Just as she turned to enter, Ji Chang An took a step forward. “May I know your name?”

A chill ran through the crowd.

Did Yan Jing’s richest man take a liking to this beauty? She was beautiful, yes, but wasn’t Ji Chang An said to be deeply in love with Madam Ji?

Could it be…

“Qiao Qing Yan.”

Those three words landed like a stone dropped into deep water.

Disbelief. Disgust. Resentment. Countless expressions rippled through the people who recognized the name.

Even after the qipao-clad figure disappeared into the banquet hall and blended into the glittering crowd, those who’d heard her name still looked as if they’d swallowed something sour.

Only Ji Chang An repeated the name once under his breath and remembered it.

His assistant’s heart lurched.

The love story between Yan Jing’s richest man and Madam Ji could be written into a legend. The assistant had watched Mr. Ji refuse to so much as look at other women, afraid Madam Ji would get jealous.

Even at international banquets, he kept his distance. Foreign guests reached out to shake his hand, and he would dodge with a polite smile, claiming allergies and a cleanliness obsession.

But today he’d treated an over-the-hill minor celebrity differently.

The assistant kept up with the news online, and Qiao Qing Yan had been a hot topic lately. He knew all about her.

He just never imagined that an invitation he’d privately given out would end up in her hands.

Could it really be like the internet guessed—that she left the industry because she was going to marry into wealth?

Did she have a powerful family in the Capital backing her?

The more the assistant thought, the colder his palms became.

—

“Luo Yu, look—isn’t that Qiao Qing Yan?” one of the women hissed.

Su Luo Yu, holding a wine glass and admiring her own reflection in it, turned sharply.

Sure enough, Qiao Qing Yan—the woman who’d been stopped at the entrance earlier—was now inside the banquet hall.

“So her invitation was real?”

“Impossible.”

Su Luo Yu’s eyes narrowed. She pointed across the room. “Go tell the hotel manager. Someone used a forged invitation to sneak in, and she’s trying to cause trouble at the charity gala.”

The woman followed Su Luo Yu’s gaze to a man in a suit directing servers.

She turned to leave—

And Qiao Qing Yan, standing not far away, lifted her head and looked straight toward them.

“Luo Yu,” someone whispered, tension rising, “look at her…”