“So fond of playing the victim to win sympathy.” Cheng Ye avoided his touch with obvious disgust, slightly raising his brows as he looked down at Cheng Fenghao with a domineering, arrogant air. “Let me help you out.”
Before Cheng Fenghao could react, Cheng Ye suddenly lifted his leg and kicked him hard in the abdomen, sending him flying over ten meters before his frail body slammed heavily onto the ground.
An uproar erupted across the entire venue.
Cheng Fenghao spat out blood, his face turning deathly pale as a flash of hatred flickered in his eyes.
He had never expected Cheng Ye to kick him in public.
The Cheng Ye of the past valued family deeply. No matter what, he would never talk back to his parents or sisters, let alone openly bully him in front of them.
Even when falsely accused, Cheng Ye would only explain himself gently. He had always been cautious and submissive in the Cheng family, trying his best to please them. Even when hurt by them, he would endure it silently for the sake of family.
But today, Cheng Ye had completely changed. What exactly had happened to him?
Cheng Fenghao lowered his gaze, concealing the overwhelming killing intent in his eyes. He sneered inwardly. In the past, no matter how hard you tried to please them, the Cheng family never liked you. Now that you’ve become arrogant and unrestrained, they’ll only hate you even more.
He raised his eyes, shooting a provocative look at Cheng Ye. So what if you’re the real son? The position of heir to the Cheng family, and a stunning woman like Chu Xiyan, will only ever belong to me!
Tears streamed down Cheng Fenghao’s face. With a timid, pitiful expression, he bit his lip and asked, “Big brother, did I do something wrong? W-why are you hurting me?”
The Cheng family finally snapped out of their shock and hurried over to help Cheng Fenghao up. Seeing the blood at the corner of his mouth, Chu Xiyan felt her heart ache unbearably.
The surrounding guests held their breath. They wanted to scold Cheng Ye for his lack of upbringing, but when their eyes landed on his solid, powerful arms, they instinctively swallowed their words.
“Cheng Ye, you’re simply unreasonable!” Father Cheng roared furiously. “A perfectly good birthday banquet, ruined into this mess by you! Do you even care about us? Do you even care about the Cheng family’s reputation and interests?!”
For a wealthy family, a birthday banquet was never just a birthday banquet. Father Cheng had originally intended to use Fenghao’s birthday, with so many influential figures present, to introduce him to high-level connections and pave the way for him to take over the Cheng Group in the future.
Yet Cheng Ye, this unfilial son, had ruthlessly destroyed the entire event.
“When you brought me back to the Cheng family, you promised you would make up for the fifteen years of affection I missed.” Cheng Ye’s eyes were calm, as if he were talking about something unrelated to himself. A mocking smile curled at his lips. “I naively believed you.”
Father Cheng and the others were stunned.
“In the three years since I returned, I’ve walked on eggshells, trying my best to please all of you. What I got in return was nothing but your indifference and disgust. Where is the compensation you promised?”
“You always accuse me of bullying Cheng Fenghao. How stupid would I have to be to provoke him when I know how much you dote on him?!”
“When I explain, you don’t believe me. Whatever he says, you believe. Black and white are reversed, right and wrong ignored. So this is how blindly you favor Cheng Fenghao.”
Cheng Ye’s voice was cold. “Three years, and I haven’t received even a trace of care from you.”
“He wears countless brand-name clothes, while I don’t even have the heart to throw away my old, worn ones.”
“He has a bedroom, a study, a piano room, a walk-in closet, and a game room. Meanwhile, I live in a ten-square-meter storage room.”
“On holidays and birthdays, he receives countless expensive gifts, while you forget every single one of my birthdays.”
Father Cheng and the others looked increasingly grim. Especially in front of all these guests, his words made it sound as if they had been abusing him.
Mother Cheng’s gaze swept over Cheng Ye’s faded black clothes, clearly worn from repeated washing. She was startled. “Xiao Ye, you…”
She wanted to say something but didn’t know where to begin. After a long silence, she finally closed her mouth helplessly.
The three sisters frowned slightly. Cheng Ye wasn’t lying, but in their eyes, they weren’t at fault either. If he lacked something but never said it, how were they supposed to know?
Cheng Fenghao’s mind went blank. Everyone knew he wasn’t the Cheng family’s biological child.
Once these words were spoken, it only made it seem like he had usurped Cheng Ye’s rightful place.
His face burned with embarrassment. Lowering his gaze, he shot Cheng Ye a vicious glare from the corner of his eye.
Father Cheng was stunned for a moment, then quickly regained his composure. His expression turned complicated as he tried to maintain his authority. “Cheng Ye, if you lack something, just say it. The Cheng family isn’t so poor that we’d treat you badly in terms of material things.”
Mother Cheng quickly instructed the servants, “Prepare the master bedroom on the third floor for the eldest young master. Also, buy some new clothes according to his size.”
Cheng Fenghao’s expression stiffened, a sense of crisis rising in his heart.
Mother Cheng sighed. “Xiao Ye, you’ve misunderstood. How could your father, your sisters, and I not care about you?”
“It’s just that Fenghao has always been weak, so we naturally pay more attention to him. That doesn’t mean we don’t love you. Both of you are my children. You should get along well. Fenghao, he—”
“Not necessary.” Cheng Ye cut her off expressionlessly.
If there weren’t guests present, would they still act this way?
Cheng Ye knew very clearly that Father Cheng and Mother Cheng only didn’t want to lose face in front of others.
A chill ran through Father Cheng and Mother Cheng’s hearts. For some reason, they felt that today’s Cheng Ye was completely different from before.
Cheng Ye tightly gripped the pen and paper in his coat pocket. In his previous life, at this point, he had already wanted to leave the Cheng family.
So he had prepared a severance agreement in advance.
But he had always held onto unrealistic hope, thinking that if he just waited a little longer, maybe the Cheng family would finally accept him.
Until the night before the college entrance exam, when he was thrown out of the house. His luggage was tossed out by the servants onto the courtyard outside the villa.
That day, it poured heavily. Dragging his suitcase, he wandered through alleyways looking for a place to stay. Cheng Fenghao had secretly sent six thugs to ambush him, beating him severely. Combined with the rain, he developed a high fever. A kind stranger sent him to the hospital, where he remained unconscious for five days, completely missing the college entrance exam.
Cheng Ye clenched the agreement in his hand, steeling himself before finally taking it out. “Mr. Cheng, Ms. Xu, let’s end it here.”
Father Cheng took the document. After seeing its contents, panic flashed briefly across his face before he quickly regained his usual authority. He nearly exploded with anger. “Cheng Ye, what is this?! A severance agreement?!”
The surrounding guests were thrown into shock.
“What? He wants to cut ties with the Cheng family?”
“Has Cheng Ye been kicked in the head by a donkey?”
“Am I hearing things?!”
Born into wealth, a status that countless ordinary people could only dream of—yet he not only failed to cherish it but was declaring he wanted to sever ties?!
Mother Cheng was stunned senseless, while the three sisters stood frozen, unable to react.
Chu Xiyan frowned, wondering what Cheng Ye was trying to pull now.
Cheng Fenghao couldn’t help but feel delighted. If Cheng Ye publicly announced severing ties, with all these wealthy elites as witnesses, even if he regretted it later, it would be too late!
“I’m tired.” Cheng Ye’s voice was calm and indifferent. “Cutting ties is better for both of us.”
“Fine, fine! You just want to anger your mother and me to death, don’t you?!” Father Cheng roared in fury. “You accuse us of favoring your brother, so you use this agreement to threaten us?! Instead of learning anything good, you’ve only learned these infuriating habits!”
Mother Cheng trembled with anger. The child she had carried for ten months was now trying to sever their mother-son relationship.
How could she accept this?!
She stepped forward. Now that Cheng Ye had grown taller, she had to look up to see his face.
Humiliated and enraged, she raised her hand and slapped fiercely toward Cheng Ye’s left cheek.