In the days that followed, the entire Jiangcheng was seething beneath the surface.
Families on par with the Shi family could still remain calm, but the small and mid-sized families that had participated in the bidding were on edge.
Each of them was wound tight, staring fixedly at Shi Corporation’s stock price, afraid of missing even the slightest movement. Yet strangely, despite being besieged from multiple sides, Shi’s stock continued to hover at a delicate point of balance.
There was no need to say more there had to be a third-party force propping up Shi.
But no matter how hard they racked their brains, they would never guess that the one supporting Shi and the one pushing the Shi family into the abyss were actually the same party.
At that moment, quite a few people regretted their impulsiveness at the auction. If only they hadn’t been so rash!
If the Shi family managed to recover, they would surely settle accounts afterward.
Still, no one cared about their fate.
The business world was a battlefield. Since they had dared to make a move, they had to be prepared to pay the price.
In a VIP ward of a private hospital.
The sharp scent of disinfectant was masked by the faint fragrance of white orchids. Afternoon sunlight filtered through gauze curtains, casting mottled shadows across the floor.
Old Madam Shen leaned against the headboard, her withered fingers gently stroking the edge of a scroll.
“This piece…” Her slightly narrowed eyes were full of wisdom. “It looks calm on the surface, but conceals killing intent within. You’ve put a lot of thought into this, child.”
Shen Luli sat by the bed, carefully peeling an apple with a Swiss Army knife. The blade slid through the flesh with a crisp sound. The peel formed a perfect spiral, dangling over the edge of a crystal tray.
“Mother has a keen eye.” He cut the apple into bite-sized pieces, speared one with a small silver fork, and handed it to her. “This auction was quite interesting as well.”
Old Madam Shen smiled at him. Fatigue lingered in the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. “Oh? You’ve never been interested in anything since you were young. It’s rare to hear you say such a thing.”
For no reason at all, the image of a woman in a cheongsam flashed through Shen Luli’s mind. He smiled faintly. “People change.”
Just as Old Madam Shen was about to speak, a sudden commotion came from outside the door faint shouting could be heard.
But it lasted only a moment before falling silent.
The air in the ward instantly froze. They both knew exactly who had tried to force their way in.
Old Madam Shen’s hand trembled slightly, and the apple slipped from her fork onto the blanket.
Shen Luli’s eyes turned icy, though his expression quickly returned to calm.
“Do you want to see them?” he asked softly, as if discussing the weather.
Old Madam Shen slowly shook her head. She raised a hand to tidy the white hair at her temples. The simple motion seemed to exhaust all her strength.
Her gaze fell on her thin wrist. “No need.”
She was not a fool. From the moment Shen Luli had acted decisively and taken her out of the Shen family home, she had understood everything.
She should have been angry. She should have questioned him. But in the end, she chose silence.
As a mother, she could not bring herself to tear away that last layer of decency and confront the ugly truth of blood relatives turning on one another.
Besides, things had already reached this point. What difference would knowing the answer make?
In this life, perhaps she truly had been a failure as a mother.
Of her two sons, one she hadn’t been able to protect, and the other she had failed to raise well.
Now, dragging along this broken body, she only wished to spend her remaining days in peace.
As for what would happen after she died that was no longer within her control.
Shen Luli’s gaze lingered for a moment on his mother’s gaunt face. “Then please focus on recovering.”
As soon as he stepped out of the ward, his assistant Li Mo rose from the corridor bench.
“Sir, it was Shen Shaowen,” he said in a low voice. “He brought four bodyguards and tried to force his way in. Our people stopped them.”
Shen Luli adjusted his cufflinks. The metal gleamed coldly under the corridor lights.
“Double the guards. Twenty-four-hour rotation. Without my permission, no one is allowed inside.”
“Understood.” Li Mo nodded and continued, “Shen Qinghui transferred funds into Shi Corporation from a private account using his secret account at an R-country bank.”
A cold smile curled at Shen Luli’s lips. “Let him. That’s his personal action. Master ‘Kong’ won’t consider it a breach of contract on my part.”
“And Shen Qinghui told you to return to the Shen residence. His tone was very unpleasant. It should be about the auction.”
“Ignore him,” Shen Luli said impatiently.
He strode toward the elevator, his leather shoes striking the marble floor with crisp echoes.
As the elevator slowly descended, Shen Luli leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Memories surged like a tide, carrying him back to the day he left eight years ago.
The weather had been just like today overcast, raining.
His mother had personally seen him off at the airport, guilt nearly overflowing from her eyes.
“Luli, this time I’ve wronged you…”
“No. I chose to go abroad,” he had interrupted.
Back then, he was far less forceful than he was now. He had always been taciturn and tried to avoid conflict with Shen Qinghui and his son.
Because he was not the Shen family’s illegitimate child at all just an adopted son with no blood ties.
Perhaps because his adoptive mother had treated him too well so well that Shen Qinghui felt threatened, fearing he might jeopardize his position or claim a share of the Shen family fortune.
So Shen Qinghui spread rumors that he was an illegitimate son to ruin his reputation, and even tried to hire someone to kill him.
In the end, unwilling to put his adoptive mother in a difficult position, he had chosen to leave the country.
This time, he had returned after settling matters with his biological family, intending to bring his adoptive mother away and let her enjoy her later years in peace.
Who could have imagined that in just eight years, the once elegant and dignified lady would have grown so thin she was little more than skin and bones?
On the hospital bed, she seemed weightless. The bones at her wrists protruded sharply. If not for her still-bright eyes, he might not have recognized her.
Chronic poisoning that was what the private doctor’s diagnosis report had said.
Who could have imagined that Shen Qinghui, for the sake of company shares, would poison his own biological mother? He was worse than a beast.
If news of his return hadn’t been kept secret if he hadn’t come back in time he might have returned only to see his adoptive mother’s tombstone, along with that hypocritical family.
At the time, he had wanted to skin them alive.
But Gu Nian had stopped him.
“Aunt Shen’s health is already too poor. No matter what, Shen Qinghui is still her biological son. If you can keep it hidden forever, fine but if you can’t, wouldn’t that be a death sentence for her?”
Ding The sound of the elevator arriving pulled Shen Luli back from his memories.
Outside the hospital’s glass doors, rain poured down in sheets. Raindrops lashed against the glass again and again.
Shen Luli opened his eyes, which were filled with sharp, icy light.
It didn’t matter. He could wait.
Sooner or later, Shen Qinghui and his family would face his reckoning.