“On what grounds?”
Zhao Dahai sneered, “On the grounds that without me and your mother, you wouldn’t even exist in this world! Even you yourself belong to us, so of course we have the right to arrange and use your things!”
These words were crude and harsh, selfish and unreasonable.
His self-righteous attitude and demeanor were truly nauseating.
After hearing this, Cen Zhen felt a chill run through her entire body, and even her breathing became strained.
Zhao Dahai had truly, time and again, shattered her understanding of the word “father.” He was utterly shameless!
She was clearly an independent person, yet he treated her like an object to be manipulated and controlled at will.
Just because he had provided a sperm and Shi Fangshu had provided an egg, did that mean she had to obey their every command?
No!
She refused!
Clenching her fists tightly, she could no longer hold back. Her eyes instantly reddened. “I am a person, not some object you bought! The two of you never raised me for a single day. You have no right to arrange my life!”
As Cen Zhen’s rebuttal left her lips, Zhao Dahai’s anger at being defied flared up instantly.
He slammed the table and stood up, his face livid with rage.
“Cen Zhen, it seems you won’t shed a tear until you see the coffin. If you don’t give the bracelet to your sister today, then your grandmother…”
Cen Zhen was already seething with anger, and now Zhao Dahai was attempting to use her grandmother to control her. The softest nerve in her mind was pricked, and she instantly reached the peak of fury.
“How dare you!”
Her eyes were bloodshot as she coldly and sharply cut him off.
“If you dare lay a finger on my grandmother, I’ll have Fu Linyuan destroy the company you’ve spent half your life building. From then on, don’t even think about establishing roots in Jingcheng!”
At these words, Zhao Dahai froze completely.
Even Shi Fangshu and Zhao Lingxi were stunned by Cen Zhen’s blunt threat.
Was this still the Cen Zhen they knew?
How dare she!
Zhao Lingxi almost instinctively stirred up trouble.
“Dad, Mom, my sister really is different now that she has a backer. She even dares to challenge you like this. This company is the result of half your lifetime’s hard work. How can she be so heartless…”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Dahai’s anger blazed even hotter.
He pointed a vicious finger at Cen Zhen.
“How could I have given birth to such a scoundrel like you? It’s only been a few days, and you’re already trying to step all over me. Don’t think that just because Mr. Fu took a fleeting interest in you, you can act lawlessly. One day, you’ll come back crying and begging me…”
Cen Zhen frowned and impatiently interrupted him.
“If you think Fu Linyuan is just toying with me, go ahead and try touching my grandmother. If she loses so much as a single hair, I’ll have Fu Linyuan make your company disappear the very first moment!”
“You ungrateful wretch, get out of here!”
Looking at his furious and flustered appearance, Cen Zhen responded with a smile.
“Goodbye.”
After Cen Zhen left the office.
With nowhere to vent his rage, Zhao Dahai randomly grabbed a cup from the desk and smashed it to the ground with a loud clatter.
The employees outside, seeing Cen Zhen emerge unscathed and hearing the commotion from the office, immediately began gossiping—
“It seems Director Zhao still favors the illegitimate daughter. He’d rather have Mrs. Zhao argue and fight with him than harm Cen Zhen in the slightest.”
“The daughter born to a mistress really is different. Her methods are just more cunning.”
Hearing this, Cen Zhen could only feel it was laughable.
Zhao Lingxi had always played the role of the considerate “little cotton-padded jacket” in front of her parents. Seeing her father so furious he was about to explode, she comforted him while also offering advice.
“Dad, don’t take it to heart with my sister. She’s only acting so bold because she’s relying on Fu Linyuan right now. Once they get divorced, she’ll obediently listen to you again.”
Zhao Dahai gritted his teeth. “But the problem now is that their divorce won’t be easy. If Fu Linyuan doesn’t bring it up, that brat Cen Zhen will just cling to him and keep flaunting her power over us!”
At this point, Shi Fangshu sighed worriedly.
“I’ve also heard that Fu Linyuan is infertile. If they don’t get divorced, how will our Zhao family carry on the lineage…”
Zhao Dahai was an extremely traditional man.
Hearing Shi Fangshu say this, his face darkened.
“My Zhao family can’t end with me. No matter how difficult it is to make them divorce, I have to try!”
With that, he turned to his younger daughter.
“Lingxi, you’ve always been clever. Help your dad think of a way to make Fu Linyuan grow tired of that wretched girl as quickly as possible.”
Zhao Lingxi curled her lips. “Actually, this matter is both difficult and simple. The key lies in that bracelet…”
After work in the evening, Cen Zhen met Wen Qinghe at a Hunan restaurant.
After dinner, the two strolled arm in arm along the street.
To help digest.
“Don’t worry about the bracelet. Give me a week, and I can replicate an identical one for you.”
When it came to her expertise, Wen Qinghe was very confident.
It had been a while since they last met, so Cen Zhen leaned half her body against her.
“You really are my all-around Qing sister, always reliable!”
Wen Qinghe glanced at the woman leaning on her shoulder and sighed regretfully, as if thinking of something.
“If your grandfather hadn’t had that accident, and they hadn’t forced you to change your aspirations, you would have been even more outstanding than me in this field.”
Mentioning the past, Cen Zhen’s eyes dimmed for a moment.
But she had long grown accustomed to swallowing her sorrows. Not wanting Wen Qinghe to feel sorry for her, she wore a carefree smile on her face.
She deftly changed the subject.
“Weren’t you curious about how Fu Linyuan and I get along?”
Not far away, there was a bench.
Cen Zhen pulled her over to sit down.
“Actually, he and I really are like two strangers sharing a dorm.”
Wen Qinghe didn’t understand. “Didn’t you bring up having a marital life with him? It’s been a week already, and you two still haven’t…”
Cen Zhen understood what she left unsaid.
Pouting, she complained, “He’s busy until the middle of the night every day. It’s hard enough just catching a glimpse of him when we sleep.”
Let alone the two of them having intimate relations.
Wen Qinghe had also heard quite a few rumors about Fu Linyuan. She looked at Cen Zhen hesitantly.
“People say he’s infertile, and he shows no interest in a beauty like you every day. Could it be… he has some hidden issue in that area?”
Hearing this, Cen Zhen fell into thought for a few seconds.
After a while, she muttered quietly, “It seems I’ll have to test him tonight. Otherwise, I’d be losing out big time.”
At nine in the evening.
Cen Zhen waited in the bedroom for a while, but Fu Linyuan still hadn’t come in.
After pacing back and forth for some time, she gritted her teeth and decided to take the initiative.
Whether it works or not, she’d only know by trying.
Although their marriage was a contractual arrangement based on mutual needs, destined to be loveless for life,
Cen Zhen didn’t want to live like a widow.
A marriage could lack love, but it absolutely could not lack intimacy!
“Knock knock—”
Fu Linyuan’s fingers paused over the keyboard at the sound. He looked up to see the door pushed open. A woman in a thin nightgown, holding a glass of red wine, walked slowly closer and called out softly.
“Husband.”
The address caught him off guard.
Fu Linyuan’s fingers stilled, his dark eyes narrowing slightly, momentarily thrown by her honeyed tone.
“Hmm?”
To say she wasn’t nervous under his deep, focused gaze would be a lie.
But to get to the bottom of things, Cen Zhen forced down her fluster and, meeting his intense stare, extended a straightforward invitation.
“Are you free to sleep with me tonight?”