“What are you talking about?” Tang Yan pressed her lips together. “Sheng Yanyu, you’ve misunderstood!”
Was he being overly sensitive, or had she hurt him so deeply that he would think of things in such an extreme way?
“Is that so?” Sheng Yanyu sneered coldly, his expression icy, the light in his eyes stubborn and gloomy. “Tang Yan, have you forgotten the things you said for Shen Ze back then?”
“Sheng Yanyu!!!” Tang Yan looked at Sheng Yanyu, who seemed on the verge of losing control, and couldn’t help raising her voice. “I’ve already promised that I won’t do it again!”
“What do I have to do for you to believe me?”
Meeting Sheng Yanyu’s dark, abyss-like eyes, Tang Yan felt both pained and worried inside.
“Marry me!” Sheng Yanyu was extreme and obstinate at this moment. He didn’t trust anyone, and was even full of resentment.
“Fine!” Tang Yan agreed without the slightest hesitation.
Sheng Yanyu froze, but then let out a mocking laugh. “For him, you’d actually go this far.”
“No!” Tang Yan took a deep breath, somewhat angry, but more than anything, helpless.
At this moment, Sheng Yanyu was too stubborn and extreme, clinging to his conviction, certain that all her words and actions were merely for Shen Ze’s sake.
Tang Yan reached out and took his hand, looking at him with earnest and unwavering eyes. “Sheng Yanyu, I want to be good to you—not because of Shen Ze, but simply because you’re good to me, so I want to be good to you in return. Can you trust me, please?”
Sheng Yanyu averted his gaze, refusing to look at Tang Yan.
Whether it was out of fear or expectation, she couldn’t tell.
Seeing him like this, Tang Yan felt a pang of pain in her heart. It hurt so much.
Releasing her hold on Sheng Yanyu’s hand, Tang Yan turned around, opened the door, and strode out of the room.
Her palm felt empty, and so did her heart.
It took a long moment before Sheng Yanyu snapped back to his senses.
Seeing that Tang Yan was no longer in the room, he panicked completely!
He hurriedly turned and rushed out of the room, stumbling so badly that he nearly fell.
As soon as he stepped out, he ran straight into his assistant, who was rushing over with a panicked expression.
“President Sheng, something happened to Miss Tang.” The assistant said nervously. “She—she beat up Shen Ze—”
“Where has she gone already?”
The assistant’s words were suddenly cut off, and he looked at Sheng Yanyu in confusion. “What did you say?”
Sheng Yanyu hadn’t heard the assistant’s words clearly. He thought Tang Yan had run off with Shen Ze.
Seeing Sheng Yanyu’s grim expression, the assistant realized he had misunderstood and quickly explained, “President Sheng, Miss Tang hasn’t left. She’s in the lobby downstairs. She beat up Shen Ze. You should go take a look right away.”
A flicker of shock and confusion crossed Sheng Yanyu’s face, but his pace quickened.
The moment he returned to the lobby, Sheng Yanyu saw Tang Yan breaking free from the restraints of the people around her, grabbing a nearby bottle of red wine and smashing it down on Shen Ze’s head.
Shen Ze still had five finger marks on his face, and a trace of blood lingered at the corner of his mouth—marks Tang Yan had left before the assistant had come to find him.
Now, Shen Ze was covered in wine stains, blood from his forehead trickling down his cheek, looking utterly disheveled and pathetic.
The female guests present couldn’t help but scream or quickly retreat far away, staring at Tang Yan as if she were a madwoman.
The banquet security personnel were momentarily at a loss for what to do.
Although Shen Ze was an honored guest of the banquet, Tang Yan had been brought in by Sheng Yanyu—they didn’t dare offend either side.
Even the host family, the Qins, could only step forward to mediate and pull people apart.
None of them dared to deliberately take sides.
Song Wan let out a shriek, dabbing at Shen Ze’s blood with a tissue while scolding, “Tang Yan, what the hell are you doing? Have you lost your mind?”
Seeing the clear finger marks swelling on Shen Ze’s cheek and the blood seeping from his forehead, her gaze darkened. She turned and strode toward Tang Yan, who was being held back by several people, raising her hand to strike.
Tang Yan, restrained by the crowd and unable to break free, braced herself as the slap was about to land, closing her eyes in fury.
Go ahead and hit me—once she got free, she’d cripple Song Wan’s hand.
Yet the anticipated pain never came, and even the surrounding chatter seemed to dim, the hall falling quiet.
Tang Yan slowly opened her eyes, only to see Song Wan’s wrist, mid-swing, caught in Sheng Yanyu’s grip.
Song Wan felt as if her wrist were about to be crushed. She winced in pain, and when her gaze met Sheng Yanyu’s icy eyes, her heart tightened. She instinctively tried to pull away, but Sheng Yanyu flung her aside with a single motion.
Song Wan stumbled several steps before steadying herself, looking thoroughly disheveled.
She didn’t need to glance around to know how she appeared to others at that moment.
She straightened up, feigning composure, hoping to salvage some dignity, but when she met Sheng Yanyu’s eyes again, the words she wanted to say lodged in her throat, refusing to come out.
Sheng Yanyu swept his gaze over Song Wan as if she were trash, then turned to look at Tang Yan, still held by the group.
“Let her go,” he ordered coldly.
The crowd quickly released Tang Yan and stepped back.
Sheng Yanyu slowly approached her.
The girl’s hair was a mess, her makeup smeared, and even her lipstick had somehow streaked across her face. The jacket he’d draped over her was gone, and the hem of her gown was filthy—she looked ragged and ruined.
Once as delicate as a porcelain doll, she now seemed like something just pulled from a trash bin.
Sheng Yanyu raised a hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, but before his fingers could touch her, Tang Yan instinctively recoiled.
Seeing his brow furrow and his expression sour, Tang Yan, without a second thought, turned and bolted outside.
Sheng Yanyu’s frown deepened.
After a hasty farewell to the Qin family and instructing his assistant to handle the rest, Sheng Yanyu strode away.
The assistant glanced at Shen Ze, whose face was a battered mess, rubbed his nose awkwardly, and stepped forward with a forced smile.
“Mr. Shen, don’t worry. Our CEO Sheng has instructed me to cover all your follow-up medical expenses. I’ve already called an ambulance—they should be here soon. Could you bear with it a little longer?”
Shen Ze shot the assistant a cold look, his usual gentle demeanor completely gone, his eyes brimming with menace.
Ignoring the assistant, he turned and left.
He didn’t even spare Song Wan a glance.
Seeing this, Song Wan had no choice but to hurry after him.
Even as she stepped outside, she could still feel the contemptuous stares from the crowd.
She had planned to use tonight’s opportunity to introduce herself as Shen Ze’s girlfriend, but Tang Yan had ruined it all, humiliating her beyond measure.
Song Wan clenched her fists in fury.
She would not let Tang Yan get away with this!
Song Wan was distracted. Walking quickly in her high heels, she failed to notice the floor beneath her feet. Suddenly, she slipped and fell hard to the ground, accompanied by the sound of bones cracking.
Shen Ze, who was walking ahead, heard the commotion and stopped. He turned around to look at Song Wan, his expression tightening as he rushed over. “Wanwan, what happened? Are you alright?”
Song Wan’s face twisted in pain. “Brother Aze, I can’t move… it hurts so much…”
Shen Ze didn’t dare move her recklessly and immediately called 120 for an ambulance.
Not far away, Tang Yan hid in the shadows, holding a bottle of lubricant in her hand, sneering coldly.
Since she had made her move, how could she only target one person?
Watching the two of them, Tang Yan felt satisfied. This was just the beginning—she would take her time and slowly return everything to these two people, piece by piece!
Just as Tang Yan was about to turn away, her hand was suddenly grabbed by someone, startling her so much that the bottle nearly slipped from her grasp.
She turned her head and unexpectedly met Sheng Yanyu’s eyes, the rims tinged with red.