Tao Huanyi held the microphone, recalling the past. Her voice trembled, but she stubbornly projected it into every corner of the banquet hall.
It was as if she were reliving the chaos of that night. She clenched her teeth, fighting to keep her tears from falling, then took a deep breath and continued, “Aunt, when you asked me to deliver those documents that day, that was a lie, wasn’t it? The truth is, you found out Young Master Shen was at Star Rain. And to make everything look natural, you even had your good son team up with outsiders to drug Young Master Shen, so that…”
Unable to bear recalling any more, Tao Huanyi let large, pearl-like tears roll down her cheeks.
“You did all that just to bring Uncle’s company back from the brink and keep up the comfortable life you’ve enjoyed for so long…”
“No! That’s not what happened!”
Wei Minjun had never imagined that the timid girl she had known since childhood would now publicly expose all the things she had done in front of so many people. Her face went deathly pale. Like a madwoman, she tried to rush at Tao Huanyi and tear her mouth apart. “You wretched girl! Do you even know what you’re saying?”
“What kind of spell did that monster put on you just now? How dare you slander your aunt like this? You’d better believe I—”
Tao Huanyi felt a gust of wind rush toward her face.
But the expected pain never came.
Instead, a cool, steady voice rang lazily beside her, tinged with amusement. “What are you going to do? Hit someone in front of all these witnesses?”
Shen Yanchen gripped Wei Minjun’s raised hand, looking down at her with a cold smile. In the next instant, the faint trace of amusement vanished. His face turned stony, and with a thud, he shoved her to the floor. “Stay away from her.”
As Shen Yanchen’s indifferent, icy words fell, the guests, who had been talking among themselves, finally understood what had happened. Their scornful gazes turned toward Wei Minjun on the floor.
“That’s disgusting! She even used her blind niece!”
“Can someone call the police? Have them lock up this vicious woman! She drugged someone and made a false accusation. She’ll be in prison for years, if you ask me!”
The security guards, who had been waiting nearby, ready to act, immediately rushed forward. They seized Wei Minjun by the arms and dragged her straight out of the banquet hall. When the guests realized they had misunderstood Shen Yanchen, they all fell silent.
As Tao Huanyi listened to Wei Minjun’s shouts fade into the distance, the tension that had gripped her body suddenly slackened, like air escaping from a balloon.
Her arms fell heavily to her sides. Clutching her chest, Tao Huanyi gasped for breath as if she had just escaped death.
Then her brows suddenly drew together.
A fierce cramp seized her abdomen, and Tao Huanyi lost focus.
The baby…
The next instant, her whole body swayed like a leaf battered by the wind. Just as she was about to fall—
Shen Yanchen caught her around the waist, letting her lean weakly against his chest. His brows knit as his gaze swept over her pale face. “What’s wrong?”
“I…”
Tao Huanyi opened her mouth to speak.
But Shen Yanchen had already noticed her hand pressed to her lower abdomen.
His expression turned grave at once. “Does your stomach hurt? Or is the baby kicking?”
Tao Huanyi was leaning weakly against Shen Yanchen. Even though the pain in her lower abdomen had left her drenched in cold sweat, she still managed to answer, “Young Master Shen, I’m not even a month along. The baby hasn’t formed yet, so it can’t possibly be kicking me.”
A month?
At that, the furrow between Shen Yanchen’s brows deepened. When he looked again at Tao Huanyi’s flat stomach, his expression grew more complicated. A month—it did line up with the night they had spent together.
“Young Master Shen…”
Tao Huanyi’s pale hand weakly clutched his shirt. “Maybe I got too worked up just now. My stomach hurts a little.”
She recalled what the doctor had told her—
【Miss Tao, ever since the fire, your health has been very poor. If you decide to terminate this pregnancy, you may never be able to become a mother in the future.】
Tao Huanyi didn’t tell him what the doctor had said, because she didn’t want him to hesitate.
She bit her lip, paused briefly, then continued, “Young Master Shen, could I trouble you to take me to the hospital to schedule the procedure?”
“I heard that, given my situation, I can take medication to end the pregnancy. That shouldn’t cost too much…”
“You’re planning to terminate the pregnancy?”
Shen Yanchen’s brows drew together tightly. The question escaped him almost instinctively, but the moment he said it, he froze.
He and this young woman had only met twice, and they had probably exchanged fewer than twenty words altogether. Calling them strangers wouldn’t even be much of an exaggeration. So what did it matter if she was carrying his child?
Perhaps terminating the pregnancy was the best outcome for the baby.
Shen Yanchen pressed his lips together slightly, then spoke again. “All right. I’ll take you there now…”
“—Let’s see who dares lay a hand on my great-grandchild today!”
A booming voice suddenly rang in Tao Huanyi’s ears.
Out of sight, the central figure of the banquet, Old Madam Shen, was approaching them step by step. She wore a lavish qipao with a high collar and leaned on a dragon-headed cane.
Tao Huanyi could only hear the steady footsteps drawing closer, one after another. Perhaps out of fear of the unfamiliar, she instinctively tightened her grip on Shen Yanchen’s lapel.
Shen Yanchen seemed to sense her fear. He patted her shoulder and said softly, “It’s my grandma.”
Is this… Mr. Shen’s grandmother?
Then the booming voice sounded again, this time with a note of mockery. “Hmph. Grandma? So you do still know I’m your grandmother! Have you forgotten everything I’ve taught you all these years?”
“Ever since you were little, I’ve taught you that the men of the Shen family must stand tall and live with a clear conscience. And when it comes to relationships with women, there can be no carelessness. Either stay single for good, or if you get involved with a young woman, take responsibility for her for the rest of your life! Have you forgotten the lesson your cousin learned?”
At the mention of his cousin, the furrow between Shen Yanchen’s brows deepened again. He knew that this incident had a great deal to do with his grandmother’s years of vegetarianism and strict observance of her principles.
The Shen family had grown into a vast and powerful household, wealthy enough to be called the richest family in Rongcheng. Yet that formidable fortune was in large part tied to the Shen family’s early connections to both the underworld and the legitimate world.
In those years, the Shen family had been unrivaled. Its sons had lived lives of wine and women, keeping more mistresses than an emperor of old—until Shen Yanchen’s cousin was about to marry, and his pregnant lover fell to her death.