Shen Xiaoyuan smiled. “Do you have any evidence? Without evidence, that’s slander and spreading rumors. That will only add to your charges.”
Shen Tiantian: “It was you! You vile woman! Everything that happened to my life is because of you!”
Shen Xiaoyuan was furious. She grabbed Shen Tiantian by the hair, making her grimace in pain.
“Is something wrong with your brain? You stole twenty years of my life, stole my marriage, and it was your own greed and arrogance that made you think you could control everything. You deserve everything that’s happening to you now.”
After saying that, she gave a cold laugh. “Instead of obsessing over this, you should think about how your Pan Jiaxing betrayed you.”
“What nonsense are you talking about? Brother Jiaxing said he would wait for me to get out.”
“How naive. Look, what’s this?” Shen Xiaoyuan pulled the wristwatch from her canvas bag. “He came to see me today and shamelessly begged me to get back together with him.”
Shen Tiantian recognized the watch at once and murmured, “How is that possible?”
“Many comrades at the state-run breakfast shop saw everything and can testify. A scumbag like him could beg me to take him for free, and I still wouldn’t want him. I told you before—you two are a pair of worthless scraps, yet you both treat each other like treasures. Even Matchmaker Yue did a pretty thorough job of sorting the garbage.”
Shen Xiaoyuan spoke coldly.
“I don’t believe you! Stop trying to drive a wedge between us, you bitch! I’ll kill you!” Shen Tiantian screamed hysterically and lunged at Shen Xiaoyuan.
Shen Xiaoyuan took two steps back, the corners of her lips still curled into a smile as she watched Shen Tiantian’s miserable state with the composure of a victor.
A knife had to be driven precisely into someone’s heart for it to hurt. This was also a way of venting some of the original owner’s pent-up resentment.
She turned around to leave.
“Thud!”
Behind her, Shen Tiantian suddenly fainted.
Shen Xiaoyuan called the prison guards over, and together they carried Shen Tiantian to the infirmary.
An hour later, as a family member, Shen Xiaoyuan received the freshly printed medical report.
As she looked at it, a new light appeared in her beautiful eyes.
“Heh. So it was true!”
Some fragmented memories of the original owner remained in Shen Xiaoyuan’s mind from after she had hit her head against the wall and fallen unconscious.
In her hazy state of consciousness, Shen Tiantian had whispered into her ear, “Sister, I’m pregnant with Brother Jiaxing’s child. Give up.”
It was because of those words that the original owner had become utterly heartbroken, lost the will to live, and eventually died while unconscious.
For the past few days, Shen Xiaoyuan had been unsure whether this memory was merely the original owner’s dream or something that had actually happened.
To verify it, she had deliberately come to provoke Shen Tiantian. She never expected it to actually be true.
Her methods might have been a little ruthless, but when she thought about all the humiliation and grievances the original owner had suffered—and how Shen Tiantian had also been involved in her grandfather’s death—Shen Xiaoyuan decided to put away her saintly compassion.
If she was going to deal with scumbags, she would do it thoroughly.
“Doctor, how many months pregnant is my sister?” Shen Xiaoyuan asked the doctor in the infirmary while holding the medical report.
“Based on our preliminary assessment, a little over three months.” The doctor pushed up his glasses and answered cautiously.
More than three months?
Shen Xiaoyuan’s heart jolted.
The Shen family had been brought down three months ago. In other words, Shen Tiantian and Pan Jiaxing had already been secretly involved before the Shen family was investigated and punished.
What kind of shameless stunt was this?
“You should ask her opinion as soon as possible—whether she wants to keep the baby or not. If she doesn’t, the procedure should be done as early as possible,” the doctor said.
“Okay. Thank you, Doctor.”
Shen Xiaoyuan went to the infirmary ward.
Calling it a ward was actually a bit of a stretch. It was merely a small space partitioned off by a curtain inside the infirmary, barely large enough to accommodate a single hospital bed.
Shen Tiantian was already awake. She still had shackles around her ankles, her face was deathly pale, and her eyes were blank as she stared at the ceiling. She had heard everything Shen Xiaoyuan and the doctor had said.
Originally, the child had been her trump card in the marriage exchange. She knew that if Shen Xiaoyuan found out she was pregnant with Pan Jiaxing’s child, she would surely be devastated.
But despite all her calculations, she had never expected the Shen family to be robbed, nor had she expected to end up in prison as a thief. And Pan Jiaxing’s abandonment had come faster than a tornado.
Now that things had reached this point, the child had become a burden, even a blade that could be turned against her.
“Seeing me like this, are you happy now?” Shen Tiantian asked expressionlessly, tears sliding from the corners of her eyes.
Shen Xiaoyuan glanced at her. “Ha. You really are something. In this era, you know perfectly well what the consequences of becoming pregnant before marriage are, don’t you?”
“Were you betting that I wouldn’t dare report you? Betting that Pan Jiaxing loved you deeply enough?”
Shen Tiantian shook her head and gave a bitter laugh. “You’re wrong. I wasn’t betting that he loved me deeply. I knew Pan Jiaxing treated me well because the Shen family was rich and he stood to benefit from us.”
Her gaze gradually hardened.
“I just couldn’t accept it. Why, the moment you came back, did Grandpa devote all his attention to you and carefully choose a marriage for you, while I could only choose from the men you rejected?”
“I, Shen Tiantian, had never suffered such a loss since the day I was born. So I decided to use Pan Jiaxing to get revenge on you. You liked him, so I wanted you to watch with your own eyes as I stole him from you.”
“Oh, look at you!” Shen Xiaoyuan mocked mercilessly. “If you had that much determination, you could have done something useful with it. If you’d put half as much effort into studying as you did into stealing someone else’s man, you wouldn’t have ended up this stupid!”
Shen Tiantian’s previously emotionless face finally changed. She snapped angrily, “What right do you have to lecture me?”
Shen Xiaoyuan continued taunting her. “I just feel sorry for the child. A scumbag for a father and an idiot for a mother. What a terrible fate to be born into!”
“You… You…” Shen Tiantian was once again rendered speechless.
“So, is that why you caused Grandpa’s death?” Shen Xiaoyuan asked coldly.
Shen Tiantian abruptly turned her head, startled and frightened. “What are you talking about?”
Shen Xiaoyuan simply looked at her without saying anything, the corners of her lips slowly curving upward.
“It was you. That day, you were eavesdropping outside the study and locked the door from the outside. Were you the one who stole the things from the secret room?” Shen Tiantian excitedly pushed herself halfway upright, her face turning even paler.
“I did overhear what was said, but I never went into the secret room. I told you before—if you have no evidence, don’t make reckless accusations, or you’ll only bring trouble upon yourself!” Shen Xiaoyuan warned sternly.
There was no way she would admit anything about the secret room.
“You seem like a completely different person!” Shen Tiantian suddenly blurted out after a long silence.
Shen Xiaoyuan’s expression changed slightly, but she quickly returned to normal. “I call it a genetic awakening. With parents like mine, did you really expect their daughter to be some kind-hearted saint?”
“Looks like I really underestimated you before.” Shen Tiantian studied her with a scrutinizing gaze.
“Enough. I’m done wasting time with you. Whether you keep the baby or not is your decision. If you don’t want it, get rid of it as soon as possible. Once the pregnancy advances further, it’ll be harder to terminate.”
Shen Xiaoyuan reminded her.
At the mention of whether to keep the baby, Shen Tiantian’s heart softened like cotton candy.
“Can I keep this child?”
She was asking herself that question, but she was also asking Shen Xiaoyuan.
“I don’t know. You have to decide for yourself.” Shen Xiaoyuan answered honestly. She really didn’t know, and she didn’t want to interfere with someone else’s fate.
Shen Tiantian lowered her head, tears streaming down her face.
She knew that she and Pan Jiaxing were impossible now. Even if she kept the child, it would grow up without a father.
But this was an innocent little life.
“Where are Mom and Dad?”
If only her parents were beside her right now. How wonderful it would be if they could give her some advice.
“They’re too busy trying to save themselves. They’re preparing things so they can run away.”
Shen Tiantian nodded. “I probably won’t ever see them again in this lifetime, will I?”
After saying that, tears poured down her face once again.
“Not necessarily.”
Shen Tiantian raised her head and wiped away her tears. “Will they come to see me again?”
Shen Xiaoyuan gave her an eerie smile.
“Perhaps the two of you will be seeing each other very soon.”
Under Shen Tiantian’s puzzled gaze, she gently stroked the other woman’s belly.
“My dear little sister, just stay in prison and take good care of your baby. There’s still plenty of good drama waiting for you.”