The Shen household.
After the call was abruptly ended by Bo Chengjing, Shen Tiancheng immediately dialed Shen Zhinian back.
However, the line was already unreachable. He switched to another mobile number and called Shen Zhinian, dialing five times in a row, only to be met with unanswered rings.
He bolted out of the study in a frantic rush.
Just then, Zhao Yi happened to be walking over with a plate of fruit.
The moment the door opened, Shen Tiancheng crashed straight into Zhao Yi, sending her stumbling back a few steps as the fruit spilled onto the floor along with the plate.
The sound of the porcelain plate shattering struck Shen Tiancheng’s heart like an ominous omen.
His tightly strung nerves instantly snapped, and he roared, “What are you doing! So clumsy! Can’t you even hold a plate properly?”
Having taken the brunt of the collision, Zhao Yi was already in some pain, never expecting him to suddenly erupt into such a roar.
Startled, she looked apprehensively at Shen Tiancheng and said, “I just saw you’ve been in the study for so long, and thought I’d bring you some fruit.”
“All you know is eating! Can’t you fit a single useful thing in that brain of yours? What time is it, and all you can think about is eating!” With that, Shen Tiancheng strode toward the stairs.
Zhao Yi stood in place with an innocent expression, watching Shen Tiancheng leave.
As soon as he headed downstairs, the faux innocence vanished from her face, replaced instantly by an expression of utter disgust and loathing.
Stepping out of his room, Shen Mingyi walked over to her side and asked, “Mom, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Zhao Yi said, gently patting her own hand.
Shen Mingyi asked, “What’s wrong with Dad?”
“Just venting his powerlessness in anger,” Zhao Yi said. “Must be that things aren’t going smoothly with handling the situation. Haven’t the tides of public opinion online already shifted? Did some new problem pop up?”
“No,” Shen Mingyi replied. “Everyone is still denouncing Shen Zhinian.”
“Isn’t there any movement on Shen Zhinian’s end?” Zhao Yi asked.
“None,” Shen Mingyi shook his head. “It’s far too quiet.”
“That doesn’t sound like Bo Chengjing’s usual style,” Zhao Yi remarked. “He treasures Shen Zhinian so much, how could he bear to let him keep getting dragged through the mud online?”
Shen Mingyi mused, “I can’t figure it out either. Could it be that Dad hit a wall trying to find Shen Zhinian?”
“Definitely,” Zhao Yi said. “Shen Zhinian is the type of person who wouldn’t hesitate to take a thousand blows himself just to drag his enemy down with him.”
Shen Mingyi nodded.
Meanwhile, Shen Tiancheng had gone downstairs, changed his shoes at the entryway, and headed straight outside.
He had to find Shen Zhinian immediately to stop Lao Xing from being sent to the police station, or to prevent Shen Zhinian from letting Lao Xing spill those secrets.
If he could just stop Shen Zhinian and nip this matter in the bud, there would still be room for a turnaround.
Otherwise, everything would truly be over.
He hurried out of the house. Just as he was about to head toward the garage, he spotted figures stationed outside the courtyard.
Walking straight toward the front gate, he discovered guards stationed on the perimeter, effectively trapping him inside.
No matter what he said, the people outside completely ignored him, but any attempt to step past the threshold was firmly blocked.
Shen Tiancheng began shouting and making a scene at the entrance.
Zhao Yi and Shen Mingyi rushed out shortly after. After grasping the situation, Shen Mingyi threatened to call the police.
Yet Shen Tiancheng stopped him.
He didn’t dare.
Right now, the last thing he wanted to see was the police.
The family of three retreated back into the living room.
Anxiously, Zhao Yi asked, “What is happening? What’s going on?”
Dropping heavily onto the sofa, Shen Tiancheng lowered his head and remained silent for a moment before muttering, “It’s over. It’s all over.”
“What’s over?” Zhao Yi squatted down in front of him, asking gently, “Tiancheng, what on earth is going on? Tell us, and our family will figure something out together.”
“There’s no way out,” Shen Tiancheng said. “I never expected Shen Zhinian to be this ruthless. He doesn’t give a damn about the Shen family at all. Whether the Shen family survives or dies means nothing to him.”
“What do you mean?” A jolt of panic struck Zhao Yi’s heart, and she instinctively glanced at Shen Mingyi.
Shen Mingyi signaled her with his eyes to keep asking.
Zhao Yi turned her gaze back to Shen Tiancheng.
With his head bowed, Shen Tiancheng said, “Shen Zhinian has most likely already called the police. The Shen family is finished.”
Zhao Yi’s pupils trembled, her voice rising in panic. “How can that be?”
Shen Mingyi frowned as well. He hadn’t expected Shen Zhinian to dare go this far.
He had assumed Shen Zhinian would fight him for control of the Shen family, not that he would simply burn the whole thing down.
If the Shen family collapsed, he wouldn’t get a single thing either. What possible good would that do him?
The guy was a total lunatic.
“T-then what do we do now?” Zhao Yi asked.
“Wait to die,” Shen Tiancheng said.
Zhao Yi’s body swayed.
Shen Mingyi helped her over to sit on the sofa while racking his brain for any possible way to salvage the Shen Group.
The Shen Group had other shareholders, and selling his son was a crime committed by Shen Tiancheng alone.
He needed to minimize the losses to the Shen Group as much as possible.
Just as he was thinking, a commotion sounded from the front entrance.
All three of them looked toward the door.
They watched as the guards stationed outside stormed into the courtyard, lining up on both sides of the cobblestone path.
Flanked by two men, Bo Chengjing walked into the courtyard.
Outside, the sun shone brightly and the autumn breeze was refreshing, yet as Bo Chengjing stepped forward stride by stride, he looked like a grim reaper stepping out of the halls of purgatory, every single footfall determining someone’s life or death.
Stepping into the living room, Bo Chengjing’s gaze locked onto Shen Tiancheng.
A shudder ran through Shen Tiancheng’s heart.
With a gaze as cold and sharp as a blade, Bo Chengjing glanced at Shen Tiancheng before seating himself on the sofa opposite him.
After staring at him for a few seconds, Shen Tiancheng snapped back to reality and blurted out immediately, “President Bo, I was wrong, I was wrong! It was all my fault, please give me another chance! Just give me another chance!”
“You’re truly unwilling to even put up an act, aren’t you?” Bo Chengjing remarked.
“I was wrong, I truly was wrong,” Shen Tiancheng pleaded. “From now on, I’ll definitely treat Zhinian well and make it up to him.”
“You said the exact same thing when you brought him back home,” Bo Chengjing said. “And yet you still dragged him out to take the fall for you. Did you even call him planning to make him step forward and clear your name?”
His voice was exceptionally soft, yet every single word felt like a sharp blade repeatedly piercing a person’s heart.
On the way here, he had already learned that Shen Tiancheng had tried calling Shen Zhinian.
“What do you even take him for?” Bo Chengjing continued. “Being a father to the extent you’ve managed is truly sickening.”
“President Bo, this wasn’t my father’s original intention,” Shen Mingyi chimed in. “The Weibo post was issued by the company side, and the wording contained ambiguities that we failed to catch. We never expected it to spark such a reaction online once published.”
Bo Chengjing lifted his eyelids to look at him. “What kind of insignificant thing are you? You have no qualification to speak here.”
Shen Mingyi’s breath caught, his pupils trembling. He never expected to be subjected to such humiliating dismissal, leaving him utterly speechless.
Bo Chengjing glanced at the men standing behind him.
The men nodded and placed a document directly in front of Shen Tiancheng.
“Either you sign this and I guarantee the survival of the Shen Group, or you refuse and I make the Shen Group vanish alongside you,” Bo Chengjing said. “Make your choice.”
Shen Tiancheng flipped through the contract.
Both Shen Mingyi and Zhao Yi watched anxiously from the side.
The moment they caught sight of the contents within the contract, they felt as though they had instantly plummeted into the abyss, despair consuming them entirely.
Once Shen Tiancheng signed this contract, the Shen Group would belong entirely to Shen Zhinian, leaving Zhao Yi and Shen Mingyi with absolutely nothing.
Feeling the world spin before his eyes, Shen Mingyi nervously lunged forward a step. “Dad, you can’t sign this.”
Staring at the contract before him for a moment, Shen Tiancheng picked it up and ripped it apart, venting every ounce of his pent-up rage page by page.
“Hand it over to him? In your dreams!” Knowing he was finished, Shen Tiancheng abandoned all remaining restraint. “If I’m going down, I’ll drag everyone else with me! Shen Zhinian won’t get a single cent!”
Both Shen Mingyi and Zhao Yi let out a quiet sigh of relief.
A flicker of sarcasm crossed the depths of Bo Chengjing’s eyes. “Whether you live or die, he will live a wonderful life. As for the money, not a single penny belonging to him will be missed. The fortune you squandered back then when you bankrupted the Shen Group, that money needs to be repaid.”
Shen Zhinian’s mother shared the same surname, Shen.
Shen Tiancheng had essentially married into the family, and Shen Zhinian bore his mother’s surname.
“You!” Shen Tiancheng lunged to his feet.
The moment he stood up, the two men standing behind Bo Chengjing stepped forward and leveled Shen Tiancheng with a single punch, sending him crashing to the floor.
Zhao Yi screamed in terror.
Shen Mingyi tried to rush forward, only to be intercepted and blocked.
They could only watch as Shen Tiancheng was beaten, yet not a single person dared to utter a word, not even a single plea to stop it.
A fleeting trace of mockery flashed through Bo Chengjing’s eyes.