Xiaogu got tired of sitting and leaned sideways against Shen Nanyue.
Shen Nanyue shifted slightly and supported his small body.
Suddenly, a sharp stone appeared in her bound hands behind her back.
She lowered her head and looked at the little boy lazily leaning against her.
His chubby face was full of childlike innocence, showing no change in expression.
A strange feeling rose in her heart.
This kid is really clever!
Chen Yuan’s voice sounded as if she had fallen into old memories.
“My father appeared to treat me well, but only I knew that ever since I was little, I was the least favored person in the family.”
While listening to her speak, Shen Nanyue secretly used the sharp stone to cut through the rope around her wrists.
“Growing up, my brother was always valued more by my parents. He deliberately got involved in managing the family company. His allowance was always larger than mine, and his children received more attention than mine. I’m a woman, so I wasn’t valued. I accepted that.”
“After the accident at my husband’s winery, Chen Tianming said he wanted to cut off all ties between the Chen family and me. At the time, I kept making excuses for him. I was already married and couldn’t rely on my family for everything, but it still hurt. That’s why I decided to work with you.”
Shen Nanyue’s gaze turned cold.
“Then did you know what the Chen family was doing?”
“I didn’t! If I had known, Chen Tianming would have been in prison a long time ago!”
At the mention of this, Chen Yuan’s expression instantly twisted, like a wild beast driven mad by stress.
Xiaogu, who had been getting drowsy, was frightened by her appearance and kept pressing closer to Shen Nanyue.
“Pretty Sister, that auntie is really scary.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Pretty Sister is here.”
Shen Nanyue lowered her head and comforted him.
Chen Yuan’s emotions were interrupted by the interaction between the two of them, leaving her momentarily speechless.
But she quickly regained her composure.
“When I was in college, I brought a close friend home. After that, I never managed to contact her again. I reported her disappearance to the police, but it was useless. It was as if she had vanished from the face of the earth. Only a few days ago did I learn that she had already lost her life because of Chen Tianming’s business.”
“If I had known he was doing such things, I would’ve hired people to beat him up and drag him to my friend’s grave to apologize!”
That friend had been Chen Yuan’s only true confidante during her university years.
She came from an ordinary family and had been bullied at school until Chen Yuan stepped in to help her.
The two gradually became close.
Chen Yuan had believed she was the only person in the world who truly understood her.
But she never expected that simply bringing her friend to the Chen family home would end up costing her life.
She would never forgive herself for that.
Shen Nanyue looked at Chen Yuan, and a trace of sympathy unconsciously appeared in her eyes.
Yet she still couldn’t understand.
If Chen Yuan believed Chen Tianming deserved to die, why was she taking her anger out on her?
As if she could read Shen Nanyue’s thoughts, Chen Yuan smiled and asked, “Do you think you’re innocent? Do you think I’ve gone crazy for kidnapping you?”
Shen Nanyue nodded thoughtfully.
“Other than that, I can’t think of any reason why you’d target me.”
Chen Yuan burst into laughter.
Her shrill voice echoed throughout the warehouse like a scream from hell, sending chills down one’s spine.
Shen Nanyue frowned slightly.
“Shen Nanyue, do you know what kind of life I’m living now? My husband divorced me!”
Shen Nanyue casually swept her gaze across the warehouse.
It was empty except for Chen Yuan and several hired thugs.
With a child by her side, she didn’t dare act rashly.
“Because of the Chen family?” Shen Nanyue asked casually, keeping the conversation going.
The rope behind her back had been mostly cut through.
Only a thin strand remained around her wrists.
She discarded the stone and stopped cutting.
Chen Yuan continued speaking.
“No! Because of you!”
Her voice was so sharp that it hurt the ears.
Shen Nanyue frowned deeply.
Xiaogu had already covered his ears and puffed up his cheeks, wanting to say something back to Chen Yuan.
But when he saw Chen Yuan’s hysterical expression, he quickly shrank back.
Adults are way too scary.
I’d better not provoke them.
“The reason my husband divorced me was partly because the Chen family’s scandal affected his business. But another reason was because of you. He admired you!”
Admired…
Looking at Chen Yuan’s wide eyes, as if she might pounce and devour her at any moment, Shen Nanyue felt her earlier suspicion had been completely correct.
Chen Yuan had truly lost her mind.
“He said you were smart and brave, that you were even willing to put yourself in danger to bring the Chen family to justice! And… and he said all I ever did was stay at home doing nothing. The Chen family had been running those operations for so many years, and I never noticed a thing! How could I be so stupid…”
By the end, Chen Yuan had completely broken down in tears.
Covering her face, she crouched on the ground, no longer caring about her appearance.
Her sobs rose and fell unevenly, muffled by her hands, making her seem less like a villain and more like a desperate woman with nowhere left to turn.
“Why? All these years, I knew nothing. I’ve been kept in the dark the entire time…”
“How could I be so stupid? I knew Chen Tianming often went back to the old family residence. How did I never notice anything…”
“Xiaoying… I was the one who got you killed…”
Chen Yuan’s intermittent sobs couldn’t help but move Shen Nanyue.
In the end, she was just another pitiful person who had been used.
Just as Shen Nanyue was about to offer a few words of comfort, Chen Yuan suddenly looked up and glared at her with fury.
“It’s all because of you! You’re the one who ruined my life! I’m going to kill you!”
She pulled a folding knife from her handbag, snapped the blade open, and charged toward Shen Nanyue.
She hadn’t even taken two steps before she tripped and fell.
With a loud smack, she crashed face-first onto a patch of gravel, and the knife flew from her hand.
Leaning on Shen Nanyue’s knee with his elbow, Xiaogu stared at the scene in confusion.
“Why did that auntie fall down?”
Still lying face-down on the ground, Chen Yuan let out a low, eerie laugh.
“Hehehe… Shen Nanyue, you can’t escape. None of us can escape…”
Shen Nanyue noticed the thugs filing out one after another.
Moments later, the smell of gasoline drifted in from outside the warehouse.
A sense of alarm immediately rose in her chest.
“What are you trying to do?”
“I’m going to die with you, of course! Shen Nanyue, dying alone is too lonely. You’re so smart—why don’t you come down with me and wait for Chen Tianming? When he arrives in hell, we’ll beat him together. We’ll make him climb mountains of blades and boil in vats of oil…”
“You’re completely insane!”
Unable to hold back any longer, Shen Nanyue twisted her wrists with all her strength.
The remaining rope snapped.
Scooping Xiaogu into her arms, she sprang to her feet and rushed toward the exit without hesitation.
Chen Yuan suddenly lunged at her like a madwoman.
“You can’t leave! I won’t let you leave! You have to die with me!”
The smell of gasoline grew stronger and stronger.
The warehouse floor was covered with dry grass.
Once a fire was lit, not a single one of them would be able to escape.
— The end of the Chapter–
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