With his free hand, Zhou Yushen grabbed Chen Ting’s wrist and twisted it lightly.
A sharp crack sounded.
Along with Chen Ting’s scream, she clutched her broken wrist and staggered backward, her face pale.
Chen Mu had just arrived at the hospital when he witnessed the scene.
“Zhou bastard, you’re courting death!”
As an obsessive sister-protector, he couldn’t bear seeing his sister suffer in the slightest.
He charged forward, throwing a punch at Zhou Yushen, but before the fist could land, it was intercepted midair by a delicate hand.
Shen Nanyue looked at him coldly.
With her other hand clenched into a fist, she punched him hard across the face.
Chen Mu stumbled and fell to the ground.
“Chen Mu, just wait. I’ll settle both old and new scores with you together!”
“Xiao Qi, watch them until the police arrive.”
“Got it, Sister Yueyue.”
Xiao Qi grabbed Chen Mu by the collar with one hand, about to yank him up, when the police arrived right on time.
“Who called the police?”
Shen Nanyue looked at the officers and answered,
“I did. These two illegally imprisoned my sister and repeatedly drew her blood over the past three years to treat her illness. This is intentional assault!”
After Chen Ting and Zhou Yushen both had their wounds treated and bandaged, the police brought Chen Ting and Chen Mu back to the station.
Zhou Yushen and Xiao Qi went first to explain the situation.
After Shen Nanyue finished taking An’an for her examinations, she would go to the police station to give her statement.
Only after everyone else had left did Shen Nanyue notice An’an’s body trembling slightly.
Pain stabbed through her heart again.
She wrapped An’an tightly in her arms and comforted her softly.
“Don’t be afraid anymore, An’an. Sister is here now. I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”
An’an’s trembling gradually calmed down.
After Shen Nanyue completed all of An’an’s medical examinations, she finally learned that An’an’s body had weakened to the point where she depended on medication for nutritional support.
An’an had clearly been subjected to long-term excessive blood extraction, followed by forced dietary blood replenishment in short periods, causing severe irreversible damage to her body.
Combined with the aftereffects of the burns, her vocal cords were damaged, leaving her unable to speak much.
The extensive burns also left trapped internal heat toxins in her body, and years of illness had continuously worn her down.
Her condition was so fragile that even the examining doctor was shocked.
Looking at the horrifying medical reports one after another, Shen Nanyue’s tears nearly fell again.
The pain in her chest was suffocating.
If she had discovered something wrong with the Chen family earlier, An’an would never have suffered this much!
An’an quietly stayed by Shen Nanyue’s side.
Seeing her sadness, she reached out her thin, bony hand and gently patted Shen Nanyue’s back in silent comfort.
Shen Nanyue held back her tears, put the reports into her bag, and forced herself to smile at An’an.
“An’an, I’ll find the best doctors to treat your vocal cords and burn scars. I’ll find the best nutritionists to restore your health. Believe me—I’ll definitely make you better.”
An’an pulled out a faint smile and nodded trustingly.
Holding the medicine, Shen Nanyue supported An’an as they left the hospital.
At the police station.
After questioning by the police and the evidence provided by Shen Nanyue,
Chen Ting fully confessed to illegally imprisoning and intentionally harming An’an.
Whether the siblings had discussed a strategy beforehand or not, once they entered the station, Chen Ting took all responsibility for the crimes onto herself.
Chen Mu also claimed he knew nothing about Chen Ting’s actions.
Shen Nanyue lacked sufficient evidence proving Chen Mu had been an accomplice.
As a result, the police could only detain Chen Ting, while Chen Mu could not legally be held.
Shen Nanyue was furious and unwilling to accept it, but An’an gently held her arm, trying to comfort her.
After several people exited the police station, Chen Mu looked coldly at Shen Nanyue.
“Can we talk alone for a moment?”
His expression was ugly, and his tone was equally unpleasant.
Shen Nanyue had no desire to speak with him, but thinking she might be able to pry useful information out of him, she agreed.
As she was about to follow Chen Mu aside, Shen An’an nervously grabbed her, eyes full of worry.
“Don’t worry, An’an. He won’t do anything to me. This is your brother-in-law—he’ll protect you. Don’t be scared.”
Shen Nanyue patted An’an’s head reassuringly before turning away.
Following the direction Shen Nanyue had pointed, Shen An’an looked toward Zhou Yushen.
Zhou Yushen happened to lower his gaze toward Shen An’an as well.
His expression remained cold and calm, with only the faint curve of a smile at the corner of his lips, as though greeting her.
Shen An’an quickly looked away.
It seemed this brother-in-law treated only her sister differently.
She didn’t believe he would truly protect her.
Her anxious gaze soon drifted back toward Shen Nanyue’s distant figure.
Watching Shen Nanyue and Chen Mu together, Zhou Yushen’s expression darkened.
In his dim gaze lurked something beastlike, as though it might burst out at any moment.
Meanwhile, Shen Nanyue, who was speaking with Chen Mu, didn’t notice any of the activity on the other side at all.
She merely looked at him. “What do you want to say?”
Chen Mu didn’t beat around the bush.
In a stiff tone, he asked, “Can you let my sister off this once? She’s still young. If she ends up with a criminal record, it’ll affect her future.”
Shen Nanyue was almost angered into laughter.
“Chen Mu, are all members of the Chen family this shameless? Or do you think my sister deserved to be imprisoned by you? If I hadn’t found her today, were you planning to lock her up for the rest of her life and make her provide blood for Chen Ting forever?”
“No! Once my sister’s condition stabilized, we would’ve released her.”
“And what if your sister’s condition never stabilized?”
“Shen Nanyue! Can you stop being so serious about this? Why are you being so petty?”
Shen Nanyue’s gaze turned completely icy, cold and merciless as she looked at him.
Chen Mu was startled by that look.
Even though they had argued before, she had never looked at him with such chilling indifference.
It felt as though something inside him was gradually turning hollow, as if something important was slipping away forever.
“Chen Mu, your sister’s life is a life, but my sister’s life isn’t?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
At last, a trace of humanity appeared in Chen Mu.
He lowered his head, looking pained to the extreme.
He and Shen Nanyue had grown up together, and he had also spent plenty of time with An’an.
He once treated An’an as a younger sister too.
But in front of his biological sister, every other “sister” became less important.
Things reaching this point wasn’t what he wanted either.
“How… did we end up like this?”
Shen Nanyue sneered.
“I want to ask you the same thing. We grew up together. We had feelings and history between us. So why did you treat An’an like this? Why did you treat me like this?”
Chen Mu looked up at her, wanting to see guilt in her eyes.
But he saw nothing.
She could use him so naturally and unapologetically—so what reason did he have to continue cherishing her like he once had?
He remained silent for a long time.
Shen Nanyue knew she would get nothing more out of him.
Coldly, she said, “I won’t let off anyone who hurt my sister. Chen Mu, prepare yourself.”
After saying that, she turned to leave.
Behind her came Chen Mu’s faint voice, almost like a murmur.
“As a former friend, let me give you one last warning. Zhou Yushen’s identity isn’t simple. You’d better be careful of him.”
Shen Nanyue rolled her eyes and walked back toward her family.
Chen Mu stared at her retreating figure, the pain in his chest refusing to stop.
The bond between them ended at this very moment.
From now on, they would stand irreconcilably opposed.
— The end of the Chapter–
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