Chapter Eighteen: This Engagement, I Am Determined to Break

By the time Wen Zhi regained her senses, she was already inside the familiar black car. Through the window, she caught a glimpse of Shen Dan standing in the distance, watching her.

The distance was too great and her vision too blurred for her to make out the expression on his face. She also watched as Z City slowly faded into the distance.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked.

"I can find out anything, mute."

Rang Wu, who was driving, didn't dare to move a muscle. His hands, gripping the steering wheel, trembled, yet he forced a look of calm, terrified of making even the slightest error in his driving. In the years he had been with Bo Ye, this was the first time he had seen him this furious. He hadn't expected that the seemingly soft Miss Wen was actually such a vicious person. That would have been one thing, but to dare lay a hand on the Young Miss? She was practically begging for death.

"You are to stay here. You are not allowed to take a single step outside until Zhuang Sui wakes up."

His voice was devoid of warmth, and his grip on her was relentless. "I will schedule the surgery for tomorrow."

"Surgery? What surgery?"

"You dare ask? Obviously, to get rid of that little bastard in your belly."

Wen Zhi’s shoulders trembled. Seeing this, Bo Ye tilted her chin up with his hand, his gaze probing as if he wanted to peel her skin back and see through her entirely. "Do not look at me with those eyes."

He unfolded the plane ticket he had been clutching to examine it. "France? You were planning to go to France. You want to study, to fly high? Forget it—you won't be going anywhere."

He tore the ticket into shreds. The man then stood up and left.

The vast house was left to her alone. Once, it had been filled with the warmth of life, even that bowl of steaming soup. Now, it all felt like a mirage, a bubble. That man could lift her to the clouds on a whim, only to dash her into the dirt just as quickly.

The distance between the clouds and the mud.

She was someone accustomed to the mud; she had grown used to it long ago. It was just that someone had happened to pick her up for their own benefit, only to discard her immediately upon realizing she was dirty.

Wen Zhi stared hopelessly at the ceiling.

***

Wen Zhengshan had been waiting outside the Bo residence for who knows how long. When Bo Ye’s father, Bo Heng, returned from a business trip, he found his nominal in-law kneeling before him.

"Why are you here?" Bo Heng asked in surprise.

"In-law, for the sake of Wen Zhi, please, can’t you let the Wen family off the hook?"

"Hey, get up and talk! What kind of display is this!"

Bo Heng looked at Wen Zhengshan with utter disdain. He said this, but made no effort to help him up, fearing that the man might try to claim a connection to him.

"Bo Ye! Bo Ye has already started driving down the share price of the Wen Corporation!"

"How could this happen?"

"We don't know! We don't even know where Wen Zhi has gone!" Wen Zhengshan wore a look of profound grief, as if losing a daughter like Wen Zhi were a source of immense agony.

"Get Bo Ye back here at once!" Bo Heng snapped at Jiang Shiwei, who stood nearby.

A flicker of shrewdness crossed Jiang Shiwei’s eyes. "Very well."

"You get up first, Mr. Wen," Jiang Shiwei said.

Wen Zhengshan pretended to wipe his eyes. "Very well."

"When Bo Ye returns, I will certainly teach that brat a lesson!" Bo Heng roared.

Jiang Shiwei immediately added, "It’s normal for children to be difficult to manage once they've grown up. Besides, Bo Ye’s achievements now far surpass what he did within the Bo family; it’s only natural for him to be a bit arrogant."

Seeing the veins bulge on Bo Heng’s hands, Wen Zhengshan, who was sitting awkwardly to the side, trembled, not yet fully understanding the situation.

"Bang—"

As if on cue, Bo Ye walked openly into the ancestral hall. He looked haggard; his clothes hadn't been changed in days, and the stubble on his face had grown thick.

"So you finally know how to come back! Look at the mess you’ve made while I was away from W City! Even the Wens have come here to plead for mercy!" Bo Heng shouted.

"I have already told the Wen family that I intend to call off the engagement," Bo Ye said coldly.

"Bang—"

An expensive vase shattered against the man’s head, leaving a deep gash. Bo Ye didn't have time to dodge, and a trail of blood began to stream down his face. Rang Wu rushed forward, taking off his own jacket to press against the wound to stop the bleeding.

"You..."

"It’s one thing to play with women, but to get one pregnant and then refuse to acknowledge it?" Bo Heng was incensed. He had long since arranged a suitable marriage for his son, but Wen Zhi had become a nuisance, ruining his reputation in W City. Fortunately, the Bo family’s wealth was vast enough that no one dared speak against him to his face.

"Aunt Jiang, you know better than anyone how I ended up in bed with her," Bo Ye said, ignoring the pain, his blood-stained eyes fixed solely on her.

Jiang Shiwei recoiled, startled by his gaze. It took a moment for her to regain her composure and her voice. "Bo Ye, how does this involve me?"

"Tell me, what exactly did you put in my drink that night?"

"Rang Wu, bring the documents."

Rang Wu spread out the files. Wen Zhengshan leaned in to look. They contained lab reports and surveillance footage of a man in black dropping drugs into Bo Ye’s glass. Every detail was laid out, the sequence of events clear and undeniable.

Bo Heng looked through the papers in disbelief several times. "Is this your handiwork?"

"It’s not me! The reports say I was with you that day!" Jiang Shiwei waved her hands in panic.

Wen Zhengshan pondered for a moment, finally reaching a conclusion: it wasn't just his daughter who had been drugged—it was all a premeditated scheme.

Jiang Shiwei began to sob softly, her cries echoing in the air, stirring a sense of unease in everyone present.

"You sent someone to..."

Before Bo Ye could finish, Bo Heng interrupted. "Enough! How much do you hate your mother? All these years, she has never had a child of her own and has always treated you and Zhuang Sui as her own!"

"Father, my mother died in that car accident long ago. And tell me, do you even know how old Zhuang Sui is now? She has been with you for so many years—how can you even say such things?" Bo Ye retorted.

"You bastard!" Bo Heng was so dizzy with rage that he tried to kick him, but Bo Ye dodged it with ease. "Father, look after yourself. This engagement will be broken, no matter what. I will never allow Zhuang Sui to suffer the same fate as my mother."

Bo Heng was struck silent by those words. That car accident—the one the police had spent years investigating without ever finding a cause—had taken Bo Ye’s mother’s life. It had also left his newborn sister mute and suffering from severe mental illness. It had been several years since Bo Ye had taken her away; he couldn't even say how old she was now, or how tall.

Bo Ye’s figure disappeared from the ancestral hall.

Bo Heng pushed away the woman clinging to him. "Look at the mess you’ve caused!"

Jiang Shiwei looked on in shock.

"I have been far too indulgent with you!"

He knew everything now. The documents, the interruption—everything.

"Heng, it really wasn't me..." Jiang Shiwei tried to crawl toward him, but Bo Heng slapped her to the floor. "Get out!"