Chapter 29: How Could It Possibly Be Li Jingyan You Slept With?

The side parlor was dimly lit. Liu Yanyan slumped on the soft sofa. The frenzy and rage from the earlier banquet had receded like a tide, and the returning clarity of her mind left her trembling with nervousness.

"What... what have I done?"

To have pushed Wen Yan in front of everyone, to have rushed upstairs and hammered on the door, to have shrieked about her affair with Li Jingyan and even their child in front of so many shareholders...

"No... no..."

Liu Yanyan began to shake uncontrollably, a profound terror spreading through her entire body as her fingernails dug deep into her palms. She was finished. She had thoroughly ruined Qiao Guodong's plan and destroyed all the value she held in her father's eyes.

*Click.*

The lock clicked, and the door was pushed open.

Liu Yu walked in with a dark face, the air pressure around him chillingly low. Like a startled bird, Liu Yanyan bolted upright from the sofa, only for her legs to give way, sending her crashing to the floor with a thud. She crawled toward Liu Yu, weeping:

"Dad! Dad, I really didn't mean to! I don't know what came over me! I was just under too much pressure, I..."

*Slap!*

An incredibly loud slap landed squarely on her face, sending her reeling to the floor. Her ears rang, and her cheek burned with fiery pain.

"Useless trash!" Liu Yu’s voice was bone-chilling. "You couldn't hold your composure at all! How long have I paved the way for you? Huh? After all this time, you couldn't even force Li Jingyan to divorce and marry you! I told you so many times! Be patient! Keep your cool! And yet you cause such a disaster for me! You’re like mud that can’t be plastered onto a wall!"

He panted heavily, pointing at Liu Yanyan’s nose as he cursed:

"Now look! Not only is your plan down the drain, you’ve ruined everything for your Uncle Qiao as well! Do you have any idea how much effort I spent just to plant you by Li Jingyan’s side? It’s all over now!"

Liu Yanyan covered her face in terror. Hearing the mention of "Uncle Qiao’s plan" made her tremble even more violently. She grasped at a final straw, sobbing:

"No, Dad! We... I still have a son! His flesh and blood! He won't be too... he won't be too hard on me! Dad! He... he will forgive me! Give me one more chance!"

"His flesh and blood?" Liu Yu sounded as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world. He lunged forward, his rough fingers gripping Liu Yanyan’s chin and forcing her to look up. "I knew girls were unreliable, but I never imagined that I, Liu Yu, would produce something as dim-witted as a pig!"

"Dad..." Liu Yanyan cried from the pain.

"Give you another chance? What kind of dream are you having?" Liu Yu shoved her away with disgust, as if casting off something filthy. "His flesh and blood? Ha, Li Jingyan is impotent! How do you think that child came to be?"

Liu Yanyan was struck as if by lightning. She froze, even forgetting to weep. "W-what does that mean?"

"Did you really think it was Li Jingyan you spent those nights with?" Liu Yu’s eyes were cold. "I created such perfect opportunities, sending you to his side, hoping you could win him over and secure the Li family connection! And what did you do? I gave you the chance, but you were useless! You couldn't even figure out whose bed you were climbing into!"

"What?" Liu Yanyan felt the world spinning; her entire worldview had collapsed. "The man I slept with... wasn't Li Jingyan? Then... then who was it?"

"His father, of course!" Liu Yu’s tone was grim. "I worked so hard to recommend you to President Qiao, giving you the qualifications to be the Qiao family’s daughter-in-law! How could you repay me like this, huh?"

"President Qiao...?" Liu Yanyan was completely dazed. The high-and-mighty helmsman of the Qiao Group, whom she had only ever seen in financial news? With her...? A massive sense of humiliation and betrayal washed over her. She screamed, scrambled up from the floor, and tried to shove Liu Yu in a fit of hysteria: "How could you do this to me? I am your daughter!"

A flash of malice crossed Liu Yu’s eyes, and he kicked her in the stomach without mercy!

"Ugh!"

Liu Yanyan groaned in agony, falling heavily to the floor and curling into a ball, unable to catch her breath.

"Do you know how much status I had to spend to let President Qiao lower himself to have this child with you?" Liu Yu looked down at her with no trace of pity. "What are you angry about? This was your greatest bargaining chip! And now you’ve destroyed it all!"

Liu Yanyan was in too much pain to speak, despair washing over her like a freezing tide. She struggled, crawling inch by inch to Liu Yu’s feet, clutching his trousers in a final, desperate plea:

"Dad... I... I can still make Li Jingyan change his mind... just give me one more chance... please..."

Liu Yu looked at his daughter, who lay like mud at his feet, his last shred of patience exhausted.

"Forget it." He coldly pulled his foot away. "I never should have held any hope for a fool like you."

He straightened his suit and ordered those outside:

"Someone, take her back. From today on, she has no connection to the Liu family. The money in her account... consider it my final act of paternal duty."

"No! Dad! Don't!" Liu Yanyan let out a desperate cry, but Liu Yu had already left without looking back. Her wails could not buy back even a shred of his memory.

In the world of the wealthy, nothing is more common than so-called "flesh and blood."

Liu Yanyan was dragged away like trash dumped on the side of the road and returned to the so-called "home" she shared with Li Jingyan.

"Ding! Liu Yanyan revenge successful. System progress increased by 3%." The system’s notification echoed in Wen Yan’s mind.

At this moment, Wen Yan was sitting in a private room at a high-end restaurant, across from Qiao Chenye, who had arrived in a hurry.

"System, open real-time surveillance of Liu Yanyan’s home," Wen Yan murmured internally. As she elegantly sliced her steak, looking out the window with feigned casualness, the scene inside Liu Yanyan’s apartment appeared before her eyes.

Qiao Chenye looked at her, keenly sensing that she seemed distracted, yet carried an odd sense of... anticipation?

"Why the sudden invitation to dinner?" Qiao Chenye asked, his eyes never leaving her face.

Wen Yan smiled. Just as she was about to speak, her brow furrowed slightly—on the monitor, Li Jingyan had arrived home. His face was terrifyingly dark; it wasn't just anger, it was a murderous aura. Liu Yanyan seemed to be trying to find the words to apologize, but Li Jingyan had already lunged at her!

Wen Yan immediately pulled out her phone, her movements shockingly fast. Her tone instantly shifted to one of panic, laced with tears:

"Hello? Officer? I want to report a crime! Apartment 301, Building X, XX Residential Complex! There’s a man... I hear screaming inside! It’s terrifying! And... and I think I saw the homeowner walk in with a kitchen knife earlier! Please, go check!"

She gave the address precisely and hung up immediately. The panicked expression on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a cold calm, and a subtle, almost imperceptible curve tugged at the corner of her lips.

The speed of this transformation sent a chill through Qiao Chenye, who sat opposite her, causing a cold sweat to break out on his back. He tilted his head, testing the waters: "You're sending him to prison? So thoughtful?"

Wen Yan picked up her napkin to dab the corners of her mouth. She looked up at him, her eyes innocent yet laced with a hint of wickedness:

"Why wouldn't I? Aren't villains supposed to be like this?" She paused, looking at Qiao Chenye meaningfully: "Besides, haven't you already joined me in this endeavor? I have a grudge against them, and revenge is only natural. But what about you? President Qiao, what is your motive?"

Qiao Chenye looked at her, shook his head with a resigned smile, his tone filled with indulgence: "I’m just... purely evil."

The two exchanged a glance and burst into laughter, though the smiles were filled with layers of complex meaning.

Wen Yan continued her meal, "watching" the drama unfold on the monitor.