The man on the couch stood up, turned around, and revealed his face—none other than Duan Yang.
“Got any more tricks up your sleeve? If not, come with me quietly,” Duan Yang said calmly, as if everything was under control.
Shen Yan turned around and saw Yu Lin standing in the doorway, blocking the only exit to the lounge. Was this to prevent him from running away if he saw Duan Yang?
Duan Yang seemed to have some self-awareness.
Without Yu Lin blocking the way, Shen Yan was really planning to turn and leave—after all, there was nothing to say to Duan Yang.
“Let’s talk.”
Since he couldn’t leave directly, Shen Yan decided not to leave at all. He walked over and sat on the couch, his tone relaxed and neutral.
Duan Yang was surprised. He thought that Shen Yan would react like a mouse seeing a cat, but instead, the other party was so calm.
Shen Yan ignored his confusion and got straight to the point, “If I’m not mistaken, you’re unwilling to divorce because of the inheritance rights, right?”
A flash of surprise crossed Duan Yang’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a darkened expression. “Nonsense!”
Shen Yan looked at him, feeling disgusted by his hypocrisy, but his face remained composed. He continued calmly, “I’m not talking nonsense, you know the truth. Your grandfather wants to pass the family business to Ling Sicheng, but you think it should belong to you. That’s why you agreed to marry me. You know how your grandfather feels about my grandmother, and you think if you just marry me and pretend that we have a good relationship, you can use me to compete with Ling Sicheng for the inheritance rights.”
Shen Yan had never understood why Duan Yang was so adamant about not wanting to divorce. But after hearing Ling Sicheng’s story, things started to make sense.
What Duan Yang said about Duan Songtao and the original owner’s grandmother, Shen Yan had thought was fabricated at the time. Now he realized it was true.
With this context, Duan Songtao treated the original owner differently. That’s why Duan Yang thought that as long as he held onto Shen Yan, Duan Songtao would hesitate between him and Ling Sicheng and wouldn’t side entirely with Ling Sicheng.
Shen Yan felt like Duan Yang’s intelligence must be questionable!
But Duan Yang didn’t think so. He only felt that his thoughts had been exposed, and worse, it was someone he had always looked down upon who did it. This made him incredibly frustrated.
“Shut up!” His fists clenched, veins bulging as his teeth ground together.
Clearly, Shen Yan knew that if he said one more word, Duan Yang would not hesitate to throw a punch.
But Shen Yan remained unfazed. “I suggest you let me finish, it will be better for you.”
Duan Yang’s raised fist froze in mid-air. His face was still dark with anger, his eyes nearly burning holes into Shen Yan, but in the end, he pulled back his fist and sat down again, glaring at Shen Yan. “Fine, I’ll give you a chance. Let’s see what else you’ve got.”
Shen Yan sneered inwardly, thinking, How is Duan Yang even the male lead with this IQ? If he really wanted me to stabilize Duan Songtao and compete with Ling Sicheng for the inheritance, why does he think I’ll return with him when he acts like this?
Of course, Duan Yang probably still viewed him as the original owner who had deep feelings for him.
“You don’t think you’ve approached this problem all wrong, do you? Why do you think I, an outsider, could sway your grandfather’s decision? Just because of my late grandmother? Duan Yang, you’re too naïve! If your grandfather really told you that, it’s only to give you an excuse to shut you up. You can’t possibly believe that I’m more important to him than his own grandson, right?”
Duan Yang’s face darkened even more, probably because of the scorn in Shen Yan’s voice. He hated being looked down on.
But he didn’t act recklessly. He still stared at Shen Yan, evidently realizing that Shen Yan’s words had a point.
Shen Yan continued, “You shouldn’t be wasting time on me. It’s pointless, and it won’t get you anywhere. What you should be spending your time figuring out is why your grandfather insists on giving the family business to Ling Sicheng. Is it because he’s biased? That he favors a grandson he’s only met three times over one who has been by his side since childhood? People are emotional creatures. Your grandfather never had that kind of relationship with Ling Sicheng, so how could he possibly favor him over you?”
“Then why is he doing this?” Duan Yang blurted out.
Shen Yan shrugged. “The reason is something you’ll have to figure out for yourself. I’m only saying this to make you understand that my existence won’t have any influence on your grandfather’s decision. So, divorce me. Stop wasting time. It’s not good for either of us.”
Duan Yang froze, actually taking Shen Yan’s words seriously. He began to wonder why his grandfather would do this. But before he could continue thinking, Shen Yan suddenly brought up divorce again.
He immediately felt tricked, realizing that all of Shen Yan’s words were just to get him to divorce.
The anger that had been suppressed suddenly exploded again, and he shouted, “Divorce, divorce, divorce! I won’t divorce! Stop talking nonsense and come back with me!”
With that, he stood up suddenly and reached for Shen Yan.
Shen Yan didn’t expect this. After everything he had said so clearly, Duan Yang suddenly went off the rails. He quickly flipped over the back of the couch to avoid Duan Yang, now fired up himself. “Duan Yang, are you crazy? This is a public place! You’re making a scene, and it’s not good for you!”
To his surprise, Duan Yang, who usually cared about his image, didn’t care at all. “Hmph, what do I have to fear? We’re legally married, I’m taking my wife home, what’s embarrassing about that? But you, aren’t you worried about making a scene and ending up on the news? Letting Su Yunzhe know you’re a man pretending to be a woman and deceiving his feelings?”
Shen Yan froze for a moment before he finally realized what Duan Yang meant—he was willing to throw away his entertainment career.
Well, of course. What could his career in entertainment compare to the hundreds of billions of family assets?
This meant that if he couldn’t convince Duan Yang today, he would really be dragged back by him.
After all, Shen Yan was a homebody who could barely climb six flights of stairs without getting out of breath. There was no way he could take on Duan Yang and Yu Lin.
Even if he called the police, Duan Yang and he were married, so the police would only mediate and eventually end up making him go back with Duan Yang.
Therefore, the only option left was to reason with Duan Yang.
“Duan Yang, everything I said is true. You divorcing me won’t affect your grandfather at all…”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
But Duan Yang didn’t even give him a chance to continue. He immediately cut him off and yelled for Yu Lin’s help, “Yu Lin, are you blind? Come help…”
“Su… Su Zong?” Yu Lin suddenly stammered, looking toward the door.
Duan Yang was stunned for a moment, and then he saw Su Yunzhe quickly walk in.
He was taken aback, but when he noticed Shen Yan’s face turned as pale as paper with his back to the door, he suddenly felt a rush of satisfaction, as if venting his frustrations. He was in a good mood and greeted Su Yunzhe with a smile, “Su Zong, you came at the perfect time! Let me introduce you to someone, my wife Shen… mmm…”
Before Duan Yang could finish his sentence, he received a heavy punch to the cheek.
It was Su Yunzhe who had hit him!
Duan Yang staggered, the taste of blood spreading in his mouth.
He covered his cheek and regained his balance, but his emotions couldn’t be controlled, and he roared, “Su Yunzhe, are you crazy?!”
Su Yunzhe responded with another punch. After landing it, he grabbed Shen Yan’s hand and turned to leave.
But Duan Yang went crazy!
He had always avoided offending Su Yunzhe, but recently, he had sensed that Su Yunzhe was targeting him. His anger had already been simmering. Now, with Su Yunzhe attacking him without any explanation, how could he stand it?
His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Su Yunzhe’s hand holding Shen Yan’s. He sneered, “Su Yunzhe, don’t tell me you really fancy Shen Yan? That guy’s a real man, with… you know what I mean. He’s someone I’ve slept with… ah!”
This time, Su Yunzhe kicked him.
The kick landed squarely on Duan Yang’s stomach.
Duan Yang screamed in pain as he was kicked to the ground.
Su Yunzhe released Shen Yan’s hand, stepped forward, and started kicking Duan Yang again.
Yu Lin stood frozen, completely stunned. Both Su Yunzhe and Duan Yang were important figures. On the surface, they were always amicable. How had Su Yunzhe suddenly attacked Duan Yang?
And what was even more surprising—Su Yunzhe wasn’t hitting Shen Yan, but Duan Yang!
What was going on?
The key was that Duan Yang had only ever been tough with his words. He had been spoiled since childhood and was used to dominating weak people like Shen Yan. But now, with Su Yunzhe pinning him down and kicking him, he had no ability to fight back.
Su Yunzhe was clearly enraged, and he showed no signs of stopping, continuing to hit harder and harder.
Yu Lin suddenly remembered that he had heard a rumor about Su Yunzhe nearly beating a guy to death during his university days when that guy confessed to him. Panicking, he rushed forward, “Su Zong, let’s talk things through. If Brother Yang did something wrong, I’ll apologize on his behalf. Please, don’t go any further!”
But Su Yunzhe didn’t even acknowledge him, and Yu Lin didn’t dare to get any closer, anxiously stomping his feet.
It was Shen Yan, his face pale, who suddenly snapped out of his daze. He rushed forward to stop Su Yunzhe, “Please, stop! Don’t hit him anymore!”
Su Yunzhe stopped kicking, turning to look at Shen Yan. His expression softened slightly, but his tone was still unpleasant, “Are you worried about him?”
Shen Yan instinctively tried to explain, “Of course not! I’m just worried that you’ll…”
He had finally regained his senses after the initial shock of Su Yunzhe’s appearance. Seeing Duan Yang bruised and beaten, and Su Yunzhe looking so grim, it reminded him of what happened in the original story—Su Yunzhe eventually ended up in prison because of his feud with Duan Yang.
He didn’t want Su Yunzhe to get dragged into this mess. It wasn’t worth it!
However, just as the words were on the tip of his tongue, Shen Yan suddenly recalled his complicated and frustrating relationship with Su Yunzhe. He swallowed his words, deciding to kick Duan Yang instead, showing through his actions that he wasn’t at all concerned about Duan Yang, and even felt like taking matters into his own hands.
Su Yunzhe seemed quite pleased with his action. He gave Duan Yang a cold, indifferent glance as he passed by, and casually tossed a remark over his shoulder, “Think before you speak next time.” With that, he took Shen Yan’s hand and began walking out.
Shen Yan felt a wave of relief when he saw that Su Yunzhe had stopped hitting Duan Yang. But at the same time, his heart was in his throat. As Su Yunzhe pulled him along, his body instinctively resisted, trying to pull back against Su Yunzhe’s force.
Su Yunzhe turned his head, his deep, dark eyes landing on Shen Yan’s face. His expression was faint, unreadable.
Shen Yan, feeling guilty, tried to smile, but his voice wavered. “Um… I… I…”
I don’t know you. Who are you?
I still have something to do, we’ll talk later.
I was wrong, please spare me!
I didn’t mean to lie to you… at that time, I was really out of options, honestly…
A flurry of excuses ran through Shen Yan’s mind, but when he met Su Yunzhe’s eyes, for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to say a single word.
Su Yunzhe didn’t rush him. Instead, he calmly watched him, seemingly willing to give him enough time to come up with a reasonable excuse.
Suddenly, Shen Yan felt drained, staring at the hand Su Yunzhe was holding. He stayed silent for a moment, sighed softly, and finally muttered, “Su Yunzhe, I’m sorry. I lied to you… Do with me as you wish.”
Forget it. The situation had reached this point, might as well get it over with!
And as soon as the words of confession and apology left his mouth, Shen Yan realized he felt a strange sense of relief.
It turned out he wasn’t cut out to be a liar—his conscience couldn’t handle it. It was better to confess early and hope for leniency.
He just hoped that Su Yunzhe wasn’t like the character in the original story, cold-blooded and ruthless, and that he would spare him a painless ending.
“Do with you as I wish?” Su Yunzhe’s voice remained calm, still showing no emotion.
Shen Yan didn’t dare to look up, keeping his gaze fixed on their hands, and nodded, “Yes. It’s my fault.”
Though he said that, he was full of uncertainty, not knowing what Su Yunzhe might do to vent his anger.
Would he end up like Duan Yang, getting beaten up so badly?
If that happened, well… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, Shen Yan thought.
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