Chapter 59
In the quiet of the deep night, in the old residence of the Duan family, Duan Songtao stood in the garden, smoking. Secretary Wu stood at a distance, too afraid to approach.
The old man had been deeply hurt today.
The scene at the Civil Affairs Bureau, where Duan Yang had caused a scene earlier, left Duan Songtao trembling with anger when he saw it.
For some time, Duan Yang had been coming around Duan Songtao, pretending to have turned over a new leaf, making the old man believe there was still hope for him—he could still repent. But after playing this act for so long, Duan Yang had finally told the old man that he had no regrets at all.
If Duan Yang had truly realized his mistakes and felt guilty about what he had done to Shen Yan, he wouldn’t have dared to claim that he loved Shen Yan. He wouldn’t have done those despicable things either.
Duan Songtao had built the Duan family business from scratch, struggling in the business world for years. He had never done anything to betray anyone in his life. Yet, he ended up with a son who had no prospects, and a grandson who was even worse.
At nearly eighty years old, with only a few years left to live, how could the old man not be heartbroken by the actions of the only family he had left?
Despite all this, Duan Songtao still held onto some hope for Duan Yang. He wanted to believe that Duan Yang had just been temporarily confused. So, he immediately called Duan Yang, only for his son—who had always feared him—to turn against him, telling him to stay out of his business.
The old man spent the whole afternoon sitting silently in his study.
By the evening, he still hoped to call Su Yunzhe and Shen Yan, hoping that, for his sake, they would give Duan Yang another chance.
But his call didn’t go through, and Duan Yang was once again causing trouble online.
Duan Songtao called Duan Yang repeatedly, sent people to find him, but the calls went unanswered and Duan Yang could not be located.
He was furious, his anger nearly bringing him to his knees.
But that wasn’t even the most crushing blow he had received tonight.
A well-known financial blogger had posted a tweet, revealing that someone had been purchasing large amounts of Duan Corporation stock in the secondary market, and had signed several betting agreements with various investment banks. The shares acquired through these deals were nearing ten percent of the company, and if the agreements were to be fulfilled, the person would purchase another fifteen percent from the investment banks. At that point, they would control at least twenty-five percent of Duan Corporation’s stock.
The moment the post went up, professional institutions quickly shared it, confirming its authenticity, and various experts made their own analyses. The conclusion: the person behind the scheme was Duan Yang and a holding company under his and his mother’s name.
This news caused an uproar, as Duan Songtao only owned twenty-seven percent of Duan Corporation. If Duan Yang bought up twenty-five percent, and combined with the five percent he had inherited from his father, Duan Yang would become the largest shareholder in the company!
Duan Yang was trying to seize the lifetime of effort Duan Songtao had invested into Duan Corporation!
Was this still human?
Netizens, who had been led astray by online trolls earlier, now turned against Duan Yang, cursing him as a vile person.
But no one was more heartbroken than Duan Songtao.
His grandson, who had been raised in the palm of his hand, had turned into an ungrateful, backstabbing wolf!
From the moment the news broke, the old man had been standing in the garden, smoking one cigarette after another.
The year had just passed, and the weather was still cool. Duan Songtao, who was sensitive to the cold and had a weak heart, seemed to be getting worse with every passing moment, and it was beginning to worry Secretary Wu.
Having followed the old man for many years, Secretary Wu couldn’t stand seeing him like this and finally approached him.
“Old Master Duan, it’s not certain that this is true, is it? The company is still investigating, right?”
Duan Songtao shook his head. “No need to investigate. It’s definitely true. That little beast has been acting obediently in front of me, just so he could try to take over Duan Corporation from Si Chen. He’s only been pretending to be a good son. Now that he thinks he can secure the company for himself, he doesn’t even take my calls anymore. He’s just like his father!”
Suddenly, the old man covered his face, unsure if he was more angry or sad.
Years ago, when his eldest son had been killed by that wretched family, he should have never forgiven them!
But he had grown old, lost one son, and was left with just one more, who, day after day, came to him with apologies. He believed him. He had actually trusted a wretch who had abandoned his own brother for the family fortune and had raised that son as well.
How foolish he had been!
The old man suddenly felt as though he had aged ten more years. His eyes were filled with sorrow.
Meanwhile, online, the exposure of Duan Yang’s actions continued, with more revelations from his former classmates, family servants, coworkers, and even his former manager, Yu Lin. They all confirmed that Duan Yang’s supposed respect and admiration for Duan Songtao had been a lie. He was only after the family fortune.
It was as if the walls were crumbling and everyone was pushing him down, but it didn’t matter. With each new revelation, Duan Yang’s image as a cold-blooded, vile person became more solidified. Coupled with his previous actions of infidelity, abuse, and illegal detention, he quickly became a figure of public scorn, a trash that everyone despised.
The next day, Su Yunzhe’s lawyer had all the materials ready and filed a lawsuit in court for divorce, while also suing Duan Yang for domestic violence and illegal detention.
Upon hearing about the online revelations, Duan Yang was furious. He thought Su Yunzhe was despicable and shameless for even investigating his secret stock acquisitions, but he wasn’t as angry as he should have been.
Anyway, no matter how much netizens cursed him, it wouldn’t cost him a single ounce of flesh. Duan Corporation was bound to be his sooner or later.
As for Shen Yan… he would eventually take him too, humiliating him thoroughly before tossing him aside, telling Su Yunzhe, “The person you cherish is nothing but trash in my eyes. This is the price you pay for daring to strike at me.”
Just thinking about Duan Corporation becoming his, and imagining Su Yunzhe’s despair after Shen Yan was taken from him, Duan Yang didn’t care about a few curses from online users. It didn’t bother him at all.
As for the accusations of domestic violence and illegal detention—what evidence did they have?
Domestic violence couldn’t be proven just by a video; it needed an injury report.
After so long, even if Su Yunzhe was some kind of saint, he couldn’t possibly find an injury report. Without that, the most Duan Yang would face was detention.
And as for illegal detention—who could prove that? Based on a servant’s testimony?
So, he wasn’t worried in the slightest.
When the trial day arrived, Duan Yang walked in confidently, even giving a lengthy speech to reporters before the session, making all kinds of shameless declarations to Shen Yan.
Shen Yan didn’t attend the hearing. Due to his pregnancy, he had requested for his lawyer to represent him, and the court had approved it. So, he didn’t have to face Duan Yang’s disgusting face.
He felt lazy with his pregnancy—his body didn’t want to move, and his mind didn’t either. All he did every day was eat, sleep, play games, and write. He didn’t want to worry about anything else, and Su Yunzhe didn’t let him.
He didn’t know that just before the trial began, Duan Yang had received a phone call that turned his face pale. After that, Duan Yang appeared dazed in court, responding to questions in a confused manner.
He had originally planned to firmly insist that he and Shen Yan still had feelings for each other. The court’s judgment on divorce was based on the lack of feelings between the couple. As long as he stuck to his story, the court would have trouble ruling in favor of divorce without the couple having been separated for two years.
However, with his mind in disarray, Duan Yang’s contradictory answers to the leading questions from the opposing lawyer led to the judge and jury unanimously agreeing, and they declared that Duan Yang and Shen Yan were officially divorced, with the marriage dissolved immediately.
As for the domestic violence and illegal detention charges, those would be addressed in a separate hearing in two weeks.
The court case had attracted widespread attention, and the announcement of the divorce sparked an outpouring of support online. Some fans even took to the internet to wish “Suyan couple” (a nickname for Su Yunzhe and Shen Yan) a “happy forever.”
After finishing a game, Shen Yan saw the trending topic online and couldn’t help but laugh. He thought netizens were such strange creatures.
But his mood was genuinely good.
He had finally rid himself of that scum, Duan Yang.
Although they hadn’t actually met that many times since he came here, the fact that they were still legally married had always hung over him.
Now, he was with Su Yunzhe, and even the idea of having sex with him felt awkward, especially now that he was pregnant and concerned people might call his child illegitimate.
Now, all those worries were gone!
Honestly, if it weren’t for his pregnancy, he might have just grabbed Su Yunzhe, dragged him to bed, and made up for all the time they had to wait, to fully experience what it felt like to be free of any restrictions.
But for now, all he could do was drop his phone and jump into Su Yunzhe’s arms, kissing him.
Su Yunzhe had just finished preparing lunch and came over to call him to eat. But when Shen Yan threw himself at him, he was more than happy to reciprocate, pulling him into a passionate kiss.
Shen Yan, with his lips swollen and glistening with moisture from the kiss, pushed him away in embarrassment. His lips were irresistible, and Su Yunzhe couldn’t help but feel a physical reaction. He sighed helplessly, pulling Shen Yan into his arms.
“Don’t be so forward, darling. My self-control is weak,” Su Yunzhe mumbled as he rubbed his face in Shen Yan’s neck.
Shen Yan, grinning mischievously, pushed him away. “Get off! Don’t take advantage of me. I’m the one who’s doing you a favor by having your baby. How dare you complain?”
“Not at all, not at all!” Su Yunzhe immediately apologized, realizing his mistake. “I’m sorry. It’s tough for you to be pregnant, and I shouldn’t have said that. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again!”
Shen Yan, in a good mood, let it go and pulled him to the dining table.
Since his pregnancy, he’d developed a strong craving for sour and spicy food, so Su Yunzhe always made sure to prepare something flavorful. Today’s meal was no exception, all tangy and spicy.
After finishing the meal, Shen Yan suddenly remembered to ask him, “What did you do to Duan Yang?”
“Hm?” Su Yunzhe was cutting fruit, and he looked up with a smile. “Weren’t you avoiding thinking? Why are you asking about this?”
Shen Yan nodded. “I’m curious. I saw some screenshots of Duan Yang online. It looks like he received a call right before the trial, and his face went pale. After that, he was all out of sorts. The phone call must have been special. I think it’s connected to you, right?”
Recently, there had been a flood of negative news about Duan Yang online. Despite all the terrible things he had done, Duan Yang still managed to say vile things before the trial, showing that he had already given up on caring about how others viewed him.
Such a shameless person—what could possibly make him so terrified all of a sudden? During the trial, he couldn’t even focus, despite his own lawyer’s repeated reminders.
If Su Yunzhe hadn’t reassured him, Shen Yan would have suspected that the phone call was some sort of threat made by Su Yunzhe’s people. Something like: “Your mother is in my hands. If you don’t do as I say, she won’t make it out alive.”
