Chapter 4

Lu Wenchuan thought I was done for, and his eyes lit up.

“Mingtang, is he about to cry? I knew he couldn’t keep it up for long.”

He took out his phone and pointed it at me.

“Come on, Brother Yanzhou, say ‘I was wrong’ to the camera.”

“As long as you admit you’re not good enough for Mingtang, I’ll open the door.”

I looked up at him.

“Lu Wenchuan, are you sure you want to keep going?”

He froze for a second, then snorted in contempt.

“We’re already this far, and you’re still threatening me?”

“Jiang Yanzhou, you don’t really think you’re still the President Jiang everyone feared in the Shen Group, do you?”

“Your position was given to you by Mingtang. She can give it to you, and she can take it back.”

I slowly straightened up.

“Then ask her whether the Shen Group can still take my position back now.”

A trace of gloom flashed in Shen Mingtang’s eyes.

“Jiang Yanzhou, what do you mean?”

I looked at her through the rain.

“What I mean is, you’d better pray I’m fine tonight, because if I’m not, then tomorrow there won’t be an engagement banquet for the Shen Group—only a liquidation meeting.”

The crowd burst into laughter again, thinking I was just talking tough.

Lu Wenchuan laughed so hard he bent over.

“A liquidation meeting? Liquidate who? The Shen family?”

“Jiang Yanzhou, are you frozen stupid?”

Shen Mingtang’s face darkened.

“Enough.”

“Jiang Yanzhou, don’t make yourself out to be that important.”

“The projects in your hands, at the end of the day, all belong to the Shen Group. The connections you have were also made on the Shen Group’s platform.”

“Without the Shen Group, you’re nothing.”

I looked at her.

The last bit of pain in my heart burned to ash at that moment too.

“Fine, Shen Mingtang. Then let’s see tomorrow.”

“Without whom, exactly, is really nothing.”

Lu Wenchuan didn’t like the look in my eyes.

He wanted to see me cry, wanted to see me beg for mercy, wanted to see me lose my dignity in front of everyone.

But I didn’t.

And so the smile on his face slowly disappeared.

“Jiang Yanzhou, you’re pretty stubborn.”

He handed the umbrella to someone beside him and personally walked to the electronic lock.

“Since you refuse to admit you’re wrong, then let’s make it harder.”

He pressed another button, and the automatic blackout curtains around the conservatory suddenly dropped.

The thick black drapes slowly covered the transparent glass.

The light was cut off, and my breathing instantly became chaotic.

Enclosed space.

Darkness.

The sound of water.

All three things came crashing down at once.

My vision went dark.

Lu Wenchuan stood outside the door and looked at me through the last crack.

“Didn’t you say you were going to liquidate us?”

“Come on, get out of there first!”

The curtains fell completely, and the conservatory was plunged into darkness, with only the overhead white lights flickering on and off like a malfunction.

The water still kept falling, each splash sounding like the rain leaking through the old factory building.

It felt like I could hear my father calling me again.

“Yanzhou, crawl out.”

“Don’t look back.”

I bit down hard on my lower lip, and the taste of blood spread through my mouth.

I couldn’t fall. Not now, at least.

There were still people outside waiting to laugh at me.

Shen Mingtang was still standing there, waiting for me to lower my head and admit defeat.

I groped my way toward the corner.

Inside the conservatory stood a decorative wrought-iron flower rack.

I used all my strength to lift it and slammed it hard against the glass door.

The first hit only left a crack in the glass.

The people outside jumped in fright.

Someone shouted, “Is he crazy?”

“That’s bulletproof glass. He can’t smash it!”

“Jiang Yanzhou, stop struggling. Isn’t it better to just admit you were wrong?”

I didn’t stop.

A second hit.

A third.

My wrist was shaken numb, the web between my thumb and index finger split open, and blood mixed with rainwater dripped to the ground.

The cracks in the glass spread thicker and thicker.

Lu Wenchuan finally panicked and slapped the door while shouting, “Jiang Yanzhou, don’t do anything stupid!”

“If that glass breaks, you’ll get hurt.”

I let out a cold laugh.

“Now you’re afraid I’ll get hurt?”

Lu Wenchuan’s face went pale, and he looked back at Shen Mingtang.

“Mingtang, he’s really going to smash the door.”

Shen Mingtang frowned hard.

“Jiang Yanzhou, stop! You’ll only make this uglier.”

I swung the flower rack and smashed it down again.

With a loud bang, a corner of the glass door finally broke open.

Cold wind rushed in.

I lifted my foot and kicked viciously at the crack.