Chaos

Wei Ming had initially watched the spectacle with indifference, assuming something had gone wrong on Wei Zexuan's end.

"Idiot." Wei Zexuan threw down his phone with a sneer.

"If something really happens to Director Qi, forget me and my mother-the entire Wei Corporation will be finished."

Wei Zexuan's maternal grandfather had only been dead a few years. The old man had always kept Wei Ming under his thumb, and only in the past two years had Wei Ming become chairman in name. Wei Zexuan still held the real power.

Wei Ming was so intent on wrestling power from his own son that he still failed to grasp what losing Director Qi would mean for the Wei Corporation. He simply could not compare to the grandson the old chairman had personally trained.

But he was no fool, either. Half believing Wei Zexuan's words, he hurried to use his own connections to investigate whether Director Qi had really been arrested.

Wei Zexuan watched his pointless efforts coldly. Wei Ming's network was not as extensive as his own. If there were any news to be had, it would have reached him already. Since all they had now were a few words from one of the Qi Family's drivers, Director Qi had clearly been under surveillance for some time. He might even have been secretly watched months ago, when Wei Zexuan's mother had contacted him to get Wei Zexuan out of prison.

The thought of his imprisonment made Wei Zexuan instinctively look up at Wei Zelin.

"Was this your doing?!" Wei Zexuan's eyes reddened as he charged at Wei Zelin, panting like a defeated bull.

But his outstretched arm failed to seize Wei Zelin's collar as he had expected.

"Who do you think you're waving those arms at?!"

An arrogant blond barged through the doorway, shouting as he approached, with a group of bodyguards in black suits behind him. The sight was all too familiar. Shi Yuan's hair stood on end, and he abruptly rose to grab the hem of Wei Zelin's shirt.

Wei Zelin reached back and took his hand. "He's... on our side."

It was rare for him to stumble over his words. Clever as he was, even he could never have imagined that the spoiled brat forced on him would one day become the person he treasured most.

Huang Shiren had actually laid hands on Shi Yuan, which was a problem. In truth, Wei Zelin had countless ways to keep Shi Yuan from ever discovering the connection.

But he had... promised Shi Yuan he would never lie to him again.

"Little Brother Shi~ You're here..."

Under Wei Zelin's oppressive stare, Huang Shiren struggled to finish. "...too."

Huang Shiren felt as though his boss's gaze kept wavering between sinking him into the sea and letting him crawl ashore.

Seriously...?

No way!

His survival instinct drove Huang Shiren to start babbling. "S-sister-in-law, let me introduce myself properly. My full name is Huang Shiren. I was blind before, following that piece of trash Wei Zexuan and causing trouble for you. But I never meant any of it!"

Setting aside that outrageous, inexplicable form of address, Shi Yuan's anxiety eased considerably. He could tell Huang Shiren was on their side.

He let out a breath. "We'll deal with our business later."

Huang Shiren could hardly disagree. He nodded frantically. "Of course, of course."

Someone else present was even more familiar with Blondie.

"Huang Shiren? How did you get in?"

Wei Zexuan's suspicious gaze shifted from him to Wei Zelin.

No one answered him. The butler stood in an inconspicuous corner, keeping his contributions to himself.

"You think buying off a few people lets you take on our Wei Family? Your surname comes from that old bastard Wei Ming. You think you can rely on him to fight our Wei Corporation?"

"Heh..." Wei Zexuan sneered. He assumed these were all petty tricks arranged by Wei Ming. Perhaps Wei Ming and Wei Zelin had been putting on an act in front of them all along.

Ultimately, in his panic, he kept shying away from one possibility: Wei Zelin might... have been pretending all this time, and might even have plotted against them long ago.

Wei Ming also began to sense something was wrong. "Zelin, what's going on? Isn't this the Huang family's boy? What's he doing here?"

"This is a family gathering. Tell him to leave!"

His voice was stern, carrying the authority of a man accustomed to power, but everyone present except Shi Yuan knew he was merely bluffing.

"A family gathering..."

"Whose family? Yours?"

Wei Zelin's cold voice rang out. He was tall to begin with, and since getting together with Shi Yuan, he was no longer as thin and frail as before. As he looked down and questioned Wei Ming, he radiated an oppressive presence, his bearing even more commanding than that of Wei Ming, who had occupied a position of authority for years.

Wei Ming sensed the change in atmosphere too and finally deigned to rise from the sofa. Even so, he was still a head shorter than his fully grown eldest son.

"Ahem..." He cleared his throat twice. Having to tilt his head up to look at Wei Zelin made him slightly uncomfortable.

"I admit I failed in my responsibilities as your father when you were little, but that was because Wei Wanwan forcibly tore your mother and me apart. The Wei Family was rich and powerful then. I had no choice. I..."

"Ha? Hahahaha!" Wei Wanwan laughed until tears streamed from her eyes.

"I tore you and Qi Ling apart? Hahahaha... Wei Ming, oh, Wei Ming. It's only been twenty-odd years, and you've already forgotten how you licked my father's shoes like a dog, begging to marry into our family? Hahaha!"

As though she had heard the funniest joke in the world, Wei Wanwan abandoned her elegant lady's composure and laughed until tears and mucus ran down her face. Her tears only flowed faster and faster.

As the Wei Family's only daughter, she had spent more than twenty years as a pampered heiress under her father's protection. Yet she had still suffered a devastating fall at the hands of this hypocritical man.

"Bring my safes downstairs." Wei Wanwan wiped away her tears with a handkerchief. Apart from her red, swollen eyes, she remained the same proud woman.

When none of the servants present dared move, she sneered again. "So I feed you, house you, and pay you all that money, but now I can't even ask you to do one little thing?"

The servants in the hall had all been sent away, leaving only Sister Hong, who wrung her hands, her gaze wavering. They normally took orders from the butler, and Wei Wanwan rarely spoke to them directly. Without a word from the butler, Sister Hong did not know what to do. Hearing Wei Wanwan grow angry, she hurried forward. "M-madam, which bedroom's safe should we bring down?"

Wei Wanwan replied coldly, "The ones in the bedroom my father used while he was alive."

Sister Hong acknowledged the order and ran upstairs to find the safes.

The butler nodded at Wei Zelin, then sent several more people upstairs to help. The Wei Family had over a dozen safes. Apart from some auction purchases stored at the bank, they had countless other collectibles, far too much for Sister Hong to move alone.

Worried that standing would tire Wei Zelin, Shi Yuan quietly slipped back into the dining room and dragged over a chair for him. "Sit down for a while," he whispered.

Wei Zelin's tense expression softened. He sat down, the two chairs side by side. More importantly, Shi Yuan's heart was close beside his as well.

Watching from behind, Huang Shiren felt terribly aggrieved. Sister-in-law, I don't have a chair either!

He dared not order Shi Yuan around, so he went to fetch one himself. Waiting would take time, after all, and the members of the Wei Family, each preoccupied with their own thoughts, ignored their little movements.

Once a dozen or so safes had been carried downstairs, Sister Hong said breathlessly, "Madam, a few more are built into the walls. Should we find workers to remove them?"

Wei Wanwan looked her over before replying, "That's enough. These will do. The most important things are already here."

Just then, Wei Zexuan came in with a white-haired old man. "Mom, I've brought Lawyer Gu. His grandson is here too."

Behind him, Gu Chengwang, dressed in a suit and rimless glasses, carefully supported his elderly grandfather as they approached.

Shi Yuan had interacted with Gu Chengwang online a few times, but he had never expected his grandfather to be the Wei Family's lawyer. He looked around, then moved his own chair over for the old man.

Gu Chengwang looked at him in surprise, clearly not expecting to encounter Shi Yuan here either. But this was no time to talk. After helping his grandfather sit down, he quietly thanked him.

By then, Wei Wanwan had opened several safes. Ignoring the valuables inside, she selected a few document envelopes.

She treated Gu Chengwang's grandfather with some respect, without the overbearing attitude she showed outsiders. "Uncle Gu, you were the person my father trusted most while he was alive. I've invited you here today to notarize this."

Gu Chengwang's grandfather waved a trembling hand. His hair was completely white, but his eyes remained bright.

After a few pleasantries, Wei Wanwan laid the envelopes on the table. "Now that everyone's here, have a look. Wei Ming, you should know what these are."

Wei Ming's lips trembled, and his fists clenched tightly at his sides. He snatched up an envelope and tore open the kraft paper with shaking hands. Scanning its contents, he said in disbelief, "Impossible. This is impossible..."

He suddenly flew into a rage. "You tore this up right in front of me! You lied to me!"

This was the agreement Old Master Wei had forced him to sign before he married Wei Wanwan. It stipulated that if he and Wei Wanwan ever divorced, he would have no claim to anything belonging to the Wei Family. In other words, he would leave with nothing. Any shares or private assets Wei Wanwan had given him after their marriage would not count.

But shortly after their wedding, he had clearly coaxed Wei Wanwan into stealing the document and destroying it. How was this possible?

With all his scheming rendered worthless in an instant, he furiously tore it apart. When the floor was covered in scraps, his strength deserted him and he collapsed backward, without a single person reaching out to catch him.

Lin Qingxue set the children down and watched helplessly as he lost control. Only once he seemed a little calmer did she help him up.

Wei Ming gripped her arm hard as he rose, squeezing as though he meant to snap it. Lin Qingxue's hands trembled with pain, but she silently endured it without a sound.

Tears streamed down both terrified children's faces, but they had been trained not to make even the slightest sound when they cried.

"Done tearing it up? If not, there are more copies. In the bank's safe-deposit box, with Lawyer Gu, in the safes upstairs, even in my father's grave."

Watching Wei Ming's devastated face, Wei Wanwan said mockingly, "I was stupid, but my father never believed your bullshit for a moment. Wei Ming, I'm divorcing you, and you can forget about getting a single penny from the Wei Family! Now that my son is back, get out of our home with your mistress and your bastards!"

She forcefully released a pent-up breath and snapped, "Zexuan, call the security team!"

Without hesitation, Wei Zexuan pressed the alarm inside the house. The Wei Family's guards arrived quickly, assembling in the Flower House's main hall within five minutes, electric batons in hand.

Wei Ming roared until his voice cracked, "I'm not leaving, and I'm not getting divorced! Wei Wanwan, you'll never get rid of me!"

"Dad, let me give you another hand, then," Wei Zelin said without a trace of emotion.

Huang Shiren immediately drew several documents from inside his jacket and handed them over. "Brother Lin, Li Li left these with me."

Wei Zelin glanced through the documents, then tossed them to Wei Wanwan without hesitation.

Wei Wanwan took them with a frown, unsure what Wei Zelin was playing at. But after reading them, she smiled and passed them to Gu Chengwang's grandfather. "Uncle Gu, take a look."

Old Master Gu's eyesight was poor, so he handed the documents to his grandson. "My grandson was a top student at S University and has been practicing law these past few years. He's quite capable. Let him handle this. At my age, I only came today as a witness out of respect for your father."

Wei Wanwan's expression stiffened, and she turned to glance at her son.

Wei Zexuan nodded at her. He had heard of Gu Chengwang, who had a fairly good reputation. Even people in Capital City made special trips to S City to hire him for lawsuits.

The documents passed into Gu Chengwang's hands, and he examined them carefully, one by one. "Proof of parentage, videos and photographs of cohabitation, and the party's... written confession?"

Gu Chengwang thought that the confession alone was practically enough to establish bigamy, never mind all the other conclusive evidence.

"What proof of parentage? I don't acknowledge it! You gathered this evidence illegally. It doesn't count! None of it counts!" Wei Ming intended to deny everything to the bitter end. As long as they did not divorce, half of Wei Wanwan's shares belonged to him.

"I'm one of the parties involved. I collected the written confession and the proof of parentage. I admit I intruded on someone else's marriage, and if this goes to court, I'll testify."

Lin Qingxue's gentle voice suddenly came from behind Wei Ming.

Caught completely off guard by this betrayal from the woman who shared his bed, Wei Ming spun around and slapped her. "Bitch! How much did Wei Wanwan pay you to betray me?"

Still not satisfied, he raised his foot to kick her, ignoring the two children crying for their mother. "Idiot! What couldn't you have if you stayed with me? Idiot! Idiot!"

Everyone present simply watched him rage, until Shi Yuan could no longer stand it. He was not overflowing with sympathy, but the young children were innocent. Making them witness their father's violence was far too cruel. They might well become the next Wei Zelin.

"You can't keep it in your pants, so you take it out on a woman? What kind of man does that make you?"

Seeing Shi Yuan about to step forward and grab Wei Ming, Wei Zelin finally signaled Huang Shiren to take his men and restrain Wei Ming before Shi Yuan got hurt.

Lin Qingxue sat crumpled on the floor, her face bruised and swollen, sheltering the two crying children behind her. As though she had never expected anyone to help her, she stared at Shi Yuan for several seconds before softly saying, "Thank you."

Wei Ming and Wei Wanwan's divorce was now a certainty. He would gain nothing from the Wei Family, but the family's true crisis had never been the blindly arrogant Wei Ming.

For the first time, Wei Wanwan looked Wei Zelin properly in the eye. "What do you want now?"

Wei Zexuan instinctively resisted admitting that his spineless older brother was the one controlling the entire situation. But with the truth laid bare before him, he had no choice but to follow his mother's gaze toward Wei Zelin.

"I don't want anything. The Wei Family's affairs have nothing to do with me." Wei Zelin had thought he would feel calm when this day came. As early as the founding of Magic Cube Technology, he had foreseen this outcome. After ten years of patient restraint, it was not too late.

But actually watching them turn on each other like dogs fighting had indeed filled him with satisfaction.

"Nothing to do with you? Your fingerprints are all over the mess the Wei Family is in today, aren't they?" Wei Zexuan's eyes were bloodshot. If he still could not see what was happening at this point, then he was blind, stupid, and ignorant.

He clenched his fists, his nails piercing his palms. Was that not exactly what he was?

"Heh." Wei Zelin actually laughed-not his usual gentle, modest smile, but a mocking sneer. "Do you feel wronged?" For the first time since coming to the Wei Family all those years ago, he revealed his emotions. "Since you and your mother enjoyed the glory the Wei Family brought you, you should go down with it too. That has nothing to do with me. You, the heir chosen by the Wei Family's previous head, were simply too incompetent."

Wei Zelin's words shot straight into Wei Zexuan's heart like an arrow, hurting so badly that he could not utter a word.

There was no reason to stay any longer. Wei Zelin and Shi Yuan left, leaving Huang Shiren to handle the aftermath.