Chapter 68: Brothers at Odds

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“Heh, you really have a way with words. But I, Xu Yaokuan, am not some coward who clings to life. Tonight, I'm going to have you. I’ve never known what it feels like to sleep with Fu Yanyan’s woman. You have a talent for stirring up my desire to conquer, darling!”

“Then I’ll just die right here in front of you!”

“I don’t care—I can have my way with a corpse! Do as you please.”

She was trapped on the bed, unable to move, her voice hoarse and hysterical as she screamed at him, calling him a madman.

Yet the more she screamed, the more wildly he seemed to grin.

He had just seized her ankle, then, with practiced ease, lifted both her legs—when suddenly the door was flung open!

“Brother!”

Xu Chuyin looked much more haggard these days, but still wore a white shirt, exuding the freshness of youth. He held a cigarette in his hand and scratched at his neck, looking deeply conflicted.

“Get out!”

“Brother!”

“I told you to get the hell out!”

Xu Chuyin stared at the woman on the bed, her body folded in a posture that spelled doom for her dignity in the next second.

A flood of memories surged in Xu Chuyin’s mind.

He remembered the first time he saw her: bullied in a corner, trembling like a frightened rabbit, her head covered in scraps and leftovers.

The second time, she was on the playground, picking up torn books from the ground, sobbing as if her tears would never dry.

The third time, she stood beside him, looking timid, and when the bell rang, she slipped away.

Later, as they grew closer, she would smile at him like a fool, offer him candy from her battered, cheap schoolbag, and wait for him at the basketball court, shy and uncertain…

Until the day he told her the truth, even joining the bullies to torment her himself.

After that, she never cried or smiled again.

That day, as he hit rock bottom, she let him go. She learned to be strong, to struggle in this world. She fought back beautifully, blossomed into something radiant.

“Brother, let her go.”

“What the hell are you saying? She and Fu Yanyan colluded to destroy the Xu family, landed your sister in prison, and almost sent your father there too. If I hadn’t pulled you out in time, you’d be rotting in prison with them right now! Xu Chuyin! Are you really going to betray your own family?!”

“Brother, Xu Yuan deserved to go to prison. The state the Xu family is in today, we brought it on ourselves. Even if we take ten thousand steps back—winners take all, losers lose. We lost. Don’t take it out on a woman!”

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Xu Yaokuan flashed a twisted smile, blood smeared at the corner of his mouth, spreading slowly.

Sickly. Lurid.

His phoenix-shaped eyes were icy cold.

“The kidnapping you planned last time—she didn’t get pregnant? So you’ve already fallen for her? Couldn’t bring yourself to follow through?”

“Brother, I’m in agony. Could you not interrogate me like this?”

“Fine, do you like her? If you do, let’s take her together! Right now!”

Sweat poured down Xu Chuyin’s face. He clenched his fists and retorted sharply, “Brother, if we don’t hurt her, we still have another way out. If we do, Fu Yanyan will stop at nothing to destroy us!”

“You coward! You like her, so you’d rather hand her over to Fu Yanyan? I’ve fought my way through life and death. With me here, the Xu family will rise from the ashes! What are you afraid of? When the Xu family was at its peak, even Fu Yanyan had to light my cigarettes! Go on!”

Xu Chuyin tightened his fists, his face expressionless as he stepped forward and landed a punch on his brother.

The air froze for a few seconds.

Soon enough, the two brothers squared off, fists and feet flying, crashing from standing to the floor, the sounds of flesh striking flesh echoing through the room.

Blood splattered everywhere.

She grabbed the knife at hand, planning to ambush Xu Yaokuan, but found the fight between the brothers was too fierce for her to get close.

So she kept her distance.

Sure enough, the two soon brawled their way out of the room.

She picked up a phone nearby, but no matter what she tried, she couldn’t unlock it.

From the corridor came Xu Yaokuan’s roar, “I’ll kill you, you bastard!”

And Xu Chuyin’s breathless, low plea, “I’m sorry, brother, just listen to me this once.”

She tried countless passwords with no luck. Finally, she found the emergency call button—only to discover, curse it all, there was no signal!

Where on earth was this place?

How could there be no signal at all?

Fu Yanyan had utterly crushed half the Xu family’s empire. Xu Chuyin and Xu Yaokuan must have taken their overseas assets and escaped first, so she must be on some island now?

She had no idea when the commotion outside finally quieted. A scattering of footsteps, followed by the doctor’s voice.

Click. The door was opened by Xu Yaokuan, dangling a cigarette from his lips with a careless air. The doctor beside him was treating his wounds; even in pain, only the corner of his eye twitched as the doctor wrapped the bandages around him.

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He stepped onto the carpet and picked up the knife. His gaze suddenly turned sharp as he looked at her, eyes brewing with a storm, but he restrained himself, tilting his head to the ceiling, perhaps to keep the tears from falling.

She shrank back.

Then she heard Xu Yaokuan’s rare, choked voice. “Li Yanyan, you really have some nerve. Just now, Xu Chuyin actually took a kitchen knife to his own throat to make me let you go.”

“You’ve thrown my whole world into chaos. I’ve always lived in despair; in this world, only Xu Chuyin stood by me. Right now, nothing seems to matter anymore.”

“All of you hate me, all of you have turned your backs on me, judging me from on high! What did I ever do wrong? I never preyed on the wretched. Li Yanyan, have I ever bullied you?”

She met his eyes, unwavering, and asked, “What about Zhong Huayan?”

“I’ll say it again: I never needed Zhong Huayan dead. I could have married and divorced her and still gotten what I wanted. I was forced into this, all right? The Zhong family forced me into that marriage, and then the people behind me forced me to be an accomplice. Once I boarded this ship, there was no getting off. Not every decision was mine to make!”

He tossed the knife to a bodyguard nearby, then slammed the door shut behind him.

Outside, the sound of rain could finally be heard, soft and distant.

She was utterly exhausted. Staring at the handcuffs on her wrists, she realized she’d escaped the jaws of death once again.

Xu Chuyin… Was he more sentimental than his brother, or simply more rational?

He’d finally done something human.

She wasn’t sure—did Xu Chuyin do it because he feared his brother would go too far?

Or was it a pang of conscience, or did he truly have feelings for her?

But wasn’t this the bare minimum of a man’s morality?

Yet for men of the Xu family, even that was a rare awakening, worthy of burning incense in gratitude.

Such genes were terrifying.

Now, whenever Zhong Huayan recalled Xu Yaokuan’s frenzied, deranged expression, a chill ran through her.

She knew well how the rich played with women. If they really set their minds to it, they could torment a woman in bed until life and death were both out of reach.

A moment ago, Xu Yaokuan had truly meant to play her to death.