Chapter 223: Isn't It Cruel to Me?

Sheng Family Old Residence.

In the study, Sheng Hongyao stood before the window, his gaze landing on the gardener trimming the shrubs in the courtyard; a moment later, he looked away and turned his head to glance at Secretary Jiang.

After the last shareholders' meeting, Secretary Jiang had one of his hands broken—the very hand that had been prepared to strike Zhu Yuan that day.

One didn't need to think to know who had broken his hand.

Looking at his arm in a plaster cast and bandages, Sheng Hongyao felt not a shred of pity, even knowing Secretary Jiang was loyal and devoted.

Just a dog, who cares.

"What is the situation over there now?"

Secretary Jiang's face was also bruised and swollen; that day, not only was his hand broken, but he had also been slapped so many times he couldn't even count them.

He coughed a few times and said, "That Zhu Yuan already knows, but I don't know why she is still in the hospital. Our people can't find out any information; Sheng Yu has placed many people by her side."

"In the hospital?" Sheng Hongyao was thoughtful.

Logically, after learning of that child's existence, with Zhu Yuan's clear-headed and unyielding personality, her attitude toward matters of principle should be very firm; shouldn't she have had a huge row with Sheng Yu and left him?

He had lived for over fifty years; it was not difficult to see through a young person.

As long as Zhu Yuan left, Sheng Yu would surely go mad, and by then, wouldn't the Sheng Group return to his hands all the same?

Thinking that Sheng Yu actually had the ability to replace him as Chairman, Sheng Hongyao's face was filled with gloom.

What he hadn't expected even more was that the Yu Family had been biding their time for so many years, and it was actually Sheng Yu manipulating things from behind the scenes. In an instant, the entire business circle was shaken; the Yu Family's true financial strength could actually rival the Sheng Family.

And Sheng Yu had actually allowed that once half-dead enterprise to return to its peak, even exceeding the achievements of the period when the old master of the Yu Family was in power.

He had long known that Sheng Yu's ability was above his own, but he hadn't thought Sheng Yu was so calculating.

But so what.

Sheng Yu had a fatal illness, which was his greatest weakness.

"Investigate thoroughly why Zhu Yuan is in the hospital." Sheng Hongyao lit a cigarette.

Why would a perfectly healthy person stay in the hospital?

Given Sheng Yu's temperament, it was impossible for him to let Zhu Yuan and Ning Huaiqing and her son be in the same hospital.

What exactly was going on?

Could it be that Zhu Yuan was sick?

At the moment the flame went out, he narrowed his eyes and whispered coldly to himself: "Don't tell me she's pregnant."

Secretary Jiang was startled, "If Zhu Yuan is pregnant, then Sheng Yu will definitely acknowledge this heir, and by then..."

Sheng Hongyao sneered, "What are you panicking about? Even if she's pregnant, it doesn't mean it's already born. Even if it is born, it doesn't mean it will survive. There are always ways."

He flicked the cigarette ash, "First, find out clearly if she is pregnant."

"Yes, Chairman Sheng."

"Don't call me Chairman Sheng." A mocking curve appeared on Sheng Hongyao's lips, "Call me Mr. Sheng."

Not long after Secretary Jiang went out, Sheng Hongyao stubbed out his cigarette and also left the study.

When he reached the first floor, he saw the old lady standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at him with a stern expression.

"What are you conspiring with your secretary again?"

Sheng Hongyao said dismissively, "I don't even have the position of Chairman now, what else could I be conspiring about? Mother, you are overthinking it."

Old Lady Sheng did not believe his act; her son was born to her, and she understood him well, "This position will be A Yu's sooner or later. I don't understand what you are fighting him for!"

Watching Sheng Hongyao walk down the stairs without answering her, as he brushed past her, she reached out to stop him, "You worked so hard to seize the Sheng Group from your brothers back then. After you and A Yu fight until both are severely wounded, are you content to see the group taken away by your brothers?"

In reality, she didn't care who sat in this position; whether it was Sheng Hongyao, his brothers, or Sheng Yu, they were all her blood.

As long as the Sheng Family did not decline, anyone could sit in the Chairman's seat.

But if Sheng Hongyao insisted on fighting Sheng Yu to the end, the Sheng Family would be finished.

Sheng Hongyao turned his head and said in a steady tone, "Mother, no matter what the result is, the Sheng Corporation will be mine. You don't need to worry so much."

Watching his back, Old Lady Sheng frowned, feeling uneasy in her heart, as if some major event were about to happen.

After Zhu Yuan woke up and ate something, she was carried by Sheng Yu for an ultrasound; she vomited again just after the check-up.

Sheng Yu held her, and after she caught her breath, he asked the obstetrician: "How is the check-up?"

"The fetal heart and fetal bud have already grown; it is very healthy. Chairman Sheng and Miss Zhu need not worry." The obstetrician returned him a reassuring smile.

Sheng Yu looked at the image on the screen, a black and white blob—was this his seed?

He lowered his head to look at the listless Zhu Yuan in his arms, touched her face, and said softly, "Yuanyuan, did you hear what the doctor said?"

Zhu Yuan closed her eyes, not looking at the screen and not answering Sheng Yu's words; she only frowned the moment he spoke, and seeing this, Sheng Yu didn't say anything more.

He picked up Zhu Yuan and didn't go straight back to the ward, but entered the elevator, "Since the check-up is fine, we will go home. The environment at the Hot Spring Villa is good; you will be comfortable living there."

Perhaps if her mood were a little better, her morning sickness would ease significantly.

Zhu Yuan stiffened slightly in his arms.

Return to the Hot Spring Villa?

The security there was too strict; once she went in, there would truly be no possibility of ever coming out again.

At the thought of being locked in a cage, Zhu Yuan spoke up: "I'm not going."

The elevator descended slowly, and Sheng Yu lowered his head to kiss her forehead, "Be good. My mother bought the Hot Spring Villa back then specifically for when I grew up and took a wife. That place is our home."

Tears filled her eyes, and Zhu Yuan choked out, "Sheng Yu, there is really no point in us being like this."

"You are just affected by pregnancy hormones," Sheng Yu tightened his arms. The elevator reached the underground garage, and he carried Zhu Yuan out, "It will be better after this phase passes. You don't need to consider other irrelevant people."

"Must you be so cruel to me?"

Her tears slid from the corners of her eyes, and Sheng Yu walked to the car door, lowering his head to kiss the corners of her eyes, "You want to leave me—isn't that cruel to me?"

"It was you who said you loved me, it was you who said you would never leave me, it was you who said you would love me to death—have you forgotten all of that now?"

Sitting inside the car, Sheng Yu placed Zhu Yuan on his lap to hold her, and to make her more comfortable, he had specifically instructed Situ to bring this most spacious vehicle.

He wrapped one arm around Zhu Yuan's waist and stroked her face with the other, his black eyes like bottomless, frigid pools, an impenetrable, dense darkness, "I know you mind the existence of that child and Ning Huaiqing; they are like a thorn stuck in your heart. If you still insist on leaving me, I will help you pull that thorn out."

Zhu Yuan's spine turned cold, and she looked at him in terror.

Yet Sheng Yu's voice remained as usual, close to the shell of her ear, "Kill them."