The old man had spent half his life in the military, which was how the Shengshi Group came to be what it was today.
Even on his deathbed, he had still been handling company affairs before he finally passed away.
If the old man were alive, seeing an illegitimate son ascend to prominence, wanting a share of the pie, and trying to seize the Huo family's assets, he would surely be enraged.
Sheng Yuchen could do whatever he pleased, but he would never lay a hand on even a fraction of the Huo family's wealth.
Su Qi's eyes were filled with coldness. She took out her phone, composed a text message, and sent it to Li Caiyi.
Meanwhile, Li Caiyi was dropped off by the driver at the foot of the Shengshi Group building.
Standing beneath the towering skyscraper, Li Caiyi looked up at the cloud-piercing structure. As she took out her phone, she saw the text message from Su Qi, and her last line of defense almost crumbled. Trembling, she found Sheng Yuchen's phone number, wanting to ask him.
Had he always treated her like a pawn?
When he saved her and helped her, had he already planned to use her?
She dialed his number. Ring, ring, ring, but no one answered.
The first call, the second call, the third call, the fourth call, still no answer.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and the hand holding her phone trembled, almost dropping it.
Answer the phone, answer the phone. Is it true, as Su Qi said, that she was just a pawn to Sheng Yuchen, discarded once her usefulness ran out?
No, Mr. Sheng wouldn't be like that. Mr. Sheng wouldn't treat her this way.
Li Caiyi persistently dialed, but the phone remained unanswered.
"See? This is the man you've been longing for, the man you've poured your heart and soul into. He's been lying to you. He's been using you from the very beginning, with no genuine feelings whatsoever." Su Qi's message followed closely. Li Caiyi clutched her chest, her breath catching in her throat. She didn't want to believe it, but the facts were undeniable: Sheng Yuchen wasn't answering her calls.
She had naively believed Sheng Yuchen was a good person, that he had saved her out of kindness, out of a shred of affection for her. Even bringing her to Huo Tingyun's side was out of necessity. Now she realized she had been nothing more than a tool, a pawn to be discarded once used!
Li Caiyi didn't know where she was going. Dazed, she walked forward, entered the building, and followed the crowd into the elevator. As people dispersed, the elevator slowly ascended to the top floor. With a ding, the doors opened, and Li Caiyi numbly stepped out. When she came to her senses, she found herself standing on the rooftop.
One last time, one last call to him.
Li Caiyi, in near despair, took out her phone and dialed Sheng Yuchen's number.
The simple act of making the call took her ten minutes.
The call went through, ringing a few times, but still, no one answered.
A full half-minute passed until the call was disconnected due to no answer. Li Caiyi finally came back to herself, covering her chest with her other hand, her heart feeling as if it were being torn apart.
Sister Su Qi was right. It had all been a conspiracy from the start.
Because she looked so innocent and kind, Sheng Yuchen had saved her, intending to use her to get close to Huo Tingyun and kill him.
Since Sheng Yuchen was the Huo family's illegitimate son, once Huo Tingyun was dead, Sheng Yuchen could legitimately inherit the Huo family's fortune.
It was all a scheme, and she was merely a pawn.
Li Caiyi began to laugh through her tears as she looked up at the sky.
Her family had been very poor when she was young, never knowing where their next meal would come from. She and her many siblings were often hungry. Her parents favored boys, and she hadn't even finished school before being forced to work. She started as a waitress in a restaurant, then followed friends to work in an electronics factory, working day and night for a meager salary.
Out of her three thousand yuan monthly wage, she sent two thousand five hundred home, leaving herself only five hundred yuan. She couldn't even afford sanitary pads, resorting to unbranded ones from small workshops. Once, she even got an infection. She didn't dare go to a hospital, only visiting a small clinic for medication. Enduring the pain, she continued working on the assembly line, almost fainting from the agony.
Fortunately, her team leader found out and sent her to the hospital. She stayed for a few days, recovered, and the hospital even covered over a thousand yuan in medical expenses. She was so grateful she didn't know how to express herself.
She no longer dared to buy loose sanitary pads from small workshops, opting for the cheapest packaged ones. Her diet consisted of rice and vegetables. Only when friends treated her could she afford to eat meat. By living frugally, almost her entire year's salary went to her family.
She thought her family was using the money for her younger siblings' education, but she never expected their father to take it all for gambling and drinking.
Within a few years, the family was deeply in debt. The money she and her older siblings earned couldn't keep up with their father's gambling losses; it only got worse.
When she learned from her mother that her father owed a million yuan, she almost fainted.
A million yuan!
She couldn't repay that debt in a lifetime of work!
Her father's legs were severed, and his agonizing screams pierced every nerve in her body.
She thought her life was over, almost losing the will to live. Then, Sheng Yuchen appeared.
He was like a celestial being descending from the heavens into her life.
She had always heard her friends talk about "male gods," but she never understood the meaning until Sheng Yuchen appeared. Then she knew what a male god truly was.
Sheng Yuchen paid off all her family's debts and even built a house for them in their hometown. The once dilapidated dwelling was replaced by a three-story building, painted white on the outside and tiled on the inside. The villagers were envious, all believing Sheng Yuchen was her boyfriend.
At the time, she didn't know Sheng Yuchen's name; she only knew him as Mr. Sheng.
She also didn't know why Mr. Sheng helped her until one night, when he, slightly drunk, asked her to do him a favor.
Before coming to Huo Tingyun's side, she had always been by Mr. Sheng's side, taking care of his home, cleaning, cooking, and doing his laundry. Sometimes, she would stare at his discarded clothes, lost in thought, and sniff them. They had a faint scent, not of sweat or anything unpleasant, but a personal, intimate aroma.
Snapping back to reality, she realized how perverted she was, her face flushing instantly.
But the next time, she would still be irresistibly drawn to smell his clothes before washing them.
She was truly a pervert, how could she hold Mr. Sheng's clothes and sniff them so intently? She felt like a voyeur, oh heavens!