Volume 1, Chapter 140: Malicious Intent

Song Qingyu never imagined that she would see Lin Tiange again under such circumstances.

Still less had she expected Lin Tiange to be carrying Chu Xingzhi’s child.

And now that she had lost so much blood, there was little hope—

When Sheng Yuru saw Gu Yuandong, she ran toward him in terror. “Cousin, she fell down the stairs by herself. It had nothing to do with me.”

Lin Tiange was moaning in agony, clutching her lower abdomen as tears of pain streamed down her face. “My baby… my baby…”

It was Fu Linhan’s birthday, and Sheng Yuru was the heiress of the Sheng family, while Lin Tiange was merely an employee. After the accident, no one called an ambulance right away. Instead, they first ran to find the young heir.

Pei Jingmo immediately realized something was wrong and barked, “What are you waiting for? Call an ambulance!”

Chu Xingzhi had just come out of the restroom when he heard that the Sheng family’s little princess had gotten into a confrontation with a woman and pushed her down the stairs.

The woman was injured and had lost a great deal of blood.

His first thought was that the woman must be Song Qingyu, and he hurried over.

“Qingyu—”

When he saw that Song Qingyu was completely unharmed, he let out a faint sigh of relief.

Then who was the woman who had argued with Sheng Yuru?

The next second, he heard a weak voice calling his name.

“Xingzhi…”

He turned stiffly and saw that it was Lin Tiange, whom he had not seen in a long time. Seeing her covered in blood, he stared at her in disbelief.

“What… happened to you?”

The ambulance arrived. Pei Jingmo cast a cold glance at Chu Xingzhi.

“You’re taking her to the hospital.”

“What? Why me?”

“Because she’s carrying your child.”

Chu Xingzhi’s mind went blank. Instinctively, he looked toward Song Qingyu, wanting to explain himself, but Song Qingyu merely frowned.

“Someone’s life is at stake.”

Only then did Chu Xingzhi nod. But Sheng Yuru refused to let him go. She grabbed his arm tightly.

“No! You’re not allowed to go! She threw herself down the stairs to frame me!”

“Sheng Yuru, let go!”

Pei Jingmo spoke coldly. He was clearly furious, and no one dared make a scene in front of him. No matter how unwilling she was, Sheng Yuru could only watch helplessly as Chu Xingzhi accompanied Lin Tiange away.

As Lin Tiange was carried into the ambulance, Sheng Yuru noticed the smug curve at the corner of her lips, as though she were taunting her.

That wretched woman!

No, she could not take the blame for this!

And the only person who could help her now was Gu Yuandong.

“Cousin, I truly didn’t push her. I’ve been wronged.”

Pei Jingmo gave Guo Rang a meaningful glance. Guo Rang understood and left.

“What exactly happened? Tell me everything, from beginning to end. If you utter even one lie, no one will be able to save you.”

Sheng Yuru shuddered in fright and immediately confessed everything.

Sheng Yuru had turned around to look for Chu Xingzhi, only to find that he was gone. She went searching for him.

Suddenly, a waiter bumped into her. Before she could see who it was, the other person had already lowered her head and apologized.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

The voice sounded familiar. Sheng Yuru looked at her and never expected to see Lin Tiange.

If Sheng Yuru felt both jealousy and hatred toward Song Qingyu, then toward Lin Tiange she felt nothing but pure hatred.

She had tried countless times to seduce Chu Xingzhi and failed every time, while this woman had actually managed to break up Song Qingyu and Chu Xingzhi.

“What are you doing here?”

Lin Tiange’s expression changed when she saw Sheng Yuru. Clutching her stomach, she took a step backward.

If she had not covered her stomach, Sheng Yuru might not have noticed her abdomen.

But the moment Sheng Yuru saw her rounded belly, she immediately realized what was going on. Her expression turned dark and ugly.

“You’re pregnant? Who’s the father?”

Seeing Lin Tiange trembling in fear and unease, Sheng Yuru seized her by the collar.

“Is it Chu Xingzhi’s?”

“No… This child is mine alone. It has nothing to do with Mr. Chu.”

But the more desperately she denied it, the more certain Sheng Yuru became of her suspicion. She slapped Lin Tiange hard across the face.

“You shameless woman! I truly underestimated you!”

Lin Tiange covered her cheek with one hand and her stomach with the other as she knelt on the floor and begged Sheng Yuru.

“Miss Sheng, I’m sorry. I never meant to fight you for Mr. Chu. I only want to keep this child.”

“Hmph.”

Sheng Yuru let out a cold laugh.

“What? Are you planning to use the child to force Xingzhi to marry you?”

“No, that’s not it. I’ve never thought that way. I only…”

“Get rid of it!”

Sheng Yuru looked down at Lin Tiange like a queen issuing a decree.

“Either you go to the hospital and have the child aborted yourself, or I’ll do it for you. Xingzhi will soon become my husband. I will never allow him to have a child with another woman.”

Lin Tiange grabbed Sheng Yuru’s arm in desperation.

“No—Miss Sheng, please! I beg you, don’t take my baby away!”

“Get your filthy hands off me! How dare you touch me!”

Sheng Yuru angrily flung her away. Then, as though she had thought of something, she smiled maliciously.

“Tell me, if Chu Xingzhi finds out that you secretly got pregnant with his child behind his back, do you think he’ll let you off? Perhaps I should tell him and have him come deal with this bastard himself.”

The thought excited Sheng Yuru. She was just about to go downstairs to find Chu Xingzhi when Lin Tiange suddenly rushed at her.

“Sheng Yuru, you’re right. I don’t want my child to be born a bastard, but the person who ends this pregnancy absolutely cannot be Chu Xingzhi. It can only be you!”

“What?”

Before Sheng Yuru could react, Lin Tiange deliberately threw herself down the stairs.

That damned woman! To frame her, she was even willing to risk her own life.

“Cousin, you have to believe me. Don’t let that shameless woman, Lin Tiange, deceive you.”

Guo Rang quickly returned after obtaining the security footage.

But the footage showed only Sheng Yuru striking Lin Tiange. The section by the stairwell seemed to have malfunctioned, and nothing had been recorded.

“Cousin, Lin Tiange must have destroyed the cameras. This was all premeditated!”

Pei Jingmo would not believe one person’s story without proof. He found the person in charge, who explained that Lin Tiange had only started working there a week earlier. Although she was pregnant, she was diligent and capable, and because the establishment was short-staffed, the owner had allowed her to stay.

According to the owner, Lin Tiange had not known that Fu Linhan would be celebrating his birthday there. There was no way she could have anticipated Sheng Yuru’s arrival and deliberately damaged the cameras in advance, waiting for her to fall into the trap.

None of the evidence could prove that Lin Tiange had plotted to harm Sheng Yuru. If anything, it looked as though Sheng Yuru had pushed her in a fit of rage.

Sheng Yuru began to cry in panic. Faced with irrefutable evidence, no one believed a word she said.

Soon, news arrived from the hospital.

Lin Tiange had lost the baby.

Pei Jingmo had Guo Rang take Song Qingyu, Sheng Yuru, and Gu Chenxi home first, while he went to the hospital himself.

Inside the car, Sheng Yuru bit her fingers, her eyes blazing with fury.

“That wretched woman! Why couldn’t she have died too?”

Gu Chenxi had never witnessed anything like this before and was badly frightened. She huddled against Song Qingyu, trembling.

She had never seen such a terrifying side of her cousin either, and instinctively wanted to cover her ears.

Song Qingyu gently patted her back.

“Don’t be afraid. It’s all right.”

The moment Sheng Yuru heard Song Qingyu’s voice, she seemed to lose control and began mocking her viciously.

“You must be very happy right now, aren’t you?”

Song Qingyu looked at her coldly.

“What are you talking about?”

“Hmph. Lin Tiange stole your fiancé, while I’m about to get engaged to Chu Xingzhi. You hate both me and Lin Tiange, and now the two of us are fighting each other to the death. That must be exactly what you wanted.”

Song Qingyu was speechless.

“Aren’t you tired of judging everyone by your own standards?”

“What?”

“If you don’t understand, look it up in a dictionary.”

“Hmph. Stop pretending. Do you really think you’re such a good person?”

“Do you know why Lin Tiange was able to frame you so easily?”

“What?”

“Because you’re brainless, stupid, and impossible to listen to. The slightest provocation makes you lose your temper—”

Sheng Yuru was about to explode when she suddenly realized what Song Qingyu meant.

“You think Lin Tiange framed me? You believe I didn’t push her down the stairs?”

Song Qingyu replied expressionlessly, “You may have the heart of a thief, but you don’t have the courage.”

Sheng Yuru was merely a spoiled heiress. She was arrogant, overbearing, and incredibly foolish, but she was not truly vicious enough to take someone’s life.

At most, she would hurl threats, play a few underhanded tricks, or incite someone else to deal with her enemies. She would never dare do it herself.

When Lin Tiange had first discovered that she was pregnant, she had gone to see Song Qingyu. At the time, she had probably intended to use Song Qingyu to get rid of the child. That had shown her that Song Qingyu no longer had any feelings for Chu Xingzhi.

Once she realized that the two of them could never reconcile, she had stopped testing Song Qingyu.

Sheng Yuru, however, was different. She wanted to marry Chu Xingzhi, and Wu Yijun was eager to bring the two of them together.

For Lin Tiange, making Sheng Yuru “personally” get rid of Chu Xingzhi’s child had been the most advantageous course of action.