Chapter Sixty-Three: The Darkness Before Dawn 10

He Xuan Yi’s face was cold and sinister as he spoke, “Are you really going to do this for that woman?”

“You want me to marry Zhao Yi Ya for two reasons: one, to repay Zhao Guang Xiong’s life-saving kindness; two, to use the opportunity to swallow up the Zhao Corporation. Didn’t you marry my mother with the same intentions back then? I am not you—I will not trade my own love,” He Zhe Yu replied, his tone calm, but his eyes seething with hatred.

He Xuan Yi’s hand trembled as he held the teacup. Suddenly, he smashed it onto the floor, growling, “Everything you have now was given to you by me. Do you really think I wouldn’t dare to replace you?”

He Zhe Yu let out a low, mocking laugh and said with contempt, “If you had the ability, then the president’s chair of He Corporation would be occupied by your precious Zhao Si Yi, not me, He Zhe Yu. I hold fifty percent of He Corporation’s shares. If you truly want to replace me, then first collect the thirty percent—excluding your twenty percent stake. Only then can you talk to me about your intentions. And the shares I hold are all inherited from my mother. I have never taken a single cent from the He family.”

Standing there, He Xuan Yi’s nostrils flared, his chest heaving up and down, so furious that he could not utter a word.

Hearing the crash of the teacup, Zhao Xu Er hurriedly ran upstairs from below. She opened the study door, saw He Xuan Yi gripping the desk, panting with rage, unable to speak, and immediately rushed to his side to support him.

She gently patted He Xuan Yi’s chest and, accusingly, said, “Zhe Yu, must you always infuriate your father to the point he’s bedridden for days every time you come home?”

“Even if I don’t anger him, isn’t your Zhao family still scheming to keep him confined to bed, unable to get up for days?” He Zhe Yu retorted.

At his words, Zhao Xu Er understood their implication. Her face shifted between green and purple as she said, “If you hadn’t kept those disreputable women outside, ruining our He family’s reputation, would we have needed to resort to such methods?” She supported He Xuan Yi to sit down.

But He Zhe Yu, who was sitting, now stood up. The icy aura around him instantly made Zhao Xu Er fearful; she shrank back a little and stammered, “Did I say anything wrong? A woman like her, frequenting all sorts of places of pleasure—who knows how many men have ravaged her? Yet you, He Zhe Yu, still treat her like a treasure.”

“She’s still less notorious than you. After all, at only eighteen, your reputation in Nan City’s pleasure circles has long been infamous,” He Zhe Yu retorted through gritted teeth, glancing at He Xuan Yi, and said, “I suggest you and Zhao Si Yi get a paternity test done. Otherwise, you might die never knowing—”

Before He Zhe Yu could finish, He Xuan Yi stood up abruptly and slapped him hard, roaring, “Get out! Get out of here immediately!”

He Zhe Yu swallowed the blood in his mouth, his cold gaze turning to the softly sobbing Zhao Xu Er, and said, “The days you’ll be crying are yet to come. He can help you cover up Zhao Si Yi’s embezzlement, but as long as I am in He Corporation, your son will never set foot in it again. If he’s willing to hand over his shares to your son, then I’ll make sure your son finds his life in He Corporation worse than death. I mean every word. If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to try.”