Chapter Fifty-Eight: Mutual Destruction

Lin Yuxin had arrived!

Hong Chen frowned; this was not a scene he had wanted her to witness.

"Why did you come down here?" Hong Chen turned to see Lin Yuxin’s face, still pale, her brows deeply furrowed with worry. He felt a pang of helplessness. When he had come downstairs earlier, she had shown signs of waking, but with half a bottle of glucose left, he had hoped to quickly handle the situation before she became aware. Yet, things had not gone as planned.

"Hong Chen, are you... are you all right?" Lin Yuxin hurried over, her face full of concern as she anxiously looked him over. Whether it was her worry clouding her judgment, or the lingering effects of her earlier drunkenness, she seemed to have lost her usual calm and insight. In her eyes, it was as if no one else existed in the room but Hong Chen.

He shook his head. "I'm fine. Wait for me outside."

"Yuxin, I didn’t mean to hurt you! Lu Ke’er ordered me to do it. Please, save me—spare me." Liu Qian suddenly cried out, her eyes gleaming with desperation as she looked up at Lin Yuxin, much like a drowning person spotting a floating plank in the distance.

Lin Yuxin looked down and only then realized that one of Liu Qian’s hands was trapped beneath Hong Chen’s foot.

Thud, thud, thud! Seeing Lin Yuxin momentarily dazed, Liu Qian, afraid to miss this lifeline, began to kowtow repeatedly, the sound echoing off the floor.

"Miss Lin, we only acted against you because Lu Ke’er instructed us to. We realize our mistake now. Please, let us go this time. We’re begging you."

Moved by Liu Qian’s desperation, Zhao Yan and another woman exchanged a glance before dropping to their knees, tears streaming down their faces as they kowtowed to Lin Yuxin.

Compared to losing a hand, what was dignity worth?

The scene left Lin Yuxin utterly bewildered. Before she could react, something even more unexpected happened—Lu Ke’er, flustered and desperate, surged forward and knelt before her. Instead of kowtowing, she began slapping her own face: "Yuxin, I'm sorry. I was wrong, truly wrong. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was forced by Chen Feiyang. I had no choice..."

Chen Feiyang’s eyes were wild with fury. The three women had shifted all the blame onto Lu Ke’er, who then pushed it onto him. Damn it, were they trying to destroy him?

"Lu Ke’er, you lying snake, stop slandering me!" Chen Feiyang erupted, shouting, "Yuxin, I swear to heaven—from making you change clothes, to the game, to forcing you to drink, every bit of it was planned by Lu Ke’er. She fell from grace and became a hostess, grew jealous as your business flourished, and now dreams of dragging you down with her..."

"Chen Feiyang, you beast in human skin, you’re the one who had vile designs on Yuxin, forced me to plot with you, and threatened to torment me if I didn’t satisfy you. You’re a monster!"

Lu Ke’er, eyes flashing with resolve, decided to risk it all. She pointed at Chen Feiyang and said to Lin Yuxin, "Yuxin, let me tell you: the gambling debts your sister owes, it was all orchestrated by Chen Feiyang. His goal was to drive your family into ruin, then swoop in and control you at his whim!"

Bang!

Chen Feiyang felt his mind explode. He glared at Lu Ke’er, nearly deranged. "Lu Ke’er, you keep spouting nonsense and I’ll kill you!"

He turned to Lin Yuxin. "Yuxin, don’t listen to her. She’s nothing but a rabid dog biting at everyone. I knew nothing about Yufei’s debts until now. I swear, if I’m lying, may I never have children!"

"Enough! Both of you, shut up!" Hong Chen snapped impatiently, unwilling to watch their bickering. He looked at Lin Yuxin, who had fallen silent. "What do you say?"

Lin Yuxin’s brows were tightly knit. She fixed her gaze on Lu Ke’er, her tone sharp. "So, according to you, my sister’s debts were a trap set by Chen Feiyang? Lu Ke’er, this is your last chance. Think carefully—if you lie, I will never forgive you."

Before Lu Ke’er could answer, Hong Chen spoke coldly. "This woman is out of chances. Whether what she says is true or not means nothing to me. Even if Chen Feiyang did set up Yufei, would he ever admit it? And would those debts simply vanish?"

Lin Yuxin was caught off guard by the truth in his words. It was just like the treacherous world of business—if someone digs a pit for you, only by foreseeing it can you avoid the fall. Once you’re in, knowing who dug it is meaningless.

"Isn’t this so-called best friend of yours supposed to be abroad? In reality, she’s a hostess at the King’s Bar. Last time, she set you up by slipping her watch into your clothes. I let her off once for your sake, but tonight she went even further—she nearly destroyed your reputation. Are you really going to give her a third chance to hurt you?"

Faced with Hong Chen’s questions, Lin Yuxin had nothing left to say. For the first time, under his stern gaze, she relented. With a low voice, she said, "You decide."

"Yuxin, please—" Lu Ke’er started, but Hong Chen chopped the side of her neck. Her eyes rolled back and she collapsed, unconscious.

Lin Yuxin caught this out of the corner of her eye, a flicker of reluctance crossing her face, but she said nothing.

"You three, I’ll let you off this once. Someone will come to speak with you shortly." Hong Chen glanced at Liu Qian and the other two women, slowly lifting his foot from Liu Qian’s right hand. The three women, as if receiving a royal pardon, thanked him profusely.

Hong Chen ignored them and turned his gaze to Chen Feiyang, who tensed up immediately. But then, Hong Chen suddenly smiled and wagged a finger. "Relax. You’re right, after all. You’re a gold card member here, and I’m just a driver—it’s not my place to deal with you. I’ll ask my boss to notify the club manager, and the manager will come speak with you."

Chen Feiyang was stunned, then quickly nodded, feeling a huge weight lifted from his chest. Ever since Hong Chen had entered, he’d been so aggressive that Feiyang hadn’t even had a chance to call for help. He’d truly feared Hong Chen would attack him on the spot—after all, he had almost gotten away with Lin Yuxin. As her husband, who could say what Hong Chen might do to a man who’d tried to take advantage of his wife?

To kill him outright would be one thing; but to maim him, blind him—any of it would be an irreparable blow.

He feared suffering here and now, but not retribution in the future. As long as he could get through this moment, he was confident he could settle things later. Once this was over, what did the heir of the Chen family have to fear about regaining the upper hand?

Not to mention, nearly four million in cash was due the next night—how would Lin Yuxin’s family come up with that? He was eager to see them scramble.

Chen Feiyang thought he had just escaped disaster, never realizing Hong Chen had no intention of giving him any leeway. The dirt Lu Ke’er had revealed—that the mastermind behind Lin Yufei’s debt was Chen Feiyang—was something Hong Chen neither fully believed nor dismissed. He simply decided to let things play out, to wait until the truth emerged before settling accounts with Chen Feiyang. That would be tomorrow night, anyway. Tonight, there was no way Chen Feiyang would be allowed to leave Paradise Nightclub, let alone contact anyone outside—he could keep dreaming.

"Let’s go. The manager will handle the rest." Ever since Lin Yuxin appeared, Hong Chen had lost the urge to handle matters himself. His methods could be cruel, even bloody, and he didn’t want to sully her eyes with such scenes.

Perhaps even he hadn’t realized how much he cared for Lin Yuxin, even though their marriage had less than twelve hours left, and whether they would ever meet again after parting was a question no one could answer.

Lin Yuxin silently nodded and walked out of the private room. Hong Chen lingered for a moment, then approached the security manager and gave a few quiet instructions. Just as he was about to leave, Shi Jie approached, handing him Lin Yuxin’s phone along with a bag.

Hong Chen gave him a slight smile. "You’re a decent sort," he said.

Leaving the private room, Hong Chen quickened his pace to catch up with Lin Yuxin, slipping her phone into her hand while keeping the bag himself. Without thinking, he glanced inside and immediately frowned.

Inside the bag, along with Lin Yuxin’s clothes from earlier that day, was a set of black lace lingerie. Instinctively, he pulled it out...

A few steps ahead, Lin Yuxin suddenly realized Hong Chen was no longer beside her. She turned to look back, and at that moment, her face froze, her eyes shrinking with a complex mix of emotions.