VHBF -Chapter 167 The School Tyrant Daddy (Part 29)

The youth flew into a rage, ending it all with the declaration: “I’m the kid’s dad!”

The assistant was so intimidated he didn’t dare say a single word. Both the older and younger men of the Shen family were angry. Although nothing showed on the surface, after following Mr. Shen for so many years, the assistant knew—his boss was about to lose his temper.

This matter could not be settled so easily. It was obvious that neither of the Shen family’s two male masters—big or small—intended to let their own child be taken away and snatched by the Liu family.

If the Liu family took her away, Yinyin’s future treatment was easy to imagine. Her biological father would marry a stepmother and turn into a stepfather, with two domineering, non-blood-related siblings at home. Caught in the middle, she would grow up being hurt again and again—perhaps even experience being abandoned by a vicious woman once more.

None of that was acceptable to the two Shen men. Just thinking about it, and then thinking of their own child’s obedient, adorable, innocent face, made their hearts ache so badly they could barely breathe—so much so that they wanted to grab a kitchen knife and go slaughter that family.

Liu Dong received a call from President Shen’s assistant, inviting him to a private meeting. Instinctively thinking of the daughter who had gone missing, he tightened his grip on the phone and agreed repeatedly.

Before leaving, Mrs. Liu straightened Liu Dong’s tie and asked nervously, “Is it like we think? Did the Shen family really adopt Yinyin?”

“Maybe…” The man’s face revealed nothing. Mrs. Liu thought to herself that it would be best if the Shen family refused to return the child—so long as that child didn’t come back, the Liu family would still belong to her and her son and daughter, and those matters would never be discovered.

Liu Dong waited in the private room for about half an hour before the door was pushed open. The waiter respectfully invited two men inside. The one in front was mature, handsome, and refined, wearing gold-rimmed glasses. Beside him was the youth who had humiliated Liu Dong at the banquet—the Shen Group’s crown prince, President Shen’s biological son.

Shen Huainan sat down gracefully across from him and gave a slight nod. Even when facing someone he looked down on, his manners were flawless. Even with such gentleness, Liu Dong didn’t dare relax and became even more respectful.

Shen Lian, however, was not so polite. Young, hot-blooded, and born into privilege, he had no reason to bow to anyone—especially a scumbag trying to steal his kid.

Like a proud rooster, bristling all over, the youth yanked the chair back heavily and sat down with a disdainful snort, not even willing to spare the man opposite a glance—afraid it would dirty his eyes.

Shen Lian refused to acknowledge that the man across from him was the child’s biological father. He refused!

Shen Huainan got straight to the point. “Yinyin is the child your family lost.”

Liu Dong had prepared himself before coming. The Shen family was strong and domineering; he had expected them to deny it outright, perhaps even refuse to let him see his daughter. If that happened, there would be nothing he could do. Calling the police was out of the question—in the adult world, where were there so many clear rights and wrongs?

Especially in their circle. Even if he called the police today and accused the Shen family of taking his daughter, so what? A family rooted in the capital for a century—would they lack connections? They could crush the Liu family with a flick of a finger.

Taking a step back, even if the police could really intervene, the moment he dared do that, the Liu family would be blacklisted by every family in the circle. Such an “unwise” hothead would be abandoned, and in order to curry favor with the Shen family, no one would dare cooperate with the Lius. Even without the Shen family lifting a finger, the Liu family would struggle to survive in the capital.

All these twists and turns—Liu Dong had prepared himself to be refused the return of his daughter, and to negotiate with the Shen family. What he hadn’t expected was for Shen Huainan to be so direct, so clean-cut in admitting that his daughter was indeed with the Shen family.

He froze for several seconds before cautiously saying, “President Shen, Young Master Shen—several months ago, due to my wife’s passing, Yinyin was in very low spirits. That’s why we had the nanny take her out in the neighborhood for some air. Who would have thought the nanny would be so audacious as to steal my daughter…”

After explaining, Liu Dong continued, “These past few months, my wife and I have been suffering greatly. The atmosphere at home has been very gloomy. We’ve spent a great deal of manpower and resources searching for our daughter. Who would have thought we’d see her again in President Shen’s home? I’m very grateful to you for taking Yinyin in…”

The youth sneered like a born heckler and spat, “In a bad mood, yet still in the mood to dress up glamorously and attend banquets with your wife and kids to network?”

“You lost your daughter—shouldn’t you spend manpower and resources to find her? Forgive me for being blunt: you didn’t even call the police. This manpower and resources is just talk—who would believe it?!”

Shen Huainan raised a hand to press down, signaling his son to calm down. The youth muttered unwillingly, “What nanny would be that bold? I’ve never heard of it in my life!”

“It’s nothing but a vicious stepmother driving away the rightful princess! Only an idiot like you would believe it! Your precious wife must’ve been overjoyed once she succeeded—how could she be in a bad mood?”

Liu Dong: “……”

Shen Huainan said, “The child is young and hot-blooded. President Liu, please be understanding.”

He nodded, and the assistant brought over a large yellow kraft-paper folder and placed it in front of Liu Dong. Shen Huainan inclined his head slightly. “Take a look at what’s inside first.”

“I apologize. Because we had doubts about Yinyin’s background, for safety’s sake we had to investigate. Please forgive any offense.”

A bad premonition rose in Liu Dong’s heart. From the moment they entered—the father playing good cop, the son bad cop—then openly admitting Yinyin was with them, and now handing him a file…

Everything was beyond his expectations. Anything abnormal was bound to bring unforeseen surprises. Of this, Liu Dong was certain. He took a deep breath and opened the folder.

Ten minutes later, the man seemed to have aged ten years. His hands trembled slightly as he held the documents. In a low voice, he asked, “President Shen, are these materials all real?”

“My—my wife may be a bit vain, but she’s by no means a vicious person. How could she… how could she…”

He recalled, “Back then, Yinyin’s mother was my wife’s benefactor. It was Yinyin’s mom who guided her, gave her a stable job. How could she lay a hand on the child she left behind?”

The assistant twitched the corner of his mouth. Was there something wrong with President Liu’s brain? If she had any gratitude, how could she have seduced someone else’s husband and been a mistress for so many years—having children even earlier than the legal wife?

The next second, their young master voiced exactly that thought, with no restraint, sneering, “After your original wife helped your good wife get into your company, she didn’t show any gratitude. Instead, she seduced her husband, successfully became a mistress, had a child three years earlier than her, then got pregnant and had a second child in the same year. And you’re telling me someone like that is kind and wouldn’t harm the legal wife’s child?”

“Half a year ago, your good wife went to see your original wife. Right after that came the news that she died of heart disease after unsuccessful treatment. I even suspect there’s something fishy going on.”

As if speaking to such a fool was too draining, the young master took a sip of water and sighed. “No wonder the Liu Group has been declining these past few years. If Old Master Liu knew he had such a stupid son who married a vicious fox spirit and ruined his daughter-in-law and granddaughter, I wonder what he’d think?”

The folder contained the materials investigated overnight. Not only did it trace the route the nanny took when she fled the capital to Lincheng with Yinyin, it also clearly tracked the changes in her bank account. The nanny, also surnamed Liu, was a divorced middle-aged woman raising a son alone, her income coming from her meager wages working for the Liu family. The day after she took Yinyin away, one million yuan appeared in her account. Later, the money was transferred to two other accounts—both belonging to her son.

The changes in the nanny’s account could only preliminarily suggest that she might have been instructed to deliberately take the employer’s child away and abandon her. It couldn’t serve as direct evidence. Only by finding this key witness could the truth fully come to light.

What Liu Dong found even harder to believe was that the investigation showed the source of the transfer was his wife’s personal life assistant.

Where would a mere life assistant get so much money? And since she was by his wife’s side, who gave the money was self-evident.

Liu Dong suffered blow after blow. The youth’s words tore away his last layer of self-deception.

Back then, when his wife couldn’t conceive for a long time, he’d lost control and had relations with his current wife. Later, when there was a child, he’d wanted to adopt the child under his wife’s name and cut off the affair. But then a hospital checkup revealed his wife had both heart disease and depression. Afraid of shocking her, he didn’t dare bring it up again, dragging it out until it became impossible to resolve.

He felt guilty over his wife’s death. He intended to raise their daughter well and give her everything that belonged to her. But as a man busy with the company every day, he left the child to be raised by his wife. Who would have thought she’d lose the child?

As for why he didn’t call the police… Liu Dong remembered his wife crying and begging him, saying she’d entered the family without honor and was constantly subjected to gossip. If the legal wife’s child went missing, the Liu family would be criticized even more.

It might even affect the Liu family’s reputation and stock price. More importantly, they were afraid it was a kidnapping, and didn’t dare make a fuss.

Shen Lian was speechless at this man’s intelligence. Growing up in the circle, he could see through all these twists at a glance. “Your wife was really thinking about your family’s stock price, reputation, and the child’s safety? She was thinking about your family’s assets! With one less legal child competing for inheritance, wouldn’t the assets and stocks left by the child’s mother all be swallowed by her? Only an idiot completely bewitched like you would believe that! Yinyin doesn’t need a father like you!”

The youth declared proudly, “We’ve already completed the adoption procedures. I’m Yinyin’s dad!”

The assistant whispered, “In legal terms, sir, you’re the young miss’s brother.”

Shen Lian: “……”

Only then did Shen Huainan speak again. “We’re showing you these materials today so you understand that the Liu family is not a good place for Yinyin—perhaps even a dragon’s lair and tiger’s den. I hope to raise Yinyin myself.”

The assistant chimed in tactfully, “After the young master found the little miss, sir already instructed me to handle the adoption procedures. Her household registration is now under the Shen family, under sir’s name.”

Liu Dong watched the father and son leave in a daze. He slumped in the chair for a long time before finally leaving the private room.

In the car, the youth complained unhappily, “Old man, why were you so polite to that idiot? I just can’t stand him—bah! With that level of incompetence, he couldn’t even protect his child and still wants to be a father?”

The man said nothing. The assistant smiled and explained on his behalf. “Sir has prepared several plans. Every single one could crush that Liu fellow. This was just courtesy before force. After all… after all…”

The assistant glanced at the man resting with his eyes closed and said awkwardly, “After all, we are taking someone else’s child…”

Only then did the youth snort and grudgingly accept it.

He turned his head to look at the old man—already in his forties or fifties, a crafty old fox, yet still so sharp. The moment he showed up, he suppressed that Liu fellow until he trembled.

The youth thought: power and status really were good things. People respected him, but didn’t fear him—because behind him was the Shen family, the old man, not his own power.

If he had the old man’s status and authority today, he could just lift a hand and crush that guy without mercy. He didn’t care about a good reputation—he’d wipe out the Liu family in one go and be done with it!

The father and son got out of the car. At the doorway sat a little Yinyin, wearing a one-piece baby dinosaur pajama set, listlessly propping her chubby chin as she stared outside. From afar, she looked like a helpless baby dinosaur, making Shen Lian’s heart ache terribly. He jumped out of the car and rushed over, scooping her up in one swift motion.