Chapter 82: The Safety Lock Is Broken
“What, crying again?”
Shen Xingyu’s mouth asked the question, but his eyes drifted uncontrollably toward the pile of things on the desk, trying to see what they were as his mood began to sour.
“It’s nothing.”
Liang Sheng was terrified of him seeing the letter. He instinctively tried to fold it up, but he was too slow.
The man had already walked to his side.
“What are you hiding?”
“Nothing…”
Liang Sheng grew tense.
Even if his relationship with Xie Zhengran was completely innocent, it wouldn’t stop this man from letting his imagination run wild and forcing his assumptions onto others.
Shen Xingyu reached out and snatched the letter from his hand.
Liang Sheng stood up in a panic.
He tried to grab it back, but he was blocked.
The more he acted this way, the more Shen Xingyu suspected him.
“Sit down. Let me see what this is.”
He pressed Liang Sheng back into the chair and spread the letter open. An inexplicable irritability began to rise in his heart, and sure enough, his mood darkened the instant he saw the first line.
Liang Sheng clutched the hem of his shirt and bit his lip. Seeing the man’s furrowed brow, he knew another interrogation was inevitable.
He simply turned his face away, ignoring him.
In any case, he had a clear conscience!
Unlike the man before him, who had brazenly brought his mistress to live under their roof and engaged in intimate acts—Liang Sheng had endured it all. Shen Xingyu had no right to say anything to him!
The space fell silent for a few minutes.
But the atmosphere grew increasingly taut.
Shen Xingyu felt uncomfortable seeing the initial affectionate words from Xie Zhengran to Liang Sheng, but he wasn’t yet enraged.
However, by the time he reached the end, his face suddenly went black.
It was exactly as expected.
“Are you finished? Give it back.”
Liang Sheng looked up at him with quiet defiance.
He wasn’t afraid of Shen Xingyu losing his temper. In the letter, Xie Zhengran had only shown him concern; every word and sentence was within reasonable bounds and had not crossed any lines. He didn’t believe the man could find any fault with it!
If the man chose to make trouble out of nothing, it would only make Liang Sheng loathe him more.
Shen Xingyu took a deep breath, suppressing his emotions, yet his fingers gripped the paper so hard they left deep creases.
With a cold face, he held the letter in front of Liang Sheng, demanding an explanation: “Didn’t you say there was nothing between you? Then what is this?”
Liang Sheng didn’t know what kind of madness had gripped him again. Did he really have to nitpick every word just to slander him and Xie Zhengran?
The fire in his heart was difficult to extinguish.
He looked impatiently at the paragraph the man was pointing to at the end of the letter. Suddenly, he froze, reading it several times in disbelief.
The handwriting, blurred by teardrops, was slightly faint, but it was still legible. It was Xie Zhengran’s…
Confession?
[Sheng-sheng, after everything else, I still want to tell you that I have always liked you.]
[Every night, I have to think of you just to fall asleep. Since I held you that once, I have been haunted by your scent and your soft hair. I want to kiss them, stroke your cheeks, and I even want to hold you while we sleep…]
[If only you could divorce Shen Xingyu.]
[Consider it, won’t you?]
[I will always be your harbor.]
[Sheng-sheng, I love you.]
This paragraph was written with a touch of madness and was quite explicit—the complete opposite of the sincere and open blessings written earlier.
How was it possible…
No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem like something Xie Zhengran would write!
Yet, the handwriting was identical!
He didn’t want to believe it, yet he had no choice but to…
Liang Sheng’s head buzzed.
He had always viewed Xie Zhengran as a brother and a confidant—a place where he could anchor his emotions.
Xie Zhengran had also said he viewed him as family.
They were the only two hearts in this filthy world that treated each other with sincerity, existing as each other’s support.
Xie Zhengran had wished him a happy and beautiful marriage.
There was absolutely no way he would say such ambiguous and misleading things while knowing full well that Liang Sheng had a husband!
If he were really this bold, why would he have used Liang Yin’s name as a cover earlier in the letter?
Liang Sheng couldn’t understand it.
His eyes turned red without him realizing it.
Seeing those words and thinking of how his wife was being coveted by another made Shen Xingyu feel sick!
He could tolerate many things from Liang Sheng, but he could never tolerate someone trying to steal his lover away…
The next second, he furiously tore the letter into shreds and flung them at Liang Sheng, saying hatefully:
“I told you long ago that he wasn’t a good person. Only a fool like you would be deceived!”
As the scraps of paper fluttered through the air, Liang Sheng sat in his chair with a vacant gaze, his ears ringing.
He watched the fragments land on his lap and lowered his eyes to pick them up. Holding them in his palm, his heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife.
He had been too busy being sad earlier and hadn’t continued reading to the end. He never expected the content at the bottom…
Would be so suffocating.
The image of the gentle and cheerful Xie Zhengran suddenly shattered silently in his heart.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t accept Xie Zhengran liking him; he just didn’t believe that the man would write such things.
What exactly was happening these past few days…
The mother he had cherished like a treasure was suddenly a wicked mistress, and his childhood friend, who had always protected him like an older brother, was revealed in a letter to be coveting him like a starving wolf…
Shen Xingyu was also enraged by the letter. His vulnerability and tenderness from the previous night vanished as he began madly sweeping the various gifts off the desk.
“No wonder… no wonder he used Liang Yin’s name for the package. He had a guilty conscience and was afraid I’d see it! If he’s bold enough to write such disgusting things, he shouldn’t be afraid of people knowing!”
He cursed resentfully, slamming the souvenirs onto the floor. They crashed and shattered into pieces.
The meticulously taken landscape photos were also set ablaze.
The smell of smoke and burning paper filled the room.
Outside the door, seeing the scene of wreckage in the room, Su Nian’s eyes were full of triumph. He could barely suppress the curve of his lips.
Yes, yes, yes, just like that!
Destroy everything Liang Sheng has!
Make him hate you even more!
Su Nian truly felt that those few lines he had added were far too effective! How could someone be as brilliant as him!
He knew the position Xie Zhengran held in Liang Sheng’s heart was that of a clean and pure childhood friend.
Now, he hadn’t just destroyed Xie Zhengran’s image; he had also pushed Shen Xingyu—who had just begun to soften toward Liang Sheng—into a deeper state of misunderstanding. He estimated that their relationship had now deteriorated to the point of being utterly irreconcilable.
Liang Sheng would back out soon.
The position of the Shen family’s Young Madam was as good as his.
No, there was still one obstacle…
The Old Master.
That old man who refused to die.
As long as Old Master Shen was around, it was impossible for Su Nian to marry into the family. He needed to think of a way…
Inside the room, Shen Xingyu was hysterically smashing things.
Liang Sheng watched him quietly.
His eyes were hollow.
Watching the man destroy the things he liked and the freedom he longed for, he found he couldn’t even manage to feel envy anymore.
He didn’t scream or cry; he just stared dully at the shards on the floor.
It seemed that more than just the souvenirs had broken.
The tiny spark of feeling for Shen Xingyu that had just been restored died completely in this moment.
Perhaps it had been dead for a long time.
But this time, the death was absolute.
Why did Shen Xingyu become a madman the moment Xie Zhengran was mentioned? Just last night, he had been carefully asking if they could start over…
In the blink of an eye, he was a total demon once again.
Forget it. He was used to it.
Watching him burn those photos full of hope, Liang Sheng remained expressionless. Perhaps he had already grown numb.
He no longer had the humble, agonizing energy he had displayed when his mother’s photo was burned.
Because it was useless.
No matter how hard he begged or kowtowed on his knees.
It was all useless.
This man was heartless to the core.
He didn’t want to waste his strength on a futile effort.
Shen Xingyu breathed heavily. Only after smashing the last crystal ball did he gradually begin to calm down.
He propped one hand against the desk and wiped the sweat from his forehead, but his heart didn’t feel the least bit relieved.
His gaze fell on Liang Sheng’s dull face.
He froze for a moment. Coming back to his senses, he realized that amidst the total mess on the floor, Liang Sheng was just sitting there, motionless. He wasn’t speaking, and he wasn’t begging him anymore.
Belatedly, Shen Xingyu began to realize: Did I go a bit too far just now?
But he couldn’t control himself.
Xie Zhengran actually wanted his wife!
It was a blatant, face-to-face insult to his dignity!
What husband could stand such vile behavior? It was only for Liang Sheng’s sake that he hadn’t immediately ordered someone to kill Xie Zhengran.
Shen Xingyu stubbornly made excuses for his so-called pride, but looking at Liang Sheng’s desolate appearance, he still couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache.
He crouched in front of Liang Sheng and gently took his hand, his attitude softening: “I… I wasn’t trying to be mean to you. Xie Zhengran went too far. These things couldn’t be kept; someone with ill intentions would have used them against us.”
“Are you finished smashing things?”
Liang Sheng’s eyes finally regained focus.
He looked down at the man. Seeing his usual false affection, Liang Sheng just wanted to laugh. It was truly ironic.
Shen Xingyu turned his gaze away in embarrassment. Knowing he always failed to do what he said, he didn’t have the face to meet the other’s eyes.
Liang Sheng let out an imperceptible snort.
He slowly withdrew his hand and turned to look at the only item still sitting upright on the desk—the music box. He murmured, “Now that you’re done, is it my turn?”
Shen Xingyu looked up, not understanding.
Before he could react, Liang Sheng had already picked up the music box the man had meticulously carved. Then, with an expressionless face, he slammed it violently onto the floor.
Shen Xingyu frowned but didn’t stop him.
There was a loud bang.
The music box, inlaid with various expensive materials and worth millions, shattered instantly!
The Little Prince and the rose on top were snapped in two.
And that silver safety lock—it had also broken.
Looking at the broken safety lock, Shen Xingyu’s eyes grew red. He felt a lump in his throat.
He felt wretched and stung.
Other than the instinct to breathe, he couldn’t say a word.
So this was what it felt like to have something you valued destroyed at will by another person…
He didn’t care that Liang Sheng had smashed the music box he had prepared with such care; what mattered was the broken safety lock.
His mother had commissioned it when he was born, and he had worn it for many years.
It was the only thing he had to remember her by.
He had given the safety lock to Liang Sheng because he wanted the other to be safe and sound, and for his stomach cancer to be cured soon.
Suddenly, he understood exactly how much pain Liang Sheng had felt when he destroyed his photos.
His hatred had clouded his mind.
It was all his fault.
And now he was suffering the consequences.
He deserved this…
Liang Sheng didn’t know the significance of the safety lock. Since Shen Xingyu didn’t care about his things, then there was no need for him to keep this music box either.
He expected Shen Xingyu to fly into a rage, but he didn’t.
Shen Xingyu said nothing. He only lowered his head, his fingertips trembling as he brushed aside the debris. From the wreckage, he found the broken safety lock and clutched it tightly in his palm.
It was strange. This safety lock had been with him for over twenty years and had never broken, no matter how many times it was dropped.
Now, simply being hit by the music box, it had snapped so easily.
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