Chapter 19: Don’t Shed Tears for Another Man in Front of Me
Liang Sheng knew that no matter how he answered—or even if he didn’t answer at all—it would provoke the man.
His eyes were filled with tears. He looked at Xie Zhengran, then at Shen Xingyu. He lowered his head in fear and said shamefully, “It was… it was me who seduced Brother Ran…”
“Good. Very good.”
Shen Xingyu let out a cold laugh. He leaned down slightly, pinching Liang Sheng’s chin with one hand, forcing him to look up.
“Sheng-sheng, you really are getting bolder. Secretly seducing a lover behind your husband’s back… it must be very thrilling, right?”
He enunciated those last few words heavily. His smile vanished, and his face suddenly turned as cold as the depths of winter.
Liang Sheng’s heart tightened. He felt as if his jaw were about to be crushed. The pain turned his face pale, and tears welled up in his eyes.
“No! No, truly no.”
He shook his head, crying as he said, “I only see him as an older brother; I truly haven’t done anything. Truly.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
Shen Xingyu seemed interested, the force in his hand increasing slightly. “Playing at ‘pseudo-incestuous’ roles? Even more interesting.”
Liang Sheng let out a cry of pain, shrinking his body back. He wanted to escape those demonic claws, but he was held in a death grip.
“Let… let me go. I was wrong. I won’t dare do it again in the future… please, it hurts…”
He pleaded continuously, his face covered in tears.
Xie Zhengran, having recovered from the pain, saw Liang Sheng being bullied and was extremely anxious. He twisted his arms with all his might, but he still couldn’t break free from Qin Lou’s restraint. He had no choice but to shout at Shen Xingyu:
“Shen Xingyu! Do you have any idea! Sheng-sheng, he…”
“It’s all my fault! Brother Ran, you don’t need to say anything! I was the one who was unfaithful and seduced you first!”
Liang Sheng interrupted what Xie Zhengran wanted to say, his voice trembling. He was forced to say these words against his heart under his husband’s murderous gaze. His heart was filled with endless shame.
“Sheng-sheng…”
Xie Zhengran murmured his name. He couldn’t believe it. This person, who once had such strong self-esteem and never compromised easily, was now humiliating his own dignity for the sake of a husband who was pressuring him step by step…
“Enough!”
Shen Xingyu let out an angry roar. He couldn’t listen to his little wife claiming to have actively seduced someone else any longer. His hand gripping the chair suddenly let go, causing the chair to grate harshly against the floor.
The piercing noise made Liang Sheng shudder in distress.
“Shameless.”
Shen Xingyu’s face was pale. He spat out those words through gritted teeth, let go of his little wife’s face, and instead grabbed his hand. He dragged him from the bed and toward the exit.
“Ugh… slower… it hurts…”
Liang Sheng groaned in pain. On the way out, his head slammed hard against the doorframe, making him see stars.
His body was already fragile, and with the stomach cancer, he couldn’t withstand this kind of treatment. The violent staggering caused a mouthful of blood to surge up from his throat, but he didn’t dare spit it out, forcing himself to swallow it back down.
Shen Xingyu was also consumed by rage, disregarding whether Liang Sheng lived or died, using all his strength to shove him into the car.
Liang Sheng felt lightheaded and dizzy, his head spinning as waves of cramping pain washed over his stomach.
He leaned against the car window, wanting to rest, but before his head could touch the glass, he was yanked back by a large hand and fell onto the man’s cold shoulder.
“Sit up straight for me!”
A cold, stern low shout rang in his ear.
Liang Sheng could only force his body up, sitting shakily.
He turned to look at his husband, whose face was dark with gloom, and said powerlessly, “Don’t… don’t torture me anymore, alright?”
Shen Xingyu froze. Just now, he had only been concerned with dragging the person out; he hadn’t noticed the prominent red swelling on Liang Sheng’s forehead or his deathly pale lips. However, his inner anger and jealousy outweighed that tiny, insignificant trace of—not even heartache—surprise.
“Don’t act like you’re on the verge of death. That illness was fake, wasn’t it? I think your desire to see your lover was the only thing that was real.”
He mocked, staring straight ahead, sitting with a straight back and adjusting his coat, which had been ruffled by the wind.
Liang Sheng was stunned. He already hadn’t expected the other to believe him, but hearing these words from the man’s mouth still made it hard to breathe from the pain.
For a moment, he wanted to tell the truth about his stomach cancer, to see what Shen Xingyu’s reaction would be. Would he care? Or would he be indifferent…
But Liang Sheng held back. He didn’t want to be a fool who kept asking for an answer when he already knew what it was.
Seeing him not reply, Shen Xingyu’s mood became even more irritable. He continued his heartless mockery:
“A few pieces of chicken made you hurt this much? Why bother acting so hard? Even I was fooled by you.”
Liang Sheng’s eyes grew red. His fragile heart was already numb. He took a few deep breaths and choked out, “Is that… truly how I am in your eyes?”
“Correct.”
Shen Xingyu’s cold answer made the tears Liang Sheng had been suppressing finally fall uncontrollably.
The man with the gentle temperament in his memories was growing more and more blurred. The husband before him now was only cold and heartless; he couldn’t see a single trace of the Shen Xingyu from seven years ago.
Oh, there was a trace, but it didn’t belong to him.
Shen Xingyu had no idea how disappointed Liang Sheng was in him right now, nor did he know that the other had a very serious illness.
His mind was currently full of the image of his little wife disheveled and hugging someone else when he had kicked the door open.
His fingers were tightly clenched, his knuckles turning white, the veins on his hands clearly visible.
Liang Sheng tilted his head back, resting it on the headrest. He felt so miserable, so tired. He didn’t want to care about anything anymore; he just wanted to rest well…
The March wind wasn’t cold; there was a hint of warmth in the coolness. It felt just right blowing against his face, enough to fall asleep.
In his daze, he was suddenly shoved violently into the corner of the car seat. His head hit the window with a thud, and he was instantly startled awake, his sleepiness vanishing.
Shen Xingyu’s eyes were bloodshot. He had never been this angry.
He grabbed Liang Sheng’s face and pinned him in the corner. His tall shadow loomed over the small figure. His face was pale and gloomy.
“W-what do you want to do?”
Liang Sheng shrank his neck in fear.
The man’s gaze held a trace of madness that made him feel as if his whole body were being pricked by needles. He wanted to escape, his hands pushing against his husband’s solid chest, not daring to look at him.
Shen Xingyu studied the humiliated expression on the face of the person in his arms with interest, then let out a light chuckle.
Yet there was no laughter in his eyes.
He pinned Liang Sheng’s frail hands above his head, immobilizing them with one large palm. His somewhat rough thumb heavily pressed and ground against his little wife’s soft, fair lips: “Who kissed this place? Which one am I?”
Liang Sheng turned his head away in shame.
But Shen Xingyu had no intention of letting him off. The hand stroking his lips suddenly pinched his cheek:
“Answer.”
Liang Sheng’s eyes were filled with tears from the pain. He said humbly, “No… no one else… you are the first.”
Shen Xingyu snorted, but he wasn’t satisfied.
“Little liar.”
After saying that, he lowered his head and bit down hard on Liang Sheng’s shoulder. His teeth sank deep into the flesh, drawing blood. The faint scent of iron lingered, as if he wouldn’t stop until he had torn his little wife apart.
Liang Sheng gasped in pain. He dug his nails into his palms to keep from screaming out. He trembled all over from the pain.
Shen Xingyu looked at the oval-shaped teeth marks—a seal that belonged only to him. He smiled even more brightly.
His cold lips pressed against Liang Sheng’s ear as he warned in a light tone, “Don’t ever let me see you being close to someone else again. Otherwise, I will kill that man without hesitation.”
Liang Sheng clutched his falling clothes, closing his eyes in grief.
There would be no chance.
Shen Xingyu wouldn’t have the chance to see it.
If he gave up treatment, he would die.
Once he was dead, he would be completely free of this demon. No one would ever know they had once loved each other.
A tear silently slid from the corner of Liang Sheng’s eye, dripping onto the back of Shen Xingyu’s hand as he withdrew it. It felt cold.
His hand trembled slightly. Looking at the tear stain on his hand, his heart suddenly clenched. It was as if an invisible hand had squeezed it hard, causing a raw pain.
Why… was there this feeling?
Shen Xingyu didn’t understand what heartache was. He stubbornly believed that this was simply anger and rage.
He wiped away the trace of moisture in disgust, fire burning in his heart. He said coldly, “Don’t shed tears for another man in front of me. It’s disgusting.”
Liang Sheng wiped the tear stains from his face, no longer trying to explain himself like he did before.
He had once fantasized countless times about his husband changing, about those sweet promises from before being fulfilled one by one. But reality was always cruel. Disappointment after disappointment had gradually drained his confidence.
He couldn’t love anymore.
He only wanted to truly live for himself once in the limited time he had left.
Liang Sheng’s silence made Shen Xingyu’s irritation grow even more.
At that moment, his phone vibrated a few times.
He took it out and looked. It was a message from Su Nian, along with dozens of missed calls.
[Su Nian: President Shen, when are you coming back? Is the Young Madam okay? It’s all Nian-nian’s fault. If I hadn’t given the Young Madam that chicken, he wouldn’t have gotten sick!]
[Su Nian: The sky is a bit gloomy; it looks like it’s going to rain. I wonder if it will thunder…]
[Su Nian: President Shen, please come back quickly!]
[Su Nian: Reply to me, okay? Nian-nian is really worried about you!]
There were too many messages to scroll through. Shen Xingyu wasn’t in the mood to read them, so he turned off his phone and tossed it aside.
Su Nian wouldn’t give up and called Qin Lou instead.
Qin Lou looked at the incoming call and asked the man behind him, “President Shen, Secretary Su is calling you.”
Shen Xingyu rubbed his temples in frustration, hating this endless clinging. He said perfunctorily, “Send him a message saying I’m on my way back.”
“Understood.”
After sending the message, Qin Lou spoke again: “President Shen, the company’s annual meeting is in a couple of days. Since the Old Master went back to his hometown to recover his health this year, I’m afraid you’ll have to attend and host it.”
“I know.”
Shen Xingyu let out a heavy sigh.
Only then did he remember that he was supposed to go back to his hometown. Due to the year-end rush at the company, it had been delayed again and again. Some time ago, the old man had fallen down the stairs and broken his leg. He didn’t know what the current situation was…
“How is Grandpa’s leg?”
He asked.
At the mention of Old Master Shen, Liang Sheng also cleared his mind from his daze, instinctively pricking up his ears to listen.
The Old Master had treated him well and was the only elder in the Shen family who actually cared about him.
Knowing he had fallen, Liang Sheng also felt sad and worried, blaming himself for not finding time to go back.
Qin Lou: “He can get out of bed, but he still can’t walk. He has to use a wheelchair.”
Shen Xingyu frowned.
Qin Lou added: “Oh, right. The Old Master also asked me when you could bring the Young Madam back to see him.”
Translator’s Note:
- Pseudo-incestuous (僞骨科): This refers to the “Brother Ran” nickname. In Chinese web novels, this is a popular trope where characters who aren’t blood-related act like siblings but have romantic tension. Shen is mocking this.
- Annual Meeting (年會): This is a huge deal for Chinese companies, usually involving a big banquet and speeches.
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