Duan Zheng summoned two men to confront Uncle Deng:
"Uncle Deng, I respect you—but are you really going to go along with this little girl's nonsense?" Uncle Deng smiled gently: "I simply act according to the late master's last will and testament." "Duan Yiheng can barely save himself right now; make sure you don't end up backing the wrong horse," Duan Zheng warned with a hint of menace. Uncle Deng stood tall and rigid:
"Please leave, Mr. Duan." Duan Zheng gritted his teeth in frustration; just as he was about to order his bodyguards to use force, Duan Mingxuan stepped in and stopped him. Duan Zheng turned to look back: "Are *you* going to stand in my way, too?" "Grandpa hasn't woken up yet—so even if you *did* manage to get inside, what good would it do?"
Duan Mingxuan frowned. "I don't care what you're up to, but you are *not* to lay a hand on Xiao Xi." "Duan Mingxuan, you've become a complete stranger to me," Lin Xi said, her gaze cold. "With Grandpa in this state right now... are you satisfied?"
"Xiao Xi, you have to believe me. My only intention was to be with you—never to hurt Grandpa," Duan Mingxuan stepped forward to explain. "If Grandpa doesn't pull through this time..." Lin Xi's voice caught in her throat. "I will *never* forgive you." "I simply fell in love with you—what did I do wrong?"
Duan Mingxuan growled in frustration. "For your sake, I personally saw to it that Zhang Mo was thrown into prison. For your sake, I learned to work in the business world and strove to become a steady, reliable man. Do none of those things hold even the slightest significance in your eyes?"
"You told me not to seek you out, so I endured the agony of watching you with Duan Yiheng day after day. What exactly do I have to do to finally satisfy you?" "No matter what you do, I will never be satisfied," Lin Xi took a step back. "Stop deluding yourself."
Duan Mingxuan let out a heavy, ragged breath. "Even if Duan Yiheng were to lose absolutely everything... would you still stay by his side?" Lin Xi countered his words: "He won't lose everything. He still has me." Duan Mingxuan's eyes flickered, and a sharp pang of pain twisted in his chest.
The little girl who used to trail behind him all those years ago was long gone. He had realized it too late—and Duan Yiheng had seized his chance too quickly. Yet, he simply could not bring himself to accept the reality that Lin Xi was no longer his. "Xiao Xi..." Duan Mingxuan's lips quivered slightly, and a faint glint of tears flickered in his eyes. "Chen Liangyi approached me earlier and said that if the truth about you and Duan Yiheng were exposed to the public—specifically to ensure Duan Yiheng could smoothly take over Silver Sail and reassure the shareholders—you would leave him."
Lin Xi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Duan Mingxuan continued, "Deep down, I actually knew better. I feared that the same old tricks wouldn't be enough to drive a wedge between you and Duan Yiheng." He truly had been deluding himself. Regardless of how despicable it might be, he simply wanted to make one last attempt.
"Why are you wasting so much breath on her?" Duan Zheng snapped, exasperated by his son's weakness. "Help me get inside today, and tomorrow the Duan family and Silver Sail will belong to your old man. With that kind of power, what woman couldn't you have?" Duan Mingxuan composed himself, turned around, and blocked Duan Zheng's path:
"I've said it before: no one is allowed to harm Lin Xi." Duan Zheng's gaze turned razor-sharp; he turned his head and signaled for his bodyguards to step forward. Uncle Deng also waved his hand, and his own bodyguards immediately positioned themselves to shield Uncle Deng and Lin Xi behind them.
The hospital security team arrived just then, but they were completely ineffective, as Duan Zheng's men formed an impenetrable wall, blocking their access. Lin Xi looked at Duan Zheng and said, "The hospital is not a place for you to run wild." Duan Zheng smirked:
"Little girl, even if the police showed up, they couldn't stop me from visiting my old man. On the other hand—you, a person with absolutely no blood ties to the Duan family—what right do *you* have to stand in my way?" It was true; the police couldn't legally prevent a son from visiting his father. Lin Xi decided she would simply have to stall for as long as she possibly could.
At the very least, she couldn't let her resolve waver, nor could she betray any sign of fear. Lin Xi stepped forward and locked her eyes directly with Duan Zheng's:
"Uncle Duan, as a father, Grandpa has never owed you anything. You have driven him to the hospital time and again; you cast aside any semblance of father-son affection long ago. Everyone else here has the right to enter—everyone, that is, except you." "And *you* do, I suppose?"
Duan Zheng suddenly raised his voice. "If you don't get out of my way right now, don't blame me for getting rough." Those who harbor a guilty conscience always tend to speak the loudest. Lin Xi raised her chin, her expression of disdain for a fleeting moment mirroring that of Duan Yiheng:
"I'll stand right here; let's see just how 'unsparing' Uncle Duan intends to be with me." Duan Zheng, beside himself with rage, barked orders at his bodyguards: "Grab her!" Duan Mingxuan suddenly stepped in front of the bodyguards: "Get lost!" "Duan Mingxuan, have you lost your mind?"
Duan Zheng was incandescent with fury. "I am your father! Everything I've done—wasn't it all for *your* sake?" "Duan Zheng, I think *you're* the one who's lost his mind!" Before Duan Zheng could react, Chen Baiwei's Hermès handbag suddenly slammed squarely into his back. "Do you have any conscience left?"
Chen Baiwei wailed and sobbed hysterically. "I could have overlooked your cheating, but to think you actually went and fathered a child with someone on the outside?" "You kept claiming that everything you did was for me and Mingxuan, but in the end, it was all just for that bastard child!" "Are you even human? You've been lying to me for so long!"
"I am, after all, the woman you formally married and brought into this family. What gives that slut the right? Why do you intend to hand everything over to that mother and daughter pair?" "I'm warning you: don't you dare! I'd sooner die than let you get your way!" Duan Mingxuan's mind went blank for a moment: "Mom, what are you talking about?"
With tears and snot streaming down her face, Chen Baiwei threw herself against Duan Mingxuan's chest. "Oh, Mingxuan... your father had a bastard child with that little slut on the Board of Directors. Everything he's done has been for *their* sake!" A vein throbbed at Duan Mingxuan's temple: "Who on the Board?"
"Ke Yu—the Board Secretary." Duan Yiheng arrived belatedly, adding the detail with an air of casual indifference. Hearing the familiar voice, Lin Xi's eyes lit up, and she went over to meet him: "How did it go?" Duan Yiheng nodded: "It's been handled. Qin Yang will take care of the follow-up."
Lin Xi cast a sidelong glance at Duan Zheng. "But with Grandpa suddenly hospitalized, the Board has already fallen under Ke Yu's control." Although the Old Master had ordered Ke Yu's dismissal at the time, she had the Zheng family backing her; furthermore, she held compromising leverage over most of the Board members, making her a difficult opponent to take down.
Duan Yiheng wrapped an arm around Lin Xi's shoulders and took a step back, assuming the classic posture of an amused spectator. Duan Mingxuan gently guided the inconsolable Chen Baiwei to a nearby seat. He turned to face Duan Zheng: "Is everything Mom said true?" Duan Zheng pursed his lips: "What do you intend to do?"
Duan Mingxuan suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Duan Zheng by the collar; his eyes blazed with fury as he demanded in a low, heavy voice: "How old is the child? Is it a boy or a girl?" "Wh—what are you doing?" Duan Zheng raised a hand beneath the fray, signaling for his bodyguards to step in and pull Duan Mingxuan away.
Duan Yiheng shot a meaningful glance at Uncle Deng, and immediately, men stepped in to intercept the bodyguards Duan Zheng had brought with him. With Duan Yiheng's intervention, the atmosphere in the room shifted subtly. The men who had previously been blocking the hospital security staff were swiftly neutralized, one by one, by the people Duan Yiheng had brought along. In an instant, Duan Zheng found himself at a distinct disadvantage.
Duan Mingxuan shoved him hard against the wall: "Was everything you did—was it all for the sake of your bastard child?" Duan Zheng, guilt written all over his face, averted his gaze: "What 'bastard child'? That is your sister! Both you and she are my children—when have I ever treated you poorly?"
Lin Xi silently tightened her grip on Duan Yiheng's hand; Duan Yiheng turned his face toward her and pulled her into a tight embrace. At that very moment, the Old Master's lawyer, the will's notary, and other officials arrived at the hospital. Sensing that something was amiss, Duan Zheng shoved Duan Mingxuan aside and confronted Uncle Deng: "Why did you summon them here?"
The door to the VIP ward opened from the inside, revealing the Old Master's secretary—Chen Xin. Secretary Chen cast a cold, sweeping glance over the assembled crowd and announced: "The Chairman has woken up. He requests that you all enter."