“Isn’t it a woman’s duty to give birth? It doesn’t matter how many children you bear. Besides, the child will still be your flesh and blood. We don’t have to worry about the costs of raising a child anyway. We can totally afford to raise them. I like children too. If we end up with lots of children, don’t complain that they’re too noisy or annoying.”

“Why would I complain? I would be over the moon. You’re right, Lele. Hurry and have something to eat. You must be famished,” he said in a gentle and tender voice.

Wen Lele nodded and began eating while sitting cross-legged on the bed.

“By the way, I actually want to know about something. Could you answer me truthfully?”

“Speak.”

“There are lots of rumors and theories about you online. However, I’d like to hear it from you. Why did you divorce An Xiaoning and Jin Qingyue?”

“Well, I utterly detested An Xiaoning, and my grandfather was the one who arranged for me to marry her. I wasn’t willing to comply at all. We were merely married in name and I didn’t get intimate with her at all. As for Jin Qingyue, I did fancy her quite a bit and I married her willingly. However, we started facing some problems after we moved in together and we had lots of conflicts. We would inevitably argue every now and then. Later on, she tried to destroy me by colluding with her brother to acquire my company. They even caused me to be put behind bars for a few years. How could I continue living with such a woman? The truth speaks for itself, and it’s proven that I had made the right choice by divorcing her.”

“That just means she’s not fated to be by your side for the rest of your life. If she didn’t divorce you, I wouldn’t have been able to marry you.”

“Yes, yes, you’re the one whom I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. Hurry and eat up.”

Shi Bao’er had been eavesdropping on them while standing behind the full-length curtain. She bit her lip and stood rooted to the ground.

To her astonishment, her father did not leave the room and instead rushed to consummate his marriage before nighttime even arrived.

He had no idea that Shi Bao’er was hiding in his room. As a result, she heard everything while he got intimate with his new wife.

Having satisfied his desires, Shi Shaochuan left the room while Wen Lele dozed off slowly.

Shi Bao’er finally tiptoed out of the curtain. She recalled the incident wherein she tried to set Bu Xianxian on fire using some perfume and lighter. However, her plans were foiled in the end because Bu Xianxian had managed to run out of the room in time.

Shi Bao’er had learned from her experience after a failed attempt. This time, she took out a rope that she had prepared beforehand and squatted down beside the bed. She tied the rope gently around Wen Lele’s ankles to bind her to the bed.

She then walked to the headboard and painstakingly tied Wen Lele’s arms to the bed while trying her best not to wake her up.

She then returned to her own room and brought a can of petrol, which she had found in the garage, back to Shi Shaochuan’s bedroom. The can was rather small. In order to hide it in her room, she’d had to place it elsewhere after stealing it from the garage and waited until midnight to smuggle it back into her room.

Wen Lele did not have her guard up against Shi Bao’er at all. Thus, she had no idea that she had already been put in danger while she was sound asleep.

By the time she was jolted awake from her dreams, she was already covered in flames from head to toe. She shrieked in terror at the top of her lungs while struggling to break free, not knowing what had happened at all. She was clueless as to who had tied her to the bed and lit her ablaze. She had no idea who was trying to kill her!

The fire was spreading rapidly, and she did not even have the time to think. All that was on her mind was the excruciating pain she was in.

She tried to free herself from the rope with all her might but to no avail.

She desperately tried to call for help. However, no one could hear her because of the soundproofing effect of the bedroom. The Shi family only found out about the fire when they discovered the thick fumes.

Wen Lele had already lost her consciousness by the time the fire was put out.

When Shi Shaochuan returned home, he checked the surveillance camera footages. He saw that Wen Lele had been sent to the hospital, and he also saw the scene wherein his daughter entered the bedroom with the can of kerosene. His heart sank.

He duplicated a copy of the video and sent it to Jin Qingyue before deleting the footage.

He then grabbed the spare key and opened the door of Shi Bao’er’s room.

Shi Bao’er was lying on the bed and pretending to be asleep. Shi Shaochuan picked her up and glared at her menacingly. Shi Bao’er found an excuse for herself and exclaimed in a bratty manner, “I told you long ago that I don’t want you to find me a stepmother, yet you insisted on defying me! If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have done that!”

Shi Shaochuan gave Shi Bao’er a tight slap across her face, causing her to collapse onto the bed. He had slapped her so forcefully that blood began to flow from the corner of her lips.

“I thought that you had really grown sensible and begun sparing a thought for me. But you didn’t change your ways at all. A leopard truly never changes its spots. You’re so young and yet you’re already harboring such vicious thoughts. You’re such a devil. I won’t allow you to step into this house again. I’ll send you to live with your mother from now on. I’ll return your custody rights to her too. I don’t want a daughter like you!”

Tears streamed down Shi Bao’er’s face continuously. She had never seen her father being so exasperated at her before. In a moment of pique, she barked, “If you’re sending me to Mommy, so be it! I don’t have a father like you. Have you ever taken care of me since I was a child? You and Mommy are both married now with a new family of your own. How about me? I don’t have a family. Have you guys ever spared a thought for me!?!”

Not wanting to argue with her any further, Shi Shaochuan turned around and opened the luggage. He then stuffed all of her clothes into the suitcase and zipped it up before pulling her down from the bed and bringing her to the car. When he was driving out of the Shi family mansion, he called Jin Qingyue.

“Where are you now?” he asked.

“At home. Where else could I be?”

Shi Shaochuan ended the call immediately and headed straight to Wei Ni Estate.

Shi Bao’er’s face was swollen from the beating, and she was brought to Jin Qingyue’s doorstep.

After the doorbell had rung twice, Jin Qingyue finally opened the door.

Shi Shaochuan shoved Shi Bao’er toward Jin Qingyue and placed the luggage in front of the door. “I’m returning your daughter to you, as well as her custody rights. From now on, she has nothing to do with me. I don’t want her anymore. Lele is undergoing emergency rescue in the hospital and we still don’t know if she’s dead or alive. Jin Qingyue, don’t be so preoccupied with living your own happy life. Look what your daughter has become!”

Jin Qingyue blew her top and retorted, “Shi Shaochuan, do you have any shame at all? You were the one who vied with me for her custody rights. I did give birth to her and raise her single-handedly, but isn’t she your flesh and blood too? I did spoil her when she was younger but I’ve never taught her to commit such evil acts. Am I the only one who should be responsible for the way she had turned out?”

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