After Ye Songtao greeted Yin Yao, he didn’t linger.

Yin Yao wasn’t sure if she was being overly cautious or too sensitive. She told the party host that she had an urgent matter at home and needed to leave early.

The host responded, “Dinner is about to start. Just stay and eat, it won’t take long. Or are you not willing to give me even a little face because of certain people?”

Everyone knew about the past issues between Ye Songtao and Yin Yao.

Since the host said this, Yin Yao really couldn’t refuse. If she did, it would be impolite, so she stayed for the meal.

That meal, however, turned into a disaster.

There were a lot of people trying to persuade her to drink, but Yin Yao didn’t want to drink much. Still, due to the circumstances, she ended up holding a glass.

Once she held the glass, she couldn’t drive. After the meal, Yin Yao called a ride and left.

When she reached the door, Yin Yao began to feel something was off.

She had only drunk a small glass of red wine. While her tolerance wasn’t very high, it wasn’t enough to make her dizzy after just one glass.

Yet, as she stood at the door, she felt weak and her limbs became soft. She felt as though she could fall asleep instantly if there were a bed nearby.

Her mind grew fuzzier, and she pinched herself to force her senses to stay alert.

Yin Yao realized something was wrong.

She took out her phone, trying to reach out for help. After thinking for a while, she realized that the only people she could contact were Shen Wang and Louise.

She didn’t hesitate and sent Shen Wang her location, briefly explaining her situation.

Then, she forwarded the same message to Shang Xinglu.

Just as the car arrived, the driver asked, “Are you Miss Yin?”

Yin Yao nodded.

Something felt off. The location was rather remote, yet the car had arrived very quickly.

But her mind was growing duller, and before she could question it further, she fell into a deep sleep.

Before she fell asleep, Yin Yao felt despair.

She thought to herself, “It’s over.”

When Shen Wang received the message from Yin Yao, her phone had already shut off.

Yin Yao’s message was polite and calm, as though it wasn’t a big deal. She said it was fine if he couldn’t come, but if he had time, he could help. Shen Wang replayed her words carefully in his mind…

He immediately jumped out of bed, quickly got dressed, and rushed out in his car.

The car sped down the road to the suburban summer resort, only to find that Yin Yao had already left by car.

At that point, Shen Wang didn’t know what he was thinking. He dialed Ye Songtao’s number, but it was switched off.

Rage surged through him. He kicked the door open and shouted, “Damn!”

The kick startled everyone at the party. The host of the banquet asked, “What happened? What could make Shen Wang lose his temper like this?”

Shen Wang glared at them, holding back his anger. He said, “If something happens, none of you will get away.”

The crowd grew nervous, and some people couldn’t even clearly remember if Yin Yao had even come. People started discussing the situation, and Shen Wang, feeling increasingly upset, went outside.

He knew some people who were good at finding others, but even with that, by the time they found someone, it would probably be too late.

But there was no time to waste now, so Shen Wang began making calls one by one.

After the first call, he suddenly thought of Louise.

Yin Yao’s situation was something Louise would be most concerned about. If Louise knew, she would definitely get Lin Heng to help. At this point, Shen Wang didn’t care about the past relationship dynamics—finding help was the priority.

As he was thinking this, Shang Xinglu’s call came in.

Before she even said “hello,” he heard her voice, half-jokingly and angrily saying, “I’m not panicking, not impulsive, and I’m definitely not going to get into a car accident! Let go of me!”

It was obvious who she was talking to.

Shen Wang: “……”

At this point, even though things were urgent, she still had to be messing around with him. It hurt his heart, honestly.

But since Lin Heng was nearby, it was fine.

Shen Wang thought Shang Xinglu didn’t know, so he was about to quickly explain what had happened when Shang Xinglu shouted, “Go to Kaihua Hotel on Hengshan Road, Room 1808. She’s there! I’m coming now!”

Despite the urgency, Shen Wang was confused.

How did Louise know?

“The nearest Kaihua is the best. The presidential suite is on the 18th floor, and that scumbag often goes there!” Shang Xinglu shouted. “Just go up and do it! Kick the door! Kick it open!!”

At that point, Shang Xinglu didn’t even notice that her phone was still connected. She was still in the process of getting the information.

Once she realized what happened, she froze for a moment.

It took a year for her to almost forget the original story. Now, with this situation, she suddenly remembered similar events from the original text. Though the characters weren’t the same, the details—the summer resort, the party, and just one glass of wine—were all identical.

Shang Xinglu wasn’t someone who had a photographic memory, but once she saw it again, everything came back to her.

She quickly searched the map near the summer resort. Her eyes darted over the locations rapidly, and when she found a hotel name, her eyes lit up.

Lin Heng also glanced at it, pointing to the same hotel and saying, “That’s a Kaihua International hotel.”

Since she was farther away, Shang Xinglu realized Shen Wang was closer and quickly called him.

Shen Wang didn’t kick the door open.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have enough temper; it was that he was worried his strength wouldn’t be enough to break it down.

When Shen Wang got angry, though, he was practically unstoppable.

He grabbed the hotel manager by the collar and dragged him up to the 18th floor to open the door.

When the manager saw Shen Wang, he trembled and didn’t dare resist.

Once the door opened, Shen Wang rushed in, kicked the bedroom door open, and saw Yin Yao lying on the bed.

She was awake but had her limbs bound.

Across from her stood Ye Songtao, freshly showered, about to remove his bathrobe and jump on her.

Shen Wang immediately filled with rage. He stepped forward, grabbed Ye Songtao by the hair, and kneeled him into the floor.

Ye Songtao screamed and fell to the ground.

It didn’t stop there. Shen Wang grabbed him by the collar, punching him repeatedly in the face.

Every punch landed with precision, and Ye Songtao couldn’t fight back.

He was soon knocked senseless, blood flowing from his nose and mouth, and a tooth fell onto the carpet.

“Hey, stop, stop, you’ll kill him!” the hotel manager hurriedly intervened.

Only then did Shen Wang throw Ye Songtao aside and go to untie Yin Yao.

He asked, “Should I call the police?”

Yin Yao, still weak, asked, “If you call the police, you’ll get involved in the assault. Wouldn’t I be implicated?”

Shen Wang, annoyed, said, “How many issues do you have? Can you focus on your own situation right now?!”

Yin Yao gritted her teeth and said, “Report it!”

This left the hotel manager stunned.

To be honest, this kind of thing wasn’t the first time it had happened.

Eight out of ten people either silently endured it, or later accepted a compensation amount. The remaining two didn’t make much of a fuss either.

But it was the first time he had seen someone so decisive.

The hotel manager wanted to say something to persuade her, but was silenced by Shen Wang’s glare and couldn’t utter a word.

Shen Wang called the police, and they waited at the scene for them to arrive.

The hotel manager also called an ambulance because Ye Songtao had been knocked out by Shen Wang.

The room was filled with an uneasy silence.

Shen Wang paced around the room restlessly.

He couldn’t even explain his feelings, but he was angry.

Very angry.

To be honest, it was understandable to be angry about such underhanded tactics.

But even with his bad temper, was he being too angry?

Shen Wang was so angry he couldn’t sit still, walking back and forth in the room.

After a while, he noticed something wasn’t right.

Turning around, he saw Yin Yao sitting there with her head lowered, silently.

Upon a closer look—she was crying.

Tears were quietly falling.

Shen Wang found it annoying when girls cried.

Actually, he hated anyone crying.

The only person he’d patiently comforted in the past, almost as if she were a little princess, was Louise.

Louise cried very differently from Yin Yao.

When she cried, it was loud and intense… her sobbing was the kind that could shatter the heavens, unlike the soft, delicate tears that Yin Yao was shedding.

Getting her to stop crying wasn’t easy.

When Shen Wang saw Yin Yao crying like that, his brows furrowed.

…Her crying was so exaggerated and annoying.

Even though it annoyed him, he couldn’t help but walk over, offering her a handkerchief which he pulled back before finally clenching it tightly. Frustrated, he almost wanted to slap her to stop her crying.

But his hand, against his own will, gently patted her head.

Then Shen Wang pulled her into his arms.

“Forget it, just cry if you want to,” Shen Wang said.

…

The hotel surveillance footage was reviewed, and the cup with leftover sleeping pills from the summer villa was found. The waiter who had drugged the drink was quick to confess, fearing trouble for themselves. Both witness and material evidence were present.

However, the Ye family quickly sent a lawyer to bail Ye Songtao out.

Because of this incident, Ye Songtao became a target for Luo Ruihua, who made a big deal out of it. Soon, he lost support from the board of directors and had to step down as CEO.

Of course, even without Luo Ruihua’s intervention, Kaifa International had to let Ye Songtao resign under pressure from various sides.

One of those pressures, naturally, came from Shen Wang.

Lin Heng also had a part in this.

It wasn’t anything special.

After the call, Shang Xinglu rushed over with Lin Heng, hurriedly comforting Yin Yao for a long time before heading to the police station to deal with things. They didn’t finish until late into the night.

On the way back, Lin Heng reassured Shang Xinglu, telling her not to be too tense.

Shang Xinglu sighed and said, “Just think about it, what if the person taken away today had been me?”

Lin Heng followed her words, thinking for a moment.

…He exploded.

The lawyer said that while there was evidence, the situation of the case wasn’t optimistic.

Firstly, the evidence wasn’t direct—Yin Yao was carried upstairs not by Ye Songtao himself, and it wasn’t him who drugged her. Secondly, Yin Yao hadn’t suffered substantial harm. Lastly, whether the case would go to court and how it would be judged were different issues.

Additionally, the Ye family had some power, so it was very likely the case would eventually be dropped or result in a light sentence.

However, the lawyer suggested that since this wasn’t the first time Ye Songtao had done such things, if previous victims were willing to come forward for a collective lawsuit, it would have a much greater impact, especially with a representative lawsuit in the country.

But finding that list was hard.

Most of those women chose to remain silent. Why would they suddenly come forward now?

Even if they were to persuade others to speak, they would need to know who had been harmed first.

At this moment, Luo Ruihua, the newly appointed CEO of Kaifa, sent Shang Xinglu a list of names along with some evidence she had gathered over the years.

After working on the case from various angles, a representative lawsuit was formally scheduled. Due to its serious nature and the timing during an important national conference, it quickly became a landmark case.

The Ye family no longer dared to exert pressure; doing so would only make them the target of public ire.

Kaifa had already distanced itself from Ye Songtao and was no longer his supporter.

The case took about two years to process, and in the end, Ye Songtao paid a massive fine, losing most of his fortune, and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Of course, that’s another story.

Since Yin Yao’s case was relatively mild compared to other victims, she wasn’t selected as the representative case, and by the time the public trial began, she had already finished her part.

Initially, there were some humiliating remarks online, but as the case progressed, more and more people turned their attention to topics like women’s safety.

During this time, Yin Yao was busy with the case, while Bichen Cosmetics was launched. Shang Xinglu, of course, supported Yin Yao through the legal battle, shouldering much of the work herself. She was so busy that she wished she could split into three.

When everything finally calmed down, summer arrived.

Shang Xinglu finally managed to take a day off, returning home at eight in the evening, collapsing on the couch and refusing to get up.

Lin Heng patted her and said, “Take a shower and go eat.”

The more Shang Xinglu worked outside, solving a string of issues with a wave of her hand, the more delicate she became at home.

She said, “I’m so tired I can’t move! …Unless you carry me.”

Naturally, Lin Heng indulged her endlessly.

Carrying her to the shower seemed nothing special, as though he hadn’t been working hard enough.

After the shower, Shang Xinglu felt even more exhausted.

She silently decided to spend the entire next day in bed. Just then, Marilyn reminded her, “Miss Shang, you need to go to the hospital for a check-up tomorrow.”

Shang Xinglu asked, “…Do my feet need a check-up too? Should I see a therapist?”

Marilyn calmly replied, “No, it’s for the neurosurgeon.”

Shang Xinglu: “???”