Chapter 72 Threat

The smell of disinfectant in the hospital corridor was so strong it was pungent.

When the man announced Fu Wang's name, the young nurse at the nurses' station was clearly taken aback, her eyes flickered, and she almost dropped the medical record in her hand.

"Should I... visit Mr. Fu Wang?"

She stammered, her fingers unconsciously picking at the papers on the table.

"He... asked this gentleman to show his family information."

"My name is Fu Jingchen. You can verify my identity in the records."

The man's tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable sense of pressure.

The nurse's face paled even more, and she stammered as if she wanted to say something. Fu Jingchen had already sensed something was wrong, his brows furrowed sharply, and he stopped arguing with her, turning around and heading straight for the familiar ward.

The door wasn't locked, and with a click, he pushed it open.

The ward was quiet. Fu Wang was leaning against the bed. His complexion wasn't great, but he looked calm and relaxed.

However, no one noticed that there was a small patch of undried sweat behind the man's temple, which didn't seem like he had been resting in bed all along.

Fu Wang's face showed impatience, followed by a cold smile, but it also revealed a hint of haste that he was trying to conceal.

"Fu Jingchen, if you won't let me leave, what are you doing here?"

"To see me make a fool of myself?"

Fu Jingchen didn't answer. He closed the door behind him and walked steadily to the bedside, looking down at him.

Sunlight streamed through the window and fell behind him, obscuring the man's features in the dim light.

The air in the ward seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

Fu Jingchen looked at Fu Wang's tense face and suddenly spoke, his tone as calm as if he were talking about the weather.

"Xiao Yi will come to see you this afternoon."

Fu Wang's pupils suddenly contracted, and his eyes instantly exploded with unbelievable joy. He almost jumped out of bed, and the corners of his mouth uncontrollably turned up.

He had been waiting for those words for a long time, but his joy lasted less than two seconds before being replaced by a deeper sense of astonishment.

Fu Wang stared at the man in front of him, hesitating before speaking.

"You...you'll let her come?"

The man didn't miss the blinding light in Fu Wang's eyes. His gaze instantly darkened, his eyes narrowed dangerously, and the pressure around him plummeted.

His gaze was so cold it was like poison, almost as if he wanted to slowly torture Fu Wang to death.

"Stop thinking about it." The warmth in the man's voice vanished completely.

"Zhou Wan's driver, maid, cook, and even the Fu family's doctor are all—"

The color drained from Fu Wang's face instantly, and he opened his mouth in astonishment.

Fu Jingchen threatened him with his biological mother.

Fu Wang never imagined that his nominal older brother, who usually appeared steady and refined and exuded a sense of aloofness, would say such blunt and sinister words.

Beneath that gentle exterior lies a fang like this.

Fu Jingchen didn't give him time to process it and continued.

"Haven't you been investigating my background? I can tell you directly, I am the current president of NovaVoy."

"But you already know, don't you?"

The man's calm tone carried undisguised contempt, as if he were talking about something trivial.

"Do you think you're worthy to compete with me?"

The deeper meaning behind those words was self-evident. Fu Jingchen no longer needed to contend for the Fu family name; he could only be referring to Ruan Yi.

This time, his words were even more direct and straightforward.

Fu Wang's breathing suddenly stopped, and his face turned extremely pale.

Fu Jingchen seemed to remember something, and suddenly chuckled, his laughter filled with nothing but sarcasm.

"Didn't you say that Xiaoyi would be your girlfriend?"

Fu Wang's heart sank, a strong sense of unease welling up inside him. He stared intently at Fu Jingchen, his voice trembling with anger and tension.

"What are you trying to do?!"

Fu Jingchen looked at his furious expression, but his face remained expressionless.

Do you love Xiaoyi?

"Would you love someone so much that you'd trade Zhou Wan's life for the status of Xiao Yi's girlfriend?"

The man tilted his head slightly, his tone even carrying a hint of feigned admiration.

"If it can really be done, then this kind of love is indeed quite great."

Fu Wang felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen at that moment.

The person in front of me is absolutely insane.

"When Xiaoyi arrives later, she might say something she shouldn't have in front of you, or show inappropriate emotions..."

Fu Jingchen tapped his fingertips lightly on the bed railing, each tap feeling like a blow to his heart.

"I will choose the 'best' way for Zhou Wan, and the Fu family will usher in its most glorious moment—"

funeral.

"Fu Jingchen, you're threatening me with murder? You're fucking insane!"

Fu Wang completely lost control and struggled to get off the bed, making a cracking sound as the IV tube was pulled.

"You're a madman! I'll tell..."

The man beside the bed had no expression on his face, and even raised his hand to straighten his shirt cuffs, his tone frighteningly calm.

"Do you think that after all this commotion, you'll still have a chance to go back to China?"

One sentence was like ice water poured over Fu Wang's head, making him freeze instantly.

The person in front of me is no longer normal.

He wanted his mother dead, and he wanted him dead too; in the end, Ruan Yi would still be with him…

A profound sense of despair gripped his heart, and an overwhelming feeling of suffocation washed over him, making even breathing painful.

Fu Wang then realized that he was powerless against Fu Jingchen, like an ant being squeezed in the palm of someone's hand.

The man looked at his face, which had turned deathly pale, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes, and then suddenly chuckled.

"It seems you've figured it out."

"Xiao Wang, you know what to do now, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Jingchen felt a wave of discomfort rising in his throat.

Just calling him that makes me feel disgusted.

The man's fingertips continued to tap lightly on the bed railing, the sound becoming the final death knell hanging over Fu Wang's head, piercing his eardrums with pain.

Fu Wang remained silent, his lips pressed into a deathly white line, as if he were trying his best to suppress something.

Fu Jingchen, however, already had the answer.

He glanced at the disheveled figure on the hospital bed, looking like a drowned rat, and without saying another word, turned and pushed open the door to leave.

In fact, Fu Wang and Zhou Wan were not particularly close.

His biological mother rose to power through dishonest means, and was full of greed and scheming. She always thought that everything she did was for his own good, secretly transferring assets, spreading business rumors in secret, and using the most despicable means to suppress dissent.

Finally, they pinned all those shady messes on him, euphemistically saying, "What do you know? Mom is paving the way for you!"

He had long seen through her arrogance and lack of principles, including... the things she had done to Fu Jingchen's mother back then.

Although he hadn't witnessed it firsthand, he vaguely knew some of the inside story, but he had never truly accepted it in his heart.

But Zhou Wan was, after all, the one who gave him birth and raised him.

Fu Wang despised his mother's methods and resented the high expectations she placed on him, yet he couldn't truly ignore her safety.

This contradiction, like a thorn, has been stuck in his heart for many years, creating an inexplicable distance between him and his mother.

All that's left is a awkward, twisted feeling, but a mother is still a mother.

In the corridor, Fu Jingchen stopped a person dressed in a white coat who looked like a medical assistant, whispered a few words of advice, and pointed his finger toward Fu Wang's ward, his tone revealing no emotion.

The medical assistant nodded repeatedly, his face showing a respectful caution.

The moment the ward door closed again.

Fu Wang's clenched fists were so tight that his knuckles had turned white from the force, and his back still felt chillingly cold.

He has no ability to resist now.

To rival Fu Jingchen, he needs time, he needs to climb to a high enough position to protect his mother, and... all those he loves.

Regret washed over me like a tidal wave.

I regret not doing my job properly in the family, ignoring their warnings, and focusing on trivial acts of rebellion instead of dedicating myself to growth within the group.

He regretted his arrogance and conceit until he was crushed under Fu Jingchen's feet and realized the difference between them.

But when he thought of the girl, that regret transformed into a stubborn, burning passion.

But he never regretted liking her.

He has never regretted deciding that Ruan Yi would become his partner.

For him, the most straightforward and steadfast promise was her, and even now, what has kept him from completely collapsing is her.

He couldn't lose, at least not to the point of not even having the right to stand in front of her.

The sunlight streamed through the window, casting a shadow on the blanket, but my heart felt icy cold.

"I'm sorry, please wait a little longer..."