But this time, the ransom was sent, but the person did not come back.
Lin Yuanyuan waited and waited until the police apprehended the kidnappers. The leader was an old acquaintance. As mentioned before, Lin Yuanyuan and Zhou Zhi both had acquaintances in government departments and the Public Security Bureau, and many of them would greet each other and sit down to chat.
The person who kidnapped Zhou Zhi this time was Zhang Wei, the former police chief of their district. He was the kind of person you'd run into from time to time, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was a familiar stranger. He'd also helped rescue Zhou Zhi the first time he was kidnapped. Who would have thought it would be him?
The year before Zhou Zhi's second kidnapping, Zhang Wei reached retirement age. His post-retirement life wasn't exactly impoverished, but it wasn't rich either. He struggled through each day, feeling a sense of resignation. So he contacted a gangster he'd previously targeted, as well as Qian Dong, who had just been released after a decade in prison for domestic violence resulting in death. Together, they conspired to abduct Zhou Zhi while he was strolling in the park.
The kidnappers were apprehended, but what about the kidnapped Zhou Zhi? Zhang Wei had been a police officer, albeit a local officer, but he knew well that police interrogation techniques weren't necessarily harsh, but they certainly could break down a person's psychological defenses. So, he confessed shortly after being apprehended.
They had taken him deep into the mountains, where he accidentally fell off a cliff. Lin Yuanyuan didn't know if this "accidental" claim was true. She only knew that the police had searched the area where Zhang Wei had confessed, but they found nothing. No body parts, no clothing, not even a trace of blood.
Zhou Zhi has not been seen since. Lin Yuanyuan once imagined that he might have been rescued by a hunter in the mountains, but that he had suffered a fall and lost his memory, which is why he never returned. However, neither the police nor the people hired by Lin Yuanyuan could find any trace of Zhou Zhi.
He seemed to have just disappeared.
Zhou Zhi's disappearance brought Lin Yuanyuan immense grief and distress. The Zhou family's cherished son had been kidnapped and murdered, abducted after he had lost touch with society and by someone he knew. Some inevitably felt that all this was a self-directed drama staged by Lin Yuanyuan, in order to legitimately get rid of Zhou Zhi and inherit his estate.
After all, Lin Yuanyuan and Zhou Zhi are a legal couple, and they don’t even have children!
People's hearts are very complicated. When Zhou Zhi was still alive, Zhou's parents loved Lin Yuanyuan as if she were their own child. Sometimes, between Lin Yuanyuan and Zhou Zhi, they would even favor Lin Yuanyuan.
But Zhou Zhi was gone, their blood-related son was gone, and their daughter-in-law was the biggest beneficiary. It was hard to believe that all this really had nothing to do with her. Plus, money was very tempting.
Although their company wasn't listed, its market capitalization was several times that of the Zhou family's. Zhou's father and the rest of the Zhou family were also eager to take advantage of it. So they had to fight and argue, for Zhou Zhi and his legacy.
The two sides argued for years but could not reach a conclusion. Finally, a few years after Zhou Zhi disappeared, his father filed a lawsuit against Lin Yuanyuan and produced a "will of Zhou Zhi," claiming that Zhou Zhi had made a will after the first kidnapping, leaving his share of the property to his parents.
Lin Yuanyuan naturally refused to acknowledge it. She saw Zhou Zhi every day and chatted with him every day. Although Zhou Zhi spoke less, he always responded. She didn't even know Zhou Zhi had made a will. Was the will that Zhou's father produced truly authentic and valid?
Each side maintained its own version of the story, each presenting its own evidence. Because the amount involved was substantial, this "inheritance dispute" dragged on for nearly a decade. During this time, Lin Yuanyuan lost her case, appealed, and had a retrial. Despite all the back-and-forth, although Lin Yuanyuan ultimately won the case, she lost a considerable amount of time, emotional energy, and legal fees. Zhou's father was also imprisoned for forging a will.
To put it bluntly, no one wins in this fight.
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