Cha Meiling felt a chill run down her spine. Ning Yuan had completely thrown her into disarray, and she desperately racked her brains for a solution.
Before she could even process what was happening, everything suddenly went black, and with a sharp pain as if her scalp was being torn apart, she was forced to tilt her head back.
Ning Yuan's other hand had somehow grabbed her carefully styled curly hair, and with a forceful tug at her wrist, she pulled it.
Cha Meiling felt a tearing pain on her scalp, so intense that her vision went black and tears almost welled up in her eyes.
"Ning Yuan, don't push your luck!" Cha Meiling could no longer remain calm. She gritted her teeth and forced out an angry roar from deep in her throat.
Ning Yuan ignored her anger, her face still bearing a half-smile, but the smile didn't reach her eyes; instead, it exuded a chilling aura.
"Am I going too far?" Ning Yuan looked at her with a smile, her eyes icy cold. The blood-stained edge of the ceramic shard in her hand was pressed against her neck, and she slowly and forcefully slashed downwards—
"Miss Cha, you're full of lies, not a single word of the truth. Are you still thinking about how to make a fool of me?"
Cha Meiling could feel the warm liquid slowly flowing down her neck, and fear instantly spread throughout her body.
Ning Yuan's voice grew even colder, as if it were filled with shards of ice: "You'd better not open your mouth. Let me make a few more cuts on your neck. Don't worry, you won't die!"
Cha Meiling was trembling all over.
Back when she was in Hong Kong, everyone treated her with utmost respect, fawned over her, and worshipped her like a goddess.
Even in mainland China, Rong Zhaonan would at most give her the cold shoulder, unlike Ning Yuan, who would actually use a knife at the slightest disagreement!
Extreme fear and anger intertwined in Cha Meiling's heart.
She recalled the time when a bandit held a knife to her face on a train in mainland China, and the ruthlessness emanating from Ning Yuan was exactly the same as that of those desperate criminals.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!" The pain made Cha Meiling cry out, almost blurting it out.
"Because Cha Shenlou said before that he wouldn't die easily! Even after all those foreign mercenaries are dead, he still won't die!"
Cha Mei-ling stammered, "He said... he had more important things to accomplish, and his backer would definitely protect him... If any problems arise, we'll meet at the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter..."
Her voice grew softer and softer until it almost turned into a sob.
Fear and humiliation surged into her heart like a tide. How could she, the eldest daughter of the Cha family, be forced to this point!
Ning Yuan suddenly laughed: "Cha Meiling, do you really think I'm a three-year-old child, so easy to fool? Your good daddy has already kidnapped you as a hostage, and he's going to open his heart to you like this?"
Unlike her beaming smile, she slowly moved the porcelain shards from Cha Meiling's fair neck to Cha Meiling's smooth face, gently stroking them back and forth.
She sighed softly, as if helpless: "Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter, right? Miss Cha, your whole family prides themselves on being high-class people, would Cha Shenlou go to such a shady place? Why did Sixth Sister lie to me again?"
Cha Meiling trembled all over: "Ning Yuan, I didn't..."
Ning Yuan's voice was like an ice pick piercing Cha Meiling's heart: "Sixth Sister, you're forcing me to carve a flower out of your stunningly beautiful face, stroke by stroke!"
As she spoke, she forcefully slashed the porcelain shard in her hand at Cha Meiling's delicate cheek, the sharp touch causing Cha Meiling a piercing pain.
It was as if, in the next second, her face would be mercilessly slashed by the shards.
An overwhelming sense of fear engulfed Cha Meiling; she dared not move, screaming in near collapse—
“I’m not lying to you! My daddy really said that! He said those overseas investors are unreliable, and he has to have a backup plan. He also said… he also said that as long as I behave, the Cha family’s, and even the Ning family’s, assets will be mine in the future…”
...
Two days ago—
In the dimly lit room, only a single yellow wall lamp emitted a faint light, casting two long, distorted shadows on the floor.
The door creaked open as someone pushed it open from the outside.
Cha Meiling suddenly looked up and saw Cha Shenlou walking in carrying a tray. In the dim light, his face looked particularly gloomy, like the calm before a storm.
"Have something to eat." Cha Shenlou placed a tray on the worn wooden table in front of Cha Meiling. On the tray was a medium-rare steak and a small piece of foie gras, with a glass of red wine beside it. In such a simple setting, the food seemed particularly out of place.
Cha Meiling stared at him coldly, without saying a word or moving.
“Eat,” Cha Shenlou’s voice was low and hoarse. “Even as a prisoner, you should live with the dignity of a young lady from the Cha family.”
Cha Meiling raised her head and looked at him coldly. "What do you want to do?" Her voice was hoarse, with a hint of weariness and wariness.
Cha Shenlou smiled nonchalantly and sat down in the chair opposite her.
It was as if he wasn't a fugitive dog on the run, but rather sitting in his CEO office negotiating: "My dear daughter, you betrayed me, but I can give you another chance."
He paused, then softened his tone: "I can give you the family fortune, but you have to prove you deserve it!"
Cha Meiling looked at him expressionlessly, her eyes cold: "Stop lying to me. I've had enough of you and your excuses. The family fortune is in my hands."
"Your fortune is in your hands, but you need to be alive to spend it! These mercenaries aren't my men!" A sinister glint flashed in Cha Shenlou's eyes, but he quickly concealed it.
"Are you threatening me? Am I even your biological daughter?" Cha Meiling stared straight at him, her tone icy and devoid of any warmth.
He said sternly, "If you weren't my biological son, you would have died long ago! If your eldest brother hadn't died and your third brother hadn't been only fourteen, do you think you would have gotten the position of head of the Cha family?"
Cha Shenlou's tone was calm, but he couldn't hide the coldness in it: "I can support you and make you the head of the Cha family, so you can have everything you want."
"Didn't you say I colluded with Ning Bingyu to kill your son?" Cha Meiling raised an eyebrow at Cha Shenlou.
She sneered, "Didn't you want to avenge your precious son? Didn't you say my education was all thanks to you? Didn't you think I had no real skills?"
Cha Shenlou stared sharply at Cha Meiling, a cold smile curving his lips: "The Cha family needs an heir, and you at least have Cha family blood flowing in your veins!"
He said, word by word, "Before your third brother grows up, I can teach you how to be a qualified heir! The prerequisite is that you can prove that you are willing to cooperate with what I want to do. In the future, whether it is the Cha family or the Ning family, you will get the status and everything you deserve."
...
Cha Meiling took a deep breath and said to Ning Yuan in a trembling voice, "That's what he said. He really told me to meet him at the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter if anything happened. If I've lied to you even a single word, may I die a horrible death!"
Ning Yuan looked at her, her bright eyes suddenly curving into crescents: "How could I not believe Sixth Sister's words?"
As she spoke, she released the porcelain shard pressed against Cha Meiling's face, and even let go of the hand that was holding Cha Meiling's hair.
She smiled enigmatically: "I just don't know if Sixth Sister believes the empty promises Cha Shenlou makes to you, and whether you'll work for him?"
Cha Meiling leaned against the wall, clutching her injured neck, her legs went weak and she slid to the ground, panting with a pale face.
She received so much education and learned so many skills, but she never learned such a crude method!
Ning Yuan, that rude and shameless northern girl, is practically a bandit! No, she's a member of the mafia!
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