Mr. Pei! Don't force yourself into circles you can't fit into.

Pei Lin's fist slowly clenched.

If the hotel incident wasn't an accident... what if Shen Jicheng was also caught in their scheme?

What does this mean?

Shen Jicheng had an uncle with power around him.

Someone who can access his daily life, know his schedule, and even influence his path.

Pei Lin closed his eyes and flipped through the faces of the people around Shen Jicheng one by one.

Who else was at the hotel that night besides Shen Jicheng?

Song Yiyang, the only son of the Song family in the hotel industry.

-

Shen Yue pushed open the iron gate to the rooftop.

The wind rushed in through the gap, carrying the chill of early winter, causing the hem of his coat to flutter slightly. Below him was an empty concrete rooftop, edged with a low railing, beyond which lay the distant, layered rooftops and a somber horizon.

The figure stood on the outside of the railing, with her back to him; she was tall and thin.

Shen Yue gripped his cane tightly, took a few slow steps forward, and stopped at a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

"You've come." The man's voice was hoarse, a mix of calm and weariness that was hard to describe.

The mere sight of his back made Shen Yue frown; his grip on his cane tightened slightly.

"Shen Quan, you've schemed every step of the way, is it all just for a meeting?"

Shen Quan slowly turned around.

His face was originally quite handsome, but the years had left their mark on it, with a particularly noticeable scar on his chin that made his face look somewhat asymmetrical.

But he laughed, a smile almost exactly the same as when he was young, with a reckless fervor and a touch of inexplicable madness.

He spread his hands, "This is the only way I can see my older brother."

Shen Yue's brows furrowed even more, and the word "Big Brother" sounded particularly jarring to his ears.

Shen Quan saw it, and a shadow immediately rose in his eyes.

"You see, if I didn't use this method, given your disgust for me, we probably really would never see each other again in this life, just like we said back then."

"Don't call me 'Big Brother'." Shen Yue's voice turned cold.

"You have no connection with the Shen family anymore."

Shen Quan smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, and his voice trembled slightly at the end.

"Yes, thanks to you. You were really so heartless as to kick me out of the Shen family." He took a step forward, his gaze fixed on Shen Yue's face, his voice low but filled with barely suppressed hatred.

"Shen Yue, do you know how much I hate you?"

Shen Yue's brow furrowed in anger at his manic behavior, and his grip on his cane tightened. "Hate? What right do you have to hate?"

"Shen Quan, my parents took pity on you and raised you as their own son. I've never treated you badly. And what have you done in return?"

Shen Yue's voice was heavy, "Tell me, have you done right by them?"

Shen Quan's eyes reddened.

He stood in the wind, his eyes squinting slightly as the wind blew, and his voice trembled as he spoke, "I wish I had never been brought back to the Shen family by you."

He took another step forward and laughed self-deprecatingly.

"What did I do? Why don't you ask yourself what you did? You know my sexual orientation, so why are you comforting me? Why are you telling me that there's nothing wrong with sexual orientation?"

"You were my brother back then!" Shen Yue's voice rose several decibels, filled with barely suppressed anger.

"I was just fulfilling my responsibility as an older brother! If I hadn't said those things, were I supposed to just watch you die of depression?!"

Shen Quan chuckled, a laugh tinged with coldness.

"Yes, it would have been better if I had died. If I had died, none of this would have happened."

His gaze was fixed on Shen Yue's face.

"I won't fall in love with you."

Shen Yue's expression turned completely cold. He stared at Shen Quan for a few seconds, then said in a cold voice,

"If I had known this would happen, I would have preferred you to have died back then."

Shen Quan tilted his head back and laughed.

It carried a hint of madness, and was chillingly cold.

"So, you brought all of this upon yourself."

"Unrepentant." Shen Yue suppressed his anger.

"Repent?" Shen Quan's eyes held an almost stubborn determination.

"What did I do wrong? You're the one who's putting all the blame on me. All I did was like someone I shouldn't have liked."

Shen Yue's chest heaved, and the knuckles of his fingers gripping his cane turned white.

"How did my parents die? You dare say it wasn't because of you? You dare say it wasn't because you told them you liked me, begged them for your blessing, and even fabricated stories saying I had feelings for you too?"

"Shen Quan," his voice was low but each word struck like a hammer, "How could you face them?"

Shen Quan didn't speak. He stood there for a long while before finally speaking, his voice light and airy, "Don't you feel ashamed? Haven't you already gotten your revenge?" He tilted his head, revealing a light-colored scar on his chin.

"This scar, you drew it yourself."

A glint of fire flashed in Shen Yue's eyes. He suddenly raised his hand and slapped Shen Quan without hesitation.

Shen Quan couldn't dodge in time and took a hard slap. He was stunned for a moment, then raised his hand to touch his cheek, where there was a thin line of blood on his fingertip.

He looked down at the little red dot on his fingertip and smiled.

"If I had known you would lay a hand on my child," Shen Yue said coldly in a deep voice.

"I should have killed you with one blow back then."

Shen Quan chuckled and slowly wiped the blood from his face.

"But it's too late." He looked at Shen Yue's slightly reddened eyes, finally finding a crack in that perpetually cold and hard face, his tone carrying a cruel provocation.

"I'm alive."

He took half a step forward, closing the distance between them. He lowered his voice,

"By the way, brother. Your son, Shen Mingxiao, looks just like you. No wonder you have such high hopes for him."

At that moment, something pushed against the iron gate of the rooftop from the outside, making a very faint metallic tremor before quickly falling silent.

Shen Quan glanced over Shen Yue's shoulder in that direction, the curve of his lips unchanged, but the darkness in his eyes deepened.

His gaze slowly fell on Shen Yue, and he sneered, "I'm just curious... will the tragedy between us befall our child?"

"What do you mean?" Shen Yue angrily gripped his cane and stared at Shen Quan, demanding an answer.

Shen Quan, however, spread his hands, revealing a smug smile.

"Big brother, do you think... Shen Yu'an and Shen Mingxiao...aren't they like us back then?"

Instantly, Shen Yue's face stiffened, his mind racing, and his expression darkened. "Did you deliberately arrange this for Shen Yu'an?"

"It seems my nephews are still hiding something from you. They didn't even tell you that Shen Yu'an is on my side?"

He chuckled softly, "But... even if you knew, so what..."

"Now...it's too late."