Shen Mo's body stiffened. He could not understand why, not long ago, Lixi's heart and eyes had been entirely filled with him, even when he was entangled with Ling Bing.
Lixi had cried and made scenes, and divorce wasn't the first thing she had brought up.
Yet every time things came to a head, she would soften out of concern for the child, or soften because he admitted his wrongs and apologized.
Why, today, did she look at him as if he were her sworn enemy? Could it be because she found out her grandmother's death was caused by him?
Shen Mo felt a headache coming on. It was precisely because of this that he hadn't wanted to tell Lixi the truth.
Not only because he worried that Lixi might use it as leverage against him, but also because he was afraid that Lixi would start a huge, screaming match with him over it.
After all, it was ultimately because of him that Lixi had lost the family member she depended on.
Shen Mo lowered his hand, looking at Lixi with a trace of guilt in his eyes. "Yes, your grandmother did die because of me, but didn't I marry you as compensation? You should know that I originally wanted to leave this position for Bingbing."
"Besides, what is there for you to be dissatisfied with? I provide you with fine food and drink every day, keeping you free from any financial worries."
"With just a high school diploma, what backup plan could you possibly have after divorcing me? Relying on those five million? A single one of my suits costs that much."
"If you want to work, that's even more out of the question. Even the assembly line workers in our group's factories only require graduate degrees. Do you think you could survive if you left me?"
Lixi listened quietly without interrupting him. When he finished speaking, she calmly replied, "That's my business. I just want a divorce, and as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'll go find Grandfather, and it won't look good for anyone."
Irritation surged even higher in Shen Mo's heart, and his voice rose a notch. "Grandfather's health is poor, don't you..."
This time, Lixi couldn't be bothered to listen to him make excuses and cut him off directly. "Grandfather's health isn't bad because of me; it's because he had to pave the way for you, which is why he is in such poor health today."
"Moreover, every time Grandfather gets sick and is hospitalized, it's me who goes to take care of him. You claim with your mouth that you don't trust outsiders, but in reality, you just didn't want to come home and see me, so you went to find Ling Bing instead."
Normally, whenever Shen Mo said a word within the group, everyone else would be struck dumb with fear, but now Lixi had blocked him so thoroughly he could not say a single word in response.
In the end, Shen Mo glanced at Lixi. "I do not agree to a divorce. It was you who insisted on marrying me back then. What makes you think you can just leave whenever you want? Without my permission, you are not allowed to go anywhere."
With that, Shen Mo left Lixi's room.
A moment later, Lixi heard the sound of a lock clicking into place at the bedroom door.
Panic gripped her heart. She hurriedly stepped forward, grabbed the doorknob, and yanked hard, but the door didn't budge at all.
Furious, Lixi slammed her hand heavily against the door. "Shen Mo, open the door!
"Do you intend to lock me up for the rest of my life?!"
Through the door, Lixi heard Shen Mo's somewhat deep voice. "Lixi, calm down for a while. The moment you give up on the idea of a divorce is the moment I'll let you out."
"I won't hold you accountable for hitting Ruirui anymore.
"As long as you go back to being the way you used to be, I promise I'll come home every single week from now on."
Lixi shook with anger. "Get lost! You'd better never come back, I never want to see you again!"
The noise outside stopped. After a brief pause, footsteps gradually faded away.
Lixi returned to the bed and sat down, feeling utterly helpless. Suddenly, a person came to her mind: Elder Shen.
Elder Shen was the only person in the Shen family who would stand on her side.
Acting on the thought, Lixi pulled out her phone, only to discover there was no signal.
Lixi's heart instantly turned ice-cold. Refusing to give up, she tried several more times in succession, but there was still no signal.
It seemed Shen Mo was truly ruthless this time and was determined to break her spirit.
She couldn't understand why Shen Mo, who clearly disliked her and looked down on her background, was so unwilling to let her leave.
...
Upon returning to the living room, Shen Mo instructed Uncle Lin, "Keep a close eye on the young madam. She is not allowed to leave the Shen Residence."
Uncle Lin hastily acknowledged the order.
Shen Mo said nothing more, called out to Shen Ruirui and the others, and planned to take them to stay at Ling Bing's place for a few days.
Just as they reached the door, Shen Ruirui suddenly ran back, hurried over to Uncle Lin, tugged at the corner of his jacket, and lowered his voice. "Uncle Lin, you're not allowed to give the bad mom any food, unless she regrets hitting me. Understand?"
Upon hearing this, Uncle Lin's face immediately turned troubled. No matter how much the young master disliked Lixi, she still had the old master to back her up.
It was one thing to secretly trip the young madam up behind the scenes.
But today, the young madam was clearly dead set on this, and if it blew up all the way to the old master, he would be the one to suffer the consequences.
Seeing Uncle Lin hesitate, Shen Ruirui issued an arrogant threat. "If you don't listen to me, I won't let anyone at kindergarten play with Lin Yu."
Lin Yu was Uncle Lin's grandson. The moment he heard that his precious grandson might be wronged, Uncle Lin had no choice but to agree.
The Shen family would eventually be handed over to Shen Ruirui anyway; he couldn't afford to offend the future young master just for an out-of-favor young madam.
Only then did Shen Ruirui leave with a satisfied expression. It seemed the things his father usually taught him were quite useful.
If you get a grip on someone's fatal weakness, they will have no choice but to obey.
...
Lixi had been pondering how to escape, but seeing that it was almost dark outside and still no one had brought her any food, a wave of panic washed over her.
Did Shen Mo not even plan to let her eat?
Until the moon reached the center of the sky, the door to Lixi's room remained unknocked.
Starving to the point of desperation, Lixi had no choice but to drink water straight from the faucet in the bathroom.
By the next day, seeing that Lixi still made no sound, Uncle Lin hardened his heart and cut off both her electricity and water.
He only hoped Lixi would admit her mistake sooner so he could report back to the young master.
When Lixi discovered that the water was gone too, a sense of profound desolation rose within her. The Shen family truly went out of their way to drive her to her grave.
In her past life, her son had pulled out her oxygen tube, and in this life, her husband intended to starve her to death.
She had no idea how much time passed before Lixi lost consciousness. When she opened her eyes again, it was deep in the night.
Lixi walked over and patted the door, but still, no one answered her.
Her throat was painfully dry, and the cramping in her stomach constantly reminded her of the fate awaiting her if she didn't eat soon.
Yet Lixi refused to compromise. She had compromised her entire life in her previous existence, and how had that ended? She still met a wretched death.
Might as well fight for it!
She bit her lip, made her way to the window guided by the moonlight, and gave it a gentle push. The window swung open.
The chilly midnight breeze swept in through the window, blowing across her pale face and clearing away some of the fogginess in her mind.
She poked her head out to look. This was the second floor, and below was a lawn. Although it wasn't extremely high, she was no martial arts master; jumping straight down would definitely result in injury.
She tore off her bedsheets. Because of Shen Han and the others, Lixi's room always kept some handicraft tools on hand.
Therefore, Lixi used a pair of craft scissors to cut the bedsheets into strips, tied them together, and fashioned them into a "rope."
Then, taking advantage of the deep night when no one was outside the window, she cautiously climbed out.
After hitting the ground, Lixi rested for a moment and listened intently for any movement.
Making sure no one had noticed her, she crept stealthily toward the back garden.
After all, the main gates of the Shen Residence always had security guards keeping watch.
The Eastern District of Kyoto was home to top-tier wealthy families. Although everyone lived in the Eastern District, the properties were not particularly close to one another.
As a result, the Eastern District covered nearly 500,000 square meters—almost the size of a small city.
Consequently, even after escaping the Shen Residence, Lixi wandered in circles for a long time.
After all, she rarely went out on her own, and even when she did, she was always driven around in a car.
Added to the fact that she was now dizzy with hunger, just as she passed an intersection once again, Lixi ran head-on into the security guards patrolling the Eastern District.