Chapter 16: A Heartbreaking Rift Between Father and Son

“Mom, Dad, look at big brother—does what he’s saying even make sense?”

Chen Yu rose angrily, then looked toward Chen Biehe and Jiang Yulan with a mixture of grievance and pleading. Chen Xing clearly saw the tenderness and pity in their eyes directed at Chen Yu. Such a look had never been cast upon him before.

Cradling Yaya, Chen Xing stood and faced his furious father, his mother’s helpless expression, and his scheming younger brother with calm resolve.

“Those aren’t polite words, but they’re honest ones,” he said quietly. “For the Chen family, I worked like a beast of burden in the Su household for five years. Now, I want to live for myself alone.”

“If you can’t accept that, then I’m willing to leave the Chen family.”

With that, he hugged Yaya and headed upstairs to pack his things.

In truth, with his current status, Chen Xing had no reason to humbly return to live with the Chens. He could easily buy a decent place on his own. But perhaps there was still a shred of hope lingering in his heart—and now, even that hope had been completely exhausted.

“Stop!” Chen Biehe’s rough voice rang out from behind.

“After your divorce from Su Qianxue, you reportedly got fifty million yuan?”

“Mm,” Chen Xing acknowledged with a nod. There was no need to hide it; the money was neither stolen nor ill-gotten.

“That’s a huge sum. You can’t handle it yourself. Invest it in our company—I’ll make you a shareholder, and you’ll receive dividends every year. It’s settled.”

Chen Biehe was forceful when it came to money. Before the Su family, he was a beggar; before his son, he was tyrannical and haughty as an emperor.

“That might disappoint you, but I’ve already invested all that money in the stock market.”

“What!” Chen Biehe stood up in fury, trembling as he pointed a finger. “Say that again?”

“I put all the money into stocks.”

“Chen Xing, are you mad? Fifty million yuan! You threw it all into stocks? That’s like throwing money down the drain!” Chen Biehe’s face flushed red with anger.

The family business was in desperate need of funds. That fifty million could have kept the company alive for years. Yet Chen Xing had risked everything on the stock market.

“Oh, Chen Xing, how could you gamble away so much money? You’re ruining the family!” Jiang Yulan looked heartbroken.

“Big brother, that’s because you don’t understand. Our family is short on funds. You took such a large sum and threw it into stocks—don’t you have any consideration for Mom and Dad?” Chen Yu smirked, a mocking glint in his eyes. He relished watching Chen Xing get scolded.

Chen Xing slowly turned, calmly meeting their gazes. “This money is mine. How I handle it is my own business.”

“Even if I’m throwing it away, I’m willing to!”

“You’re talking nonsense!” Chen Biehe lost all restraint and shouted, “I’m your father! I gave birth to you, raised you! Now that you have money, don’t you think of giving back to your mother and me? Do you even have a conscience?”

“Has your conscience been eaten by dogs?” Chen Xing stared coldly at the father who had never truly nurtured him. “When I married into the Su family, you already received a hefty sum for ‘selling your son.’ I thought you’d be satisfied.”

“Now you want to take my divorce settlement too…”

“Is it my conscience that’s been devoured, or did you never have one at all?”

“You’re insolent!” Chen Biehe was enraged beyond reason. He lunged forward, raising his hand to strike. He wanted to teach this unfilial son a harsh lesson.

“Smack!”

At the moment the slap was about to land, Chen Xing grabbed his wrist tightly. His expression darkened as he glared at his contorted father. “What’s the matter? Hit a nerve, did I? Now you’re ashamed and angry.”

“What are you doing? You want to hit me back?” Chen Biehe’s eyes were wild with fury. The grip on his wrist was painfully tight—he felt it might be broken.

“Let go of your father, you unfilial son!” Jiang Yulan rushed forward as well.

Chen Xing shook his head slowly, eyes filled only with disappointment. “Until I was twelve, I only knew of my grandmother—I never knew what parents were like.”

“After I was brought to Shenzhou at twelve, I thought I finally had parents to love me. But this home—I stayed less than half a year before you forced me into boarding school.”

“For all these years, my tuition and living expenses have come from scholarships and part-time work. You never contributed a single penny.”

“For all these years, have you ever fulfilled a single day’s duty as parents?”

“On the contrary, for this family and for you, I gave up everything and married into the Su family, enduring endless scorn.”

“Now, I’m telling you—I’ve had enough!”

“Chen Biehe, Jiang Yulan, from this moment on, we have nothing to do with you.”

He released Chen Biehe’s wrist, hugged Yaya, and went upstairs to pack.

Like when he was with the Su family, he had no belongings to pack; his luggage was always stored in a suitcase, never unpacked.

Carrying the suitcase downstairs, he ignored his father’s furious face, his mother’s and Chen Yu’s expressions, and headed toward the front door.

Chen Biehe’s face twitched with rage. “Chen Xing, if you dare leave this home today, don’t ever think of coming back.”

Chen Xing quickened his pace, unwilling to stay another minute.

“Bastard! Chen Xing, you’re a bastard! I disown you as my son!” Chen Biehe’s furious roar came from behind.

“Biehe, don’t say such things in anger. Can we really disown our own son? Where there’s a heartless son, there are heartless parents too,” Jiang Yulan sighed helplessly.

Chen Xing wanted to laugh aloud.

Heartless son?

No heartless parents?

He truly couldn’t understand how they could say such things.

Holding his daughter Yaya, he didn’t look back as he got into a taxi heading downtown.

“I’m furious!” Chen Biehe collapsed onto the couch, gasping for breath.

Jiang Yulan patted his back, soothing his temper. “Calm down. Stop being angry. Call Xiao Xing and get him back. No matter what, he still has fifty million yuan.”

“He said he put it all into stocks. Do you really believe that?”

“I don’t. Big brother must have hidden the money somewhere, just not wanting to give us a penny.”

Chen Yu chimed in from the side, enjoying the drama.

Chen Biehe shook his head. “You really think I kicked him out just because I was angry? You don’t understand. If I hadn’t forced him away, how else would he return to the Su family?”

“I’m driving him into a corner, forcing him to remarry Su Qianxue!”