You got your marriage certificate and then abandoned me? I'll feed the richest woman in the wor

Uncle Fu was carrying a freshly cut fruit platter out of the kitchen.

Hearing this thunderous roar, he was so frightened that he almost overturned the tray in his hands.

He scrambled to the entrance.

Large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, landing on his crisp tailcoat.

"Grandpa... why did you suddenly come here...?"

While wiping his sweat, Uncle Fu frantically tried to signal Chen Yuan with his eyes, urging him to let go of Chen Yuan's hand.

But Chen Yuan stood still, his back ramrod straight.

Far from letting go.

Instead, he gripped Shen Wanzhou's cold little hand even tighter.

The rough fingertips pressed against the skin on the inside of her wrist, transmitting a continuous stream of heat.

"If I hadn't come soon, this Cloud Top Manor would have been taken over by someone else!"

Old Master Shen was furious.

He pointed at Chen Yuan's nose, his fingers trembling.

"I left you with Wanzhou so that you could take good care of her!"

"Is this how you serve me?"

"A wolf in sheep's clothing has snuck in right under your nose, are you blind?!"

Uncle Fu was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground with a thud and waved his hands repeatedly.

"Sir, you've misunderstood!"

"Mr. Chen is not an outsider; he is a newly hired employee of the manor..."

"Shut up!"

The old man wouldn't listen to any explanation and slammed his cane heavily on the ground.

"What Mr. Chen? I, Shen Wanshan, have spent my entire life in Jianghai City and have never heard of any prestigious family named Chen!"

His cloudy yet sharp eyes were fixed on Chen Yuan's casual clothes, which had no logo.

The disdain and contempt in their eyes turned into tangible blades.

"Judging by his shabby appearance, he probably doesn't even have the money to buy a decent suit."

"My granddaughter has been sick for half a year and is delirious."

"You've got some clever tricks up your sleeve, taking advantage of my vulnerability to swindle money and even sexually assault my Shen family!"

These words were barbed and extremely offensive.

Shen Wanzhou hid behind Chen Yuan, her shoulders twitching violently.

Grandpa's familiar imposing aura was like an impenetrable net.

It was draped over her head and face, making it hard for her to breathe.

After the kidnapping case ten years ago, she built a high wall of wariness against everyone.

Even if it's her own grandfather, she would instinctively lock herself in the closet whenever he got close.

Now I hear my grandfather using such vicious words to curse Chen Yuan.

Her eyes instantly reddened, and the tip of her nose felt sore and swollen.

Her body's instincts made her want to retreat, to burrow deeper into the shadows behind Chen Yuan.

Toes curled up awkwardly on the cashmere carpet, leaving messy scratches.

But when she looked up...

Seeing Chen Yuan's broad and upright back.

When I smelled the clean and refreshing soapy scent on him.

The panic in my heart was suddenly suppressed by an even stronger sense of protectiveness.

Every day, this man would prepare different kinds of medicinal meals for her in the kitchen.

When she was being pressured by her relatives, she stood in her way like a mountain.

He sat on the carpet and kept her company all night while she was afraid of thunder.

He is not a fraud.

He was the only person in the past six months who treated her like a normal person.

Shen Wanzhou took a deep breath.

His chest heaved violently.

She released her grip on Chen Yuan's clothes and took half a step out from behind him.

His slender body stood in front of Chen Yuan, meeting the old man's murderous gaze.

"Grandpa...Grandpa, please don't scold him..."

Her voice trembled violently, like a bowstring drawn taut in the cold wind.

It could break at any time.

Two fair and delicate hands were tightly intertwined, their fingernails digging until the backs of their hands turned red.

"Chen Yuan... he's a good person."

"My illness...was cured by him."

The two stammering sentences exhausted all her strength.

After saying that, she was panting heavily, her face pale, and a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on her forehead.

The old man was stunned when he saw his granddaughter's appearance.

His granddaughter even had to wait for the maid to bring her food through the crack in the door.

That frightened cat-like evening boat.

Today, she actually dared to stand up and confront him to his face for some random man!

After a brief moment of shock came an even greater surge of anger.

"A good person? There's no such thing as a free good person in this world!"

The old man was so angry that he laughed, his laughter carrying a chilling sarcasm.

"Wanzhou, oh Wanzhou, you've really been bewitched by him!"

"This penniless guy is only after your billions in assets."

"Once he's swindled all your money, he'll kick you aside like trash!"

The old man suddenly turned his head, his gaze piercing Chen Yuan like two awls.

"Boy, don't think you can fool my eyes with your underhanded tricks."

"You've never seen even a fraction of the Shen family's wealth in your entire life."

He snapped his fingers at the bodyguard behind him.

The bodyguard immediately pulled a gold-embossed checkbook from his briefcase.

He removed the cap from the pen and handed it to the old man.

The old man wrote a string of numbers on the check in a flamboyant style.

A flick of the wrist.

The thin piece of paper, like a leaf, floated lightly onto the carpet at Chen Yuan's feet.

"Ten million."

The old man raised his chin, adopting a superior posture.

It was as if they were giving alms to a beggar on the street.

"Take this money and disappear from Wanzhou's sight immediately."

"Never let me see you set foot in Jianghai City again in this lifetime."

"Otherwise, I have plenty of ways to make you feed sharks in the Pacific Ocean!"

Such blatant threats and humiliation would strike any ordinary person.

By now, they'd probably be so scared their legs would have gone weak and they'd be kneeling on the ground, clutching the check and scrambling away.

But Chen Yuan did not move.

He didn't even lower his eyelids.

His deep black eyes stared silently at the check for ten million dollars printed on the carpet.

A very soft, cold snort escaped from his throat.

Ten million?

He could easily intercept a sum of dirty money on the dark web by simply typing a couple of lines of code, and that amount would be more than that.

To make Shen Wanzhou smile.

The drone and screen usage fees he burned in one night amounted to dozens of times that amount.

This father-in-law is practically smashing his gold mine with coins.

Chen Yuan gently pulled Shen Wanzhou back behind him.

He pressed his broad palm on her trembling shoulder.

The reassurance was delivered with a steady and powerful force.

Then he looked up.

My gaze passed over the old man's angry face and landed on the small huanghuali square table by the window in the living room.

On the table is a Go endgame puzzle carved from black and white jade.

That was a dead end left behind by the old master when he last visited the manor, and no one has been able to solve it to this day.

Chen Yuan didn't even glance at the check, casually pointing to the unfinished chessboard in the center of the hall: "Old man, trying to bribe me with money is pointless. How about we sit down and play a game?"