Chapter 181 - Punishment

"What happened?" Sha Sha asks desperately when she notices both of them walking inside. 

Zheng Yuan does not say anything and walks past her, going to sit on the couch with a gloomy face. Sha Sha then asks her daughter, "Shi, what happened? Tell me."

What can she even say? Everything is so jumbled together that she also is confused. She sighs, "It's better if you ask father. The situation is not per my understanding."

She Sha is in between getting angry and worried. No one is saying anything. She again demands Zheng Yuan, her voice firm now. 

"We met him" he speaks up, bringing some relief to Sha Sha's heart. "He said he was Chuanli's brother. He was the one who recorded the video."

Sha Sha gasps in horror, her eyes wide. "He is his brother?"

Zheng Yuan nods and Shi Lian nods too when Sha Sha turns to her. "Oh my God! Is he going to harm us? " she exclaims, thinking the worst of worst possibilities. 

"No, he won't. He has been held captive" Zheng Yuan tells her, looking at Shi Lian. "He is under the eyes of Fu Zichen" he adds his tone firm when he mentioned his name. 

Sha Sha breathes a sigh of relief and takes a seat on the couch opposite to him. "Shi, why did he contacted you from all?" she asks with a deep frown on her face. 

On her behalf, Zheng Yuan responded, "because he thought our daughter will be dumb enough to fall in his trap. He was planning all these years and when he saw that I am not in the power, he pointed his direction to Shi Lian."

Sha Sha gives a worried look at Shi Lian's direction. "Fortunately, he didn't succeed at his plan of taking the ring from her" he adds. 

Sha Sha appears so disappointed and utterly tired. Her face is worn out, her eyes are red with all the crying earlier. 

"Mother, you should rest. It's already very late" Shi Lian tells her, going to stand beside her and puts her palm on her. 

"How can I rest? Even if I close my eyes, I couldn't sleep in peace" she says, sobbing. 

"I know mother but it will affect your health. Please, come with me" she says, trying to make her understand. 

When Sha Sha shakes her head again, Zheng Yuan says, his tone calmer than before. "Dear, she is right. Let's go to sleep."

He rises and going to her side, he takes her hand. "Come."

Sha Sha gets up and goes with him to their room. Shi Lian smiles faintly, glad that her father is a great husband. No matter how worse the situation is, her father never insulted or raised his voice at her mother. She adores them very much. 

It's almost past midnight and she thinks she should go to her room as well. She also needs to be present at the company tomorrow. 

When she passes the Hall, her eyes fall on her laptop which is still open with the pen drove inserted in. She hurries to take her laptop in her arm and goes straight to her room. 

She hasn't watched all the videos yet and she isn't going to, not until what she has learned today is dissolved. She cannot take more shocks at once. 

Pulling out the pen drive, she puts it inside her makeup box in which will be safe and hard for anyone to notice. 

**

"You are not going anywhere" Mo Zheng Yuan declares, his voice cannot be more clearer. 

Shi Lian scowls at him, her eyebrows pinch together. "What do you mean? I need to be present for the meeting today" she argues. 

"No. You aren't leaving this house until I say so" he asserts firmly, continuing eating his breakfast. 

This made her anger rise. "I am not a child, Father! And what purpose will it serve by locking me up?" she bellows. 

She thought that in the morning, everything will have calmed down but it's the complete opposite. 

She glances at her mother, wanting answers that why her father is locking her up. Sha Sha herself has no idea what is going through Zheng Yuan's mind. 

"The way you acted, it was childish" he snaps, done eating his food. "You have disappointed me so much, you need to be punished for that."

She lets out an angry growl of frustration. "This does not make any sense! I am not eight or nine, father! The meeting is important today, I have to present there!"

There's no use arguing. Her father has already made up his mind. "Ruxi will handle it on your behalf. Or you can join the meeting through video conferencing" he suggests, acting as if he cannot see his daughter is fuming with rage. 

"Do you think locking me will solve everything? It won't father, it won't!" 

"At least I don't have to be worried sick about you!" he yells back, giving her a cold look. 

It gives her heartache seeing her husband and her daughter fighting. She always pictures her family to be happy and healthy and not at all like this. 

Sha Sha can feel Nanny Zhang's eyes on her. She tilts her head in her direction, finding Nanny Zhang giving her a worried look. She has witnessed everything that has happened yesterday and she is aware of how much it hurts Sha Sha. 

"So you have made your mind then?" she asks. 

He nods. She sucks in air to calm herself which is getting harder. "You are doing this because you don't want me to meet Zichen. Is that right?" she accuses. 

He snaps his head in her direction, eyes narrowing at her. "Good that you have understood. I have said before that I do not want you to get associate with him but neglected my words. This time, you have to agree with me" he says, clenching his teeth. 

She lets out a bitter laugh which pisses Zheng Yuan. "Don't be in the dream that locking me will make me realize what you said is right. I will never leave him!" she says, her voice loud and confident. 

"Disrespectful child!" he thunders and gets up from the chair. He grabs her by her wrist tightly and leads her to her room. She struggles, protests but her father is not listening. Even Sha Sha tries to stop him but he ignores him completely. 

Reaching her room, he pushes her inside and locks the door with a force, diminishing her protests. She bangs on the door but it's if no use. 

"Stay and reflect on yourself!" he barks and turning on his shoes he leaves. 

"Let me out! Father, this isn't fair!" she keeps on banging the door but no one hears her. Her anger gets so high it made her cry. Her body is burning with fury and she starts throwing a fit, yelling her lungs out like a temperamental child. 

What did she do wrong? Her father has made his mind to not understand her or Zichen. Just because he is related to killing, doesn't make him a bad person. Her father too killed a person so he isn't anymore and less of Zichen. 

She isn't going to break up with him, not again. She knows how painful it was when she put a barrier between them. Just thinking about it makes her heartbeat like crazy and her stomach starts to churn. 

She likes him, more than she has ever liked someone. Maybe she loves him but she hasn't realized that yet and she does not want to. Love is something that she is afraid to accept after that she has been through for years. 

After twenty whole minutes of throwing a fit, she finally stops. She coughs, feeling her throat dry because of yelling. 

She only has been punished once when she accidentally spilled the ink on some important papers in her father's office. He locked her in her room for half the day. It was years ago but now, she is locked because she likes someone. She likes someone whom her father hates to his core. 

Gritting her teeth, she opens the window to see if it's safe for her to go down from here. When she gazes down her mouth twists into displeasure finding men standing there. It must be her father who ordered them to keep an eye on her knowing that she will try to flee from the window. 

She closes the window in an angry force, not caring if the glass gets broken or not. There's nothing for her to do except....her eyes wander to where her laptop is placed. Except to watch those videos. 

She did make her mind not to watch until she is fully ready but she cannot hold herself. 

Since her father is not going to let her go, this is the only thing that will keep her mind off. She takes out the pen drive from the make-up box and taking the laptop in one hand, she goes to sit on her bed. 

Her heart is beating and her stomach is in knots. She is going to encounter what she shouldn't.