Chapter 182 - Tensed

"You are going over the limit, Yuan!" Sha Sha growls, her fingers curl into fists. 

Zheng Yuan sits on the edge of the bed, unaffected by Sha Sha's protests. He thinks what he did is right and he will not let her go unless she realizes her mistake. 

"She hasn't eaten anything since the morning!" she protests, her tone loud. Zheng Yuan remains the same. Sha Sha's blood boils and her nostrils flare in fury. 

"Give me the keys" she demands strongly. He looks at her with his narrow eyes. 

"Dear, you need to understand that it's all for her sake. She needs to learn her mistake" he says, his tone neutral. 

For Sha Sha, what he says right now is nothing but bullshit. "Fine then," he says as if deciding something. "I will lock myself as well and won't eat until my poor daughter eats. "

This sure made Zheng Yuan rise from the bed and scowl at her. "Why will you do this? You aren't in good condition since yesterday."

"Free her then" she negotiates, facing the other way, her eyes are worn out because of crying since yesterday. 

Zheng Yuan lets out an angry growl. "I sent her food, if she doesn't want to eat what can I do with that?"

"How can she eat in a situation like this, Yuan?" she asks, facing him. 

He pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. Why cannot anyone understand his doings? 

"Fine, fine" he snaps in a cranky voice. "I'll go right now and open the door for her, okay?"

Sha Sha's heart seems to have been steady now hearing his words. He angrily leaves the room, his boots making sounds as he goes. 

It's been 10 hours since she has been in her room. In these 10 hours, she has discovered various things which she was unaware of since her birth. 

She is now curled up in her bed, her hand between her face and the pillow. Questions, many questions are going inside her head. After watching whatever was in the pen drive, her mind is numb. There are questions but no answers. 

Everything is just so muddled together. Her head will explode if she keeps on thinking on and on. 

Just at the moment, a knock on her door, makes her startle. 

She frowns, not expecting anyone to come here. "Shi Lian, open the door" her father's voice thunders. She locked the door, not wishing to go anywhere and also because she needs time and space to think. 

"Shi Lian, open the door," her father says again, knocking on the door loudly. 

She scurries out of the bed and goes to open the door, not wishing to see her father. 

Opening the door, she is presented with her father's gloomy face. No change after all. 

"What is it now?" she asks coldly. She never talked to her father in that tone but now she just doesn't care. 

"Come out of the room and eat something, your mother is worried sick" his voice is clipped as he tells her. 

She scorns, "So you are here because the mother is worried about me? What about you father?"

"Don't ask questions and go. Your mother also didn't eat anything since the morning" he says in displeasure, not wanting to meet her eyes. 

She clenches her jaw but she does not say anything. With a deep breath, she agrees, and brushing past him, she goes to see her mother. 

"Shi!" she exclaims relief flooding over her like a waterfall. She approaches her and gives her a tight motherly hug. "I am glad he let you off" she mumbles. 

"Why didn't you eat anything?" Shi Lian questions, worried about her health. 

"You haven't eaten as well. I couldn't eat knowing that my daughter is still hungry" she expresses, pulling away and looking at her. 

"Oh, mother. You should think about your health and besides, I wasn't hungry at all" she says in an assuring way, holding her hands. 

"Now come with me to eat something" she adds and pulls her mother by her wrist taking her down to the dinner table. 

For the first time since tomorrow, Sha Sha smiles, and Shi Lian too. 

**

"Why didn't you attended the meeting through video conferencing?" Zheng Yuan questions, barging inside her to where Shi Lian is just sitting idle on her bed. After eating something and also making her eat, she made sure to help her mother go to sleep. 

"I didn't feel like" she answers nonchalantly, playing with her fingers, making a bored face. 

"Is this your way of revolting, Shi Lian?" he implores, getting furious again. 

She sighs, not looking up. "Think whatever you want, father."

Zheng Yuan feels Shi Lian is different now but he cannot point out how and where. She has been acting cold since he unlocked the door. What happened during the time? Did he go too far? 

"And don't yell every second. It won't be late for you to lie on the bed and a doctor checking up on you" she adds. 

"Are you threatening me?" he growls, not like her way of talking at all. 

She again sighs, "I am not. I am only expressing my concern. "

He wants to speak but there's nothing for him to say when she talks so coldly like this. "I assume you have realized your mistake then?" he asks, wanting to see what her reaction is. 

"I apologize for lying to you and mother. I apologize for doing reckless acts and not telling you anything" she says sincerely, looking at him, with no bright expressions on her face. 

He was expecting something more. "What about Zichen?"

"That's not a mistake. I have repeatedly said that, father. Do whatever you want but I am not breaking ties with him" she snaps, annoyed by her father's question. "I am tired. Please, you may leave now" she adds, her tone firm. 

"You are blinded by him," he tells, not giving up that easily. "You cannot see what is right and what is wrong."

"Father, please! I am tired. Please, leave" she snaps, her eyes bigger than they usually are and her face has lost the shine. 

He sighs angrily and leaves the room as per her say. 

She goes and closes the door, locking it firmly. She does feel guilty for talking to her father like this but she is forced to. She just can't understand why her father hates him so much? It cannot be because he is a gangster. There must be something else, something more that she has no clue of. 

Her phone buzzes again but she does not want to pick it up. Evelyn is trying to call her from noon but Shi Lian isn't in the right condition to take her calls. Ans even if she receives her calls, what will she say? Evelyn will know in an instant that something is wrong hearing Shi Lian's voice. 

She switches off her phone, shutting everything around her. The videos and photos have fucked her mind really well. All she can think is about the videos she has watched a while ago and those photos. Half of them do not make any sense to her but whatever she has understood, it is making her mind go crazy. 

She also tried calling Zichen in the morning but he hasn't picked her calls and also hasn't called her after that. She guesses he must be busy, with the company and with his other business. 

She sometimes thinks her life has become so complicated. Everything is jumbled together. Her love life isn't that simple nor is her partner. Her relationship with her father is getting worse. And there are challenges one after another coming after her. She is so tired and so done with all these. But the videos remind her that she has so many things which need to be done. 

She thought about showing the remaining videos to her father but then she changed her mind. It will not be a good idea. Her parents are already this tense and if she shows them more, they will be devasted for sure. 

The videos are shocking and fucked up so she should keep it to herself. 

Sighing, she lies on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She is only twenty-four but she feels she is way too old now. People at her age do not handle these many problems, not to mention handle a big ass company having no information in the first hand. 

Complaining will not solve any of her problems. It will only make her feel worse. She slowly closes her eyes and tries to sleep, keep her mind off for a while. 

She needs to meet that creepy tomorrow anyhow. She has questions that only the man can answer and he has to. Since her father has let her go, she is free to go outside but she also knows her father has set guards for her so her move is noted.