Volume 1, Chapter 24: Her Refusal Accelerated the Divorce Process

Cheng Qian was both shocked and furious, struggling violently against him. "Li Zhinan... you have gone too far."

Li Zhinan had not expected such an intense reaction, which only fueled the anger simmering in his chest. Had she started keeping herself chaste for someone else after returning from her ten-month training?

Li Zhinan’s breathing grew ragged, his kisses fierce. Cheng Qian’s slender frame was completely pinned down by his domineering strength, leaving her no room to resist. He savored her sweet, fresh scent, grinding against her over and over. If she wanted to keep herself pure for someone else, he would shatter her resolve.

Repulsed, Cheng Qian pushed him away. She hated that he used lips that had kissed others to kiss her. She truly felt disgusted.

Li Zhinan’s movements lost their usual gentleness. He pushed up her sweater, pressed her down, and lowered his head to bite at her. A jolt like an electric current surged through Cheng Qian’s body. In that moment, overcome with shame and indignation, she immediately drove her knee upward into the man’s groin.

The area engorged with blood took the full force of the blow, causing his robust body to shudder violently as pain struck him.

"You..." Li Zhinan had not expected that this woman would resort to such a hurtful act just to reject him.

Seizing the opportunity, Cheng Qian turned and fled upstairs, locking the door the moment she entered her room. Li Zhinan was in immense pain, his handsome face turning cold and grim. On New Year's Eve, he stood in the bathroom, taking three cold showers in a row before he could suppress the fire within him. Cheng Qian’s rejection had fundamentally damaged their marriage.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Cheng Qian went out to meet her good friend, Lin Si, for some shopping. Seeing that she was alone and without her son, Xiao Ye, Lin Si asked with a grin, "Is that dog Li at home babysitting?"

Cheng Qian poured out her frustrations. Lin Si was shocked: "Your mother-in-law wants you to have a second child?"

Cheng Qian nodded. "Yes. I don't know why she has such an idea. Xiao Ye is only two years old; there’s no way I’m considering a second child."

"He’s already cheated on you; what are you still considering? If your mother-in-law really cared about you, she should set you free." Lin Si felt for her friend and worried about her situation.

Cheng Qian tossed her hair, feeling stifled. "I haven't found any evidence yet. Even if I told my mother-in-law, she wouldn't believe me."

"The private investigator hasn't sent word yet, but he and his apprentice are working in shifts, watching Cheng Yan twenty-four hours a day. Don't worry, as long as they are up to no good, they will definitely capture evidence." Lin Si was eager to help her friend.

Cheng Qian was grateful for her friend's support, but another matter burned in her heart like a fire. During the New Year’s Eve dinner yesterday, Li Zhiwei’s condition had worsened. When Jiang Meng placed those pills in front of him and coaxed him into taking them, Cheng Qian felt a profound sense of guilt.

After spending the morning shopping with her friend, Cheng Qian hurried home. She had made a decision: even if she couldn't publicly stop Cheng's Biotech from continuing the development of this new drug, she had to act as a whistleblower rather than remain silent while knowing the dangers involved.

Cheng Qian opened her laptop and spent over four hours organizing her father’s long-sealed research notes. Among them were several sets of alarming data that solidified her resolve. On a well-known domestic medical forum, she published a post titled "A Cunning Potential Crisis." She uploaded most of the theories along with the data, and at the end of the article, she summarized it using the themes of "new life and death," leaving anyone who read it through in a cold sweat.

"Cheng Qian..." Cheng Qian was performing a final check when the door was suddenly pushed open.

Li Zhinan had been drinking; his handsome face was flushed red as he stood at the entrance of her study. When Cheng Qian turned to look at him, he strode over and slammed a document onto her keyboard.

Cheng Qian was startled and quickly moved the file away, only to see Li Zhinan reaching to cut off her power.

"Li Zhinan, stop it..." Cheng Qian was terrified, her face pale. She had spent the entire afternoon organizing her work, and if it were destroyed, she would be absolutely livid.

Li Zhinan’s large hand was already pressed against the power switch, his thin lips curling into a cold, mocking smirk. "Tell me, who is he?"

Cheng Qian was shocked and bewildered. "What?"

Li Zhinan roared in irritation, "Who exactly is the wild man you’re seeing behind my back?"

Cheng Qian looked at him, completely baffled, not knowing why he was acting like a madman.

"Is it that guy from the Fang family?" Li Zhinan recalled her getting into Fang Chi’s car at the airport last time.

Cheng Qian’s eyes widened further. "I don't know what you're talking about! Li Zhinan, please stop acting crazy and leave immediately."

Seeing that Cheng Qian still refused to admit it, Li Zhinan was truly enraged. Cheng Qian decided to ignore him, turned around, and uploaded the article as fast as she could. At that same moment, the computer screen went black—it had been shut down.

Cheng Qian’s heart sank; she wasn't sure if the article had gone through. At this point, it was too late to say anything, and she turned to walk out in a huff.

Li Zhinan’s tall frame blocked her path. "You were the one who broke into my room back then, have you forgotten?"

Cheng Qian’s face flushed red with shame. She had also been drunk that night and only remembered being sent to a room. When she woke up, she found Li Zhinan lying next to her. Both of them were naked, having done what was meant to be done.

"You tried every way to climb into my bed, and now you want to leave without consequences? Cheng Qian, do you think I, Li Zhinan, am a bus? You can just buy a ticket when you want to get on and get off whenever you please?"

Looking at the man’s drunken eyes, Cheng Qian frowned. "Li Zhinan, you're drunk."

With that, she shoved his arm aside and headed downstairs. Li Zhinan, with his tall, imposing figure, stumbled after her, only to hear the sound of a car starting up.

...

At the Cheng residence, Cheng Zhifei sat in the living room, complaining to his daughter, Cheng Yan.

"Xiao Yan, what were you thinking? Such a good opportunity, and you didn't seize it? You let him go back?"

Cheng Yan sat on the sofa looking at her phone, then looked up at her father. "Dad, he isn't divorced yet."

At noon that day, the Cheng family had hosted two tables for a banquet. Cheng Yan’s friends from the industry were there, and so was Li Zhinan. Li Zhinan had been in high spirits and had drunk quite a lot, ending up intoxicated. Cheng Zhifei had seen this as a golden opportunity and had secretly urged Cheng Yan not to miss it. However, Cheng Yan had sent him away directly, which left Cheng Zhifei feeling deeply frustrated.

"Isn't divorce just a matter of him saying the word? If you’re with him, he’ll definitely get one." Although Cheng Zhifei owned a pharmaceutical company, he had bigger ambitions and hoped Li Zhinan would become his son-in-law.

"Dad, he isn't divorced. If I’m with him now, how will outsiders look at me?" Cheng Yan said with a calm expression. "Don't worry. Even if he’s drunk, he won't touch Cheng Qian again."

"Where does that confidence come from?" Cheng Zhifei was a man; he knew that a drunk man was not picky.

Cheng Yan smoothed the hair behind her ear and wore a smug smile. "Dad, if I didn't even have that much confidence, how could I talk about capturing his heart?"

Cheng Zhifei laughed proudly. "Xiao Yan, Dad is truly gratified to have a daughter as smart and sensible as you."

Cheng Yan continued to look down at her phone, saying calmly, "Dad, what I want is to be married as his legitimate wife, not like Cheng Qian—using tricks, getting pregnant before marriage, and rising to power by carrying his child."

Cheng Zhifei instantly felt his daughter’s soul was noble; by comparison, Cheng Qian was nothing but a manipulative woman.

"Xiao Yan, if you think this way, President Li will surely like you even more." Cheng Zhifei breathed a sigh of relief. Any decent man would not like a woman like Cheng Qian who rose to power through schemes.

Just as Cheng Yan was about to say something, she saw a notification for an article. She clicked on it with the intention of just taking a look. She had only read a few lines before her eyes widened in shock, and she abruptly stood up from the sofa.

"Dad, something has happened." Cheng Yan’s voice was grave. "Someone named 'Fingertip Elf' has published an article on a medical forum, pointing the sword at the new drug we are about to launch, and they’ve provided a massive amount of data and theoretical arguments."

Cheng Zhifei gave a disdainful snort. "It must be a competitor causing trouble, trying to stop our launch."

Cheng Yan had initially thought the same; competition was fierce, and mutual sabotage was common. But as a scientific elite, she clearly sensed the dangerous undertone of the article.

"Ignore it. Articles like this are published every day, mostly just to disrupt the market. These people are truly being unreasonable. I’m calling our lawyer now to use legal means to shut them up..."

"Dad..." Cheng Yan’s voice began to tremble. "She doesn't sound like she’s talking nonsense. I need to return to the laboratory immediately."

"Hey, Xiao Yan, it’s the first day of the New Year, everyone is resting!" Cheng Zhifei still hadn't realized the severity of the situation.

"Dad, if what she says is true, then this batch of drugs might not be able to launch." Cheng Yan said as she put on her coat.

"It’s not that serious. This is something we’ve spent over three years of hard work on..."

"It’s precisely because we’ve invested so much manpower and resources that if her data holds up, there’s no hope for our launch. I’m going back to the lab now to verify it further based on the parameters she provided." After saying this, Cheng Yan grabbed her bag and strode out.

Throughout the journey, Cheng Yan’s fingers gripped the steering wheel, trembling. Whether Cheng's Biotech could make a comeback depended on this new drug. At that moment, she felt as if a sword were hanging over her head, leaving her unable to find any peace.

Cheng Yan stayed in the laboratory for three days. When every single data point matched exactly what was listed in that article, she collapsed into her chair, the color draining from her pretty face.

Cheng Zhifei paced back and forth in the office, restless and anxious. The office door was pushed open, and Cheng Yan walked in with the data report.

"How is it? What’s the situation?" Cheng Zhifei asked anxiously.

Cheng Yan’s face was deathly pale. She gritted her teeth and said, "Dad, this batch of drugs does indeed have flaws. I’m afraid it cannot be launched."

"What? How could this be?" Cheng Zhifei’s mind went blank from the blow. The next second, he angrily swept the documents off the desk onto the floor. "This was clearly the precious data he hid in the safe, the research he spent five years on..."

"Dad, perhaps we were wrong from the very beginning." Cheng Yan leaned against the desk, staring down at the floor. "Uncle suddenly announced the termination of the experiment he had been conducting for five years and locked all the data in the safe. Did Uncle know about this result all along? That it would only temporarily suppress the disease, but cause multi-organ failure and eventual death after six months?"

"It’s impossible, that’s impossible." Cheng Zhifei’s eyes were bloodshot, nearly losing his mind.