Chapter 13: A Scoundrel Unpunished Is an Affront to Justice

Four hours later.

“Have you arrived?”

“Yes, I just got here.”

Li Tiener cradled her baby in one arm while answering her phone with the other. The background on the other end was noisy; she guessed that Chen Bo was probably touring the mining area with clients.

“You need to be careful taking the baby out alone. Don’t talk to strangers. Where are you now?” Chen Bo deliberately hung back a few steps from his clients, covering his mouth to speak softly.

“I know, don’t worry. I’m almost at the hospital.” Chen Bo’s careful, cautious tone made Li Tiener want to laugh.

“I’ll call you later then. Don’t worry about the money—make sure Kai Kai has a thorough check-up and ask the doctor for some extra supplements. Call me anytime if you need anything. I’m hanging up now.”

Before Li Tiener could respond, the call was cut off. The duration was exactly one minute.

Chen Bo was timing the calls!

“Next, Li Tiantian.”

Li Tiener carried Kai Kai into the doctor’s office. The bespectacled female doctor’s expression soured slightly upon hearing her request for a paternity test.

“This is a hospital. We treat the sick and save lives—we don’t offer that kind of service.”

“I know this is a hospital, but I have no other choice...” Li Tiener recited her prearranged story with heartfelt emotion, even adding a couple of sobs.

“I see,” the female doctor said, pushing up her black-rimmed glasses. Her tone softened as she looked at Li Tiener with sympathy.

A young widow, her husband dead and carrying a posthumous child, was already pitiful enough. But after the child was born, the husband’s family refused to acknowledge her, calling the child illegitimate, denying them inheritance, and driving them both out. With no family to rely on, her plight was even more tragic.

After a moment’s thought, the doctor agreed to see if she could help.

Ten minutes later, she handed Li Tiener an address and told her to immediately seek out her friend, who worked as a forensic specialist.

“If you’re lucky, you’ll get the result tonight. You must be strong and regain what’s rightfully yours and your child’s.”

The doctor patted Kai Kai’s cheek, making him giggle with delight.

With the test result in her hands, Li Tiener’s fingers trembled. As expected, Chen Bo was Kai Kai’s biological father! Chen Bo must have known—why else would he have hinted at it so casually that day?

Yet Tiantian remembered nothing about such a crucial matter, which was baffling.

Regardless of whether it was before or after marriage, what happened between Tiantian and Chen Bo was inexcusable. But with Tiantian’s personality, she would never seduce Chen Bo. Most likely, Chen Bo forced himself on her, and Tiantian, too afraid to speak up, could only endure in silence and force herself to forget everything!

Thinking of it this way, the logic held.

Lying in bed, Li Tiener’s gaze lingered on Kai Kai’s sleeping face. She had made up her mind.

Night fell, deep and dark.

Even with her eyes closed, she seemed able to see everything clearly around her.

Her phone remained silent. When a man says he’ll call later, he usually never does.

Li Tiener opened her eyes and picked up her phone.

It was already eleven thirty. If Chen Bo were home, he’d probably be drinking tea in the living room or smoking on the bedroom balcony at this hour. Or perhaps entertaining one of his many women...

That drawer full of aphrodisiacs in his room was certainly not for show.

The thought of playing a prank excited her, just as she’d once orchestrated a beauty pageant encounter to tease Chen Hao’an.

Men were all susceptible to temptation!

Chen Hao’an had once confidently declared he would never spare a glance for any woman but Li Tiener. Yet in the end, he’d been caught cozying up with someone else...

Alas!

Her excitement faded into a sigh. Li Tiener closed her eyes and continued planning her revenge.

The next morning, she slept in naturally. There were no missed calls on her phone.

For a man who couldn’t boost her popularity—or rather, didn’t genuinely care—there was no point in holding out any hope.

With a cold sneer, Li Tiener switched off her phone.

She checked out of her hotel room and took a taxi straight to the train station. It was three thirty in the afternoon when she returned to Chen Bo’s villa in Dongling City.

Opening the front door, Li Tiener glanced at the baby sleeping soundly on her shoulder.

Kai Kai had been quiet the entire journey, always gazing at his mother with wide, trusting eyes. If a fellow traveler played with him, he would giggle happily. When tired, he’d nestle obediently against her and drift off. It was as if this tiny child already understood just how hard his mother’s life was, and refused to cause her any trouble.

Li Tiener was about to wake him, worried he might sleep too long, but stopped herself.

She noticed women’s clothing scattered messily across the living room sofa.

Her brows furrowed, then smoothed again. She went upstairs with light, brisk steps, humming a lullaby under her breath.

Entering her room, she laid the baby down and leaned against the door.

Chen Bo’s bedroom door opened. A young woman, still half-asleep, poked her head out.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Li Tiantian. And you?”

The girl was very young, her features exaggerated with heavy makeup. Her permed and dyed hair was puffed up into a massive ball atop her head. She scratched at her hair, her eyes slowly clearing. The false lashes on her left eye had come half off and dangled from her eyelid, looking rather comical.

Li Tiener smiled at her warmly.

“I’m Lan Juanjuan. How come I’ve never heard of you? Do you live with Chen Bo? Did he give you a room?”

A trace of jealousy flickered on Lan Juanjuan’s face.

“Yes, he insisted on giving me a room. But don’t misunderstand—we’re not what you think. He hired me as his assistant; I’m just here to help him with work. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“You’d help me?”

Lan Juanjuan’s eyes widened in surprise and her mouth dropped open. With her sudden movement, the false lash on her left eye floated gently to the floor.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just... you’re so pretty, of course Chen Bo would like you, and he must have hired you as an assistant for a reason. Not like me—when he saw me yesterday, he took my keys and tried to throw me out. When I refused to leave, he left instead. I’ve been waiting for him ever since... He must hate me now, and has fallen for someone else. Last night, I took off all my clothes and stood in front of him, but he didn’t even look at me. I want to die, I don’t want to live anymore.”

A whimper escaped Lan Juanjuan’s throat—she was genuinely heartbroken.

Li Tiener went over and gently put her arm around Lan Juanjuan’s shoulders, gazing at her with tenderness.

“I can help you win back Chen Bo’s heart, but you have to promise me one thing.”

“What is it? As long as I can do it, I’ll try my best. I just want Chen Bo to love me again. I can’t accept losing to those vulgar, classless women.”

Lan Juanjuan began listing off Chen Bo’s girlfriends, adding three more to the list than Gao Fei had reported.

A heartless womanizer, toying with women’s feelings and bodies—such a man deserved to be ruined, to kneel and beg for forgiveness.

Li Tiener sneered inwardly, but her face remained as warm as spring, comforting Lan Juanjuan’s wounded heart.