He squeezed his eyes shut.

  "I knew there was something amiss, so I tried my best to hide it. The fact that he is not rotting in jail already is compensation enough. Do you think I have not tried to protect him?"

  "He is your son! How can you abandon him when he needs you the most? We've raised him for so many years. He was the pearl in my palm and you give away his good future to someone else?" she yelled. She shook him vigorously.

  Bai Yu had finally had enough, he shook off her hand and moved away from her. He looked straight at his son and spoke, "If you want to know the particulars of the contract, just ask me," he said.

  Bai Ye Qing looked at him with steely eyes. "Can I trust you to tell me the truth? You went behind my back to throw such a big net. What did you think would happen when everyone found out? You wanted to remove the pesky shareholders who were not on your side, didn't you? I know this clearly. I had turned them in my favor. Everything would have been okay," he insisted.

  Bai Yu shook his head. "I had placed my head in the mouth of the crocodile and trusted it not to destroy me."

  "What does that mean?" Chen Yue spoke, her voice horrified.

  "Oh, the eighty-five percent I previously held, Yun Qian Meng bought eighty. She left me a customary five percent share to benefit me as the Founder of the company. I have few voting rights, but my opinion matters. The dividend rates for it are also higher than all the others. The conditions were good. No businessman would pass the opportunity up." He didn't need to explain himself, but as a father and a husband, he felt compelled to tell them.

  "So, you sold your company for spare change?" Chen Yue gasped. "It was to be passed down from one family member to the next. From one generation to the next. You worked to build it to the heights it is at right now and you sell it?" She stared at him.

  "I built it; therefore, I can sell it when I deem fit," Bai Yu said proudly.

  Chen Yu pointed her finger at him. "Do you think you are the only one who contributed to the company? I wasted years of my life living the life of a poor woman to help you in your dreams. I cooked and cleaned and raised our children singlehandedly so that you could go work and make the company bigger," she said, her eyes burning with indignation. "Wenxi, the poor boy, worked tirelessly to help you in the business, too. Do you still say you worked alone for the success? Dream on!"

  Bai Yu scoffed. "You now remember that you have an older soA n? You have been ignoring his existence since he passed away. He was not even cold in his grave and you had already stuffed his marriage prospect into Bai Ye Qing's hands." He shook his head in disbelief. "I don't see a shred of grief in your face when you talk about him. I don't know what to say. Moreover, you never mentioned any contributions made by your good son, Bai Ye Qing. Why? Do you not think he was competent?" he challenged.

  "I was Wenxi's mother!" she shouted, offended. "I mourned him much more than you ever will. I bore him in my body for nine months and fed him my milk even when I was barely well myself." A solitary tear rolled down her cheek. "And Ye Qing just started out, how can I know how well he has worked?"

  Bai Yu scoffed. "If he had done anything important, you would be beating a drum around the neighborhood, telling everyone what a good son you have. Just like how you mentioned him getting married to a billionaire."

  Chen Yue frowned. She didn't know what to say. Both of them heard a camera clicking and turned to look. Bai Ye Qing was flipping through the pages of the acquisition agreement, taking pictures of each so that he could show it to a lawyer.

  "Are you still going to defend him?" Bai Yu said, pointing towards Ye Qing. "Look at him shamelessly going through confidential business documents and taking pictures!"

  "Father, don't worry. I am only trying to secure my own future. Usually, it is the duty of the parents to make sure the children have a bright future, but when parents are not capable of doing it or refuse to help, the child must take it into their own hands," he replied in a biting tone.

  Chen Yue turned pale.

  "You're talking about family values? You should respect and trust your parents to receive their favor. You think everything in the world is free because your family is rich? No person will keep giving you benefits, Ye Qing. I have given you the best education and job opportunities available so that you can flourish. There is only so much I could do." He paused. "Even now, I am pleading you to stop and protect yourself from harm. The money we have is enough to keep us living a very luxurious life in the future. You will want for nothing. Would you take the offer if I gave it to you?" he said, testing the waters.

  Bai Ye Qing glared at his father. "Do you hear what you are saying? Stay low? Live luxuriously?" he chuckled without humor. "If you can't handle taking care of a child and cleaning up after them, you shouldn't have given birth to them. It's not my fault for being born!" he accused.

  Bai Yu froze. "What did you just say?" he whispered, his voice breaking slightly with sadness. His eyes were slightly red as he looked at his son. It seemed that he was beyond redemption.

  "If you can't afford a child or love them unconditionally, don't bring them into the world to suffer," Bai Ye Qing hissed.