That's all.
After discussing it, we finally concluded that the biggest suspect is still my old enemy in China.
However, to confirm this, Bucktooth Zhou meant to first check how Ye Huan had been doing recently.
After leaving the warehouse, I immediately prepared to go to the hospital to see Yan Di. But on the way, I suddenly received a phone call—and it was Her Highness the Princess calling!
"Chen Yang, do you have time? I'd like to talk to you."
I frowned. This woman, my wedding is over, and she still hasn't left Vancouver?
Part Three: The Pinnacle, Chapter Eleven: Venom
My instinct was to refuse the princess's invitation—I didn't think I had anything in common with this woman, and besides, I'm a married man now, with my wife injured and lying in the hospital, and I was about to go see her. Why would I go on a date with a notorious womanizer?
But before I could even say no, the princess suddenly said on the other end of the phone, "I heard that you and my father have an agreement."
I frowned. What did she mean by that?
After thinking for a moment, I slowly said, "Okay, tell me a place."
The princess's voice sounded a little strange: "Chen Yang, do you remember the hotel where we first met? It was the banquet my father hosted in Vancouver, the place where we first met."
I paused for a moment, but immediately replied, "I remember."
Of course I remember, because after that banquet, the princess and I drove around, and we even had some passionate encounters in the car. Of course, at that time I didn't know that this princess was a promiscuous and wanton woman.
"There's a restaurant called 'Ingels' on the fourth floor of that hotel. Their French food is pretty good. I'll be waiting for you there."
After hanging up the phone, I thought for a moment and asked Xiao Zhu, who was driving, to turn around.
This is a rather famous luxury hotel in Vancouver, and it had just experienced an assassination attempt. My men were quite nervous about my safety. So when I entered the French restaurant on the fourth floor, Hammer and Little Zhu were following behind me. There were also four other men, all of whom were carrying guns.
Our group of people walking in immediately attracted the attention of many guests in the restaurant.
In the innermost window seat, the princess sat. She wore a light-colored evening gown and minimal makeup, her attire unusually understated today. Her delicate face was completely bare, without a trace of makeup, and a single sparkling crystal pendant adorned her long neck. One hand gently supported her chin. Her eyes were unfocused, and a wine glass containing about half a glass of red wine sat before her. Judging from her dazed gaze and the slight blush on her cheeks, she had clearly drunk quite a bit.
Seeing me approaching from afar, the princess straightened up. She smiled at me, a smile tinged with disdain and mockery, and waited until I was right in front of her before speaking: "The dignified Fifth Master of Vancouver, so cowardly and timid now? You need to bring so many bodyguards when you go out?"
I smiled faintly, but looking at her dazed and drunken state, I frowned slightly, sat down opposite her, and then beckoned Hammer to come to my side: "You and your men can go down first."
Hammer frowned and whispered, "Fifth Brother... things haven't been peaceful these past few days..."
I shook my head. I deliberately said, "With Her Highness here, what security concerns are there? Hmph, she's Mr. Thorin's precious daughter. It's impossible for her to go out without a bodyguard. They just do it discreetly."
Hammer didn't understand what I was saying, but seeing my insistence, he was surprised. Little Zhu, however, understood what was going on and pulled him back. Hammer could only turn around and lead my men away.
"I'm sorry to have made you laugh." The waiter next to me poured me a glass of red wine, which I then downed in one gulp.
“What a waste…” the princess teased, “That’s not how you savor red wine.”
I raised an eyebrow and said, "I've never been a refined person to begin with."
"What's wrong? Are you scared without your bodyguards and need to drink to bolster your courage?" The princess was still mocking me.
"Hehe!" I chuckled, glancing around casually. "A princess like you traveling alone, surely you have bodyguards around you? It's just that your father did it discreetly; those followers are all disguised and protecting you secretly. Do you think I don't know? Anyway, with your bodyguards around, what do I have to be afraid of!"
Without saying much, I called the waiter to order. I hadn't eaten anything that evening, so I casually ordered a pan-fried foie gras and some grilled snails. With red wine in hand, I drank heartily and ate heartily, completely disregarding my image, wolfing down the food in front of me in no time.
Throughout the entire process, the princess remained silent, simply watching me quietly. I finished the last piece of snail and drained my glass of wine, then tossed aside my napkin: "Alright, I've finished my meal. Now, tell me, what did you call me here for?"
"Sigh, '82 red wine, every bottle we drink is one less in the world... what a waste of such good stuff." The princess shook her head. She was acting strangely tonight, completely unlike her usual arrogant and unreasonable self, instead putting on airs as a lady. Seeing my growing impatience, she sat up straight and leaned forward slightly: "You... do you have a deal with my father?"
I didn't say anything, I just looked at her.
The princess opened her lips: "For the past six months... I've been very unhappy! Extremely unhappy!"
I still didn't say anything.
“That time… right after you attended my father’s banquet, the next day, my father came to talk to me in his study.” The princess looked at me with a complicated expression. “You know what? I’ve only been to my father’s study twice in my entire life. Because that’s a place he only calls people in to talk when he has something important to discuss. And I’ve always been idle and irresponsible. This time, my father suddenly called me to talk in his study, and this is only the third time in my life that I’ve entered his study!”
"So what?" I asked softly.
The princess didn't answer me. Her eyes held a simple, mocking look, as if she were talking to herself: "Hmm, in your heart, I'm probably someone spoiled by my powerful father, who abuses my family's power and lives a chaotic private life. A promiscuous, wanton slut, whore... right?"
I didn't say anything... because that's really what I think.
"Do you know the circumstances under which I spoke to my father in the study the last two times?" The princess looked at me with a cold smile.
How should I know? I raised my eyebrows. I didn't say anything.
"The first time was when I was thirteen. The day after my mother died." The princess's eyes were hazy, as if she were lost in memories. "My father was very rich, and he was powerful, influential, and had many, many subordinates... Many people knew his name. Many people were afraid of him, some even trembled at the mere mention of his name! Having such a father seems glamorous, doesn't it?" She looked at me again: "But do you know? My father. At least as far as I know, from the time I was old enough to understand... he had at least dozens of women! He was rich. And back then, he was charming, very imposing... Many, many women probably would have fought to sleep with him! And a man like that was destined to have many women! So do you know what my mother was?"
I looked at the princess, who took another big gulp of wine and then shouted unrestrainedly, "WAITER, another bottle!"
Then she continued looking at me, and chuckled softly, “My mother was one of his women…yes, that’s right, one of many, many women. And, of all my father’s women, she was the only one he brought into the house! The other women were kept by him outside, in various places. Some were just played with and then discarded. Only my mother almost became his wife…do you know why?” The princess pointed to her nose: “Because of me!”
She giggled for a while: "Because of me! Because my mother gave birth to me! My father always wanted a child to carry on his bloodline. As a leader. A leader who aspired to make his career family-oriented, he needed offspring! But the problem was... my father, the great, all-powerful Thorin... he was born with a physical defect! Do you know what it is? It's an incurable defect, and he... his chances of having offspring are only five percent of an average person's! Yes, five percent!"
Could it be a congenital deficiency? Or insufficient sperm motility? These were just some random guesses in my mind. This kind of problem is indeed a headache for many men.
"So, he had many, many women, but the only one who bore him a child was my mother. And unfortunately, I was a girl. Not the son he wanted. But even so, I came into being from that five percent chance, and my father cherished me exceptionally much, loved me exceptionally much... even too much! So good to me that it drove me crazy!!"
"My father didn't love my mother... For the great Thorin... love was bullshit! He just needed women to bear his children. He could give my mother a lot of money. He could let her live in a palace-like manor, let her eat the most expensive food, wear the most expensive clothes... But the one thing my mother lacked was a man who loved her! So she died, when I was thirteen, from a not-too-serious lung disease. And while she was sick, my father could spend money to find her the most expensive doctors... but he never even went to see her once!"
I could hear a deep resentment in the princess's voice!
“My mother’s funeral had just ended that day… Hmph, he rushed through the funeral and then summoned me to his study. He said something to me, telling me that I was his only daughter, that he hoped I could study in Europe, that he would pay for my admission to the best aristocratic schools, that he had high hopes for me, that I would one day become the second empress of the great Thorin family… Hmph, if the ‘Thorin family’ could really become a reality.” The princess gritted her teeth, looked at me, and said in a deep voice, “I told him… never!”
I sighed, looking at the princess who was already half-drunk in front of me, not knowing what to say.
"Later... I refused to go to Europe. My father had no choice. I told him that even if he forced me onto the plane, it wouldn't work. I could do whatever I wanted in Europe. He couldn't do anything about it. He probably thought it was better to keep me under his control, so he didn't force me." The princess smiled slightly: "When I was thirteen, I would pray to God every night before going to sleep... Do you know what I prayed for?"
"What?"
She let out two shrill laughs: "I pray to God that he goes bankrupt! That his business fails miserably!! That he loses everything!!"
I gradually sensed that something was wrong.
"The higher his expectations of me, the more reckless I became! He wanted me to study hard, but I refused! I acted like a madman at school, and dated a crazy number of boyfriends... You see, I'm young, beautiful, and very rich—at least any normal man would like me." A hint of madness flickered in her eyes. "My first time... losing my virginity was in the men's locker room at school. I was drunk and just gave myself to a black guy. He was the quarterback on the school's football team. Hmph, I could feel it every time he looked at me. His eyes practically wanted to lift my skirt!! That was my first time, and it hurt so much... even though I was drunk. But it still hurt, and I was still sober... but the more it hurt, the harder I laughed! Haha... He wants me to be a strong woman? Then I'll be a slut!!"
Her eyes and her voice carried a hint of madness and perversion. I looked at her and frowned deeply.
“Then, the next day… that black man was gone.” She seemed to think for a moment, then laughed, “Well, to be precise. He disappeared. Reporting it to the police was useless; they never found him… but I suspect my father probably killed him and threw him into Lake Ontario. Hahahaha…”
"And then?" I asked her without even realizing it. My voice softened slightly.
"Later..." the princess sneered, "I continued to date boyfriends, sometimes one, sometimes two or three at the same time... If I liked one, I would sleep with him; if I didn't, I wouldn't let him touch me, but would play with him for a while and then dump him. I was like many of those pretty sluts in schools, promiscuous... Later, I also smoked marijuana for a while, but I stopped later. Because my father said that if anyone dared to sell me drugs, that person would definitely die a horrible death."
I took out a cigarette, lit it, leaned back in my chair, and listened quietly as she continued.
"Later... I met a man... to be precise, a boy." The princess suddenly stopped her cold laugh, a deep sadness appearing in her eyes. She looked at me, into my eyes, and her tone softened instantly. "That boy was very proud, extremely proud. It was a pride ingrained in his bones. He was tall and thin, wearing glasses... Oh, and like you, he was Chinese. He always got perfect scores on his tests; everyone initially thought he was just a bookworm. His father was middle class, a dentist, and his mother was unemployed. He rarely spoke to anyone, and rarely smiled. And... back then, because he was Chinese, some people at school..." I enjoyed bullying him. Sometimes, he'd get beaten up in the locker room. And they'd never empty his pockets. He never said anything. I often saw him with bruises on his face after being beaten, but he wouldn't utter a sound. Although everyone thought he was weak, I thought he was proud, really proud, because he ignored everyone who spoke to him. I knew very well that we looked down on him, but actually, he looked down on us even more. I became interested in him then, and tried to seduce him… ugh, that's what I did back then, I was just playing around. Since I'd already sworn to be a slut, I didn't mind using this guy for my amusement.
At this point, she suddenly looked at me and asked, "Do you think I'm pretty?"
“…Beautiful.” I sighed.
I'm telling the truth. Although she has many flaws and many despicable habits, it's undeniable that the princess is indeed a very beautiful woman.
“Yes, I’m young and beautiful, and many men like me. But when I approached him, do you know what his first words to me were?” The princess said gently, her expression tender. “He said to me, ‘Get away.’”
Looking at her gentle expression, I didn't know what to say.
"It's so strange. I tried to get close to him a few times, and the look in his eyes was always one of undisguised disgust and impatience... Well, to be honest, it's the same way you look at me after we met." The princess suddenly reached for the cigarette box I had placed on the table, took out a cigarette, and lit it for herself. "I understand. He looks down on me. Even though I'm young, beautiful, rich, and powerful, the way he looks at me is no different from how he looks at trash on the street."
"Then what?"
"And then?" the princess whispered, "Then, I suddenly found myself madly in love with him."
I was taken aback. The princess looked at me coldly: "Do you find it strange?" Then the sharpness in her eyes disappeared, replaced by a somewhat dim look: "I find it strange too. The more he hates me, the more I want to get close to him... During that time, I even dumped all the men around me. He likes quiet girls, so I even threw away and burned all the clothes in my closet, and dressed neatly every day, hoping he would glance at me."
I smiled but didn't say anything. This isn't strange. It's just the behavior of a rebellious girl.
“But he was just too proud. Even though he was very thin and weak, and all the boys in school could bully him, he was so arrogant and always looked at people with a cold gaze. Especially when he looked at me… just like you.” The princess smiled somewhat blankly: “I even thought at the time that if he was willing to be with me, I would definitely be willing to be a good girl.”
The princess paused for a moment, then whispered, "Later I learned something else... You know, my father has always been 'taking care' of me. Any boy I'm involved with gets extra attention from him. In fact, ever since that black boy who took my night-time charm mysteriously disappeared, some of the boys who approached me were secretly killed by him. Others were beaten up by his men and warned not to come near me. And this boy was no exception. My father's men, seeing that I was involved with such a weak Eastern boy, beat him twice and warned him when I tried to get closer to him. But he didn't tell me any of this. And still, he ignored me. Even after being beaten by my father's men, he still didn't say anything."
“There was a period when I was in a lot of pain. I wanted to get what I wanted... but it was him, and I just couldn’t have him. Sometimes I even burned myself with cigarette butts... on my wrist.”
My gaze couldn't help but drift to her arm, where I saw fair skin, without any marks...
"You don't need to look," the princess said coldly. "I had a skin resurfacing surgery, and those scars are gone."
She thought for a moment and said, "Later, about two months later, his attitude towards me started to change slightly. He became a little more polite to me. I was really crazy about him at the time. I did a lot of things to please him... For example, at school dances, boys would invite girls to be their dance partners, and not having a dance partner was a very embarrassing thing. He was an Asian, and no girl at school liked him, and no one was willing to be his dance partner, so I took the initiative to go to him... This happened a few times. Later, he became more polite to me, but he told me that he didn't like me at all. He could be friends with me, but he would never fall in love with me. I asked him why, and he thought for a long time before answering me that he liked 'simple' girls."
"Then what?"
"And then?" A gloomy look appeared in the princess's eyes. "Then... he found a girlfriend, an Asian girl who came from Singapore to study... I was furious, absolutely furious! One night, I locked myself in my room and slashed my wrists with a razor blade!"
"Suicide?" I frowned.
“Yes!” The princess’s gaze turned icy. “But I didn’t die. I was discovered by the servants. And then…”
I frowned, a sense of unease creeping over me.
“Then… my father asked me why I wanted to commit suicide. I didn’t say… but if I didn’t say it, someone else would tell him.” The princess gritted her teeth and said, “My father cherished me because I was his only bloodline. He saw that I had actually committed suicide for a man… the great Thorin was furious… and as a result, the next day, the boy… disappeared.”
“Missing…” I murmured the word to myself.
"Disappearance means... my father killed him," the princess said as if nothing had happened.
I looked at her, her face cold, speaking as if it were nothing, but I could see a deep resentment in her eyes.
"Then, for the second time in my life, I entered my father's study. I learned then that he had disappeared... I went into the study, pretending to talk to my father... but in fact, I had a gun hidden in my sleeve!" The princess's words made my heart skip a beat!
I was careless in Chapter Twelve of Part Three: The Pinnacle... I was careless...
"...I have a gun hidden in my sleeve."
When the princess said those words, I was truly shocked!
If what she said before was merely teenage rebellion, a shadow cast by her childhood that caused discord between father and daughter… then when old Thorin killed the man who drove his daughter to suicide… who was actually the first man the princess had ever loved. This terrible mistake and action could have directly led to a deep-seated hatred!
And the misjudgment of the relationship between the father and daughter... had a very serious impact on me!
Seeing the change in my expression, the princess suddenly smiled: "Chen Yang, what's wrong?" Then, with a mocking tone, she said, "Don't worry, I didn't kill him. Because I had no chance of succeeding. I knew that even in his study, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to kill him... So, I carried that gun with me because I wanted to commit suicide in front of him. I hate him... But I also know that I am his only bloodline, his only hope. The only way I could take revenge on him was to make him watch his hope shatter right under his nose—it might seem stupid, but that's what I was thinking at the time."
I struggled to keep from asking "And then?" because the outcome was obvious: old Thorin was still alive, and the princess was alive too.
"Do you know who stopped me from committing suicide?" the princess asked mockingly.