After Rebirth, I Married the Great Demon King-Chapter 441: Like a Bootlicker’s Years

But Cheng Lie’s gaze landed on her, like nails, pinning her down completely.

Xia Yuezhen wanted to leave, but her feet refused to listen.

"Xiao Lie..." Xia Yuezhen forced an awkward smile, greeting Cheng Lie.

Cheng Lie’s expression was cold: "Aunt."

"Xiao Lie, I know I was wrong. Can you forgive me, Aunt? I don’t want any of the money—it’s all yours now."

She knew that if Cheng Lie revealed her actions in hiring someone to kill, she would definitely end up in prison.

But she didn’t want that.

She didn’t want money, but still wanted to remain the second daughter-in-law of the Meng Family. However, if she ended up in prison, she’d lose everything.

At this moment, Xia Yuezhen had already realized that money meant nothing to her. Compared to that, losing everything and spending years locked away in prison seemed far more terrifying.

Cheng Lie quietly gazed at Xia Yuezhen for a long moment before asking, "How do you know my mother is from the Meng Family?"

He had taken his mother’s diary with him, but only knew his mother had lived a privileged life in the past—he didn’t know she was connected to the Meng Family.

Yet Xia Yuezhen, all the way in Beijing, found out his mother’s identity instantly.

That ability was anything but ordinary.

But judging by his interactions with Xia Yuezhen over the past few days, she seemed to be just a shallow and unimpressive woman without much capability.

Cheng Lie posed his question, and Xia Yuezhen immediately thought up a way to shift the blame.

"I... I wasn’t planning on looking for you originally. It was Mu Chengzhu from South City who told me that your mother was part of the Meng Family. So I investigated a little, and it turned out to be true. Everything I did was under his instructions. He said this way, everything would be settled once and for all."

Xia Yuezhen now regretted it more and more, to the point where her intestines twisted with remorse.

If time could turn back, she wouldn’t dare to do such a thing even if she had a hundred chances.

Now she only wanted to minimize her losses and had no choice but to push the blame onto Mu Chengzhu.

After all, it was his fault—if he hadn’t told her everything, hinted at what to do, would she have acted this way?

Who could have known Cheng Lie would be so difficult to deal with?

When Cheng Lie heard Xia Yuezhen’s words, his expression turned thoughtful.

Yun Shifei pressed her lips together. She hadn’t expected it to be Mu Chengzhu again.

This person always acted in the shadows, manipulating things. Yet, she couldn’t do anything about him.

After all, in her past life, she had died young.

Mu Chengzhu knew far more than she did.

Suddenly, Yun Shifei felt deeply guilty towards Cheng Lie.

He could have avoided going through all this—but because he was with her, he had to endure such suffering.

Cheng Lie also sensed Yun Shifei’s unusual mood.

He reached out and embraced her shoulder, signaling her to be at ease.

Leaning in his arms, Yun Shifei only felt more unsettled.

Such an excellent man—because of her—almost lost his life...

Finally, Cheng Lie brought Xia Yuezhen back to the Meng Family and told them everything exactly as it had happened.

Elder Meng was so furious that he couldn’t stop himself from kicking Xia Yuezhen.

He wasn’t the type to hit people, let alone women.

But thinking about this woman in front of him, who pretended for half a lifetime to care for them while secretly coveting their fortune and even resorted to harming their grandson, his rage boiled over.

"Make Meng Jie divorce her and send her to the police station."

The mistakes Xia Yuezhen had made needed to face the law.

Hearing Elder Meng’s words, Xia Yuezhen started crying, "Dad, Dad, for all the years I’ve taken care of you, please don’t call the police. I know I was wrong."

Elder Meng glared at Xia Yuezhen, his chest heaving with anger: "You think not calling the police would mean you’ll live better out there than you will inside?"

Those words silenced Xia Yuezhen’s struggles.

Cheng Lie’s gaze was cold and vengeful. As he passed by Xia Yuezhen, he murmured to her, "Thanks for the tens of thousands you gave me."

Xia Yuezhen froze, raising her eyes sharply to look at Cheng Lie.

But Cheng Lie didn’t spare her a glance, leaving without hesitation.

Cold dread seeped into Xia Yuezhen’s heart. She wanted to accuse Cheng Lie of blackmail, but she had no evidence at all.

Who would’ve thought he already knew everything so far in advance?

Including the last time he left deliberately bidding her farewell—surely he also knew she had been beaten and intended for her to be humiliated in public!

It must be that.

This man had planned everything long ago, pretended to coexist peacefully with her on the surface.

But in reality, he had slowly tortured her piece by piece.

If not for today’s attempt to kidnap Yun Shifei, he might have continued enduring her and playing along.

While she schemed to destroy him and secure the entire Meng Family fortune, he’d already turned her into a pawn.

How could someone like her ever outmaneuver him?

Xia Yuezhen felt a bone-deep chill in her heart.

Now it seemed, perhaps prison truly was the best outcome for her.

If she was outside without the Meng Family’s protection, wouldn’t Cheng Lie be able to kill her effortlessly?

The night was tranquil. Yun Shifei gazed at the dazzling nightscape through the car window.

But her heart couldn’t settle as she thought about Mu Chengzhu’s involvement.

How should she deal with Mu Chengzhu?

Cheng Lie noticed Yun Shifei’s troubles and said, "Feifei, none of this is your fault. Stop overthinking."

Yun Shifei turned to look at Cheng Lie, her tone tinged with frustration: "But you could have avoided enduring all this pain." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

No wonder she hadn’t heard about Cheng Lie experiencing such things in her past life.

It turned out, all of this was because of her.

Cheng Lie studied Yun Shifei’s anxious expression, cupped her face, and kissed her lips: "You’re a victim too."

Yun Shifei was stunned by the kiss, then blushed a little when she remembered Zhao Pan was driving up front. With someone else present, the intimacy between them felt overly brazen.

Her slight discomfort caught Cheng Lie’s attention, and his dark eyes sparkled with amusement.

But he suddenly recalled something. Hesitating because Zhao Pan was there, he refrained from speaking.

Only after sending Yun Shifei back to school, Cheng Lie followed her to a secluded grove to ask, "Feifei, may I ask you something? In your past life, did Mu Chengzhu like you?"

Hearing this, Yun Shifei’s expression became slightly uneasy.

Mu Chengzhu couldn’t possibly have liked her in her past life; it had always been her chasing after him.

Though, her way of liking him had always been rather peculiar.

But that was undeniably the truth.

She had refrained from mentioning it before, afraid Cheng Lie might misunderstand. Yet now that he’d asked directly—

She cautiously replied, "I can tell you the truth, but please don’t get upset."

She worried Cheng Lie might care about her past—the memory of her relentless pursuit during those days still made her cringe, much less how Cheng Lie might perceive them.

Cheng Lie murmured an acknowledgment.

"In my past life, I liked him... So maybe now he’s simply unwilling to accept my change in this lifetime."