Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase-Chapter 322 - 303: A Total Defeat

The training room has ventilated windows, Shen Jianian stood by the window, one hand resting on the ledge, as she took a call from Fu Jichen.

She had just wiped her sweat, yet a fine layer appeared again on her forehead and the sides of her nose, her cheeks were flushed from exercise.

"Is the training tiring?"

Fu Jichen waited a long time before calling, worried she wouldn’t pick up; he first messaged Fu Feibai, learned she was resting, then called.

Shen Jianian only found out today that Fu Feibai was in the same film crew as her, yet Fu Jichen knew long ago.

With Fu Jichen, Shen Jianian doesn’t pretend, she says it as it is: "A bit tiring, but better than I imagined. Maybe because it’s my first day, and I haven’t filmed fighting scenes before, the martial arts instructor is extra patient, training is quite gentle, mostly hanging on wires in mid-air doing basic body rotations, kicks, and arm stretches, not hard. The afternoon involves training in ancient etiquette, I have to learn to play the pipa, there’s a pipa scene, the director advises against finding a stand-in."

Fu Jichen listened attentively: "Have you seen Feibai?"

"You know he’s in this movie too?"

"Found out a few days ago, didn’t tell you." Before today, Fu Jichen hadn’t mentioned to Fu Feibai that Shen Jianian would be in this movie either, "If you have any issues, ask him for help, I’ll mention it to him later."

Shen Jianian said with a rueful smile, "I don’t have any issues in the training room, don’t bother him."

"I mean later in the film crew," Fu Jichen said.

Shen Jianian scratched her forehead, feeling he was being difficult, Fu Feibai is one of the leads, his role is substantial, he’d have no time to pay attention to her.

The martial arts instructor was calling, Shen Jianian hurriedly said "Don’t worry", and hung up.

Tong Yan called her: "Shen Jianian."

Shen Jianian stuffed her phone into her bag, squatted down to tie her almost undone shoelace, and looked up at the persistent figure.

Tong Yan also squatted down, glanced around, and quietly asked, "Were you just talking with your boyfriend? Do you have a boyfriend?"

Shen Jianian genuinely felt helpless, didn’t Tong Yan realize it was impolite to keep probing into others’ privacy? They weren’t even friends.

"No, don’t guess randomly." Shen Jianian didn’t admit.

After speaking, she got up and left, avoiding further contact with Tong Yan, shutting down any future probing into her personal affairs.

Tong Yan glanced at Shen Jianian’s slim figure even in a hoodie, and faintly curled the corner of her mouth, what’s so great about that, don’t guess randomly...

How was it random guessing?

The sweet expression Shen Jianian showed during the call, anyone seeing it would guess it was her boyfriend on the other end.

She said it wasn’t a boyfriend, was it a financial backer?

She hasn’t signed with a company, how could she get into Director Wang’s film? Probably latched onto a wealthy fool.

*

Fu Yuling was taken into criminal custody.

The cleaner’s testimony revealed a lot of information, the most crucial point being once she accomplished this, her sick daughter would receive treatment.

Following leads, they reinvestigated the family of the driver involved in the accident years ago, revealing that surgery had been performed on the driver’s disabled uncle, aided by a charity foundation. The mentally slow son couldn’t be treated, but received monthly donations just enough for daily expenses.

The charity foundation dispatched specialists to evaluate, deeming their circumstances eligible for aid, all procedures were legitimate, not a single issue.

This was Fu Yuling’s cleverness, from start to finish she hadn’t directly given a cent to the driver or his relatives.

Rich people doing charity is commonplace, not just her, the Fu Family including Fu Jichen, Fu Feibai also do charity, this act wouldn’t raise suspicion.

Fu Yuling donated substantial money to the charity foundation annually, casually having someone mention it to relevant foundation personnel, then having the foundation verify the situation, if true, aid is provided.

No matter how the police investigate, they couldn’t trace back to her.

The driver was guilty, but his family wasn’t, the two relatives were ill, without any source of income, receiving aid is reasonable.

If not for the cleaner being inept and getting caught, Fu Yuling believed no one would discover her deeds.

As time passes, everything will decay into the soil.

All the current evidence points to Fu Yuling, yet she refuses to admit it. In the interrogation room at the police station, no matter how the police question her, she remains tight-lipped and silent.

She has a heart condition and was recently rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment, so the police dare not use too extreme methods of questioning.

The cold white light shone on Fu Yuling’s face, making her already pale face look ghostly.

"The cleaning lady has already confessed. She said you told her that if she listened to you and drugged Shen Jianian to take her away, her daughter would receive assistance from the foundation. Why did you want to harm Shen Jianian?"

"The files from the Jiang City major car accident have been transferred to our bureau. The driver involved was detained last night. I advise you to confess everything now and seek leniency."

"Fu Yuling, you’re suspected of intentional murder. According to our country’s laws, you could face the death penalty, life imprisonment, or at least ten years of imprisonment! Think it through!"

The police’s questions grew louder and louder, but only silence answered them.

The piercing light hurt her eyes, and Fu Yuling closed them, her eyes feeling a wave of soreness, dazed as if she was dreaming.

Before returning to the country, she never imagined she would end up like this.

She shouldn’t have shown any mercy; she should have let the cleaning lady kill that woman, Shen Jianian, on the spot.

A single misstep led to total defeat.

Fu Yuling’s brow furrowed, another sharp pain shot from her heart, which was already riddled with holes. It wasn’t an exaggeration; it was the truth. If someone were to cut open her skin, they would see a broken and ruined heart.

She had just experienced life and death, barely clawing her way back to life. Once she recovered a bit, she was brought here, surrounded by confinement, suffocating except for a small window near the ceiling showing the outside sky, leaving her nearly gasping for breath.

She finally understood why those prisoners eventually confessed after being captured; in such an environment, anyone would eventually break down.

Did Fu Jichen really have such a cruel heart, lacking any sense of kinship? She wasn’t his biological sister, but they had lived together for so many years. How could he... discard her like a worn-out shoe?

Two streams of tears flowed from her closed eyes as Fu Yuling opened them, her vision blurred. She spoke for the first time since arriving: "I want to see my brother. I want to see Fu Jichen."

The police conveyed her words to Fu Jichen, and his response was a refusal.

The news of Fu Yuling’s imprisonment leaked out, and rumors started circulating. Fu Jianfang only heard snippets before rushing to the family home to inquire with the old man.

"I attended a dinner yesterday and heard someone say it seemed like something happened to Yuling. I said no way, Yuling is supposed to be recovering in the United States, so how could she have been arrested? Dad, this can’t be true..." Fu Jianfang watched the old man’s face change, and his voice lowered, "If it’s true, the Fu Family will be utterly disgraced. People were already gossiping about Third Brother’s issue before."

"Get out." The old man dropped the brush, and ink spread into a blotch on the rice paper.

Fu Jianfang shrank back and left the study awkwardly.

Mr. Fu no longer managed the company’s affairs and rarely interfered with family matters. He picked up the phone on the table and first called someone in Los Angeles.

Since Fu Yuling was sent there, all the follow-up matters have been handled by Fu Jichen, and the old man hadn’t been involved.

Once the call connected, the old man asked a question, and only then did he learn that Fu Yuling had secretly returned to the country and that Fu Jichen had already been notified.

The old man had a clear understanding; those rumors were very likely true. He immediately contacted Fu Jichen, asking him to find time to return to the family home, but then he changed his mind and said, forget about finding time, come back now.

Fu Jichen lowered his eyes in thought, understanding what the old man wanted, yet he didn’t hurry back. After finishing all his work at the company, he set off to the family home under the cover of night.

Dinner was ready waiting just for Fu Jichen. He went to the kitchen to wash his hands and sat to the right of the old man at the table.

There were only the grandfather and grandson at the table. Fu Jichen picked up the serving chopsticks and gave the old man some dishes: "Are you feeling better?"

"Hm, once you get a wife, you don’t care about anything. And now you ask about my health." The old man grunted with dissatisfaction but didn’t refuse his grandson’s gesture and ate the food in his bowl, "When will you bring her back for me to see?"

Fu Jichen switched to his own chopsticks: "She’s been busy lately."

"Busy with what?" Up until now, the old man still didn’t know his grandson’s girlfriend’s last name, where she lived, or what she did for a living.

Fu Jichen: "Filming."

The old man immediately frowned, his tone full of disdain: "Is she a little star?"

"Not really. She has no ambition of being a star. I persuaded her to try it this time." Fu Jichen spoke gently for Shen Jianian, "Even your own grandson is a celebrity; do you look down on the work of being a star?"

The old man’s chest tightened at his retort.

Fu Jichen’s romantic matters could wait. There were more important things to discuss now. The old man put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a napkin: "Let me ask you, where is Fu Yuling now?"