Chapter 45: She is a Madwoman at Heart

"Impossible!"

As the words fell, Tang Yuan tapped her fingertip against the photograph. "Dr. Hu's daughter is exceptionally talented in medicine. If her father's involvement in a severe medical malpractice scandal is exposed, she will undoubtedly be driven out of the industry. Dr. Hu, do you still remember the women you anesthetized and forced to abort their pregnancies?"

Dr. Hu's forehead was slick with sweat, large beads of it rolling down. "Mrs. Shen, you and Mr. Shen are family. You should know that I carried out all those matters under someone else's instructions, with the Shen Corporation acting as my backing."

The hospitals under the Shen Corporation were practically the favorite haunts of wealthy socialites within the inner circle. If a man's mistress became pregnant and attempted to use the child to elevate her status, she would be brought to this place to have the illicit seed forcibly terminated.

The staff here kept their mouths tightly shut, and the socialites belonged to the same circle, holding each other's dirty secrets in their hands.

Dr. Hu had lost count of how many times he had performed such deeds, but he had never expected that Shen Zhou's wife would use them as leverage to threaten him.

"Aren't you afraid Mr. Shen will be angry if you do this, Mrs. Shen?"

"Dr. Hu, twenty million is more than enough for your retirement. I promise you that if anything ever happens to your daughter in the future, I will do everything in my power to help her. You know as well as I do that no matter the circle, it's all dirty. She is so lovely, and there are countless eyes fixed on her. Taking the fall once in exchange for twenty million and a protective umbrella for your daughter is a fair deal. At most, Shen Zhou will have you beaten up and thrown abroad; he won't take your life. It all depends on how Dr. Hu chooses."

Dr. Hu's hands, hanging at his sides, slowly clenched into fists. He was an intelligent man and knew the consequences of setting himself against the mistress of the Shen family.

Even if he were to expose Tang Yuan to Shen Zhou, the matrimonial bond between the two was tight, and Tang Yuan would not suffer any devastating repercussions.

He, however, was an outsider. Once Tang Yuan recovered her footing and turned her wrath upon him and his daughter, it would spell absolute disaster for them both.

For this Tang Yuan to dare defy Mr. Shen behind his back showed she was both bold and meticulous—she had even figured out the twenty-million figure in advance.

Once the aftermath was settled, if Shen Zhou traced the bank transaction trails, he would easily track the crime right back to his head.

His face turned ashen, his shoulders slumping all at once.

Tang Yuan stood up, putting on her face mask and cap. "Dr. Hu, the twenty million will be transferred to your bank account very soon. When Shen Zhou asks about it later, I will say that you were the one who initiated contact with me. You must stick firmly to the story that you had no idea who I was, and that you merely wanted to make a quick fortune. Do you understand?"

Dr. Hu sat motionless in his seat, the memory flashing through his mind of those women weeping and pleading as he injected them with anesthesia.

At first, his conscience had troubled him, but in time, he had grown accustomed to it.

Once the conscience was gone, the money only rolled in faster.

Perhaps this was retribution.

Two days later, Shen Zhou's private jet landed. He had intended to go directly to visit that senior executive of the Shen Corporation and check on the surgical preparations.

Instead, the hospital informed him that Dr. Hu had taken bribes and illicitly diverted the kidney source to someone else.

Shen Zhou paused in his tracks. Dr. Hu?

Dr. Hu had worked at the hospital for twenty years and lacked nothing in terms of money; how could he have done such a thing?

He hung up the phone and said to Jiang Nian, "Go and check Dr. Hu's bank transaction records."

In less than ten minutes, Jiang Nian sent a file to his phone.

"President Shen, the source of the funds originates from your personal card."

Shen Zhou's expression darkened. He immediately thought of the card he had previously given to Tang Yuan, which held precisely twenty million.

He leaned back in his seat, his voice freezing cold. "Return to Shuiyue Bay."

He had expected her to remain obedient, but he never imagined she would go behind his back and pull such petty tricks.

The car stopped at Shuiyue Bay. The moment he changed his shoes in the foyer, he saw Tang Yuan coming down the stairs.

Seeing him return, her eyes lit up. "Honey, you're back."

Noticing her casual and gentle attire, he asked with a cold face, "Where did you go?"

"The director's surgery was successful. I used twenty million to buy a kidney source from someone. I honestly thought the person on the other end was a scammer, but it turned out to be real."

With that, she looked into his face. "You have such heavy dark circles under your eyes. Did you hardly get any rest during your business trip these past few days?"

He lowered his gaze, looking into her eyes.

As always, they were brimming with concern for him, along with a deeply concealed adoration.

Tang Yuan had grown up under such strict dogmas that her inner self was actually exceptionally fragile and sensitive; she would never dare engage in such double-dealing behavior.

Perhaps this time, it really was just a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.

He raised his hand, pulling her waist into his embrace. "That twenty million—was it the money I gave you?"

"Mm-hmm. I actually thought that money was down the drain, but I never expected..."

At this point, her face was flooded with gentleness. "I never expected that person would actually be able to find a kidney source."

Beyond her line of sight, Shen Zhou's eyes gathered a layer of temperatureless, dark, and frigid frost.

He released her waist, tore off the necktie around his throat, and instructed Jiang Nian, who stood nearby, "Have the hospital fire Dr. Hu, break one of his legs, and throw him out of the country."

"Yes."

Seeing his terrifying expression, Tang Yuan couldn't help asking, "Did something happen?"

Shen Zhou raised a hand, gently ruffling her hair. "It's nothing. Weren't you going to visit the director?"

She nodded, picking up her handbag and changing her shoes at the entryway. Just as she was about to leave, she finally asked once more, "Did you go abroad to see her?"

A flicker of irritation instantly crossed his brow, though his face wore a smile. "I merely went abroad on business."

She visibly breathed a sigh of relief, the corners of her lips curling into a smile. "Then I'm off to the hospital."

Once she settled into the car, her back was already soaked in cold sweat.

She had never imagined that one day she would be capable of acting so convincingly.

Acting in front of a man like Shen Zhou brought immense pressure; his gaze seemed piercingly sharp, and when he looked at someone with a half-smile, it made them want to drop to their knees.

He was born noble, and his very gaze carried an inherent penetrating power.

Tang Yuan calmed her much-too-rapid heartbeat, a glint of unyielding determination flashing deep within her eyes.

The Tang family thought she was well-behaved; Shen Zhou thought she was rigid and dull.

Neither of them ever suspected that beneath her skin, she was a madwoman.