Chapter 2: The Moment of Death
"Shen Yan, this is a misunderstanding—I can explain!" Xi Ming said hurriedly, panic flickering in her eyes.
Shen Yan stepped forward slowly, his voice trembling with emotion.
"Explain? What do you want to explain? I heard everything," he said, pain lacing every word. "To think... you would do this to me. I thought you loved me."
He pointed a shaking finger at her, voice rising.
"Tell me, when did I ever wrong you? I helped you when your mother was sick, I protected you from bullies when we were kids, I even did your college project when you forgot it! What did I ever do to deserve being cheated on?"
His eyes reddened with tears. His fists clenched. His voice lowered into a hollow whisper.
"And you did all this... just for the inheritance my dead parents left me?"
He paused, lips quivering. Then asked with a soft, sorrowful voice:
"Xi Ming... what place did I hold in your heart?"
She turned her head away in silence.
"Hahahaha!"
Luo Fan suddenly burst into laughter.
"Oi oi oi—look at this broken little puppy. My heart aches watching him cry!" he mocked, holding his sides from laughing.
"Shen Yan, oh Shen Yan... So what if you found out? It's better this way. Sooner or later, you'd have learned the truth. Let me ask—how does it feel? Knowing the woman you loved was never yours. That she used you for money. And you? Just a fool who believed in love."
He tossed a coin toward Shen Yan, like tossing scraps to a beggar.
"Take this and get lost."
But Shen Yan's gaze didn't waver.
"I'll leave... when you give me back my documents."
Luo Fan's face darkened.
"Give them back? Hah!" he scoffed. "And what's that look in your eyes? Don't tell me you really believed I'd hand your inheritance back?"
Shen Yan stood firm, silent and unmoving.
Luo Fan's eyes narrowed.
"Looks like you've chosen your path. Don't regret it."
He walked to the car trunk and pulled out a baseball bat.
Xi Ming let out a sigh.
"Shen Yan, even if our relationship was fake, we were once childhood friends. Leave now, or you'll get hurt."
"Shut your mouth, bitch!" Luo Fan snapped at her.
Her eyes widened in anger. "Don't hold back, Brother Luo Fan! Beat him till he bleeds!"
Shen Yan's eyes locked onto them, burning with fury.
"Luo Fan... that inheritance is mine. You already took her from me. I won't let you take the last thing I have left."
"Her?" Luo Fan smirked. "She was never yours. And as for the papers—come take them, if you dare."
Shen Yan didn't hesitate.
He charged forward, throwing a punch. Luo Fan dodged and raised the bat, but Shen Yan grabbed it mid-swing.
BAM!
He headbutted Luo Fan.
Blood poured from Luo Fan's nose as he staggered back, stunned.
'This bastard... made me bleed?' he thought, rage boiling over.
Shen Yan didn't stop. He lunged again. But Luo Fan met him halfway, ramming a knee into his stomach. Shen Yan coughed blood.
Luo Fan struck him again and again, finally grabbing him by the collar.
"AHHHHH!"
Luo Fan screamed—his thumb was bleeding.
"You crazy dog! You bit me?!"
Fear flickered in his eyes.
He fell back as Shen Yan rose—bruised, battered, but still standing.
His left eye was swollen. Blood ran down his chin.
Step by step, he advanced.
Luo Fan crawled backwards on the pavement.
Shen Yan's eyes were cold as ice.
BAM!
A heavy object crashed against the back of his head.
His knees buckled. The world spun.
He turned—
"Xi Ming... you?"
She stood behind him, gripping the blood-stained bat. Her eyes cold.
"Pathetic," she spat on him.
"You did great, Brother Luo. Who'd have thought this bastard still had that much strength left?"
Luo Fan walked over and kicked Shen Yan in the ribs.
"Let's dump him. My guys are nearby to clean up the blood."
They dragged him into the car and drove to the slums—a red zone on the city's outskirts. A place of shadows, filth, and crime. No one would find him here.
They pulled him out and threw him to the ground.
"He's lost too much blood. He'll die on his own."
As Luo Fan turned to leave, a cold hand grabbed his ankle.
He looked back.
"Still alive?"
Shen Yan's lips moved.
"Luo Fan... you scum..."
Luo Fan's brows twitched.
"You still have breath, huh?"
Then he did something monstrous.
He unzipped his pants and began urinating on Shen Yan.
"I took your money. I took your woman. And now I piss on your face in front of the woman you loved. How's it feel, huh? You bastard!"
He zipped up and turned to leave.
"Let's go, Xi Ming. He's already dead."
Shen Yan gritted his teeth. Blood poured from the back of his head. His vision blurred. He lay on the cold, cracked concrete. Alone.
He gazed upward—
The skyline was glowing.
Even from here, he could see the city celebrating the Spring Festival. Fireworks exploded in the sky. Lanterns floated. Families laughed, exchanged gifts, set off firecrackers...
Boom. Bam.
The sky shimmered in color.
He laughed.
Tears streamed down his face.
He smiled...
But it was the smile of a man who had lost everything.
And then—
Darkness.
He was dead.
A death filled with regret, grievance, and unanswered screams.
"What did I ever do to deserve this…?"
That was his final thought.