"I, I don't know what you're talking about."
Shao Lin clutched the door, her eyes darting away. "It's late, I need to sleep."
Jin Ye's dark eyes stared at her coldly, as if he could see through her completely, leaving her nowhere to hide.
"Take her away," he said, leaving a parting remark before turning to leave.
The police officers stepped forward. "Miss Shao, you are suspected of hiring someone to commit murder, kidnapping, and extortion. Please accompany us."
Shao Lin screamed in terror. "You've got the wrong person, it's not me! It's not me!"
She let go of the door and ran back into the room!
Seeing this, the officers quickly rushed in, only to find Shao Lin hiding by the window, her face pale, threatening, "If you come any closer, I'll jump! What right do you have to arrest me, do you have any evidence!"
"Miss Shao, the kidnapper from last time has confessed. He stated that your contact person, the leader Chen Gong, and one of the kidnappers, you had repeatedly instructed him to deliberately hit the victim with a car. Relevant evidence has been provided. Please come with us."
The officer explained the situation one by one.
"No, I didn't..." Hearing about the confession, Shao Lin's mind went into chaos. She shook her head frantically. She couldn't go to jail like those petty thugs!
As a child, she had rented a place with her mother, and only later was she brought home by her father.
She was the young lady of the Shao family, the future young madam of the Jin family…
She was a proud daughter of heaven.
"Miss Shao, please come with us." An officer stepped closer.
Shao Lin's mind kept replaying the disheveled appearance of her mother, Wang Meilan, in the mental hospital. She also thought of the torment she would suffer if she went to prison, and she completely broke down.
Tears streamed down her face. "Mr. Jin, I am Xiao Xi's mother… Mr. Jin, you can't be so heartless…"
Jin Ye, without even entering the room, stated coldly, "Are you worthy?"
It was for Xiao Xi's sake that he knew Shao Lin was problematic but did not investigate her thoroughly, as he did not want Xiao Xi's biological mother to have a criminal record.
However, she should never have provoked Su Ding.
As the officers drew closer, Shao Lin grew more terrified. She clung tightly to the windowsill. "I… I'll jump, I really will! When Xiao Xi knows you forced his birth mother to death, he will never forgive you!"
"Mr. Jin! You can't be so heartless. You took advantage of Linlin five years ago, you can't treat her like this, Mr. Jin…"
Seeing his daughter crying bitterly under duress, Shao Zhengang quickly pleaded, "Linlin couldn't have harmed Xiao Xu, you must be mistaken. How could she do something illegal at her age…"
Jin Ye's expression was cold and unmoved.
Just as an officer was about to approach, Shao Lin, who had been shouting angrily, forcefully flung her hand. The force made her body lurch backward. Her other hand lost its grip on the windowsill, and she fell directly out of the window!
"Linlin—" Shao Zhengang roared.
Jin Ye's brows furrowed, and he quickly rushed over to check. The officers immediately went down to search for her…
This was a three-story villa, and Shao Lin fell from the third floor, about ten meters. It was high enough to be fatal.
Soon, everyone gathered at the foot of the garden wall.
Fortunately, Shao Lin's clothes snagged on a tree, providing a buffer. She wasn't seriously injured when she hit the ground, only a slight abrasion, but she had fainted!
"Linlin!" Shao Zhengang lunged forward, hugging the unconscious Shao Lin and shouting.
He glared fiercely at the tall, indifferent Jin Ye in front of him and said angrily, "I am Shao Xu's father, your father-in-law! Yet you don't even give me the slightest respect!"
"Take her to the hospital. Keep an eye on her," Jin Ye instructed the officer beside him.
"Yes!"
The officers swiftly took Shao Lin from Shao Zhengang's grasp and hurried her into the car.
Shao Zhengang, unable to stop them, rushed forward, intending to grab Jin Ye's collar, but Jin Ye calmly caught his wrist!
"You devil, give Linlin back to me!" he yelled emotionally.
In the past, the Shao family was loving and harmonious. Now, his company was seized, he was divorced from Wang Meilan, and his daughter Shao Lin was arrested. This grand villa was now inhabited only by him, a lonely old man!
Shao Zhengang struggled furiously, "Jin Ye, you're a scoundrel!"
Jin Ye stared at him with his dark eyes, his voice carrying an unfathomable depth, "Is she your daughter?"
This was a question.
His gaze was sharp and intimidating, inexplicably calming the agitated and angry Shao Zhengang, even making him feel a little apprehensive.
"Wh-what do you mean by that?" Shao Zhengang's voice trembled.
"Literally."
Before Jin Ye left, he took a deep look at him. That look made Shao Zhengang suddenly start to doubt.
Could it be that Linlin wasn't his daughter?
Once the thought arose, he couldn't stop himself from spiraling…
Since Wang Meilan could have an affair with another man in secret without him knowing, then twenty years ago, before he brought her home, she might have cheated on him!
Damn it!
If Shao Lin wasn't his daughter, then he would have failed Fei Jin and Xiao Xu terribly.