Lu Beichuan's eyes were as sharp as knives. His gaze pierced Ye Zhenting like sharp arrows. He instinctively took a step towards Ye Zhenting. His body radiated hostility that couldn't be covered up.

Ye Zhenting instinctively trembled and gulped, but he still continued to loudly defend himself, "Beichuan, believe me. You really have to believe me. It's impossible for me to do something like that to Zhenzhen. I'm her dad! How could I possibly do something that's utterly heartless to her?!"

Ye Zhen noticed that there was something wrong with Lu Beichuan. Fearing that he was about to do something bad, she hastily grabbed hold of him and whispered, "I'm not feeling well. Let's go home."

Lu Beichuan immediately returned to his senses. He anxiously looked at Ye Zhen. "Let's go to the hospital."

With one arm around Ye Zhen, he gave the bodyguards a meaningful look before taking Ye Zhen away.

They could still hear the sound of Ye Zhenting defending himself as they left.

They got into the car and went straight to the hospital.

Lu Beichuan was worried that there were other injuries on her body and asked the doctor to do a full-body examination. It didn't take long for the results to come out that there was nothing serious. The small cut on her neck was covered with a bandaid.

Lu Beichuan's tense nerves finally relaxed.

On the way home, Ye Zhen couldn't resist asking, "How do you plan on dealing with Ye Zhenting?"

The blue veins on Lu Beichuan's forehead were throbbing. He wouldn't believe Ye Zhenting's words.

"Report him to the police."

This was the simplest way to deal with him. There was human testimony and material evidence of Ye Zhenting 's crimes. It was a sure thing that he had committed kidnapping and extortion. He absolutely wouldn't let Ye Zhenting off easily.

"What do you think?" Lu Beichuan asked for Ye Zhen's opinion.

Before today, Ye Zhen didn't have strong opinions of the Ye's. Out of sight, out of mind.

What happened today had truly broken her bottom line of what she could tolerate. This man could even kidnap and extort his daughter for money. She couldn't let a scourge like him roam free. Who knows what awful things he might do in the future if he was left alone?

She looked out the car window and nodded. "Let's report him."

Ye Zhen pressed her hand on the bandaid. She had seemed calm earlier. Only she knew how terrified she was when the blade was touching her neck. The feeling of her life being in the hands of someone else made her feel as if she was suffocating. She never wanted to experience that feeling of completely lacking in security again in her life.

Lu Beichuan watched Ye Zhen absent-mindely looking out the car window and how she clenched her hand. He leaned over and drew her over to him with one hand.

Ye Zhen leaned against Lu Beichuan's chest. Lu Beichuan stroked her back and comfortingly said, "Don't be afraid. Don't worry. I won't let something like happen again in the future."

It was such intimate contact, but Ye Zhen actually didn't push him away. She quietly unclenched her hand. After hesitating, she responded by slowly wrapping her arm around Lu Beichuan's waist. She stopped clenching her teeth too. Pretending to be relaxed, she smiled and said, "I'm not afraid."

But her eyes were teary and red. She wasn't aware that her body was trembling.

No matter the timing, this man always stood on her side. He supported her, protected her, and calmly solved all of her problems.

Lu Beichuan tightened his hug.

This feeling was different than when Ye Zhenting had been restraining her. Lu Beichuan's chest was strong and warm. She could hear the sound of his powerful heartbeat by her ears. This feeling gave her a sense of safety that she had difficulty putting into words. With him here, there was nothing for her to fear.

Suddenly thinking of something, Ye Zhen looked up at Lu Beichuan. "What were you thinking about when you walked towards Ye Zhenting earlier?"

Lu Beichuan chuckled. "That I really want to kill him!"

Ye Zhen had always been on guard for Lu Beichuan's instinctive behavior.

For example, Lu Beichuan's reply, "that I really want to kill him!"

Sometimes, it was only a matter of a whim whether he would act on those destructive urges. The key point was whether he had the self-restraint to go against that.

Ye Zhen stared at him.

Fortunately, Lu Beichuan was only thinking about it this time.

It was 10 PM when they got home, and the mansion had fallen quiet.

Aunty Yue wasn't asleep yet and was waiting for them in the living room. Seeing that they had returned home, she hastily approached them and asked if they wanted to eat dinner.

Their nerves had been stretched taut this night, and Lu Beichuan and Ye Zhen hadn't had a chance to eat yet. They really were hungry now, so they had Aunty Yue prepare something simple for dinner.

Lu Beichuan hadn't told anyone else about tonight's matter. He didn't want Mother Lu to worry, and he was also worried that leaking out this news might harm Ye Zhen.

After dinner was served, Lu Beichuan quietly asked, "Are Mom and Zhouzhou asleep?" He looked towards the staircase.

"Asleep." Aunty Yue smiled as she ladled out a bowl of soup for Ye Zhen. "It's just that Zhouzhou has been crying all day. He wouldn't eat. But don't worry, that's normal for a baby that's being weaned. It'll feel fine after a few days."

Lu Beichuan nodded.

"Ah! What's wrong with Madam's neck? Why is there a bruise?"

There was a small bruise on the right side of Ye Zhen's neck. It hadn't been noticed during the examination and was covered by her coat. Now that Ye Zhen had taken off her coat, the bruise looked a bit nasty under the bright light.

Ye Zhen casually smiled. "It's nothing. I accidentally bumped into something. Aunty Yue, just bring me medicinal oil. I'll apply it on the bruise."

"Okay, I'll go get it." Aunty Yue assented as she went upstairs.

Lu Beichuan glanced at that dreadful bruise. His eyes sank. "What happened?"

"It's probably from when Ye Zhenting grabbed me and held me hostage."

When Lu Beichuan had entered the room, he had only seen Ye Zhenting approaching Ye Zhen with a knife. He hadn't seen Ye Zhenting restraining Ye Zhen and keeping her as a buffer between him and the loan sharks.

"He grabbed you?" The threatening aura around Lu Beichuan grew strong. "How?"

Holding a spoonful of hot soup, Ye Zhen carefully below on it. She played down on the horrifying scene at the time. She briefly said, "It's nothing. He just had a tight grip on my neck for a moment when he grabbed me."

Seeing that she didn't want to talk about it, Lu Beichuan didn't ask further questions. After the two finished dinner, they went upstairs. When Ye Zhen came out of the bathroom, Lu Beichuan was standing at the window and on the phone.

The curtains were opened. Outside the window, there was darkness as far as the eye could see. This was a mansion community. It was vast and sparsely populated. There weren't any lit lights. It was snugly enclosed in darkness without a trace of light.

Ye Zhen sat down on the bed as she dried her hair. From time to time, she made out a few words that he was saying. Based on those few isolated phrases, she guessed that he was talking to the loan sharks.

After she quietly waited for a while, Lu Beichuan ended the call.

Ye Zhen asked, "How is it?"

"The human testimony and material evidence is conclusive. Ye Zhenting definitely won't be able to run away from this."

Ye Zhen didn't have any positive feelings towards Ye Zhenting. Tonight's kidnapping and extortion made her even more disgusted with him.

Lu Beichuan picked up the medicinal oil that Aunty Yue had brought over. Sitting down in front of Ye Zhen, he looked at the small bruise on her neck as well as the wound on the other side. He furrowed his brow.

Ye Zhen knew that he was about to apply the medicinal oil on her and quickly snatched the medicinal oil from him.

"I'll do it myself." She got up to go to the bathroom to apply the medicine, but Lu Beichuan pulled her onto the bed. Not allowing her to explain, he pressed her down with his fingers.

"I'll do it."

He poured a little bit of the medicinal oil on his palm. After warming it up, he applied it on the bruise.