Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Returning to the Shen family, Shen Muyun felt an immediate surge of pressure. This was a situation he couldn't escape, no matter how hard he tried.

"Brother, I'm back."

Shen Liuyun sat on the sofa, an air about him suggesting he had already usurped Shen Wenjin's position.

Shen Liuyun glanced at Shen Muyun, a smile playing on his lips. "Muyun, so you've finally deigned to come home. What's gotten into you? Can't tear yourself away from that Lu family scion?"

Shen Muyun froze for a moment, then quickly recovered.

"Brother, matters of the heart can't be forced. Besides, Huainan and I are genuinely in love. Is that so wrong?"

Shen Liuyun rose, clapping slowly, then approached Shen Muyun.

"Muyun, don't think I'm oblivious. You saw my adoption agreement. There's surveillance in the study—I personally erased the footage."

"Brother, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

A chill snaked up Shen Muyun's spine, a strange and deeply unsettling sensation.

"Muyun, I am your brother. How could I not know your intentions? And don't forget, this also means we share no blood relation."

Shen Muyun grew uneasy. Shen Liuyun's meaning was as clear as day.

"Brother, I can simply hand over the family assets to you. But I hope that from now on, you won't interfere with Huainan and me."

A round of applause echoed from outside the door. "Well, well, Shen Muyun. It seems you won't learn until you've hit a brick wall. Even family discipline wouldn't set you straight."

Shen Muyun turned to see Shen Wenjin, leaning on a cane, at the doorway.

"Father, I admit my mistakes, but Huainan and I are sincere. Regardless, we've already made our relationship public."

"Alright, alright. You two are in love, I get it. Let's put this aside for now. I want to have a proper talk with both of you brothers."

Shen Muyun was bewildered by Shen Wenjin's sudden leniency. It was odd that he would let the matter drop so easily after just a few words.

Shen Wenjin walked between them and settled onto the sofa.

He produced a diagnostic report and tossed it onto the adjacent table.

"I don't have much time left. I just want to pave the way for both of you. But, as you know, there's only one position for CEO of Shen Corp."

Shen Muyun offered a faint smile. He had previously thought Shen Liuyun was a shoe-in, but now, things seemed far less certain.

"I've observed both your capabilities, including Muyun's. You've grown capable enough to manage on your own—that's what growth looks like."

"Father, what do you mean?" Shen Liuyun asked directly.

"I've said it before. I still hope you two brothers can support each other. After all, the Shen Corporation is my life's work. I don't want you fighting tooth and nail over it after I'm gone."

Shen Muyun shook his head. "Father, I've never had any interest in family assets. Moreover, I lack significant management experience. Only Brother is truly qualified to be president."

Shen Wenjin's eyes held a cold, unreadable emotion. Even though Shen Muyun was an illegitimate child, Shen Liuyun had been adopted from an orphanage. Technically, the illegitimate child would hold a higher status.

"I've considered this for a long time. Besides, you're now close with the eldest son of the Lu Group. If the Shen Corporation gains the support of the Lu family, the future will undoubtedly be smooth sailing."

It was clear: the Shen family desperately needed a powerful backer, and the Lu family was that ally.

"Alright, that's all I wanted to say. I need to rest now."

Shen Liuyun and Shen Muyun bowed respectfully.

"Muyun, I think our best option is to team up. Don't you agree?"

Shen Muyun was startled. What did Shen Liuyun mean by "team up"? Something felt profoundly wrong.

As Shen Wenjin left, Shen Liuyun leaned in and whispered into Shen Muyun's ear.

"How much do you still remember about the orphanage?"

Shen Muyun shook his head. He truly couldn't recall anything from that time, and he didn't know why.

"Brother, I genuinely don't remember."

"I saw you and Lu Huainan enter the orphanage together. Are our files still there?"

A cold sweat broke out on Shen Muyun's forehead.

"Brother, you didn't set a fire, did you?"

Shen Liuyun merely smiled. "I'm a businessman. I was taught from a young age that business demands ruthlessness. Sacrificing the unnecessary for a greater goal—isn't that perfectly normal?"

Shen Muyun was utterly at a loss for words.

"Don't you want to know the truth? Including what happened at the orphanage?"

Shen Muyun shook his head involuntarily. He didn't want to know any of it—he just wanted to understand why.

Shen Liuyun grabbed Shen Muyun and pulled him upstairs, pushing him directly into his own room.

The room was dimly lit, with a tactical sandbox in the corner covered in what looked like game pieces. Had he been scheming all along? It wasn't impossible.

"Brother, have you been planning something all this time?"

"You see, I used to view you as a pawn. But when my pawn developed a mind of its own, beyond my control, I wanted to crush it. Yet my upbringing forbade me from doing so. So, Muyun, Lu Huainan is not a good choice. The best path is for you and me to team up and swallow up the Lu family."

Shen Liuyun pulled out their files and tossed them onto the sandbox.

"That fire truly destroyed too many things—exactly as I hoped. My file was wiped from existence there forever."

Shen Muyun opened the files. What he saw in Shen Liuyun's records left him too stunned to speak.

"Brother Yun, what do you see? Surprised? In that childhood car accident, that little boy actually died. I'm not that boy."

"Who are you, really?"

"Keep reading. It's all right there."

Shen Muyun hurriedly turned to the second page. Shen Liuyun's background was clearly detailed.

The Shen couple had publicly stated they'd adopted him at two years old, but the file revealed they had signed a confidentiality agreement with the orphanage from the child's birth. This meant Shen Liuyun's identity could never be used against them.

Shen Muyun read on. Shen Liuyun was a switched child. Initially, the Shen couple had seen another boy at the orphanage, but fate intervened.

When the headmistress was returning the child, a mischievous kid had inexplicably mixed up the two infants' ID bands. And so, Shen Liuyun became a Shen.

"Brother, no matter what the past was like, isn't now being good what matters most?"

Shen Liuyun approached Shen Muyun. "Human desires are endless. I must say, my current intention is to team up with you, Muyun. I am your brother—I won't harm you."

With the system's guidance, Shen Muyun knew very well that things weren't as Shen Liuyun described. In the original storyline, Shen Liuyun was indeed the antagonist, a truly villainous character.

"Brother, all I can say is, I definitely won't see things from your perspective. Because I have my own thoughts and ideas. The orphanage events were ages ago, when we were still young. Even if another child had been adopted, things might still be the same now."

Shen Liuyun leaned close to Shen Muyun and whispered in his ear, "Muyun, do you know? You and I are accomplices."

Shen Muyun was startled. Was there some even bigger twist or darker secret behind this?

"What do you mean?"

"Of course, it was for me to live well in the Shen family. Back then, I told you to give that little boy some candy and send him to the nearby horse ranch. Have you really forgotten all that?"

Nonsense, how could he know? When he crossed over, some memories were indeed lost—there was nothing he could do about it.

"Brother, what exactly do you mean?"

Shen Liuyun smiled coldly, staring straight into Shen Muyun's eyes. "Exactly what I said. Why are you afraid of riding horses? It's because you saw that child fall from the horse, and you felt guilty. But for some reason, you remembered the incident as happening to yourself. Of course, that doesn't matter. If that's how you remember it, then so be it."

Shen Muyun stood there frozen. This was something he had never expected—the truth was actually like this.

"Because of this incident, you became inexplicably weak, truly weak. So, Muyun, all of this was a conspiracy from our childhood, and you were part of it too."

"What happened to that child? How is he?"

Shen Liuyun gave a slow clap. "Nothing much, really. He just fell off the horse. At that time, the horse went mad and just started stomping all over him. You should understand what happened after that."

Shen Muyun took a few steps back. He's insane—a complete psycho. What else about this story didn't he know? And what about the system? Had it hidden too much from him?

"That little boy died afterward, didn't he?"

"Muyun, you know, these things cannot be spoken of. When I visited you in the hospital back then, you promised your big brother that you wouldn't reveal the truth. Later, you had a fever, and after that, you forgot everything. That worked out perfectly—I was glad about that, because it meant I didn't have to deal with you anymore. After all, you are my good brother."

This world wasn't just crazy—it was completely broken. What did this mean? How could it be?

"I don't want to become your enemy, which is why I'm telling you all this. But if you plan to go to the police, I doubt it would do any good. We were just children back then, and you can't remember anything. Besides, all our records were lost in that fire. Where would you find the evidence?"

Shen Muyun was afraid of the person in front of him—yes, truly afraid. "Brother, just stop."