Chapter 140: No One Loves Him

Chapter 140: No One Loves Him

Tan Hongzhen was struck as if by lightning, yet he forced himself to maintain composure.

It wasn't until he saw what Song Yuqing held that Tan Hongzhen's pupils sharply contracted, his gaze fixed intently on Song Yuqing's raised, distinctly jointed hand.

In that hand, he casually held a thick stack of documents.

The next second,

Song Yuqing flicked his wrist.

The stack of documents scattered into the air.

The papers twirled, fluttering down like scattered leaves.

Through the flurry of swirling papers, Tan Hongzhen stared at Song Yuqing.

His face was exquisitely sculpted, with delicate features.

Yet it was excessively cold, leaving no trace of compassion or room for maneuver.

Tan Hongzhen clenched his jaw until his teeth threatened to crack. "I don’t admit it. I didn’t do it. You can’t just deal with me this way."

"If the Tan family falls, what will happen to those alphas? Song Yuqing, are you trying to shorten the lives of every alpha in Xinzhou?"

Tan Hongzhen was too accustomed to using the Tan family's importance to the world as a means of self-preservation.

So much so that, even faced with overwhelming evidence, his immediate reaction was to threaten—just as he had threatened Pei Wei in the past, now he threatened Song Yuqing.

Song Yuqing sat down in front of Tan Hongzhen. Though they were at eye level, Tan Hongzhen felt as if Song Yuqing was looking down on him.

"You don’t need to worry about that."

The young man leaned forward slightly, looking at Tan Hongzhen’s ashen face. A faint trace of gentleness appeared on his expression, yet the words he spoke were colder than the winds of Sri Lanka.

"I will replace your Tan family. The drugs I develop will replace the Jingxi Series. You may rest easy."

Tan Hongzhen was both terrified and furious. "You—"

Gu Ling seized Tan Hongzhen's finger, which was pointed at Song Yuqing. "Mr. Tan, please show some respect to Mr. Song."

Only then did Tan Hongzhen seem as if his spine had been snapped. He no longer had any room to negotiate with Song Yuqing—not even the freedom to point a finger at him.

Tan Hongzhen felt regretful at this moment. If he had shown goodwill to Song Yuqing earlier, if he had stepped back from the seat of power sooner, perhaps things would be different now.

At least the Tan family could have been preserved.

Opposing Song Yuqing truly brought no good outcome—it was simply waiting for death.

This realization made Tan Hongzhen seem as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

Tan Hongzhen, defeated, lowered his head and asked, "What about Tan Shu?"

Song Yuqing replied succinctly, "Hospital."

Tan Hongzhen: "Tell him not to blame me. I had no choice. I am the head of the Tan family. For the sake of the family, I had to abandon him. Otherwise, would I not feel heartache for the child I raised?"

Song Yuqing studied Tan Hongzhen, his amber eyes calm.

At this moment, Tan Hongzhen actually felt as if it wasn’t Song Yuqing sizing him up and passing judgment, but an illusion of Tan Shu.

"I had no other choice. Consider it my debt to him."

Song Yuqing tapped his fingers on the table, his brow furrowed in disgust. "Stop pretending."

"If you had even a shred of fatherly affection for Tan Shu, when the incident happened, he wouldn’t have been cast out of Xinzhou like trash, without even a last foothold."

"Even the slightest bit of paternal affection from you wouldn’t have reduced Tan Shu to being victimized."

Tan Shu, standing outside the door, heard Song Yuqing’s voice. He stared fixedly at Song Yuqing’s back, listening as Song Yuqing’s crisp, powerful words reached his ears.

"You don’t care about him at all."

"You just want to use a feeble pretense of fatherly care to manipulate him into pulling you out of prison." Song Yuqing mercilessly exposed Tan Hongzhen’s intentions.

His gaze toward Tan Hongzhen seemed to see through him, piercing the vile visage of that beast of a father.

Even though Tan Shu was already the heir he had discarded, Tan Hongzhen was still very familiar with Tan Shu’s presence.

Tan Hongzhen lowered his face and smirked. Since this son could no longer be of use to him, he might as well make Song Yuqing uncomfortable.

"I don’t care about him, but do you care about him?"

"Song Yuqing, don’t act like some saint either. Aren’t you equally callous? You and Tan Shu lost so much time together. Can you honestly tell me you love him?"

If Tan Shu and Song Yuqing had any emotional foundation before their separation, he might not have dared to ask such a question.

But they didn’t. Perhaps there was something—but it was one-sided. That fool Tan Shu was unilaterally obsessed with Song Yuqing, unrequitedly in love with him.

"You’re just using him as a tool too. He’s a worthless blind man. You’re not actually treating him like a treasure, are you?" Tan Hongzhen shed all pretense. Though he was smiling, his tone could be described as venomous.

As Tan Hongzhen asked this question,

Tan Shu, outside the door, felt as if an invisible hand had seized his heart, clenching it tightly.

A worthless blind man.

That was his biological father’s evaluation of him.

But that wasn’t what rattled him the most.

What truly filled him with dread was whether Song Yuqing also thought of him as a worthless blind man, whether Song Yuqing cared about him.

Song Yuqing had rushed to save him, putting himself in danger of explosion, even the wound on his hand was because of him.

Even if Song Yuqing had chosen to shoot him for Pei Huai’s sake, it was because he had tried to kill Pei Huai first. He just didn't matter as much as Pei Huai—that wasn’t proof that Song Yuqing didn’t care about him.

When everyone abandoned him, when his mother cursed him and his father coldly drove him away, only Song Yuqing had touched his injured eyes and asked if it hurt.

Tan Shu tried hard to tell himself that Song Yuqing did care about him, at least a little.

But the more he told himself this, the less he could control his emotions. He felt utterly submerged by them.

The cold realities he had deliberately suppressed and ignored came rushing back with even greater force.

"Say it. Say you love him," Tan Hongzhen spoke with growing hysteria.

Song Yuqing stared at Tan Hongzhen, word by word, clear and forceful: "I don’t love him."

Tan Shu's heart felt pierced through, leaving behind nothing but a bloody hole.

Yes, no one loved him.

Not even Song Yuqing.

"Do you think this will make Tan Shu turn against me?" Song Yuqing said icily.

Song Yuqing tilted his head slightly, his long eyelashes casting a faint shadow under the light. "You're here, so come in. Is it that hard to face?"

Tan Hongzhen was also stunned. So, Song Yuqing clearly knew Tan Shu was here, yet he still spoke so boldly.

How confident was Song Yuqing? Did he really think he was a divine being, that every alpha would bow down to him? Even if he made it clear he didn’t love them, would alphas still fling themselves at him like moths to a flame?

How pathetic would an alpha have to be?

At least in Tan Hongzhen’s decades of experience, as an alpha, he could not tolerate his Omega or beta not loving him.

Even if it was an act, it should be the Omega or beta catering to the alpha, offering emotional support.

Tan Shu collected himself and walked in.

His gaze went straight past Tan Hongzhen and finally settled on Song Yuqing’s still indifferent face. Then, he took his place beside Song Yuqing and coldly looked at Tan Hongzhen. "I don’t care."

"I don’t care whether he loves me or not. I just want to stay by his side."

"Your hopes are dashed."

Tan Hongzhen found it absurd. The Tan family had produced such an alpha. Tan Shu was raised by him, and he knew him better than anyone how cold and ruthless Tan Shu was—a smiling tiger on the surface, caring for no one but himself, always prioritizing his own interests.

But now, Tan Shu seemed hopelessly in love.

Tan Hongzhen couldn't figure out where he'd gone wrong.

Song Yuqing no longer paid attention to Tan Hongzhen’s ashen face. He raised his hand to signal Gu Ling and the guards waiting at the door, giving his final order. "Take him."

The reception room was once again left with only Tan Shu and Song Yuqing.

"Do you really not love me? Or was it just to provoke Tan Hongzhen?" Tan Shu bent down, placing his hand on the armrest of the sofa where Song Yuqing sat, practically surrounding him from behind.

Song Yuqing tilted his head slightly, he said casually, "Do you think I’m the kind of person who would lie just to provoke Tan Hongzhen?"

For a moment, Song Yuqing’s lips almost grazed Tan Shu’s cheek. The sudden closeness made Tan Shu’s imagination run wild as he stared intently at Song Yuqing’s profile.

"You know, if you just lied to me, I’d be completely captivated by you. I’d believe anything you say."

Song Yuqing looked up. "Whether I lie to you or not, it changes nothing."

At this moment, Tan Shu had to admit that Song Yuqing was completely unafraid, taking advantage of the fact that he had won his heart, relying on everyone’s love for him, so much so that he couldn't be bothered with lying.

"Are you saying I’m so pathetic that I’ll never leave? Do you think I’m born pathetic?" Tan Shu couldn’t help but move closer to Song Yuqing, breathing in greedily his cold scent.

He thought to himself, he truly was pathetic.

Just a whiff of his scent, a simple gesture from Song Yuqing, and he was hooked—without even sampling, not even a kiss.

Song Yuqing placed his hand on the alpha’s face. "If you think you’re pathetic, then you are."

"You’re not the same alpha from three years ago, helpless and begging for love."

Tan Shu held Song Yuqing’s wrist, naturally burrowing into his neck. "It’s the same."

He was still the same as three years ago—alone and desperate for love.

"I want you to love me."

Breathing deeply of Song Yuqing’s scent, feeling the slight tremble of his slender neck, Tan Shu could hardly hold back. He kissed Song Yuqing’s neck.

"Give me a chance. I just want you to love me. That’s not pathetic. Craving love is a fundamental human instinct."

Tan Shu grew impatient, his voice growing husky. "Touch me, like you did three years ago. Touch my eyes."

Tan Shu practically vaulted over the sofa, pressing down on him.

Song Yuqing’s fingers gently caressed him. In an instant, Tan Shu’s breath hitched, and he pinned completely against Song Yuqing, sinking him deeper into the sofa.

He hungrily absorbed Song Yuqing’s cold scent.

"Qingqing…"

"Qingqing."

"Qingqing."

He called Song Yuqing’s name over and over.

Song Yuqing’s fingers did not stop, slowly tracing downward along Tan Shu’s cheekbone, outlining the contours of his restraint and longing.

Tan Shu’s body stiffened, yet he couldn’t help but seek out that cool contact.

Tan Shu could no longer suppress his desires. He wanted to kiss Song Yuqing, hold him in his arms, and through touches, embraces, kisses, and even entanglement, find purpose for his existence.

"Can I kiss you?"

Tan Shu pulled back slightly, his breathing unsteady, filled with raw desire as his intense gaze locked onto Song Yuqing’s lips, just inches away.

Like a traveler dying of thirst in the desert, parched and desperate.

Only by kissing Song Yuqing’s soft lips could he survive. Only by seeing himself reflected in Song Yuqing’s eyes could he live.