Captured Hearts: The Substitute Bride’s Gambit
Chapter 381: The Consequences of Killing Me, You Can’t Afford

Chapter 381: Chapter 381: The Consequences of Killing Me, You Can’t Afford

Ye Chuyi awoke once again, and it was already evening.

Her head throbbed as if it had exploded, and her body was covered with bloodstains. She then remembered being hit hard on the head by Shi Youjin in the hospital. The painful area must be where he struck her with a blunt weapon. She must have been seriously injured; otherwise, she wouldn’t have bled so much, nor would she feel so dizzy upon waking.

Her hands and feet were all tied up. Ye Chuyi looked around but didn’t find a knife to cut the ropes. Instead, she noticed that this place was actually the Wen Family Villa’s storeroom.

Someone had moved the cabinet in the storeroom, revealing a large hole in the wall behind it. Several pieces of children’s clothing were scattered around the opening.

Ye Chuyi recognized them at a glance—they were all her clothes.

Struggling, she slowly moved over and examined each piece. Three of them were given to her by Ye Jinyu when she was a child, and one was a boys’ Hermès coat.

That had been a gift from a little boy.

When she was a child, she hadn’t wanted to wear the Hermès, only donning it once when it was very cold. After that, it had disappeared.

So, it was here all along.

Without thinking, she knew it must have been stolen by Wen Nianyou.

However, these things couldn’t save her now. She needed a knife or anything that could saw through the ropes.

But there was nothing. The room only contained old miscellaneous items, an outdated sofa, a defunct freezer, and heavy, sturdy wooden cabinets.

Forget cutting the ropes; these items seemed like perfect hiding places to conceal a body.

As she pondered this, Shi Youjin walked in.

His clothes were soaking wet. Ye Chuyi was taken aback, "Is it raining outside?"

Shi Youjin nodded, "It’s raining. I thought under these circumstances, you wouldn’t care about such trivial matters."

Ye Chuyi thought to herself that this was not a trivial matter. Rain always brought special miracles for her.

Of course, she wouldn’t tell Shi Youjin.

Only Sheng Tingyuan knew this secret of hers.

She spoke indifferently, "Why have you brought me here? After escaping from jail, shouldn’t you be fleeing for your life? Coming to this villa is like seeking your own death. The police will be here soon."

But Shi Youjin seemed unusually calm and composed, "I’ve killed two people before—I know the police’s tracking tactics better than you. I spent a day leading the police away, and I’ve erased my tracks here. They won’t find this place for now."

"I also know how to hide. Maybe I can’t do it for a week, but two or three days should be no problem. So, for the following days, it’s just going to be you and me here. You’d better listen to everything I say, or else, I will kill you and stuff you into the wall, block the hole with the cabinet, and ensure no one ever finds you."

Ye Chuyi watched Shi Youjin, revealing his true nature before her for the first time—cold, heartless, vicious, calm.

Ye Chuyi suddenly laughed, tears spilling from her eyes as she did, "Shi Youjin, you’re such a great actor. You’ve deceived me for so many years. I truly believed you were kind to me, that I had a loving father, that you were a dull man who was scared of his wife."

"You secretly slipped me eggs, gave me pocket money. The little acts of kindness you showed me made me, as I grew up, desperately want to repay you, sparing no effort to get you out of prison."

"And yet, you turn out to be a cold-blooded killer, far more terrifying than Lin Yueqin!"

"No wonder Wen Nianyou could kill someone without any remorse—it’s all inherited from you!"

Shi Youjin frowned slightly, "Nianyou killed someone? When? Who did she kill?"

"She hit and killed someone with her car. Didn’t you know?"

"No one told me about this."

"Well, of course, no one would tell you. After all, Lin Yueqin has always wanted me to take the blame for Wen Nianyou, and Wen Nianyou herself doesn’t see it as a big deal. Perhaps she’s even forgotten that she killed someone."

Shi Youjin’s expression darkened, "You don’t need to worry about Nianyou’s matters. Since the police haven’t caught her, it means she hasn’t killed anyone. She’s innocent and unblemished! Stop trying to slander Nianyou in front of me, it’s useless!"

Ye Chuyi slowly stopped smiling, leaning against the wall, watching Shi Youjin.

Her words had been just to stall for time, but she hadn’t expected Shi Youjin to instinctively defend Wen Nianyou, insisting on her innocence.

She remembered the day after Shi Youjin got out of jail, he had furiously called her home, asking why she had sold the house.

It wasn’t her who sold it, yet his first reaction upon hearing the house had been sold was to blame her.

Indeed, she wasn’t his biological daughter; he thought of her first when it came to anything bad.

And for his biological daughter, Wen Nianyou, even if she had killed someone, his first reaction was to advocate for her, believing his daughter was good.

Ye Chuyi spoke slowly, "I’m not slandering Wen Nianyou. I’ve already found evidence of her hit-and-run in my computer. If you kill me, the police will open my computer to look for clues to solve the case, and then your daughter’s murder will no longer be a secret."

"Shi Youjin, can you bear the consequences of killing me?"