The Tycoon's Mysterious Darling Wife
Chapter 135. Shopping Mall Horror 2 (First Watch)

Chapter 135: 135. Shopping Mall Horror 2 (First Watch)

The knife-wielding man saw this and burst into hearty laughter. Because of his crazed smile, the hand holding the knife shook and drew a line of blood across the pregnant woman’s neck. Her complexion grew even paler, and her tears fell even more fiercely. The man who must have been her husband cried out, "Don’t!"

"Don’t, I beg you not to hurt my wife. This matter has nothing to do with her. She just came to the store to buy a couple of items, she doesn’t work here. I beg you to let her go, please." As the man spoke, he truly began to cry.

The pregnant woman looked at her husband and wept even more bitterly.

This was truly a disaster that came out of nowhere. Since her due date was approaching, she went to the mall with her husband to shop for some daily necessities. When they got to this lingerie store, she went in for a quick look. Since the store was full of women, her husband felt awkward entering and waited for her outside. Suddenly, a man burst in brandishing a knife, slashing at anyone he saw. Because she was heavily pregnant and couldn’t move quickly, she didn’t manage to escape in time and was captured by the man as a hostage.

"Innocent? Wasn’t my girlfriend innocent?" the knife-wielding man looked at the man lying on the ground, uncertain if he was alive or dead, "This beast, just because he found my girlfriend attractive, got her drunk under the guise of treating the employees to a meal and then raped her. My girlfriend couldn’t handle this blow and wanted to sue him, but what did he do? He took naked photos of her and threatened her, saying that if she dared to sue, he would post the pictures online, ruin her reputation and even get me fired so I could no longer make a living in Beijing. My girlfriend couldn’t accept this outcome and jumped off a building, dying instantly from the fall from the fifteenth floor. Wasn’t my girlfriend innocent?"

The people around had not expected there to be such a story behind it all. Their gaze toward the knife-wielding man held a hint more of sympathy. He must have loved his girlfriend deeply, or else he wouldn’t have gone mad from her death.

Even if there was a reason for it, people could understand but not condone the man’s crazed actions.

"Even so, you shouldn’t kill anyone. You could have called the police; they would have helped you," someone in the crowd said, but it only made the recently calmed man’s eyes turn blood red again. Shen Qinglan inwardly cursed, realizing something had set off the man.

As expected, the knife-wielding man stepped on the wound of the man on the ground, causing more blood to flow out, "Call the police? Is that any use? The police are all in it together with him. Do you think I didn’t call the police? I’m a lawyer, and the first thing I did was report it. But what happened? The police said I was making false accusations and detained me for fifteen days. By the time I was released, my girlfriend’s body had already been cremated, and I didn’t even get to see her one last time. In another month, it would have been our wedding, and my girlfriend was two months pregnant. In eight months’ time, I would have been a father. I would have had a happy family, a lovely child, but this beast destroyed it all, everything is gone. My lover, my unborn child, they’re gone. Why should he still be free to live happily?"

The knife-wielding man was incredibly agitated. Shen Qinglan looked at the pregnant woman whose face was growing paler and saw her hands cover her belly uncontrollably, her expression one of intense pain.

Shen Qinglan frowned deeply, suspecting the pregnant woman was about to go into labor. Sure enough, a water-like fluid soon flowed down the woman’s legs – her water must have broken.

The pregnant woman’s husband also noticed his wife’s agony; the anxiety on his face magnified, "My wife is about to give birth, I beg you to let her go. Take me as your hostage instead, me."

The madness remained on the knife-wielding man’s face, "I can’t defeat a big man like you in a fight; switching to you would be suicide for me. Besides, I don’t want to live anymore, taking her with me in death seems fitting. Hahahaha," his crazed laughter echoed through the room.

The pregnant woman’s husband was crying out loud now; with a smack, he knelt on both knees, "I beg you, let my wife go, please," he sobbed with a despairing look.

The restrained pregnant woman, seeing her husband kneeling and pleading for her sake, also shed tears freely.

In the crowd, someone seemed to be sobbing softly, yet no one dared to step forward. Shen Qinglan even noticed that some people were taking pictures and filming with their phones.

Her gaze turned cool as she watched the knife-wielding man and took a slow step forward.

"I’ll be your hostage. Let her go."

The clear voice pierced through the crowd, reaching the man’s ears as well as everyone present.

People’s gazes converged on the cool figure who had spoken, surprised that it was such a young girl.

In the crowd, someone quietly lowered their head, their eyes flickering, seemingly afraid to face the situation.

The man holding the knife glanced at Shen Qinglan, his eyes fierce.

Shen Qinglan looked at him steadily, "I am a woman, weak and defenseless. I’ll exchange places with her, I’ll be your hostage."

The pregnant woman’s husband looked at Shen Qinglan, his mouth twitching, but in the end, he didn’t speak to stop her. Although he felt guilty, the one being held hostage was ultimately his wife.

Shen Qinglan pointed at the kneeling man, "They say there is gold under a man’s knees, and he is willing to kneel for his wife, showing he loves her just as you love your girlfriend. Can you really bear to break up their family, causing death and destruction?"

The knife-wielding man didn’t speak, but his expression softened slightly.

Shen Qinglan continued, "His wife is about to give birth, and he is about to become a father. Surely you can understand how he feels. This man," she pointed to the man lying at his feet, "deserves his fate, but this pregnant woman has nothing to do with this matter. How is involving an innocent any different from what he did?"

The knife-wielding man appeared hesitant.

"Her water has already broken, if she isn’t taken to the hospital immediately, it will surely be a double tragedy. You are a lawyer, can you bear to watch a child leave this world without getting a chance to see it? Can you handle the thought of parents who should be joyfully welcoming a new life, instead losing their beloved child due to someone unrelated?"

Shen Qinglan stood there, her complexion calm and tone even, as if not facing a desperately vicious thug.

"The police are here!" someone in the crowd yelled. Then, about a dozen officers dressed in police uniforms surrounded the area, encircling the store.

The knife-wielding man, who was about to agree to the hostage exchange, saw the police and his expression changed, his grip on the knife tensing.

Shen Qinglan sighed inwardly.

"Drop your weapon, let the pregnant woman go," a person looking like the leader spoke up, holding a loaded gun in hand, pointing it directly at the knife-wielding man.

The knife-wielding man seemed not to see the gun pointed at him, only looking at the swiftly arriving police, laughing somewhat maniacally.