Chapter 251
Chapter 251
Lucien’s expression remained carved from stone. “You should have thought of that,” he said softly, deadly, “before you raised a monster and let her roam free.”
Mr. Weng trembled with fury now, but he didn’t step closer. He didn’t dare.
“You think you’re righteous?” he hissed. “You think you can storm into my house and dictate justice? You are protecting a Lin girl as if she’s the only woman in the world who matters. What gives her that worth? What makes her so untouchable?”
Lucien’s eyes sharpened.
“She’s my wife,” he said, voice low but carrying through every inch of the room. “And I warned you, I told you, if anyone touched her, I’d burn everything they loved down to ash.”
Silence.
Then Lucien spoke again, words cold enough to freeze bone. “You protected Arabelle. Now I protect Serena.”
Mr. Weng inhaled sharply. “Lucien, if you don’t pull back, the Weng family will retaliate.”
Lucien tilted his head. “You think I fear your family?” His smile was faint. Almost cruel. “You’re mistaken.”
Mr. Weng’s composure finally cracked. “Lucien, please. She’s my daughter.”
“And Serena is my life.”
The words echoed through the hall like a verdict.
Lucien turned away, signaling his men.
“Drag the evidence out,” he said. “Everything on Arabelle. Everything on your operations. Everything you tried to hide.”
Mr. Weng went pale. “You.. you prepared for this...”
“I warned you,” Lucien said quietly. “You didn’t listen.”
With that, he walked past the patriarch without another glance.
He left the Weng estate in ruins, not physically, but in terror.
Arabelle’s private phone vibrated violently on the marble counter of her hidden apartment, a place no one should’ve been able to track, a place that cost millions to bury under layers of misdirection.
But the moment she saw the caller ID: FATHER
A cold shock ran down her spine.
Her hands trembled, actually trembled, as she slid her finger across the screen.
“Dad...”
“YOU FOOL.”
She winced, the venom in his voice a whip.
“Father, let me explain...”
“Explain? EXPLAIN? Do you think anything you say can justify this mess? Lucien Feng was in the estate, Arabelle. He walked through every layer of security as if it didn’t exist.”
Her lips parted, but her throat tightened like a noose.
“He... he wasn’t supposed to...”
“WASN’T SUPPOSED TO WHAT?” Mr. Weng snarled. “Find out you kidnapped Meilin? That you tried to poison Serena? That you staged an accident for Mrs. Lin? Or that you framed Lucien to trigger a war?”
Her pulse throbbed in her skull.
“He wasn’t supposed to move this fast,” she whispered. “I had contingencies...”
“He ripped through every contingency," her father barked. “Do you even understand what’s happening? The guards won’t even look him in the eye. Your aunt is shaking. Your brothers locked themselves in their rooms.”
Arabelle’s breath caught.
“He... he was at the estate now? Inside?”
“Not just inside,” Mr. Weng bit out. “He owns the room, Arabelle. Do you know what he told me?”
Her silence spoke volumes.
Mr. Weng continued, voice shaking with anger and dread, “He said: ‘I’ve warned you about your daughter. Now I am here to clean up what you refused to fix.’”
Arabelle’s fingers dug into the countertop.
“He... he’s bluffing. He can’t do anything to us.”
“Oh, he can,” her father hissed, voice lowering into something broken. “And more importantly, he will. Because he no longer cares about consequences.”
Arabelle swallowed hard.
“He won’t touch me. He wouldn’t dare...”
“He has already infiltrated your hideout.”
Arabelle froze.
Every cell in her body stilled.
“What?” she breathed out.
“He sent me a photo...” Mr. Weng’s voice dropped to a horrified whisper. “...a photo of your hideout from INSIDE. Do you hear me? Inside. Your computers smashed. Your men gone. The whole place gutted.”
Her entire body went weak. She clasped the countertop to stay upright.
"That's… impossible. Impossible. I had men..."
“They’re dead, Arabelle!” he shouted. “Lucien Feng cleaned them out. And now he’s coming for you directly.”
A sharp inhale tore itself from her throat.
No, no, no…
This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. She calculated everything. Planned every detail. She had the upper hand. She had control...
“Dad…” she whispered, suddenly pleading. “You have to protect me.”
There was a long, cold silence.
Arabelle’s stomach dropped.
“Protect you?” Mr. Weng finally said, voice hollow. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done to us?”
She opened her mouth but no sound came out.
“Our stocks are plummeting. Investors are withdrawing. The police are asking questions about Meilin’s disappearance. The Weng name is being dragged through the mud.”
“I... I’ll fix it...”
“YOU CANNOT FIX THIS!” his voice cracked, raw and furious. “You dragged us into a war with Lucien Feng. You dragged us into a war with the Fengs, the Lins, and now the government’s investigation team.”
Her lips trembled.
“You’ll help me,” she whispered, desperate. “You always help...”
“No.”
The word sliced her cleanly.
“No?” she whispered, disbelief shaking through her. “Dad...”
“I warned you,” Mr. Weng said, voice icy. “I warned you when you poisoned that girl months ago. I warned you when you kept meddling. I told you to stop chasing Lucien Feng like some rabid dog.”
Arabelle’s face twisted, shame and rage mixing violently.
“I was doing it for us,” she snapped. “For the Weng name. For our future..”
“For your obsession,” he spat. “Your obsession with a man who would rather burn the world than look at you.”
Tears stung her eyes.
“You’re saying this now? NOW? When I’m the one being hunted..”
“You are being hunted because you made yourself the target.” Mr. Weng’s voice hardened with a cold finality she had never heard before. “And because you touched what belonged to Lucien Feng.”
His silence was a verdict.
Her panic surged.
“So what now?” she whispered, the first hint of fear cracking her perfectly crafted mask. “Are you going to abandon me?”