In just under thirty minutes, Shen Zichen reached his destination. He left his car at the car park below and took the private elevator that led to his sister's office, which was located at the top of the building. The security let him inside the elevator and once he reached the top floor, two of Shen Lingqing's secretaries greeted him.
Her personal assistant ca and saw him and led him inside the CEO's office. His sister's office was huge and her table was set near the floor to ceiling windows that could oversee the busy streets of the business district.
Shen Zichen found his little sister busy with work all over her desk as usual. He wondered if this woman still had free ti for herself with the way she drowned herself at work. His overwhelming work at the hospital seed incomparable next to Shen Lingqing's load.
"Qingqing, I need to talk to you. Give at least fifteen minutes," he didn't waste ti and sat on the couch and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows.
Shen Lingqing brought down the papers in her hands and glanced at her elder brother. Noticing the deep scowl on his face, she sighed and stood up from her seat, stride towards him, and took the seat across him.
"So… another trouble in paradise?" Shen Lingqing asked and crossed her legs, her hands rested on top of her knees.
Shen Zichen gave her a good look and chuckled. She was wearing a business suit for won and a pair of black high heels. With her impassive cold face, she was looking more and more like their father.
"You are looking more like Dad," he comnted. Shen Lingqing cocked a brow at him.
"But Dad told this morning I look more like Mom these days, so who's telling the truth, Zi Gege?" She retorted.
"I suppose it's safe to say you're half and half of them," Shen Zichen slightly nodded.
"What brings you here?" His little sister asked. "Ten minutes. That's all I can spare for you," then she eyed the stack of papers on her desk. "Still so much work to do."
"Tell sothing, Qingqing…" Shen Zichen looked troubled, which made Shen Lingqing uneasy.
"What is it?" She demanded.
"Tell … do you know all along that the girl from that night was Li Chuntao?" He asked, locking his gaze with hers. By the way her eyes slightly went wide, he knew that his assumptions were true. She must have known.
Shen Lingqing took several seconds before she could answer him. "Yes,"
"Who else knew about this?" He gritted his teeth at her but Shen Zichen knew he couldn't really bla his sister.
"It's just and Sister Chuntao," she sighed and ran her fingers through her silky black hair. Shen Lingqing hadn't expected that her brother would find out about it, but since he knew already, there was no point in hiding the truth.
"She was about to slip out of your apartnt that day. Lingtian was downstairs to carry the bags of food Mom asked us to bring to you. I caught her and then realized what happened between the two of you." Shen Lingqing clearly rembered that day when she and Shen Lingtian dropped by at his place to bring food, only to stumble upon a crying Li Chuntao that morning.
"Then why didn't you tell ? Why the need to hide it from , Qingqing? I'm your brother!" Shen Zichen was having a hard ti to relax and think clearly. He vaguely rembered his sister's expression that morning and it baffled him. When he realised that it was Li Chuntao, he deduced that Shen Lingqing might have known about it too, given her reaction that day when he woke up.
"I wasn't planning to hide it from you, Zi Gege but Sister Chuntao begged not to tell you. I'm not sure what else happened that night but she was crying nonstop, begging not to ntion anything about her spending the night with you," she explained her side. She could only hope that her brother wouldn't bla her for this.
Shen Zichen looked conflicted and confused at the sa ti, a reaction which Shen Lingqing had already expected. He was troubled by the truth he just learned today and was questioning himself what else he should know that everyone seems to be aware of.
"Then, do you know that she got pregnant after that?" He asked Shen Lingqing after a long silence between them.
It was Shen Lingqing's turn to be confused with her brother's question. Li Chuntao got pregnant? Now, this was news to her! Two months after the incident, Li Chuntao did leave the country to run away, but she had no idea that Li Chuntao was with child.
"No. This… I'm not aware of this, Zi Gege," she admitted to her brother. She paused as she contemplated the previous events that happened. "Then… that ans you have a kid. Is she hiding the child from you?"
Shen Lingqing could tell there was more troubling her brother.
"The child is dead," Shen Zichen repeated Li Chuntao's words earlier. Her little sister froze and stared at him in disbelief. How could this have happened? "She delivered a stillbirth baby," he continued, answering Shen Lingqing's unspoken words.
Shen Lingqing shut her eyes and let the words her brother just told her sink in her mind.
"So you an to say, you got her pregnant the first ti and she lost your baby?"
The scowl that followed wasn't sothing she expected to see from him.
"Qingqing, don't joke around. I'm not even sure if she was telling the truth," he lowered his head and cradled it with both hands. Shen Zichen didn't know what to believe anymore.
"Is there a reason for her to lie about this, Zi Gege? Do you really think Li Chuntao is capable of using a child to fool you? I don't think so. Knowing her personality, she probably has decided to hide it from you for the rest of her life because she knew how you would react if you found out," Shen Lingqing reasoned.
Li Chuntao might have thought that he would bla her, that the friendship that they built over the years would be put at stake.
Shen Zichen lifted his head and looked at his sister. A part of him wished that he could remain calm throughout this just like her, but no, this was beyond the capability of self-control he'd cultivated over the years.
"Qingqing… help . I need to know what happened to Chuntao and our baby. I need to know if she really got pregnant at that ti." The words that ca out from him were filled with despair and helplessness. Sothing Shen Lingqing didn't like seeing in any of her siblings.
Shen Zichen and Shen Yuyan might not have shared the sa blood running through her veins but they were her beloved Zi Gege and Yan Jie.
"I hope you do know, Zi Gege, that the Li family will be alerted at once if I run an investigation on Sister Chuntao," she said in a low voice. "And it has been seven years since it happened, this might take so ti for to uncover."
"Regardless, I just want to know the truth." Shen Zichen didn't mind waiting at all.. He just wanted to get to the bottom of it.
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