CHAPTER 99 — The Fall of the Shi Family
The morning after Rui's rescue should have been peaceful.
But peace was a luxury no one in the Shi family would see again.
The world awakened to a firestorm—one ignited not by rumor, not by speculation, but by Roulan herself… in one last attempt to save her own skin.
Except all she succeeded in doing was dragging her family straight into the flames.
The Mu family hospital suite was dim, curtains drawn to keep the light soft. Rui slept in the bed between Yunxi and Lingchen, his tiny fingers curled around Yunxi's sleeve as if afraid she would disappear.
She hadn't left his side all night.
Mu Yichen and Mu Qing'er slept curled in a small couch at the foot of the bed, exhausted from crying and fussing over their brother the entire night.
Lingchen sat in the chair beside them, elbows on his knees, watching the three children breathe.
Alive.
Safe.
Together.
It should have been enough.
But there was a knock on the door—sharp, tense.
A Mu bodyguard stepped inside. "Master Mu… Miss Shi… the police are requesting your presence."
Yunxi stiffened. "Did Roulan say something?"
Lingchen's expression darkened. "She must have."
The guard hesitated, eyes flicking toward the children. "It's… regarding the Shi family."
Yunxi's breath caught.
Lingchen stood, squeezed her hand once, and nodded toward the door.
"Let's hear it."
They were led downstairs to a private conference room, where two detectives and the police chief waited, folders stacked on the table, screens filled with frozen surveillance images from Roulan's arrest.
The police chief stood first.
"Miss Shi… we need to inform you of developments from last night's interrogation."
Yunxi swallowed, hands clasped tightly.
Lingchen took the seat beside her, sliding his palm over hers under the table. A silent anchor.
"She talked, didn't she?" he said.
One detective let out an exhausted sigh. "More than talked. She dumped."
The other flipped open a folder—one filled with documents stamped with the Shi family seal.
"Roulan has implicated several members of the Shi Group in criminal activities spanning years," he said. "Your stepmother. Your uncle. Your cousins. Even your grandfather."
Yunxi felt something cold unfurl inside her chest.
Not shock.
Not disbelief.
Only the heavy confirmation of what she always feared.
"What crimes?" Yunxi asked quietly.
The police chief nodded to the detective, who read from the file.
"Financial fraud. Tax evasion. Illegal property seizures. Tampering with public procurement contracts. Corporate espionage. And…" He paused, expression darkening. "…evidence of having private investigators track you since you were fourteen."
Lingchen's breath hissed sharply through his teeth.
"They monitored her?" he growled. "For years?"
"Yes," the detective confirmed. "And Roulan provided the evidence—emails, signed orders, payment logs."
Yunxi's stomach twisted violently.
She remembered the eyes watching her… without ever knowing where they came from.
She remembered overhearing whispers she wasn't meant to hear.
She remembered running—
The quarry.
The threats.
The nightmares.
She was right.
She had always been right.
Lingchen straightened, voice rough with fury. "Are they being arrested?"
The police chief nodded grimly.
"Simultaneous raids began at 6 a.m. today. The Shi Group headquarters has been sealed. And preliminary findings show—"
He clicked a remote.
Two giant screen displays lit up.
Showing the news.
Showing reporters.
Showing police dragging Shi family members into cars.
Showing Shi Group stock plummeting in real time.
Showing the entire city watching their empire collapse.
The headline screamed:
SHI FAMILY COLLAPSES! MASS ARRESTS AFTER INTERNAL WHISTLEBLOWER LEAKS EVIDENCE
Below it—
Source: Qin Roulan
Yunxi's breath hitched.
She closed her eyes, the weight of years pressing against her ribs. Not sadness. Not pity.
Just the crushing heaviness of truth exposed.
Lingchen reached over and slid his hand over hers.
"You're free now," he murmured. "Do you understand that?"
But Yunxi didn't answer immediately.
Free?
The word felt foreign.
After years of surveillance…
Years of manipulation…
Years of being a pawn in someone else's game…
Freedom felt like an empty room she wasn't sure she belonged in.
"I don't know what I feel," she whispered finally. "It doesn't feel real."
Lingchen's thumb brushed her knuckles gently. "You don't have to decide what to feel today. Just breathe."
Her lashes trembled.
She breathed.
Slowly.
Painfully.
The detective cleared his throat. "There's more."
Lingchen tensed. "What more?"
The officer slid a new folder across the table toward Yunxi.
"This is… specifically about you."
Yunxi didn't open it.
Her hands refused to move.
Lingchen opened it instead.
Inside were documents—terrible documents—containing records of:
• forced therapy,
• drugged evaluation reports,
• forged medical files,
• and legal papers that attempted to declare Yunxi mentally unstable at sixteen.
Lingchen's grip on the file trembled.
"They tried to institutionalize her," he said, voice low and furious. "Repeatedly."
Yunxi stared at the papers silently.
"They wanted control," she murmured. "And I kept escaping."
The police chief looked at her with something like pity.
"You survived things most people wouldn't," he said quietly. "And now—everyone will know the truth."
The truth.
A word sharp enough to cut.
Lingchen closed the folder and pulled Yunxi into his arms.
Her breath caught.
For years, she had fought alone.
Now someone held her as she learned what freedom actually meant.
The police chief stood. "We'll keep you both updated. For now… stay with your children."
Yunxi nodded numbly.
Lingchen guided her out of the room, his hand firm around her waist.
When the door closed behind them and they stepped into the quiet hallway, Yunxi finally exhaled.
It sounded like a soul being unburdened.
Lingchen tilted her chin up.
"Yunxi," he whispered, his voice trembling in a way she had never heard.
"You're not alone in this anymore."
Her throat tightened painfully.
She leaned her forehead against his chest, letting herself be held.
For the first time in years, she wasn't running.
She wasn't hiding.
And she wasn't terrified of shadows she couldn't see.
The Shi family was falling.
And she…
She finally had room to breathe.
Tomorrow she would face the world.
But today—
She allowed herself one fragile moment of peace.
Held in the arms of the man who had descended into the darkness to bring her child back.
Held by someone who saw her not as XIOLAN—
But simply as Yunxi.
And for the first time…
That felt enough.