CHAPTER 104 — The Fall of Shi Zhenai
The courtroom was overflowing.
Reporters pressed against the wooden railings, microphones raised like weapons. Cameras flashed bright bursts of light that cut through the heavy tension. Spectators whispered in hushed, electric excitement as guards pulled a man into the room.
Shi Zhenai.
The once–untouchable patriarch of the Shi family.
The man who had built an empire through fear, manipulation, and the suffering of his own blood.
Now he shuffled forward in handcuffs, shoulders slumped, the weight of scandals and crimes finally dragging him down. His hair, once meticulously styled, hung limp. His face—usually sharp and proud—was swollen and exhausted from sleepless nights in detention.
He looked nothing like the man who once controlled half the city's business circles.
Yet his cold, calculating eyes still flickered with arrogance.
As if he believed this courtroom could not possibly touch him.
As if he thought the world still owed him respect.
But the moment he saw Shi Yunxi sitting calmly with her lawyer, eyes cold and steady—
His arrogance cracked.
Just a flicker.
But it cracked.
One guard forced him into his seat, and the courtroom doors slammed shut with a final, echoing boom.
"Court is in session," the judge announced.
Everyone rose.
Everyone except Yunxi's children in the gallery behind her—Mu Rui, Shi Yichen, and Shi Qing'er—who were sitting quietly on Lingchen's lap, watched closely by security. They were too young to understand the details, but they understood one thing clearly:
Mommy was fighting bad people who hurt her.
They wanted to watch her win.
THE EVIDENCE BEGINS
The prosecutor stepped forward.
"Your Honor, today we submit evidence of tax evasion, illegal detainment, abuse, extortion, and medical coercion committed by the defendant, Shi Zhenai, over the past fifteen years."
Murmurs rippled through the room.
Shi Zhenai's jaw twitched.
"This is outrageous!" he snapped, slamming his hand on the table. "Fabricated! All of it fabricated by that ungrateful—"
His finger stabbed the air, pointing directly at Yunxi.
"—GIRL!"
The judge hammered his gavel. "Sit down, defendant! You will speak only when permitted!"
Shi Zhenai gritted his teeth but obeyed, breath flaring through his nostrils.
The prosecutor continued.
"We have video evidence, forged contracts, falsified medical records, testimonies from employees, and digital files extracted from the defendant's personal servers."
He nodded toward Yunxi.
"And the encrypted drive provided by Miss Shi Yunxi was crucial in recovering the full truth."
Gasps filled the room.
Shi Zhenai's face drained of blood.
The encrypted drive.
The one she had hidden as a teenager—the only piece of her childhood she had secretly kept.
Her insurance.
Her one escape route.
Her silent weapon.
Lingchen reached forward from behind her and squeezed her shoulder gently. She didn't turn—didn't need to—but her fingers tightened around her pen.
ROULAN TAKES THE STAND
When Shi Roulan was escorted to the witness stand, the crowd broke into whispers again.
She was pale, wrists bound, her once glamorous face covered in tired shadows. After kidnapping Rui and being caught near the quarry, she had been arrested immediately and charged with multiple crimes.
But now—
She smirked.
A broken, vindictive smirk.
"I want to testify," she said sweetly, eyes sliding toward her father.
Shi Zhenai glared, furious. "Roulan! Say nothing!"
She ignored him.
"I want the world to know exactly what our 'perfect' father did."
The courtroom held its breath.
Roulan leaned closer to the microphone.
"He abused us," she said plainly.
The room erupted.
Shi Zhenai stood violently. "YOU LITTLE—"
"Order! ORDER!" the judge roared as guards forced him back down.
Roulan continued, voice trembling but steady:
"He beat me. Hit me. Locked me in rooms when I embarrassed him. Told me I was useless unless I got power. He pressured me to sabotage Yunxi. He made me hurt her. He made me marry into the Qin family. He made me destroy my own life—"
Her eyes swung toward Yunxi, filled with old resentment and new clarity.
"—and hers."
Yunxi's gaze did not waver.
Roulan swallowed hard.
"He treated Yunxi worse."
The reporters nearly fell over themselves trying to capture everything.
The prosecutor nodded. "Do you have proof?"
Roulan nodded.
"I brought everything."
She produced a USB drive—shaking so badly the guard had to help her set it down.
"These are recordings," she whispered. "Of him ordering punishments. Of arguments when she refused to be the Shi family pawn. Of the night he arranged her forced engagement. Of every manipulation, every threat."
The courtroom went dead silent.
Shi Zhenai's face twisted into rage.
"You FILTHY—"
His voice cracked.
Not with authority.
With fear.
Real fear.
Because the world finally saw the monster behind the wealthy patriarch mask.
SHI ZHENAI'S LAST GAMBLE
The judge turned to him. "Defendant, how do you plead to the charges and testimonies?"
Shi Zhenai lifted his chin, attempting one last shred of dignity.
"I plead—"
A pause.
His eyes darted toward Yunxi.
She was calm.
Too calm.
And he suddenly realized:
She had planned this.
Every step.
Every leak.
Every exposure.
Every piece of evidence.
Xiolan—the genius he tried to chain—had outsmarted him at last.
Something snapped in him.
He slammed his cuffed fists onto the table.
"I plead that SHE—" he pointed at Yunxi "—destroyed this family!"
All heads turned toward her.
Her expression remained ice-cold.
Shi Zhenai continued, voice cracking:
"She was born to serve this family! To marry who we chose! To obey! Ungrateful child! If she had just listened—if she had just stayed—WE WOULD STILL BE POWERFUL!"
Silence.
Then Yunxi stood.
Slowly.
Gracefully.
Deadly.
She faced him, her voice calm.
"You destroyed this family the moment you decided money mattered more than people."
Her eyes gleamed with a sharp, dangerous light.
"And you destroyed yourself the day you made me your enemy."
Reporters' cameras clicked like machine guns.
Shi Zhenai's mouth opened—
But no words came.
Because deep down, he knew:
It was true.
All of it.
THE VERDICT
Hours passed.
Evidence played.
Witnesses testified.
Documents were examined.
Finally, the judge returned.
The room fell silent.
"For the crimes of abuse, coercion, financial fraud, and conspiracy—"
Shi Zhenai's breath hitched.
"This court finds the defendant—"
A long pause.
"—guilty on all counts."
The courtroom erupted in shouts—reporters, spectators, half outraged, half cheering.
But Yunxi heard none of it.
She simply breathed.
Slowly.
Deeply.
For the first time in her life—
She felt free.
Shi Zhenai stood, shaking with fury as guards grabbed him.
"This isn't over, Yunxi!" he shouted as they dragged him away. "I built everything! I am the Shi family! I—"
The doors closed behind him.
His voice disappeared forever.
Yunxi exhaled.
Lingchen approached, slipping an arm around her shoulders.
"You did it," he murmured.
She nodded, tears gathering in her eyes—not of sadness.
Of release.
Behind them, Rui, Yichen, and Qing'er ran to her, wrapping their tiny arms around her legs.
"Mommy won," Rui whispered proudly.
Yunxi knelt, hugging all three tightly.
"No," she said softly. "We won."
And as the press declared:
THE SHI FAMILY ERA IS OVER.
Shi Yunxi finally stepped out from the shadow she had been born into—
And into the future she chose for herself.