July 28, 2024, 8:00 PM.
A howl tore through the night, waking the sleeping stray cats and the birds perched on the branches.
"Stop hitting! I'm begging you, stop hitting!"
Inside a cramped rental in the urban village, Tian Xin was pinned to the ground, assaulted repeatedly by a group.
She screamed while angrily staring at the person sitting across from her—her former best friend, Li Ke.
They'd gone from best friends to enemies, and the culprit behind all this was no one else but her husband, Liu Bo, a gambler who had amassed enormous debt!
Li Ke was the creditor!
Liu Bo had secretly borrowed hundreds of thousands in usury from Li Ke, and today Li Ke was here to collect. She brought a dozen thugs, threatening to kill the couple if they couldn't pay up.
Tian Xin was caught off guard, never expecting her former best friend to push her to such extremes!
"What, have you come to your senses? If you have, go find it; stop wasting time here!"
Li Ke sat on the sofa, legs crossed, looking down at Tian Xin who was beaten black and blue. She deliberately spat sunflower seed shells onto her face just to see Tian Xin's angry yet helpless expression.
"How did you become this way?" She looked at Li Ke with pain in her heart.
"Which way?" Li Ke sneered: "Don't look at me like that, it's disgusting!"
Disgusting?
Enough!
She lowered her head in anger, remaining silent.
Liu Bo ransacked the room desperately, but the home was already a mess, with debris everywhere.
Despite searching for a long time, he found nothing. He knew: their only remaining asset was a shop used for business—their sole source of income.
But to avoid being killed by Li Ke, he had to consider using the shop!
Li Ke's intention was clear: she explicitly said that if they transferred the shop's title to her, it could offset the debt.
To him, it seemed reasonable.
But to Tian Xin, this was robbery.
The shop was bought 10 years ago for 500,000. Over the years, the price had at least doubled. Located in a prime spot in the bustling city center, even if she did nothing, renting it out for a year would suffice for living expenses.
Now she was asked to use her only asset for debt repayment, how could she do that?
Moreover... she was pregnant, unable to continue working, relying on the shop for survival. How could she let them have it?
Thus, she refused, leading to the scene at the beginning.
Liu Bo, unable to find the property title, ran over in a rage and kicked her belly.
"You... you..." She was in pain and speechless.
That kick to her belly could instantly claim her life.
"Liu Bo... I'm... I'm pregnant!"
"Pregnant? Stop pretending, no eggs for years, and you tell me you're pregnant today? Lying to a fool?"
Clearly, Liu Bo didn't believe her. Not only did he not believe, he had the audacity to say something even worse:
"Don't think I don't know your ploy. Without the property title today, we're both dead. Hurry and find it for me."
Ploy?
This is her man, her child's father.
"Have you no humanity? This is your flesh and blood! Do you want to see him die? You're the child's father, Liu Bo!"
People devoid of conscience are likely ruthless. If Tian Xin knew this, she might not have suffered so much.
Liu Bo, seeing her in agony and unable to stand, was preoccupied with the missing property title.
Ignoring her painful whimpering and curled-up weakness, he again kicked her belly intensely: "Stop pretending, get up and find it!"
This kick was heavier than before. She clutched her belly, desperately clinging to Liu Bo's pant leg, begging for rescue: "Save me... take me to the hospital... I'm really... really pregnant, if you continue, the child won't survive! I'm begging you!"
Li Ke couldn't hold back.
"I say, can't you stop acting? Don't you feel disgusted doing this? Pregnant? How old are you, even if you had it, could you give birth?"
"Besides, how many years have we known each other? Don't I know what kind of person you are? I advise you to be smart, quickly bring out the property title! Otherwise, once I lose patience, the interest will skyrocket, far beyond today's price!"
Her face carried sinister malice, with a voice thin and piercingly sharp, completely different from the sweet and lovely person she once was.