CHAPTER 317: CHAPTER 317: THE DEEPER THE RIFT, THE GREATER THE PAIN

Shen Jinci looked at the little house surrounded by layers, his gaze somber, "No regrets?"

Li Sihe’s smile became more genuine, "No regrets."

Not long after Li Tingmo left, he sent a subordinate over to Li Sihe, saying, "Master is ready, please come with me."

Shen Jinci looked at Li Sihe indifferently, his tone calm: "I’m here, you go."

Li Sihe’s expression became complex, he glanced at Shen Jinci, turned around, and followed the subordinate to leave.

In a secluded side room, Li Tingmo stood with his hands behind his back, behind him was a spread out stack of contracts.

He heard footsteps and slowly turned around to face Li Sihe, his smile mocking, "Calculated by me, you must be quite discontented, right?"

"There’s nothing to be discontented about, it’s my lack of skill, I admit it." Li Sihe walked to the table, picked up the documents, and looked down, laughing, "You really are relentless, leaving nothing for me."

At these words, Li Tingmo also sneered, sarcasm in his eyes, "I am relentless? Li Sihe, I made you who you are today, completely lawless! The words ’ruthlessly eliminate’ should be what I say to you. Calculating your own father like this, don’t you feel any remorse?"

Li Sihe didn’t answer immediately, he grabbed the pen on the table, lifted his hand to sign his name on the bottom of the document.

Li Tingmo’s expression became complex as he stopped him, his voice grave, "Are you sure?"

"I know what’s more important to me."

"Li Sihe, by signing this contract now, you won’t have the power to contend with Shen Jinci for Bian Yue anymore, even so, do you still want to sign?" Li Tingmo’s gaze was intense, staring sharply at Li Sihe, his voice intensified, "You should know, once you walk out of this door, you will truly have nothing!"

Li Sihe looked up, his gaze tranquil, "Isn’t that your goal? You are about to achieve it now, you should be happy."

"You know my goal isn’t just that!" Li Tingmo’s voice sank, unintentionally softening, "Shiheng, do you really want to sever ties with me? You can leave now with Shen Jinci and Bian Yue, and I will wait for you in Xiangjiang. As long as you rethink and come back, you are still my son!"

Initially, Li Tingmo indeed wanted Li Sihe to pay the price.

Having been so thoroughly manipulated by his own son, how could his heart hold no grudges?

But now, as he calmed down, he still wanted to try to salvage the deeply deteriorated father-son relationship, "Shiheng, as a father, I have wronged you many times, but after this ordeal, I also have fallen from grace and endured disdain. Isn’t that enough for you to forgive me?"

"Father, you are mistaken, I no longer hate you."

Li Tingmo’s eager eyes lit up, he looked at Li Sihe full of hope, hastily adding, "Then you..."

"But I can’t forgive you either," Li Sihe calmly interrupted Li Tingmo’s words, "You want to take everything back, you want me to have nothing, all that is acceptable, I can start over from scratch in this life, but I will no longer be a son of the Li Family."

Li Tingmo’s complexion turned ashen, he staggered back two steps, sadness arising, yet he laughed maniacally, "Fine! Good! You truly are my good son! Since you have thought it through, then I have nothing left to say, Li Sihe, the road is long and the mountain is tall, take care of yourself!"

Li Sihe lowered his gaze, his focus returning to the documents. He knew, with each document signed, part of his previous scheming turned to smoke. When he walks out of this room, he will have lost everything.

But what of it?

People shouldn’t look back.

Bian Yue... she shouldn’t look back either.

She is right; it was his own deep obsession that trapped everyone.

Li Sihe, under the fearful and panicked gaze of Li Tingmo, finished signing the documents one by one.

Upon the last document, despite trying to control himself, Li Tingmo could not hold back his nervousness. He stopped Li Sihe, his eyes reddening, his thin thread of fatherly affection flaring up, "Shiheng... we are father and son; what’s the point of contending like this?"

"I am not contending with you, I am just walking my own path." Li Sihe looked quietly at Li Tingmo and spoke lightly, "There must be countless ways for you to find a new successor for Feng Cheng, but no matter who it is, it will not be me."

Li Tingmo’s hands trembled incessantly, as he stared at Li Sihe’s calm and determined profile, a profound fear spreading in his heart.

He was indeed old, at the brink of events, still afraid of ending up completely deserted.

"Don’t you think about your mother? If she knew that we, father and son, had fallen out, how sad she would be! Shiheng, people cannot live so selfishly!"

Selfish.

Li Sihe admitted, he had always been a selfish person.

But with matters concerning the Li Family, he had made far too many sacrifices and compromises.

"In this world, everyone has the right to call me selfish, to say I am ruthless and unsparing, everyone but you, you have no right. I have done too many things against my will for you and for the Li Family. As for my mother, I believe, since she chose to leave you, she would definitely understand my decision."

Li Sihe finished speaking, pulled out the document severely held down by Li Tingmo, and without any hesitation, signed his own name.

Li Tingmo clearly emerged victorious, yet at this moment, he felt an inexplicable suffocation.

He stared blankly at Li Sihe, his face pale, his voice hoarse, "Li Sihe... one day you will regret this."

Clearly, he looked more like the one filled with irrevocable regret.

Li Sihe had once longed to get everything back on track, whether it was the Li Family or Bian Yue, he wished to return to the original state.

But now, standing alone, his heart finally settled.

All those obsessions dissipated the moment the last name was signed.

He smiled lightly, looking at the resentful and aging face of Li Tingmo, softly said, "I only hope that you won’t regret, and can fulfill your desires."

Bian Yue had been in the room all along, unaware of the events unfolding outside, but at the moment she knew Shen Jinci had arrived, she was already at ease.

He was here, so no matter what happens, she would be safe.

Bian Yue quietly looked through a gauzy curtain at the vague snowscape outside.

The next moment, the door was suddenly opened from outside.

Bian Yue subconsciously stood up, she saw Shen Jinci standing at the door, covered in falling snow, his gaze anxious and eager, without any hesitation, he walked towards her, while Bian Yue, momentarily stunned, just blankly stared at him.