Chapter 249 — The Last Chance
Years of Heartflutter · Page 3 of 5
However you looked at it, Tian Yan had done nothing wrong—and his conduct had earned Yang Ce's deep admiration. When Tian Long meant to harm him, Tian Yan had bravely stepped forward. True, he had rather made a mess of things, but Yang Ce could not be more grateful for the loyalty.
If he moved against Tian Long, what would become of Tian Yan? If he killed Tian Long, would Tian Yan's relationship with him still be as it was before? Yang Ce shook his head.
Tian Yan and Tian Long's relationship was different from Wang Xue and Wang Pu's. Wang Pu, when all was said and done, was only Wang Xue's father in name; he had never truly fulfilled the duties of a father, and Wang Xue's feelings for him were not deep.
Even so, Wang Xue had still, at her brother Wang Lin's urging, done things that worked against Yang Ce. And Tian Yan was truly close to Tian Long! If Yang Ce moved against Tian Long, then...
Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
Seeing Yang Ce's expression shifting, uncertain, Tian Yan couldn't guess what he was thinking and assumed Yang Ce had taken offense. So he said, "Yang Ce, rest easy. No matter what, we're brothers, and this is as much as I can do! I'll fight my father with everything I have."
Yang Ce was moved by Tian Yan's words. Between brotherhood and what was right, the choice was sometimes truly hard. Killing Tian Long would be easy enough—but how would he face Tian Yan afterward?
At that thought, Yang Ce decided to probe Tian Yan's thinking first: "Old Tian, do you know what your father is doing? He's swallowing up other people's assets!"
Tian Yan lowered his head. Truth be told, he did not much approve of what his father was doing either, but his father insisted over and over that he was doing it for the Tian family, for Tian Yan and Tian Dongguang. Besides, Tian Yan truly had no way to interfere with what Tian Long did; his words carried no weight with Tian Long. Otherwise Tian Long would never have promised him he would leave Yang Ce alone and then gone back on his word.
"If it succeeds, then everything can be smoothed over." Yang Yanzhou paused there, then went on: "But have you considered what happens if it fails? Won't the Sun family strike back? And all those people connected to the Suns, will they simply look the other way? When that day comes, your father won't just die—he'll die very badly."
Tian Yan's expression flickered with alarm. It wasn't that these thoughts had never crossed his mind; he simply refused to dwell on them. Now that Yang Ce had raised them, Tian Yan knew this was no alarmist talk—it was something that could genuinely happen.
Yang Yanzhou was right. What had his father done? Seized another man's company by force, put that man's family under house arrest—if the other side ever got the chance, would they spare him?
"My words don't carry weight either... he won't listen to me." Tian Yan shook his head bleakly. "I know what he's doing is wrong, but there's nothing I can do."
Yang Shuyu understood that Tian Yan was telling the truth. In Tian Long's eyes, Tian Yan was only a child—how could Tian Long possibly heed his advice? And in Tian Long's view, everything he did was for the good of the Tian family. "If something happens to your father, what will you do?" Yang Ce raised his head and looked at Tian Yan.
Tian Yan was startled by the sudden question, but he was no fool, and he soon caught the hint of something implied in Yang Juehuan's words.
"Yang Ce, you..." Tian Yan did not know what to say, but dimly he could piece something together.
"Donghua, there are some things I don't want to keep from you." Yang Ce sighed, gathered his thoughts, and said: "Do you know why your father wants to capture me?"
"Why?" Tian Yan was slightly taken aback and looked at Yang Ce in bewilderment. From Yang Juehuan's tone, it seemed he had long known about the grudge between himself and his father.
"Because Sun Jie is my girlfriend," Yang Puqi said, word by word.