497: Chapter 492 Just a Transaction, A Final Reminder

Shen Yan picked up his glass but didn't answer immediately.

He brought the glass to his lips, feeling the chill from the ice cubes and the unique smoky flavor of the whiskey.

Then, he took a small sip.

The spicy liquid slid down his throat, bringing a slight burning sensation.

"'Right'?"

Shen Yan set down the glass, his voice so calm it betrayed no ripple of emotion.

"That is a very vague word."

His gaze cut through the dim light and landed on Kevin's face.

"Do you mean, conforming to the moral standards of those relatives of yours?"

"Uncle Marcus, who was cursing you as a traitor one second and trying to shake your hand the next?"

Kevin's body stiffened slightly.

"Or, conforming to the expectations of your father, Old Hossen?"

Shen Yan's tone carried a barely perceptible trace of mockery.

"That old man who watched you being driven to desperation by Andrew without moving, only intervening when the Hossen Family's interests were threatened?"

Kevin's complexion paled further.

Shen Yan leaned back against the sofa, stretching out his arms.

"Or, do you think it is right to conform to the self-cultivation of mere prey?"

"Like a rabbit, chased to a dead end by hounds, finally hiding in the grass, trembling, praying the hunter will show mercy?"

Every question was like a sharp scalpel, precisely dissecting the fragile shell Kevin used for self-deception.

It laid bare the deepest fear and humiliation within him, raw and bloody.

"Tell me, if you hadn't shown up in that conference room today..."

"If you hadn't produced that evidence..."

"What would your fate have been?"

Shen Yan’s voice carried no emotion, as if stating an established fact.

"Andrew would have mobilized all the power of the Hossen Family to erase you from the face of the Earth."

"Your relatives would have pretended you never existed."

"Your former friends would have avoided you as if you carried the plague."

"You would have died in an unknown corner, your body decaying, turning to dust."

"Not even a single tear would have been shed for you."

Kevin’s breathing grew rapid.

The days and nights he had deliberately forgotten—hiding on the farm, fleeing on the highway—instantly flooded his mind.

That despair, that loneliness of being abandoned by the entire world, almost swallowed him whole again.

"Where were your so-called 'family' when you needed them most?"

Shen Yan continued, his tone as cold as the ice in his glass.

"They don't care if you live or die, Kevin."

"What they care about is the surname Hossen."

"It's the wealth, status, and glory that this surname can bring them."

"What happened today is not a family dispute, nor is it conflict between brothers."

Shen Yan leaned slightly forward and spoke every word deliberately.

"This is a transfer of power."

"A corporate merger."

"You used Andrew's failure to acquire his life and all the inheritance under his name."

"You won, so you are alive and have obtained what you wanted."

"It's that simple."

Kevin was stunned speechless by the statement.

A corporate merger?

He had never considered that such cold terminology could define the brutal trial by blood he had just endured.

"Did you see their faces after the meeting ended?"

Shen Yan reminded him.

The obsequious, flattering, and hypocritical smiles immediately surfaced in Kevin's mind.

Those faces belonged to the same group of people who had accused and cursed him just a few hours earlier.

"The object of their fawning is not Kevin."

"It is the title of 'The Sole Heir of the Hossen Family'."

"If a dog had been sitting in that seat today, they would be wagging their tails for that dog too."

Shen Yan picked up his glass and downed the remaining whiskey in one gulp.

The ice cubes hit the side of the glass, making a final sound.

"Now, answer me again."

"Do you want that kind of false warmth, or do you want this kind of coldness that allows you to stand tall and speak right now?"

Kevin fell silent.

He looked at the glass of juice in front of him, its color like blood.

The blues music in the tavern had changed to a deeper melody at some unknown point, like the sigh of some inescapable fate.

After a long pause.

Kevin reached out and picked up the glass of juice.

The coolness of the glass wall traveled from his fingertips throughout his body.

He brought the glass to his lips and took a large gulp.

Sour, cold.

Then, a barely perceptible sweetness lingered.

He did not answer Shen Yan's question.

He just raised his head, and the last trace of confusion in his eyes was replaced by something entirely new.

It was not determination, nor was it resolution.

It was a clarity born from accepting the rules of the game.

"Next,"

Kevin's voice no longer trembled; it became steady and clear.

"What should I do?"

A nearly invisible curve touched the corner of Shen Yan's mouth.

He knew the bird in the cage was utterly dead.

In its place was a fledgling eagle preparing to learn how to hunt.

"Go home."

Shen Yan stood up.

"And learn how to be the master of the Hossen Family."

His voice was not loud, yet it struck the silence of the tavern like a nail being driven in.

Kevin looked up at him, his lips moving slightly.

Just as Shen Yan turned to leave the booth, Kevin’s hand once again grabbed Shen Yan’s sleeve.

It was exactly the same gesture he had used to grasp a lifeline on the winding mountain road at the farm.

Only this time, his hand was no longer trembling.

Shen Yan stopped, looked down, and his gaze settled on the hand gripping him.

His eyes held no emotion, neither impatience nor surprise.

It was as if he were looking at an object unrelated to himself.

"Thank you."

Kevin's voice was low, carrying the coldness and sourness of the juice.

"I..."

He seemed about to say something, but a thousand words ultimately condensed into this single phrase.

A heartfelt yet utterly pale expression of gratitude.

Shen Yan’s gaze didn't linger on Kevin’s face for even half a second.

He simply used his other hand to gently, yet unmistakably, pry Kevin's fingers open one by one.

"It was just a transaction."

Shen Yan’s voice was colder than the melting ice in his glass.

"Your gratitude holds no value to me."

He pulled back his sleeve and smoothed out a wrinkle that wasn't there.

"What I need to think about now is how to securely obtain what you promised me."

Kevin's hand froze mid-air, then slowly dropped.

Shen Yan looked at him, and in those deep, unfathomable eyes, there was finally a ripple, like a crack opening on a frozen lake.

"Remember this, Kevin."

"Today they can push you onto that seat; tomorrow, they can push someone else there too."