淫欲的代价

In the doctor\'s office, Han Tao held Chen Meili in his arms, Father Chen did the same for Mother Chen, Gu Longwei sat next to his wife whilst the rest either stood around or found a place to sit.

Sometime later, the doctor walked in and the ears of every single person perked.

"Is Bai\'er alright now?" Mother Chen asked eagerly and quickly followed up with, "When can we see him? What does your results say? You guys have realized that there\'s a chance for him to walk again, right?"

The doctor sighed. "I\'m sorry Mrs Chen but the results still showed that Mr. Chen Bai would be unable to use his legs ever again."

Chen Meili\'s breath hitched but she maintained her expression. Seeing how hard she was trying to keep it all in and be strong, Han Tao pursed his lips and held her tighter.

The other Hans either shook their heads sadly or looked on in pity 

On the other hand, Mother Chen directly broke into tears. Seeing this, Father Chen grit his teeth and closed his eyes in sadness. At present, the person in charge of the Chen company was Chen Bai.

Now that this had happened, how was his son going to manage?

Being disabled did not mean the end of the world but he knew how prideful Chen Bai was. He feared the young man wouldn\'t be able to handle the blow.

With a sigh, Father Chen opened his eyes once more and stared at the doctor. "Can we see him now?"

The doctor nodded. "Sure but there\'s one more thing." Without waiting for anyone to speak up, he continued, "We found tiny traces of an unknown substance in his blood. It was so miniscule and after trying all we could, it was impossible to identify the substance."

Father Chen froze immediately. Unknown substance? Where else would his mind immediately go to if not the mafia? Which group of people dealt with unknown substances the most? The mafia!

His eyes trailed to the only policeman in the room, Han Tao. Seeing the focused and calculating expression on the younger man\'s face. Father Chen became more uncomfortable.

In order to boost the Chen family even higher, Chen Bai had had numerous dealings with the people of the mafia. Yes, he wanted justice for his son but if the police dug deeper then it was very possible that Chen Bai might end up in jail for a long time.

Not just that, the Chen company would face a huge lawsuit and would end up getting closed by the government. What would happen to the Chen family then?

They would directly fall from their pedestal as elites and the cost of detangling themselves from the scrutiny of the government would land them directly in poverty!

Well, not exactly but they would no longer be as rich as they were now! How would they look at their fellow elites then? Where would they be able to show their face? They would surely be made fun of!

Father Chen pressed a hand against his forehead tiredly. How did things get here? Who exactly did Chen Bai offend? He\'d gone through his son\'s phones and contacts but nothing could be found because Chen Bai had always been cautious and used a special incognito method to contact his partners in the mafia so it could never be traced.

In the office, Han Tao furrowed his brows. The case was currently stagnant because no new information had been found. Even the CCTV at the club had showed nothing. No footage was missing but the time Chen Bai was last seen was leaving the club.

After that, it was as if the man suddenly disappeared into thing air until he was spotted at a shaded corner, battered and bruised.

Whoever had been able to pull this off was no small figure and now the mention of an unknown substance... An unknown factor that could potentially be from anywhere!

Han Tao clenched his fists. This was not only a blow to the Chen family but also to him who was about to get married to one of them. What would be said of him as a policeman if he was unable to protect the people close to him? He turned to the doctor. "What was the effect of this substance on him and is there a sample?"

The doctor cleared his throat. "I was getting there. Although we were able to detect the substance, we were unable to extract a sample in time before it completely dissolved.

-Since we have no idea what exactly the substance is or what it does, I can\'t say for sure what its effects are. The only thing we have to go by is the current diagnosis we have on Mr. Chen Bai...

He turned to the Chen parents with a strained smile. "After various tests and examinations, the conclusion is that his mental state seems to have been compromised."

Mother Chen\'s eyes widened. Mental state.. compromised? Wasn\'t that just fancy words for her son had gone mad? She screamed and rushed forward to hold the doctor. "What do you mean by my son is now crazy?!"

The doctor winced and stepped back. "He\'s not exactly mad. He\'s just prone to short brain lags and occasional convulsions when stressed."

eaglesnovɐ1,сoМ Chen Meili\'s eyes widened and she turned to bury her face in Han Tao\'s chest. Why would such a thing happen suddenly to her brother? Her elder brother had always been a mighty figure in her mind. How could he be reduced to this?

The doctor explained some more details to them and right after, they were all led to Chen Bai\'s ward by a nurse.

Before entering, the nurse turned to them. "I think it\'s best if only family members go in. Two many people might be overwhelming."

Father Chen nodded and walked in with his wife. Han Tao squeezed Chen Meili\'s hand reassuringly before letting her go.

Inside the ward, Chen Bai was seated on the bed with a sickly pale expression and lifeless eyes. He also looked like he\'d cried a lot at some point too.

Mother Chen choked on a sob and rushed forward to stand by his bed in tears. "Bai\'er~"

Chen Bai\'s eyes slowly came into focus then. He\'d woken up earlier today and was hit with two pieces of news. One; he could no longer use his legs and two; he was probably epileptic.

The second he heard those words from the doctor, he\'d had a bad seizure for an entire hour. He was much better now but still could not comprehend the fact that he could no longer walk.

How did he even get here? He remembered going to the club and then... and then...

Chen Bai\'s eyes rolled upwards and his head began twitching.

Mother Chen\'s eyes widened and she turned to her husband. "What\'s happening? Why is he moving like that?! Where\'s the doctor?!"

The nurse was on standby and spoke up then, "He\'s fine. It\'s just a lag. He\'d be okay in a minute or two."

They all waited with baited breath as the man on the bed twitched for about two minutes before slowly getting himself.

Chen Bai shook his head and looked from one person to the other with face burning in shame. When his eyes landed on his younger sister, he wanted to claw his own throat and die.

Chen Meili was looking at him with a weirded out expression. From childhood till now, this was the first time that he\'d seen her look at him like that. His face burned even more and he lowered his head sorrowfully. "Get out."

Mother Chen was taken aback. She looked at her son\'s lowered head. Did she hear wrong? "Bai\'er what\'s wr-"

"I SAID GET OUT!" With that scream, Chen Bai lifted his head and pushed his mother away.

"Aaahh!" Mother Chen screamed but luckily, her husband managed to catch her in time. She began crying again.

Father Chen held his wife with a frown and called out sternly, "Chen Bai!"

Chen Bai wasn\'t having it. "GET OUT!" And then he began throwing whatever was by his side at them.

The pillows.

THUD!

The medicine tray.

CLATTER!

Even the drip stand.

CRASH!

The door opened then and an alarmed Han Tao dashed in. "Meili are you alright?!"

Chen Meili rushed to hug Han Tao with red eyes. "Brother Tao~ Elder brother is scary..."

Chen Bai saw red. He was scary? He was already reduced to this state and his own sister called him scary?! He punched the bed. "GE- Ge- ge-"

At that point, his eyes rolled to the top of his head and be began having a full blown seizure.

Mother Chen screamed and the nurse quickly came forward to perform some procedures on him.

Han Tao looked from the shivering Meili in his arms to the Chen parents. "Father-in-law, I\'ll take Meili out now."

Father Chen slowly nodded in agreement. "She\'s pregnant and shouldn\'t be agitated."

Besides, he didn\'t want Han Tao to stare at his son in this state. They were age mates after all. His pride could barely handle it.

Chen Meili didn\'t even argue. Seeing the spittle at the sides of her elder brother\'s mouth, she couldn\'t wait to go out faster. That wasn\'t the Chen Bai she knew.

Han Tao nodded at Father Chen before taking the stressed woman in his hands out. Although he was a little dissatisfied that Chen Bai had been so harsh on his family and scared Meili. He tried to be understanding of the sick man\'s situation.

Chen Meili was later taken to the gynaecology department -on Han Tao\'s insistence- for check up as he wanted to make sure she and the babies were truly okay.

After that, the Hans all returned to the Han mansion.

----------------

Later that day, Tlthe policemen reached out to Chen Bai. When they realized that he had no recollection of what had happened at the club, things became stagnant again.

Although they had info about a supposedly harmful substance, they had no clue what exactly it was and no mention of such a substance has ever been heard before.

On the other hand, since Han Tao was legally unqualified from taking part in the case, he decided to begin his own private investigation a week later.

On the first month, Han Tao focused on all the elites that the Chens dealt with on a regular basis. Things were quite dry and nothing could be found.

On the second month, Chen Bai returned to the Chen home whilst Han Tao and Chen Meili held a little court wedding. Since so much had happened and she was already 5 months and some weeks pregnant, they planned to hold another ceremony once the babies were born.

On the third month, Han Tao decided to take his investigation to the Chen company and their business rivals to see if there was anyone with good motive to harm Chen Bai. The first set of people turned out innocent so he kept on searching.

Two months and three weeks after his investigations began, Han Tao finally made a huge breakthrough in the case.