The air was thick with tension as Sun Lixia and Li Xinjie stood paralyzed, their ears straining against the ominous clanking of chains. The old man’s voice sliced through the weighted stillness like a blade. "I present to you my gift, Sun Lixia. Now, what is your decision?"

His words hung chillingly, causing Sun Lixia’s fists to clench harder. When the two chained figures were led into view, her heart threatened to burst from her chest. Li Xinjie’s brow furrowed in confusion, his eyes darting straight to Cen Yuhuan. He made a move towards her, but the guards formed an impenetrable line, blocking his path.

"Let her go, you bastard!" Li Xinjie snarled, rage simmering beneath the surface.

The old man chuckled, unfazed. "No rush, no rush." He turned back to Sun Lixia, a twisted smile playing on his lips. "So, what do you think of my present?"

Sun Lixia’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly, her gaze fixed on the unkempt figure shackled beside Cen Yuhuan. A long, untamed grey beard obscured most of his face, his eyes weary and hair matted as if unwashed for months, if not years. Li Xinjie’s eyes darted between his mother and the stranger, trying to piece together the puzzle.

"Hubby?" Sun Lixia’s voice cracked with emotion, tears streaming down her cheeks as she fought to compose herself. She made an instinctive move towards him, but the guards held her back. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The serpent’s laugh was cold and hollow. "You honestly think I would kill a genius like this man? That would have been foolish of me."

"How? But..." Sun Lixia’s words trailed off, her mind reeling.

"With a good plastic surgeon and someone willing to die, it’s quite easy," the old man sneered.

"Mom... this is Dad?" Li Xinjie’s disbelief echoed through the room.

Sun Lixia could only nod, her gaze transfixed on the man she had loved and lost over two decades ago. No amount of disguise could ever conceal the truth from her eyes.

Finally, Li Xiaojun spoke, his voice trembling with a torrent of emotions. "So good to see you again, my wife."

Sun Lixia clutched at her aching heart. "I’ve missed you so much."

"I missed you too," Li Xiaojun rasped. "I thought... they told me you died."

"I didn’t," Sun Lixia whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears. "Li Yanyan managed to save me. We had twins, hubby. Two boys."

Li Xiaojun’s eyes widened. "Wait... you mean..."

"This isn’t Li Chen. It’s Li Xinjie, the twin this bastard took before we even knew of his existence."

Li Xiaojun clenched his teeth, glaring daggers at the smug old man.

"Enough of this family reunion," the serpent hissed. "So, Sun Lixia, are you taking the deal? Or do you really want us to send him to his maker this time? Imagine it, just like old times. You’ll be working side by side with your husband."

Li Xiaojun’s gaze hardened. "Sweetheart, don’t do it. I’m as good as dead anyway. You don’t want to be their puppet."

One of the guards landed a fierce punch, silencing Li Xiaojun. Li Xinjie lunged forward, fury blazing in his eyes. "Don’t you dare touch him!"

Li Xiaojun coughed, waving off his son’s concern. "It’s okay, son. I’m used to it by now." He turned back to the old man, resolute. "Please, let the girl go. I’ll do anything you want. She’s innocent and not involved in all of this."

The old man’s lips curled into a sinister smile as he drank in the emotionally charged scene before him. Sun Lixia’s anguished sobs mingled with Li Xinjie’s barely contained fury, creating a dissonant symphony that seemed to delight the serpent.

"I can see the confusion etched on your faces," he mused, his voice laced with dark amusement. "Allow me to shed some light on this tangled web we find ourselves in."

He rose from his seat, movements deliberately languid as he approached the chained figures of Cen Yuhuan and Li Xiaojun. His gnarled hand extended, gently caressing Li Xiaojun’s matted beard in an almost lover-like gesture.

"You see, my hatred for your husband here runs deeper than you could ever fathom, Sun Lixia," he murmured, his eyes glinting with an unsettling intensity. "From the moment I first laid eyes on you in that college biology class all those years ago, I was utterly captivated."

Sun Lixia’s eyes widened in recognition, the fragmented pieces finally coalescing. "Professor Zhang... You were our biology professor."

Zhang Yiming nodded slowly, his gaze never wavering from Sun Lixia’s stunned features. "Indeed. And even then, I could see the brilliance shining within you, my dear. A radiance that called to the deepest depths of my soul."

Li Xiaojun’s face contorted in a mixture of revulsion and dawning comprehension. "You... You were the one who always lingered after class, watching her with those unsettling eyes."

Zhang chuckled, his fingers trailing along Li Xiaojun’s jaw in a disturbingly intimate caress. "Perceptive as always, my friend. But alas, no matter how I tried to capture Sun Lixia’s attention, her eyes remained firmly fixed on you."

His expression soured, the mask of civility slipping momentarily. "The two of you were inseparable, like a pair of lovesick fools basking in the naivete of youth. It was... sickening, to be perfectly honest."

Sun Lixia felt bile rise in her throat as the repressed memories came flooding back. The lingering stares, the unwanted gifts, the unsettling notes – all pieces of a disturbing puzzle she had chosen to ignore in her youthful ignorance.

"You stalked us," she whispered, horrified realization creeping into her voice. "All those years, you were obsessed, fixated on tearing us apart."

Zhang’s laughter was a hollow, mirthless sound that seemed to claw at the very air around them. "Indeed, I was quite... invested in separating the two of you. Can you blame me, really? A mind as exceptional as yours, shackled to a mere trust fund brat like Li Xiaojun? It was a travesty, an insult to the boundless potential you possessed."

Li Xinjie stepped forward, his jaw clenched tightly. "You’re a deranged monster, nothing more. And you’ll pay for every ounce of suffering you’ve inflicted on our family."

Zhang’s gaze slid towards Xinjie, his expression one of idle curiosity. "Ah yes, the unexpected twin. A delightful little surprise, I must admit. Tell me, does your mother even know the truth about how you came to be separated from your brother?"

An uncomfortable silence stretched between them, broken only by the sound of Sun Lixia’s ragged breathing.

"I thought not," Zhang purred, savoring their discomfort like a fine vintage. "You see, after years of obsessing over your mother, I finally stumbled upon a golden opportunity – a chance to tear her away from that insipid husband of hers and mold her into the partner she was always meant to be."

His gaze drifted back to Li Xiaojun, eyes glittering with a twisted sort of fondness. "I arranged for your... extraction, my friend. A simple sleight of hand during one of your wife’s routine prenatal appointments. Before either of you even knew of the twin’s existence, he was safely swaddled in my care."

Sun Lixia felt as though the world had tilted on its axis, her legs threatening to buckle beneath the weight of this horrific revelation. Li Xiaojun, however, seemed to find a wellspring of strength in his righteous fury.

"You pathetic, depraved wretch," he spat, straining against his chains. "Did you really think stealing our child would somehow endear you to her? That she would simply fall into your twisted embrace after such an unconscionable act?"

Zhang’s smile was indulgent, almost paternal. "Of course not, my dear boy. I knew your wife’s moral fortitude far too well to entertain such fanciful notions. No, this was merely the first step in a much grander design."

He began to pace, relishing the opportunity to unveil his machinations like a grand puppeteer pulling aside the curtain.

"You see, once little Li Xinjie was safely tucked away, I orchestrated a series of... incidents designed to slowly unravel the life you and Sun Lixia had so meticulously built together. A lost research grant here, a mistaken identity there – all leading towards the pivotal moment when you would be forced to flee, leaving your beloved child behind trying to save his life...Well I mean the other twin I let you raise."

Li Xiaojun’s eyes widened in horror as the pieces fell into place. "The drugs... The illegal human trials you wanted us to participate in. We refused, and you sent an order to have us killed so that you could proceed with this deranged plan of yours."

Zhang smiled, a cold, mirthless expression that sent a chill down Sun Lixia’s spine. "Finally, the puzzle comes together. Yes, my love, I did what I had to do. All so that I could scoop you up in your moment of vulnerability and mold you into the partner you were always destined to become."