Later that night, Shen Yelan was on the rooftop of her house, staring at the far-off distance. She was leaning back with one knee drawn up, staring into the distance. The wind tugged at her hair, loose strands brushing against her cheek. Her fingers tapped lightly against her knee, playing an unknown rhythm.
It was past midnight, and the whole village was asleep. A few dogs barked in the distance.
"Boss, according to the test results, the latest test results aren't looking good. Your physical indicators are not too optimistic. If left untreated, at most five years, I'm afraid you'll..."
The person on the phone did not finish his sentence. But she understood what he wanted to say, she would die.
There was something wrong with this body of hers. She had not realized it initially, but as weeks passed and she worked on recovering her strength, she'd started noticing the signs.
In her previous life, she had learned about medicine. It was not because she was interested in saving lives but because she was interested in poison. To learn one, she had to learn the other as well.
While she was nurturing this body, she had examined this body, and it was at that moment that she realized that there was an unknown substance circulating in her body. It wasn't purely poison, but it wasn't purely medicine either. Because it strengthened her in some ways, while at the same time, it was destroying her organs little by little.
She knew this was the result of the kidnapping the original Shen Yelan had faced, which had later led to her death. Her memories held snippets of her lying on a cold metal table and being injected with an unknown substance. The aftereffect would cause pain, seizures, and, sometimes, she would even faint.
Shen Yelan wanted to cure herself. After dying once, she had started to cherish her life a little more and wanted to live a normal life. But for that, she first had to cure herself. But first, she needed to figure out what this drug was. Only then could she find an antidote. So far, there had been little progress.
When Shen Yelan did not respond for a long while, the person on the phone called her. "But you should not worry, boss. We still have some time. The files you sent earlier must have some useful information."
"Have they still not decrypted it?"
"Not yet." A female voice answered instead from the other side. "The files have a self-destruct system built in. If we try to force our way in, everything gets wiped. We need the key to access them. But I did find out that it is related to Taiping Pharmaceuticals."
Taiping Pharmaceuticals...
Shen Yelan felt this name seemed familiar. It was after a couple of seconds that she remembered it was a company owned by the husband of her aunt, Shen Meli. She was the younger sister of Shen Chengwei and was married into the Chen family.
"Keep working on it. Also, look into Taiping Pharmaceuticals and see how they are connected to this," Shen Yelan said.
"Roger that," then the call ended.
Shen Yelan put her phone away and lay back against the roof tiles, using her arm as a pillow. The night was darker than usual. There were no stars in the sky, just thick clouds drifting across the moon. Every now and then, the moon would peek through for a moment before hiding again.
She seemed to be thinking for a long moment.
"It's time to return to the Shen family," her voice drifted into the wind.
.
.
Four days later, at the Shen family estate in South City...
CRASH.
The sound of glass shattering echoed through the dining hall. The maids who had been serving breakfast froze for a split second before quickly lowering their heads and retreating.
At the head of the long dining table, Shen Chengwei's face was dark with rage. His phone was clutched in his hand so tightly his knuckles had turned white. On the screen was a news article.
'The Forgotten Heiress: Shen Family's Eldest Daughter Living in the Countryside'
Below the headline was a photograph of a young girl sitting under a massive maple tree. The picture looked like it had been taken secretly and only showed her side profile, but even that was enough to capture her beauty.
She was wearing a simple blue dress that hung loosely on her slim frame, revealing arms as pale as milk. Her long, dark hair was braided over one shoulder, though a few loose strands had escaped and framed her face. There was a lollipop dangling between her lips. One hand supported her chin while the other held an old book with a faded cover.
Anyone who saw this picture would be mesmerized, but Shen Chengwei was not in the mood to admire her. Right now, he was seething with anger.
"How did they find out about her?" he roared, slamming the phone down on the table.
He could not understand how the media had found out about her, let alone able to take a picture. Shen Yelan used to rarely appear before people, so only a few people were aware of her incident. After she was sent away, he'd done everything in his power to make sure no one remembered she existed. Heck, even he had forgotten he had another daughter somewhere out there.
But now her face was plastered all over the news.
The article didn't say much. It mentioned that she'd had an accident and was sent to the countryside to "recuperate." But then it also asked if that was really the truth or if the Shen family was hiding her out of shame.
Shen Chengwei's fists clenched. Whoever was behind this article had guts. Once he found out who it was, he'd make sure they regretted it for the rest of their lives.
Across the table, Shen Wanwan sat quietly, her breakfast untouched. She was looking at the photo on her phone, at the face of the girl she barely remembered. A complicated expression crossed her face before she hid it.
"Honey, calm down." Feng Xin poured him some tea and tried to calm down his anger.
Inside, she was just as angry, but it was not the right time to lose control. They had to think of something before things got out of control.
A scandal like this could affect the company's stock prices. And timing couldn't be worse. Shen Chengwei was in the middle of negotiating a massive business deal, one that could elevate the Shen family to a whole new level of wealth and influence.
After the death of Old Master Shen five months ago, Shen Chengwei finally took full control of the family and the company. And Feng Xin, as his wife, had finally become the true Madam of the Shen household. She'd worked too hard and sacrificed too much to let some forgotten daughter ruin everything now. They couldn't afford a scandal right now.
No, they had to think of something.
"We need to bring her back," she suddenly said.
Shen Chengwei's head snapped toward her. "Are you out of your mind?"
Even Shen Wanwan looked at her mother in disbelief, but she did not say anything. She knew her mother well enough to know there was always a reason behind her actions. Sure enough, she was proven correct.
"Think about it, honey," she said, leaning forward slightly. "The story is already out. If we try to hide her now, it will only make things worse. Before people start asking more questions, we can give them our own story. We can use this to our own advantage. Sympathy is a powerful currency. It could even soften the board ahead of your merger vote."
Shen Chengwei's clenched fists slowly relaxed. He hated to admit it, but she had a point. If they brought Shen Yelan back on their own terms, they could spin this whole thing in their favor. And as for Shen Yelan herself? Well, they could deal with her later.
"Alright. I'll send someone to pick her up later."