In her entire life, her grandfather had never once laid a hand on her. That single slap felt like it had torn her very soul from her body. She covered her face, shrinking back in a daze, not even daring to breathe freely. She couldn't understand how such a wonderful arrangement had turned into this utter mess.
"Reckless and willful."
"By the time you truly understand fear, it will be too late."
Weren't those words, spoken to Chen Su, just as much a warning to himself? For the first time in the thirty to fifty years he had built his life on cautious stability, Old Master Chen felt his hair stand on end, seized by a deep, shuddering unease. He had thought he could live out his later years in peace. He had imagined watching his outstanding descendants manage the Chen Family, striving for it to one day become a true century-old dynasty.
