Inside the villa.
Zhou Yaqin sat uneasily on the expensive genuine leather sofa, her well-maintained fingers gripping the teacup tightly, knuckles turning white. Lin Ruoyan sat beside her, tear stains still wet on her face, looking pitiful.
"Auntie, it's already been a whole day… how come there's still no movement from Yunmian's side?" Lin Ruoyan's voice trembled. "With her personality, she definitely won't let me off easily…"
Zhou Yaqin forced herself to stay composed, her tone carrying a hollow toughness: "What's there to be afraid of! I'm her biological mother! What can she even do to me?" As she spoke, she patted Lin Ruoyan's hand, trying to comfort her—and also to reassure herself. "Don't worry, with me here, Yunmian will at most throw a tantrum. Once some time passes and she cools down, it'll be fine."
But Lin Ruoyan wasn't so optimistic. She knew Shen Yunmian's methods well—once a bottom line was crossed, there would be no mercy.
She grabbed Zhou Yaqin's hand, crying even harder: "Auntie, you have to help me, you can't just ignore me! I have nothing left now. If Yunmian blocks me again, I… I'll have no way out but death!"
Just as Zhou Yaqin was growing irritated by her crying and about to say something to keep up appearances, the sound of a car engine came from outside the villa.
Zhou Yaqin's heart tightened. She exchanged a glance with Lin Ruoyan, both seeing panic in each other's eyes.
Soon, a servant opened the door. Secretary Li stood at the entrance, followed by several stern-looking people.
"Secretary Li? Y-you… why are you here?" Zhou Yaqin forced herself to sit upright on the sofa, her voice carrying a barely noticeable tremor.
Secretary Li remained polite yet distant. "Sorry to disturb you. President Shen instructed me to handle some matters."
"Yunmian… what did she say?" Zhou Yaqin's voice was dry.
Secretary Li didn't beat around the bush. She looked directly at Lin Ruoyan and said in a businesslike tone, "Miss Lin, per President Shen's instructions, starting today, Shen Group and all its affiliated companies will terminate all cooperation, resource support, and promotional activities with you. This is the termination letter."
She signaled the lawyer behind her to hand over the document.
Lin Ruoyan's face instantly turned deathly pale, her hands trembling so badly she could barely hold the paper.
Secretary Li continued, "At the same time, the legal department has conducted a preliminary calculation of the funds you've received in recent years under your personal name from President Shen and Shen Group that did not meet contractual returns or involve disputes. The total is approximately 46 million. Please repay it within seven working days, otherwise we will proceed with legal action."
"What?!" Lin Ruoyan screamed. "H-how could I possibly come up with that much money!"
"That's something you'll have to figure out yourself. Otherwise, you can wait for a court summons."
Lin Ruoyan completely panicked. Like grasping her last lifeline, she threw herself beside Zhou Yaqin and begged, "Auntie! Auntie, save me! I can't go to jail! Please beg Yunmian for me. That money… a lot of it was spent on you too!"
Zhou Yaqin's sore spot was struck. Her face turned alternating shades of pale and flushed.
She abruptly stood up, trying to maintain her authority, pointing at Secretary Li and scolding, "What do you mean by this? Relying on Yunmian's power to bully your way into my home? Do you even take me seriously? I'll call my daughter right now and have her fire all of you lackeys!"
Faced with Zhou Yaqin's bluster, Secretary Li's expression didn't change at all. She continued calmly, "Madam, President Shen also instructed that starting today, the right to use this villa will be revoked. All assets within the villa belonging to Shen Group, including but not limited to antiques, artworks, as well as jewelry and luxury bags purchased with President Shen's credit card, will be inventoried and sealed by us. You may take your personal clothing and a small number of personal belongings. Meanwhile, President Shen will arrange a standard apartment for you and deposit 5,000 yuan per month into your account as basic living expenses."
These words struck Zhou Yaqin like a bolt from the blue!
All the color drained from her face. Her voice became shrill, almost breaking: "Impossible! I'm her mother! How could she treat me like this? I don't believe it! I want to see my daughter!"
"This is President Shen's decision," Secretary Li said professionally. "I'm just carrying out orders. Please cooperate."
"Cooperate? Cooperate my ass!" Zhou Yaqin completely dropped her noblewoman façade, trembling with rage as she pointed at Secretary Li and cursed, "You ungrateful things! Without me, Shen Yunmian wouldn't be where she is today. Now that her wings are grown, she dares treat her own mother like this—she'll be struck by lightning!"
As she cursed, she tried to rush toward the bedroom to grab the jewelry she valued as her life.
Secretary Li's gaze sharpened. She gave a subtle signal to the bodyguards behind her. Two well-trained bodyguards immediately stepped forward, blocking Zhou Yaqin's path—polite in appearance but firm in action.
"Please calm down. Don't make this difficult for us," one of them said in a low, unyielding voice.
"You dare touch me? This is rebellion! All of you are rebelling!" Zhou Yaqin struggled and screamed like a madwoman.
Lin Ruoyan cried and shouted beside her. The scene descended into chaos.
Secretary Li watched the farce expressionlessly, recalling President Shen's words—"no need to hold back"—and thinking of her own high-paying job. She knew exactly what to do.
Without hesitation, she gave the order: "Move faster. Inventory the items. Have Madam and Miss Lin leave."
The bodyguards and assistants immediately got to work with high efficiency.
Ignoring Zhou Yaqin's crying and curses and Lin Ruoyan's desperate pleas, they quickly and methodically began cataloging the villa's valuables.
Half an hour later, Zhou Yaqin and Lin Ruoyan were "escorted" out of the villa like stray dogs.
Zhou Yaqin's hair was disheveled, her clothes in disarray, carrying only a hastily packed suitcase with a few pieces of clothing. There was no trace of her former elegance as Madam Shen. Lin Ruoyan collapsed on the ground, ashen-faced, as if she could already see her miserable future.
Sitting in the car back to the hospital, Secretary Li rubbed her temples and called Shen Yunmian.
"President Shen, everything has been handled."
"Got it. Arrange bodyguards to guard the ward. I don't want to see anyone right now." Shen Yunmian paused, a trace of complex emotion in her voice. "Except my wife."
Secretary Li froze for a moment, then immediately responded, "Understood."
The call ended.
Shen Yunmian lay on the hospital bed, eyes half-closed, her chest still aching.
She knew that deep down, she was still hoping that person would come to see her.
And then two days passed—forty-eight full hours.
The ward door opened and closed—nurses doing rounds, doctors checking in, Secretary Li reporting work on schedule… but Yu Sheng never came, not even a single phone call.
Daylight faded into dusk, then into deep night, over and over again.
The phone screen beside her dimmed and lit up repeatedly. Her fingers hovered over that familiar number several times, only to fall weakly each time.
No matter what she said, calling would only bring humiliation.
Proud as Shen Yunmian was, she couldn't bring herself to beg again and again. She could only swallow the bitterness alone, letting it ferment inside her chest, burning through her insides.
"Well, well, hospitalized again? Since when did our President Shen become so fragile?"
A teasing female voice broke the silence of the ward.
Qiao Wei stood at the doorway empty-handed, leaning against the frame, her face openly gloating.
Shen Yunmian didn't even bother to open her eyes, let alone respond.
Ever since that meeting between Qiao Wei and Yu Sheng, this childhood friend hadn't said a single thing she wanted to hear. Every meeting ended with urging her to divorce—nothing else.
Ignoring her indifference, Qiao Wei walked in anyway. Her gaze swept over Shen Yunmian's pale face before settling on the faint marks on her neck that even the hospital gown couldn't fully hide.
The earlier incident had caused quite a stir, so Qiao Wei had naturally heard about it and called Shen Yunmian out of curiosity.
Shen Yunmian, annoyed by her questioning, had no choice but to tell her about her mother's scheme—only to be thoroughly mocked for it.
And clearly, Qiao Wei wasn't done yet. She dragged over a chair and sat down, speaking with deliberate sarcasm: "I have to say, Yunmian, your family pit is really deep. You hold the Shen family's immense wealth, yet your own mother and that 'adopted little sister' dared to team up and drug you. Tsk tsk… I don't even dare imagine what kind of hell Yu Sheng went through living in your house back then."
Shen Yunmian's hand tightened abruptly over the blanket. Her long lashes trembled violently, her throat clogged as if something were stuck, unable to produce a sound.
Qiao Wei's words were like a knife, slicing open the truth she had always tried to avoid—what she had once thought of as "home" had been a prison for Yu Sheng, and she herself had been one of the executioners.
Seeing her silence, Qiao Wei continued pressing: "But honestly, after everything between you two, Yu Sheng still came to help you and even "did hate" with you. That's practically a bodhisattva descending to save you."
Shen Yunmian couldn't take it anymore. She turned over, presenting her back to Qiao Wei, clearly refusing to engage.
Qiao Wei wasn't bothered in the slightest. She continued, "Shen Yunmian, see this? This is what they call retribution! Even heaven couldn't stand how you treated Yu Sheng! Take my advice—hurry up and get the divorce done. Give each other a way out, and at least leave yourself a shred of dignity."
"I won't divorce!" Shen Yunmian suddenly spoke, her voice carrying a near-obsessive desperation. "Not even in death!"
That sudden low roar startled Qiao Wei.
The sound was sharp and piercing.
Seeing her so stubborn and unyielding, Qiao Wei felt her chest tighten with anger and snapped irritably, "Shen Yunmian, with that stubborn, rotten temper of yours—no wonder Yu Sheng is disappointed in you. Go on, keep pushing it. I'd love to see what kind of ending you'll end up with!"
"Get out!"
"Fine, I'm leaving!"
With that, Qiao Wei turned around. Her high heels struck the floor with crisp, angry clicks as she slammed the door behind her.
The ward fell into deathly silence once more, leaving only Shen Yunmian's breathing.
She knew she was extreme. She knew Yu Sheng felt nothing but annoyance toward her now. She knew all of this was her own doing.
But let go?
Just the thought of Yu Sheng leaving her, of having nothing to do with her ever again—that overwhelming panic was enough to swallow her whole.
She couldn't do it.
Even if she had to resort to every despicable means, she would keep Yu Sheng by her side.
Even if it meant resentment, mutual torment.
It was still better than… losing her.
—
T/N: If you're enjoying this translation, feel free to check out my Patreon. If you're unable to support financially, you can still subscribe for free and receive chapters two hours earlier, along with updates and announcements. Paid tiers offer early access and daily chapters.
Thank you so much for reading!
patreon.com/Baenz