Chapter 4

“Whether I’m making things up or not, we can check the security footage.”

My uncle glanced at someone beside him.

In less than thirty seconds, images appeared on the banquet-hall screen.

It was the footage from the day before.

Shen Jingze carried a can of oil into the hallway, poured it by the door and on the stairs, then spread it around to make it look like an accident. He slipped into a blind spot and stared at my mother’s bedroom door with a malicious smile. The footage played three times, each replay clearer than the last.

Shen Jingze’s face went from red to white, then a sickly green.

He opened his mouth, but couldn’t force out a single word.

Chen Meiyi panicked completely. She rushed forward to shut off the screen, only for the police to stop her.

She shrieked,

“That’s fake! The video’s been doctored! Don’t let them fool you!”

No one paid her any attention.

The lead officer stepped forward, glanced at the footage, then at Shen Jingze. His voice was indifferent.

“Any offense committed by the minor will be handled as a separate case. Mr. Shen Wanjun, Madam Chen Meiyi, please come with us.”

As my father was led out, he looked back at me.

His expression was complicated. There was anger and calculation—

but not a trace of remorse.

I doubted that this man would ever learn what remorse meant, in this life or the next.

When Chen Meiyi was dragged outside, she nearly collapsed. Her hair was a mess, her makeup smeared, and her shrill screams were cut off the moment the car door slammed shut.

Shen Jingze stood alone in the empty banquet hall, as lonely as an abandoned toy.

The guests had all left. The servants kept their heads down, afraid to look at him—or at me.

He fixed his eyes on me. Hatred and malice, accumulated over ten years, churned in them. His lips moved, but in the end he could only manage one sentence.

“Shen Xiangyi, I’ll never forgive you.”

I looked at him and curled my lip.

“Suit yourself.”

Then I turned and followed my uncle out of the banquet hall.

Behind us came the crash of porcelain breaking and Shen Jingze’s muffled sobs.

I didn’t look back.

My uncle took my hand. His brows drew together as he looked at the bruises where I’d been restrained.

“Does it hurt?”

I shook my head, then nodded.

It would have been a lie to say it didn’t. I’d taken so many blows to the back, and my side and knee were covered in injuries. Every step felt like treading on the tip of a knife.

But I was more worried about my mother.

“Is Mom in the basement?” My voice trembled a little.

My uncle gave a heavy nod.

“Shen Wanjun locked her down there this morning. He said he was afraid she’d cause a scene and ruin the banquet.”

Ruin the banquet.

I clenched my fists until my nails bit into my palms.

My father was always talking about the Shen family’s dignity, but deep down, all he cared about was his own interests.

My mother was eight months pregnant. He had kept her locked in the basement for an entire day and night, all because he was afraid she would interrupt the birthday party he was throwing for his illegitimate son.

At the basement door, we found a heavy chain locked around it, as if my mother might somehow escape.

My uncle ordered someone to bring a cutting machine. Sparks flew as the lock snapped.

When the door swung open, a wave of cold, damp air hit us.

A single dim yellow bulb hung overhead, casting so little light that the corners were nearly invisible.

My mother was curled up on an old sofa. Her face was pale as paper, her lips dry and cracked, dark circles beneath her eyes.

“Mom!”

I rushed over, dropped to my knees in front of her, and clutched her hand.

Her hand was ice-cold, and she was so thin I could feel the shape of the bones beneath her skin.

She was trembling—her whole body shook without stopping.

Hearing my voice, my mother slowly opened her eyes.

When she saw me, she froze for a moment. Then tears spilled down her cheeks.

She reached up to touch my face, her lips trembling too badly to form a complete sentence.

“Xiangyi… Xiangyi, are you all right?”

“They told me they’d taken you away. I’m useless. I couldn’t protect you…”

I pressed my face into her palm, my voice choked with tears.

“Don’t say that, Mom. I’m fine. Uncle came. We’re all safe now.”

Just then, my mother’s brow furrowed tightly and her expression changed.

She gripped my hand. A suppressed groan escaped her throat.

“Xiangyi, I think the baby’s coming.”

My uncle’s expression changed at once. He pushed past the people around him and crouched down to check on her.

I glanced at the sofa. A dark stain had spread across the cushion beneath my mother.

Her water had broken.

“Call an ambulance!”

My uncle roared, then carefully bent down and lifted my mother into his arms.

“Hang on, sis.”

I ran after them, my heart pounding in my chest as if it were about to break apart.

By the time my mother was carried into the ambulance, her face was contorted with pain.

The ambulance sped down the road, its siren tearing through the stillness of the night.