Chapter 92: Caught in the Act

The moment Xu Yinian left the room, the mask of civility between the remaining two women vanished, replaced by an unrestrained, mutual loathing.

Under the oppressive weight of their shared hostility, the temperature in the suite seemed to plummet. Bai Ran, benefiting from her proximity to the situation, acted with casual impunity even under Shen Ruoshuang’s gaze.

She reached out and swapped her tea cup with the one Xu Yinian had just been holding—the one the girl had been sipping from, bit by bit.

Bai Ran’s pale, gaunt fingers curled tightly around the curved black ceramic. She turned it back and forth against the light, her knuckles turning a sickly shade of blue-purple from the intensity of her grip. Upon spotting a small, dark patch of moisture on the rim where Yinian’s lips had rested, her gaze softened into something as fluid and yielding as water.

She pressed her own lips to that exact mark and drank the tea.

It was as if the liquid were a sweet nectar capable of momentarily sating her deep-seated thirst. This “comforting placebo”—this indirect exchange of intimacy—was something that occurred almost daily in the dark corners where Xu Yinian never looked.

Shen Ruoshuang knew that Bai Ran’s private, obsessive behaviors likely went even deeper than this. Her gaze remained unmoved, as still and silent as a stagnant pool.

Bai Ran let out a soft chuckle, her voice leisurely and terrifyingly tender. “Niannian is timid and chose not to pursue it. But surely you don’t think that makes you innocent, do you?”

Unlike their first confrontation, where the mention of the past had provoked an uncontrolled burst of fury, Shen Ruoshuang’s emotions were now perfectly submerged. She met the provocation with a chilling calm.

“That leverage isn’t as useful as you think it is. If it were, you wouldn’t have waited until today to bring it out.” She paused, her voice hardening. “Bringing it up again comes with a price.”

As she finally raised those clear, distinct peach-blossom eyes, a flicker of something began to leak through her outsider-like rational mask. It was contempt. It was disdain.

Bai Ran acted as if she had heard the world’s greatest joke. “Are you warning me?” she asked, incredulous. “A piece of trash like you, who should be repenting to Niannian until the day you die… you’re warning me?”

Her tone was a frigid poison. “Are you even worthy?”

At that moment, a subtle but urgent knock at the door interrupted their dispute.

Bai Ran showed not a hint of surprise. She leaned back into her seat with a loose, relaxed posture, a pleasant smile curling her lips. “Time’s up. It’s a pity, but it looks like you guessed wrong.”

“How could I ever bear to hurt Niannian? You’re the only one who has to taste the price of this little mistake.”

With that, Bai Ran stood up and walked toward the door. By the time she reached it, she had perfectly assumed a mask of ignorant worry, her brow furrowed with concern. “Niannian has been gone for so long. She couldn’t have gotten lost, could she?”

***

The young beauty who had been draped over Shen Yi was named Liu Qiao. Naturally, she was Shen Yi’s lover.

She had only been with her for a month, but she already understood why the rumors in their social circles claimed CEO Shen was a woman of ice. Aside from her business-like generosity with money, the woman was fastidious, cold, and possessed a suffocating need for control. She was like a jagged, frozen stone that could never be warmed—hardly what anyone would call a considerate sugar mommy.

In truth, before she ever reached out to Shen Yi, Liu Qiao knew that no lover stayed by the woman’s side for more than three months, let alone gained a formal title. As an adult, Liu Qiao knew her own worth; she had come for Shen Yi’s timeless beauty and a quick payout.

But after only a month, the constant rejection was becoming unbearable.

It was then that the mysterious, sickly eldest daughter of the Bai family had approached her. The woman offered a sum of money that was impossible to refuse, though her request was peculiar.

Liu Qiao was told that upon receiving a specific message during dinner, she was to seduce Shen Yi at any cost. Her total payout would depend on the “success” of her seduction.

Liu Qiao was terrified of offending Shen Yi—money was no use if she lost her life—but after confirming there would be no secret cameras or leaks to the media, she decided the reward was worth the risk. Following the Bai girl’s instructions, she had dismissed the secretary and the receptionists beforehand so they wouldn’t be interrupted. When the message arrived, she threw herself onto Shen Yi, playing to the woman’s known preferences.

Who could have known that before she could even undo the top button of her blouse, she would be interrupted by a timid knock at the door?

Initially, she thought some sightless server had ruined her chance at a payday. She turned around in a rage, only to realize something was very wrong.

Wait… what? Is this a “catching a cheater” situation? Why is she being so polite that she’s knocking?

The person at the door looked no more than nineteen, likely a student. Her coat and inner layers looked worn and cheap, utterly out of place in this high-end restaurant. She wasn’t a striking, conventional beauty, but she was fair-skinned and delicate. When she raised her almond eyes, they were flooded with a panicked, misty terror that made Liu Qiao’s heart skip a beat for no reason.

“S-Sorry…”

The apology was stumbling and delayed, as if the girl had only just processed what she was seeing. Her voice was soft to the core, trembling with a hint of a sob.

What’s with the apology? Liu Qiao wondered, momentarily dazed by the girl’s aura. She couldn’t tell if this “little white rabbit” was part of Miss Bai’s plan or just a random accident. She could only stay in character, remaining silent and fearful while she secretly observed.

The intruder was, of course, Xu Yinian.

Even as slow as she was, she realized she had just walked in on a high-profile figure in a compromising position. The sight of the two women in such an intimate, forbidden pose was overwhelming.

Xu Yinian was too ashamed to look and too terrified to run. Her legs felt like they were nailed to the floorboards. She had to watch as the younger woman was coldly pushed away.

To a manically perfectionist person like Shen Yi, Xu Yinian’s clumsy intrusion was a glaring flaw in her evening. However, because the girl was young and clearly terrified of her, Shen Yi surprisingly didn’t snap. She simply frowned and called for her secretary to handle it.

Liu Qiao was stunned to see that the CEO didn’t lash out. She took another look at Xu Yinian. I don’t get it… she just looks like a total ditz.

The secretary, who had been in the adjacent suite, arrived promptly. She hadn’t suspected anything when Liu Qiao had previously told her not to disturb them; when it came to her employer’s “tastes,” the less she knew, the better.

Having spent years in the elite circles, she had seen plenty of filth. Her first instinct was that CEO Shen’s lover was causing trouble. But Liu Qiao’s expression was one of genuine confusion and awkwardness.

Though CEO Shen and her lover had some wrinkles in their clothes from the scuffle, they were still relatively composed. The secretary sighed in relief and turned her attention to the culprit at the door.

She immediately ruled out a deliberate intrusion. The girl looked like she was about to burst into tears; she didn’t have the stomach for a scheme. The secretary’s expression softened involuntarily, and she asked patiently, “What’s going on here?”

“…W-Wrong room,” Xu Yinian murmured, her face flushing as she looked away in embarrassment.

Liu Qiao nearly choked. Was it really just a random person walking into the wrong room?!

“CEO Shen, this…” The secretary looked to Shen Yi for instructions. She couldn’t make the call herself, though she suspected the CEO wouldn’t be too hard on a young girl.

Hearing the title “CEO Shen,” Xu Yinian realized the secretary was addressing the dignified, unsmiling woman. Her thin frame couldn’t stop shivering. Shen Yi carried the sharp, lethal aura of a veteran of the business world; even a hint of her impatience was enough to terrify the girl.

Shen Yi took in the sight of the trembling girl and felt another frown coming on, but she forced it down. Is she really that scared of me?

“Fine. Send her back,” she commanded. It was her usual cold, hard tone, devoid of any extra emotion.

The secretary began to ponder. She didn’t even mention a non-disclosure agreement. Do I still need to make her sign one?

Just then, a familiar voice drifted in from behind.

“Niannian! What happened?”

Bai Ran’s voice was like a lifeline. Xu Yinian’s scattered soul snapped back into her body, and she turned with a small, tearful cry. “Sister Ran—”

Beyond Xu Yinian, Liu Qiao also struggled to keep her facial muscles from twitching. Oh? So this IS Miss Bai’s doing… but why did she come here personally?

Bai Ran walked over, freezing for a moment when she saw the person inside. “Auntie… Auntie Shen?”

Ever since the last dinner between the Shen and Bai families, Bai Ran had begun addressing Shen Yi this way. Her eyes swept across the room, seemingly realizing what Xu Yinian had walked in on. She turned back with an embarrassed expression, though she said nothing.

The secretary was an expert at reading the room. Her heart sank as a suspicion formed. She followed Bai Ran’s gaze toward the hallway and nearly gasped.

Standing there was none other than the Shen family’s own daughter—Shen Ruoshuang.

And she was witnessing her mother in the aftermath of a tryst with a lover. The wrinkles on their clothes were tell-tale signs.

It was over. Everything was ruined.

Xu Yinian’s confused gaze landed on Shen Ruoshuang. She noticed something was wrong immediately. The girl stood frozen nearby, her natural, innate pride looking as though someone had reached out and snapped it in half.

Her features were hidden in the shadows of her falling hair, making her expression impossible to read. Only her jagged shadow stretched out behind her, making her trembling as visible as her shattered dignity.

Shen Yi, realizing the situation from the atmosphere, didn’t bother to straighten her clothes or hide. Her cold, reprimanding tone brought the suffocating pressure of the moment to a peak.

“Are you planning to stand there and let everyone watch the show?”

What happened to Shen Ruoshuang? Yinian wondered.

Auntie Shen… Shen Ruoshuang?

Xu Yinian finally realized why the woman’s features had looked so familiar. She was practically the mold from which Shen Ruoshuang had been cast.

Is she… Shen Ruoshuang’s mother? Then what I just walked in on was…

A sudden chill washed over Xu Yinian. This feeling—she remembered it.

In high school, a beautiful woman claiming to be a friend of Shen Ruoshuang’s mother had asked her for directions to find the girl. When that woman had called out “Shuangshuang” in front of the whole class with a guilty, awkward expression, Shen Ruoshuang had looked at her with a gaze so sharp it tore through her own self-respect.

That had been the turning point in their relationship.

Shen Ruoshuang had been buried under rumors of unknown origin claiming “that woman is the mistress of Shen Ruoshuang’s father,” and she had endured endless judgment and whispers. Xu Yinian, meanwhile, had been misunderstood by everyone as the source of those rumors, leading to her being hated and isolated.

She realized now that those rumors weren’t even Shen Ruoshuang’s biggest secret.

Whether it was the woman who had approached her in high school or the woman she had just caught in this scandalous scene… they weren’t the father’s mistresses.

They were clearly her mother’s lovers.