Chapter 103: The Little Cat Part 1

Getting a taxi from X University back to the Shen Family’s Main Residence in the middle of a torrential downpour took considerable effort.

Many roads were flooded, forcing Shen Ruoshuang to study the navigation maps herself. She guided the driver through a maze of side streets and onto the elevated highway before they could finally make headway.

It was past one in the morning by the time she arrived.

The villa, tucked away in the pitch-black mountains, sat at the highest point of the terrain. Yet, it lacked its usual tranquil silence. The rain blurred the glow of the lights shining through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making them look like smudges of ink—as if they were masking silent secrets. Everything about the atmosphere felt off.

The Butler stood at the entrance under a black umbrella, watching the taxi pull over. Her expression was thick with unease.

Just moments ago, after reporting the situation to CEO Shen, she had received a strict order: hide all of Miss Xu’s clothing and belongings. Not a single trace was to be left in front of the Young Mistress. Furthermore, if the Young Mistress asked to see the villa’s surveillance footage later, the request was to be denied.

When Shen Yi had stepped out of the room earlier, the breathtakingly sultry flush in her eyes had not yet faded. It was mixed with an overwhelming gloom that made people look away in fear.

It didn’t look like the aftermath of a romantic tryst… it looked like she had been provoked by that Miss Xu.

The Butler thought of the young girl who had made CEO Shen break her rules time and again. She was incredibly soft; even during a blood draw, she would shrink into the dignified woman’s arms, trembling. She didn’t look like someone with a drop of arrogance or capability in her, yet somehow, she had managed to infuriate the notoriously harsh and cold Shen Yi to such an extent.

After giving her orders, Shen Yi hadn’t returned to the guest room. She simply stood before the dark floor-to-ceiling window and lit a slim cigarette. A single spark of crimson glowed at her fingertips as her dark, cold eyes watched the approaching headlights.

As the car came to a complete stop, the Butler snapped out of her thoughts and hurried over to open the door, shielding the passenger with her umbrella.

“Young Mistress, it’s so late and the rain is so heavy. Why did you return so suddenly?”

The Butler had watched Shen Ruoshuang grow up. Seeing the Young Mistress’s face turn pale in the misty rain, her concern was genuine. Remembering how harsh and cold CEO Shen was toward her daughter—and how she had just brought home a stranger with an ambiguous relationship—the Butler sighed inwardly.

But that young girl looks about the same age as the Young Mistress. She’s far too young…

“Didn’t she return as well? And she brought someone she shouldn’t have,” Shen Ruoshuang said. She didn’t mention the cat. Her voice was cold, but she never took her anger out on the staff.

Cold sweat broke out on the Butler’s forehead.

As expected! I knew she rushed back at this hour because of CEO Shen…

She wondered how the Young Mistress had found out so quickly. Had one of the maids in the villa risked their life to snitch? It seemed a confrontation between mother and daughter was inevitable tonight.

The rule that CEO Shen would not bring lovers back to the Main Residence was a boundary established during their initial agreement for the arranged marriage. The marriage had been a sham from the start; even their daughter had been conceived through IVF.

Because of this rule, Shen Ruoshuang, who had been raised in the Main Residence, didn’t discover the truth until she was fourteen, when she accidentally stumbled into one of Shen Yi’s other apartments.

Although Shen Yi was arrogant and never admitted to being wrong, she had left a “pure land” for her daughter after the divorce. Of course, this was also because the mother and daughter shared the same detached, cold temperament. Neither would allow a mere lover to step across the boundary into their private space.

So, how was this Miss Xu any different?

Shen Yi was never a person known for sympathy or mercy.

Without wasting a moment, Shen Ruoshuang stepped inside, carrying the damp chill of the storm with her. She immediately spotted the dark figure nearly blending into the shadows.

She paused, then acted as if she hadn’t seen her mother at all, peeling off her damp coat and handing it to the Butler. She had traveled all this way for the cat; she had no intention of engaging in a pointless argument with that woman.

Shen Yi narrowed her eyes, slowly exhaling a cloud of white smoke.

When she first heard that Shen Ruoshuang had returned abruptly, Shen Yi assumed it was for Xu Yinian. However, she hadn’t tipped her hand, opting instead to hide the girl and any traces of her presence.

Sure enough, looking at her daughter’s reaction, Ruoshuang was in a hurry, but she wasn’t targeting her mother. One glance told Shen Yi that Shen Ruoshuang was still entirely in the dark.

Xu Yinian had been compliant throughout the journey, focused only on hiding from her and weeping like her heart was breaking. She hadn’t said a word. But for her to remember a specific scent and name in the midst of her drug-induced haze—clinging to it with such dependence—meant their relationship was naturally one where “that sort of thing” could happen, or perhaps already had.

Shen Yi recalled the retaliatory setup Bai Ran had arranged. Suddenly, everything became clear. The crux of the entire scheme lay with Xu Yinian—the girl who seemed so insignificant at first that one might easily overlook her.

Naturally, Shen Ruoshuang would want to keep Xu Yinian hidden; that was why she hadn’t wanted her mother interfering in the matter.

Unfortunately, they both overlooked one thing: this mother and daughter shared the same blood and the same taste.

Just as Shen Ruoshuang had noticed Xu Yinian the first time she saw her, Shen Yi had been captivated during their first encounter by that “dodder flower” look—the panicked, misty, fearful eyes.

CEO Shen was not an ascetic by nature. How could she not develop a few ideas? After all, the cost of getting what she wanted was low; a moment’s whim was enough to have someone “legally” delivered into her hands.

Against a girl who had just reached adulthood, Shen Yi had far too many methods at her disposal if she truly wanted her.