Chapter 1

Early summer had just arrived, and A City already showed signs of turning hot and dry. The willow trees, which had long since sprouted green shoots, were gently rustled by the night breeze. A light evening rain had fallen, leaving District A004 silent and deserted in the early morning, with no one in sight.

The wind, carrying the unique scent of damp earth and moisture, rushed boldly yet gently into a villa through an open window. But in a mere instant, it was overwhelmed by the room’s pervasive blend of sea salt caramel and camellia wine.

Yu Mo’s free left hand gently wrapped around Shen Shuyu’s slender waist as she carefully and reverently pressed a kiss to her rounded shoulder.

Another wave of Shen Shuyu’s camellia wine pheromone scent washed over Yu Mo, nearly making her lose herself. It was a bitter tea fragrance mixed with a hint of plum, and the final taste on the tip of her tongue was a subtle wine aroma.

Then, the salty, fishy, yet mellow sweetness of sea salt caramel slowly dripped into that cup of camellia wine. It was clean and crisp, without a trace of impurity.

Shen Shuyu, now satisfied, lay draped over Yu Mo’s body, her snow-white skin blooming with a pinkish-white hue, her chest heaving violently.

During Shen Shuyu’s heat, Yu Mo always let the person beside her do as she pleased, satisfying her as much as possible.

The result was often that the next day, she couldn’t even lift her hands.

Perhaps it was the lingering tenderness after their intimacy, but Shen Shuyu slightly lifted her own hand and interlocked her fingers with Yu Mo’s, the hand that had just brushed through her hair.

Their hands were the same size, nails trimmed smooth and round. However, Shen Shuyu’s were much more delicate than Yu Mo’s, with distinct bones, as tender as spring onions, lacking the many shallow scars.

Shen Shuyu’s fingers unintentionally brushed against the particularly prominent scar on the back of Yu Mo’s left ring finger, causing her brows to furrow slightly.

It was left from the accident a year ago.

“Yu Mo.” Shen Shuyu called out softly by Yu Mo’s ear, her warm breath brushing against it, sending another wave of tingling numbness through her.

“Jiejie, I’m here.” Yu Mo replied, gazing into Shen Shuyu’s eyes, which were still bright in their quiet solitude, waiting for her next words.

But Shen Shuyu had no next words. She just quietly looked at Yu Mo for a moment longer. The morning light was dim, and the rays of light falling on Yu Mo’s face made it hard for Shen Shuyu to see her clearly. She could only barely trace the general outline of her face, feeling she must still be the same campus celebrity from her memory—the one with a boyish, dashing, and unrestrained spirit in her brows and eyes.

“I’m going to shower.” Shen Shuyu said, getting up from Yu Mo’s body. Even with the air conditioning on in the summer, after a round like that, both of them felt sticky. Shen Shuyu had never liked that feeling.

The sound of running water soon echoed from the bathroom. The wind lifted the white curtain by the window, and daylight fell into the large bedroom, projecting onto the frosted glass door of the adjacent bathroom. Yu Mo lay on her side on the bed, slightly tilting her head to watch the silhouette of Shen Shuyu traced by light and shadow on the glass.

Her curves were smooth, slender, and elegant, like a transcendent being.

Yu Mo’s throat gently bobbed as her fingers unconsciously turned the ring on her ring finger, subtly betraying her infatuation with Shen Shuyu.

Even though they had been married for half a year, Yu Mo still felt a sense of unreality.

The sound of running water in the bathroom stopped, unnoticed by Yu Mo. Shen Shuyu came out wrapped in a simple, pure white bathrobe. Wiping her half-dry hair, she said, “You haven’t forgotten Feng Ruoyu and Zhou Qin’s wedding next week, have you?”

Yu Mo instantly snapped back to her senses. Faced with Shen Shuyu’s question, she quickly propped herself up on the bed and sat up, replying, “No.”

“I’ll take you to the mall later. You’ve been friends for years; you should pick out something yourself.” Shen Shuyu stated.

Yu Mo, hearing this, felt a faint urge to resist within her heart. “Jiejie, actually, I can go by myself. You don’t have to…”

“Go take a shower.” Shen Shuyu glanced at Yu Mo, her expression cold and clear, just like the rain that fell during the night.

Before she could finish her sentence, Shen Shuyu had cut her off.

It was like this again.

Yu Mo bit the inside of her lip unwillingly, wanting to say more, but Shen Shuyu had already turned and left the bedroom.

Another gust of wind blew into the room, swirling the lingering scent of camellia wine.

Yu Mo got out of bed barefoot. On her pale, slender feet, blueish-green blood vessels could be clearly seen protruding. The bathroom was still filled with steam, and beads of water clung to the small white-tiled walls. Shen Shuyu’s scent wrapped around Yu Mo seamlessly.

Yu Mo compromised again. Not with Shen Shuyu, but with herself.

She simply had no bargaining chip to use against Shen Shuyu.

Yu Mo had loved Shen Shuyu for eight years.

All friends around her knew how deeply Yu Mo had loved Shen Shuyu back then—relentlessly pursuing, pestering shamelessly, famous throughout the entire school.

Finally, last year, she had won the beauty’s heart, rising from the Lower City to the Upper City. It was like a spring night’s breeze, a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate, a sparrow turning into a phoenix.

But that was just the surface glamour. And in reality?

Yu Mo’s originally straight back collapsed dejectedly. Perfectly warm water poured from the showerhead, cascading down onto her head and slowly wetting her shoulder-length black hair.

Water droplets slid from the top of her head onto her long, thick eyelashes, blurring her vision.

A scene from a year ago in the hospital ward surfaced in Yu Mo’s mind.

She remembered that day; the sky was truly, deeply dark. Torrential rain pounded down from the heavens, and the mountain asphalt road was littered with car wreckage and parts. Shen Shuyu had dragged her out of the overturned car. Blood everywhere was washed away by the rain, invisible but its scent was unmistakable.

When she woke up again, her long hair had been shaved clean, but a simple ring had been placed on her ring finger.

“I didn’t ask for your consent, but I thought you wouldn’t refuse.”

Under the soft lamplight, it was Shen Shuyu’s first moment of tenderness towards Yu Mo in eight years. Yu Mo clearly saw that on the ring finger of the hand Shen Shuyu used to hold hers, there was a ring of the same style.

Yu Mo felt she was the happiest person in the world at that moment—if she could only erase the news Shen Shuyu told her a few days later: that her parents had passed away in that accident.

Thinking back, Shen Shuyu was still ice-cold towards her after marriage. Yu Mo figured if Shen Shuyu hadn’t pitied her, she probably wouldn’t have been willing to marry her.

Shampoo foam slid down with the water into Yu Mo’s eye. A sudden, piercing sting concentrated in that small area of her eyeball. Yu Mo winced in pain, splashing water to clean it. Her plain, pale face was like a crumpled piece of white paper.

The water still rushed noisily, mixed with a few faint sobs.

No one knew if it was the foam irritating her eye too much or some other reason, but the corners of Yu Mo’s eyes were red, and her nasal cavity ached with a sour blockage, making her sniffle sharply several times involuntarily.

Almost finished, Yu Mo turned off the showerhead. She hastily dried the water from her body and came out with her hair still wet.

In the small living area, Shen Shuyu stood in front of the expensive marine aquarium she had commissioned, fiddling with the landscape inside. She hadn’t changed out of her bathrobe yet. Under the tightly wrapped bathrobe, a pair of milky-white long legs were elegantly crossed together. The thick, wide belt was casually tied around her narrow waist, outlining her already superior figure.

Yesterday, Shen Shuyu had brought a new red, black, and white Da Vinci Clownfish. The little creature was still not quite adapted to the aquarium. Shen Shuyu was amusing herself by poking it with a small seaweed stick, even showing a rare hint of a smile at the corner of her eye.

For a moment, Yu Mo wasn’t sure if she should go in and disturb Shen Shuyu. Standing at the doorway, even her motions of drying her hair became softer.

Perhaps noticing the figure at the door, Shen Shuyu looked up. She saw Yu Mo half-leaning against the doorframe, standing somewhat awkwardly and uneasily. A few strands of still-wet hair stuck to her clean, pale face, and the corners of her eyes were visibly, unusually red.

“What happened to the corner of your eye?” Shen Shuyu frowned slightly, staring at Yu Mo’s eye.

Shen Shuyu’s gaze made Yu Mo’s heart race. Somehow, she felt there was a hint of pity in Shen Shuyu’s eyes. As if in the next second, Shen Shuyu would walk over, gently stroke her with her pale, slender fingers, and comfort her.

Just like she had seen Feng Ruoyu do for Zhou Qin.

“Foam… got into my eye.” Yu Mo stared intently into Shen Shuyu’s eyes, forcing herself to stay calm.

Shen Shuyu nodded, her gaze leaving Yu Mo’s face. She offered a nonchalant but gentle reminder: “Be more careful in the future.”

It was like a bucket of cold water being thrown over her without warning, yet seemingly commonplace. Yu Mo smiled bitterly inside. What was she expecting again?

“Yeah, I understand.”

“What are you going to wear when we go out later?” Shen Shuyu asked, walking towards their walk-in closet.

Yu Mo wasn’t in the mood to dress up and replied casually, “Jiejie, you choose.”

Shen Shuyu seemed to detect the poor tone in Yu Mo’s voice. She tilted her head and looked out from the closet, only to see Yu Mo’s small, delicate feet bare on the white-grey tiled floor. “Haven’t I told you many times, even in summer, you need to wear slippers.”

Yu Mo looked down and stretched her toes. The bones in her feet pushed aggressively against the thin layer of skin, protruding. Ever since the car accident a year ago, Yu Mo had developed this strange habit. Only by having the soles of her feet touching the ground could she feel grounded.

She had told Shen Shuyu about this, but it seemed Shen Shuyu had never remembered.

Yu Mo replied as usual, “Jiejie, I’m more comfortable this way.”

“Suit yourself.” Shen Shuyu tossed out two words with some dissatisfaction, then turned her head back to continue coordinating outfits in the closet.

She couldn’t help but think of the bright, assertive Alpha girl in her memories.

Different. Completely different now.

The room was silent. Yu Mo dried her hair and walked over to Shen Shuyu’s aquarium.

The clownfish that had just been favored by Shen Shuyu was deftly moving its body, following its newly made friends as it swam among the various sea anemones and corals whose names Yu Mo couldn’t recall.

Sometimes, Yu Mo felt she was just like these fish Shen Shuyu kept—following her, trapped in the world Shen Shuyu provided, under her protection, with her life and death entirely in Shen Shuyu’s hands.

Then Yu Mo thought again, she was actually worse off than these fish Shen Shuyu raised. At least Shen Shuyu would smile at these fish.