July 4th was the death anniversary of Shi Youwan’s Omega mother, exactly one week after Chi Yumo’s birthday.
The two days on her business trip had been routine social engagements, and Shi Youwan hadn’t even drunk much alcohol. But when she returned to the Old Mansion the night before, she collapsed onto the bed like a robot with a dead battery after showering and fell into an exhausted sleep.
That morning, Chen Han had knocked on the door to wake her. Naturally, Chen Han remembered the Madam’s death anniversary.
Every year, Shi Youwan and her younger sister Shi Youran would visit the cemetery in the morning to pay respects to their mother. Rain or shine.
The cemetery was located halfway up a hill in the suburbs, serene and tranquil amid the lush greenery. The tombs, meticulously decorated, neat, and uniform, lay quietly here. No matter how brilliant, dazzling, or glamorous one’s life had been, in the end, it all returned to dust.
The solemn quiet of the cemetery brought a long-lost clarity to Shi Youwan’s heart, as if all her worries had been cast aside.
“Sis, no matter how busy you are, you need to rest. Seeing you this tired would break Mom’s heart.”
Hearing Shi Youran’s words of concern, Shi Youwan zoned out for a moment.
—Sis, you’re so tired, it breaks my heart, but I can’t help you with anything.
—Sis, can you sleep just one more hour? I’ll stay with you. One hour’s too much? Then forty minutes? Thirty? Twenty minutes has to work, right? Sis, just twenty more minutes, please?
Recalling Xiao Mo’s playful way of coaxing her to sleep in, a faint smile appeared on Shi Youwan’s face.
But the smile vanished as quickly as it came, because the girl who had her whole heart was no longer by her pillow. No one would softly comfort her anymore or whisper the sweet words she loved to hear.
“Mom still won’t come this year?”
When they were little, they called their Alpha mother “Mommy,” but as adults, they switched to “Mom.” Their Omega mother had always been “Mama.”
Gentle and virtuous, beautiful and generous.
That was how almost everyone described their Omega mother.
And that’s how it was in their eyes too.
Shi Youwan’s relationship with her Alpha mother, Shi Yan, wasn’t as close as Shi Youran’s was with Shi Yan.
From a young age, Shi Yan had been strict with her, treating her harshly. Their dynamic was more like superior and subordinate than mother and daughter.
Unless there was major work to discuss, neither would initiate contact. One was too stern to lower her pride, the other too aloof to express herself.
Shi Youran was the incredibly flexible bond that kept their mother-daughter harmony intact.
“Nearly forty years of deep love—Mommy carries Mama in her heart. Wherever Mommy goes, Mama is there.”
Shi Youran linked arms with her sister, letting her feel the support. “Though Mama’s ashes rest here, her soul must have followed Mommy to that Resort Village where she lives now. It was one of Mama’s favorite places in life. When you have a few free days, come out with us and stay there too.”
With no job, Shi Yan took her daughter there three to five times a year, staying ten days or half a month each visit.
Shi Youwan had only gone once, in the first year Shi Yan moved there, to check on how her mother’s love fared in a foreign land.
“Time to go.”
Shi Youwan didn’t continue Shi Youran’s train of thought. “It’s been raining for three days; the mountain’s damp. It’s not good for your health.”
“Already?” Shi Youran was surprised. They usually stayed over an hour, but today they’d only been there twenty minutes, and her sister wanted to leave?
“Sis, if you’re too shy to tell us about your feelings, at least you can tell Mama. I’ll wait by the road; you chat with her a bit more?”
“No need. Nothing to say.” With that, she turned and walked away, pulling Shi Youran toward the main path.
“You’re gonna hold it all in until you explode,” Shi Youran muttered under her breath.
She was clearly smitten, had someone she liked, but insisted on hiding it, not breathing a word. Her stubborn, impenetrable sister was bound to make herself sick someday.
She had pushed so hard before for her sister to marry an S-Grade Alpha for her own good.
Their Omega mother was A-Rank and had given birth to two children: her sister was S-Grade, she was A-Grade. If Shi Youwan didn’t find an S-Grade Alpha to improve the genes, the chances of the family producing S-Grade heirs would dwindle.
She’d been thinking of the family legacy.
But after seeing Shi Youwan so exhausted and heartbroken that day, she didn’t care about genes or heirs anymore.
They were both daughters of the Shi Family—why should her sister bear everything alone while she lived carefree?
They had come together but rode in separate cars.
Shi Youran had come with Shen Munian. For his mother-in-law’s death anniversary, as the son-in-law, he always attended unless some massive obligation kept him away.
Each time, he said a few words of greeting at the tomb before leaving the time to the sisters.
Their daughter Shen Miao had a fever these past two days, so he hadn’t brought her.
Hearing the driver announce that the young madam and the others were coming down, Shen Munian stepped out of the car again.
“Mu Nian.”
“Sis.” He was less than a year younger than Shi Youwan.
“Youran’s impatient and restless, and she’s six months pregnant. Stop indulging her. I’m fine; just watch her so I don’t have to worry and risk her getting agitated.”
She handed Shi Youran’s hand to Shen Munian. Seeing the tender affection in their shared smile filled her with emotion.
“What are you saying, Sis? We’re family. Your matters are our matters.”
Shen Munian was also puzzled by Shi Youwan’s engagement to Yin Man. “If there’s anything the Shen Clan can help with at the group, don’t stand on ceremony with me, Sis.”
“Don’t overthink it. I’m fine, and Shi Feng’s fine too.”
Shi Youwan got back into the car.
Seeing her unwell, Qiao Ke didn’t rush to show her the documents from the secretary. “President Shi, why don’t you go home and rest for the day?”
The cemetery was close to Lin City—Shi Youwan hadn’t noticed until they left the city that morning.
“Go to the apartment. The one in your name.”
“Got it.”
The only apartment under her name that President Shi would remember was the 27-6 Apartment bought as an onboarding gift for Chi Yumo.
“The 6th was her start date. Over the next two days, settle the accounts for the first two years with her. Be thorough—clear what you can, and for what you can’t, follow her wishes. Do as she wants.”
Shi Youwan had delayed mentioning the debt for a week to give Chi Yumo a buffer period.
She couldn’t trample Xiao Mo’s pride, her dignity.
Xiao Mo definitely wouldn’t live in that apartment anymore, but Shi Youwan still wanted to see it, to know how Xiao Mo had spent the night of the 27th.
But when Shi Youwan arrived at the apartment, she discovered Chi Yumo hadn’t spent even one night there.
Everything inside was untouched, except for the piano bench where they had sat side by side.
The cake on the coffee table showed no signs of being opened or moved. No need to look or smell—it was clear the cake beneath the box had spoiled, gone bad. Just like their relationship.
Only Shi Youwan entered the apartment.
Qiao Ke waited in the corridor outside, handling the tasks Shi Youwan had assigned in the car. But a folded phone notification made her visibly panic.
【Transfer Failed】
The 3rd of every month was when 2,000 yuan in living expenses was automatically transferred to Chi Yumo’s personal account.
They’d been on a business trip out of province yesterday. She’d been run ragged all day and crashed after washing up without checking the miscellaneous notifications on her phone.
Remembering now that it was transfer day, she didn’t look until…
Over two-plus years, the “salary card” she’d set up for Chi Yumo had at least 500,000 yuan accumulated.
So it couldn’t be a lack of funds on her end.
She immediately called the bank. The staff replied that the account had been manually canceled the day before.
Sending a message to Chi Yumo brought up a red exclamation mark.
Calling produced the tone: “The number you dialed is no longer in service. Please verify and try again.”
This…
Was the fallout so severe that she wanted to sever all ties?
But Xiao Mo’s personality—even if cutting contact, she’d settle the accounts first, not vanish without a trace.
Qiao Ke had a bad premonition.
Too anxious to knock, she punched in the code and entered.
Extremely uneasy, she said to Shi Youwan on the sofa, “President Shi, Miss Mo canceled her personal bank account… her phone number too. And WeChat—unsure if she blocked/deleted me or canceled it too.”
Shi Youwan had been resting with her eyes closed. Upon hearing Qiao Ke’s report, she opened her eyes, shock visibly flashing in them.
“Have Aunt Han check her home, right now.” Her heart raced in panic.
“Yes.”
Qiao Ke went to the balcony to call Aunt Han. Shi Youwan picked up her phone from the coffee table and opened the chat with Chi Yumo.
She typed and sent two words: 【Xiao Mo】
Hope dashed. The screen showed a glaring exclamation mark.
How could this be?
How could Xiao Mo… bear to cut her off so completely?
She didn’t even need constant contact with Xiao Mo—she just wanted to know her news, where she was, if work was going smoothly, if life was treating her well.
After the call, Qiao Ke turned and saw Shi Youwan slumped over her lap, clutching the phone tightly.
Worse, she smelled leaking pheromones.
Early month was Shi Youwan’s Heat Period; the Inhibitor was in the car. Qiao Ke went over to help her up. “President Shi, let’s head back to Yinzhou first.”
Once in the car, Qiao Ke gave Shi Youwan an Inhibitor shot. As she prepared a second, Shi Youwan stopped her.
“Go see Doctor Xu.”
…
In the dean’s consultation room, Shi Youwan’s face was ashen as paper, her eyes tightly shut in pain, fine beads of sweat seeping from her forehead. Every slight movement seemed like torture.
“President Shi, did that airhead goose you keep run away from home, or did someone butcher and eat it?”
As Shi Youwan’s private doctor for years, Xu Yuan knew her Heat Period was early in the month. Without even examining her glands, she blurted out unconsciously.
“A Susceptible Period for one, Heat Period for the other—you two should be glued together, inseparable for a week of intimacy, right?”
“What did you say?” Shi Youwan’s eyes snapped open. “Susceptible Period? Xiao Mo’s in her Susceptible Period?”
“You didn’t know?”
Now it was Xu Yuan’s turn to be incredulous. “She came in the morning of the 28th, saying she felt unwell. I ran blood and gland fluid tests—confirmed Susceptible Period. Based on certain markers, it was likely induced. Don’t worry, not pathological.”
That meant drug-induced or Omega-induced.
Was it that weekend they were away on business?
