Shen Zhi had just upgraded her escape plan to version 2.0.
She was lying on her bed, seriously studying the weighty topic of "how to discreetly liquidate gold."
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
Mother Shen's gentle voice sounded.
"Zhizhi, could you come downstairs for a moment?"
Shen Zhi instantly flipped her phone face-down.
"Of course!"
She sprang up from the bed with the practiced ease of an employee caught slacking off by the boss.
[Why another meeting?]
[Do wealthy families also do daily stand-ups, weekly meetings, and monthly reviews?]
[Don't tell me they found out I was just taking inventory of my assets?]
Shen Zhi looked herself over.
Good.
Clothes neat.
Expression innocent.
Phone locked.
Escape plan secure.
She took a deep breath, put on a standard well-behaved smile, and opened the door.
Mother Shen stood outside. Seeing her guarded yet dutifully obedient appearance, her heart softened and ached at the same time.
"Your father and your brother are waiting for you in the living room."
Shen Zhi nodded.
"Okay."
[Dad and brother?]
[That lineup feels a bit like a tribunal.]
[Am I finally getting disowned for eating two extra cupcakes this morning?]
Mother Shen barely held back a laugh.
She gently took Shen Zhi's hand.
"Don't be nervous. We just have something to tell you."
Shen Zhi got even more nervous.
[In TV dramas, "don't be nervous" is always followed by either bankruptcy or a terminal illness.]
[I've only been transmigrated for one day. It can't be this dramatic, right?]
In the living room.
Father Shen sat in the main seat on the sofa.
Shen Wang sat to the side, a laptop in front of him, his expression calm.
Except his fingertips were resting on the keyboard — clearly not actually working.
When Shen Zhi came down, Father Shen softened his tone.
"Zhizhi, sit."
Shen Zhi sat down obediently.
Posture upright.
Hands on her knees.
Smile on her face.
Like an excellent student waiting for the homeroom teacher to announce final exam results.
Father Shen looked at her and was silent for a few seconds.
This matter shouldn't have been brought up so soon.
But they had to confirm Shen Zhi's reaction.
They also had to know exactly where she stood — what position she believed she held in this family.
Mother Shen sat down beside her and took her hand.
Shen Zhi's heart lurched.
[It's over.]
[Hand-holding for comfort.]
[This is definitely something big.]
[Could they have found the real daughter?]
The next second, Father Shen spoke.
"Zhizhi, there's been some progress regarding Qingli."
Shen Zhi's expression froze for a beat.
Qingli.
Shen Qingli.
The Original Novel's Female Lead.
The true daughter of the Shen family.
And the destined female lead who made the villainous fake heiress look like a sewer rat by comparison.
In the plot, when the Shen family discovered the clues, the original owner had broken down on the spot.
First, she smashed a cup.
Then, she tearfully demanded to know if Father and Mother Shen were going to abandon her.
Finally, she stormed upstairs and shredded every photo of Shen Qingli.
A textbook vicious female supporting character meltdown.
Shen Zhi rapidly replayed the original plotline in her mind.
Then, she put on an exceptionally professional, corporate-grade fake smile.
"Really?"
"That's wonderful."
Father Shen: "…"
Mother Shen: "…"
Shen Wang lifted his eyes to look at her.
Shen Zhi's smile was sweet, her tone sincere, as if she'd just won Employee of the Year.
"Little sister finally gets to come home."
"You've been searching for her all these years — it must have been so hard, Mom and Dad."
"I'm just glad you found her."
The living room fell silent for a moment.
Father Shen's carefully prepared words of comfort all caught in his throat.
Mother Shen's eyes grew warm with tears.
Even Shen Wang's gaze paused slightly.
Shen Zhi kept a graceful smile on her face.
While inside, fireworks were already going off.
[Coming back is great!]
[The real daughter has returned to her rightful place, so this fake can clock out ASAP!]
[Retired wealthy-family life, here I come!]
[As long as I don't fight, don't grab, and don't stir up trouble, who could possibly shove me back into the vicious female supporting character script?]
[Fake daughter of a wealthy family persona—my whole strategy is non-cooperation.]
Shen Wang lowered his eyes, hiding the emotion in them.
Fake.
She was calling herself that again.
Mother Shen's grip on Shen Zhi's hand tightened.
Shen Zhi looked over in confusion.
"Mom?"
Mother Shen quickly adjusted her expression.
"It's nothing."
"Mommy just… didn't expect you to be so sensible."
Shen Zhi felt a flash of guilt.
[Sensible?]
[Honestly, I'm mainly afraid of dying.]
[The original owner just couldn't let go—she insisted on fighting the Female Lead for the parents, the brothers, the fiancé.]
[And in the end? The parents were disappointed, the brothers disgusted, the fiancé stabbed her in the back, and she ended up in jail.]
[That kind of catastrophic misfortune? I'm not taking it.]
Father Shen's face darkened.
Fiancé?
Backstabbed?
Jail?
Each word was more grating than the last.
But he couldn't ask.
He could only pretend he'd heard nothing.
For the head of the Shen family, this was more stifling than conceding ten percentage points at the negotiation table.
Shen Wang closed his laptop.
His voice was flat.
"You don't mind?"
Shen Zhi straightened up immediately.
"Big Brother, why would I mind?"
She blinked, the picture of obedience.
"Qingli is a daughter of the Shen family. Of course she should come back."
"I've taken her place for all these years—I've already been lucky."
Mother Shen's heart ached.
"Zhizhi, you haven't taken anyone's place."
Shen Zhi smiled.
"Mom, I know you love me."
[Sob, a gentle mom is so wonderful.]
[But in a True and False Heiress story, the adopted daughter must never overstep her boundaries.]
[I have to stay clear-headed.]
[Once the Female Lead returns, I need to lower my presence proactively—ideally move into the small house or somewhere outside.]
[Of course, if I could get a decent severance package before leaving, even better.]
Mother Shen nearly blurted out that she was forbidden from moving.
Father Shen frowned too.
Shen Wang tapped the edge of his laptop lightly with a fingertip.
A decent severance package?
What did she take the Shen family for?
A company doing layoffs?
Shen Zhi was completely oblivious to the drop in air pressure in the living room.
She was already optimizing her exit plan in her head.
[First, don't fight the Female Lead for a room.]
[Second, don't be sarcastic and passive-aggressive.]
[Third, don't touch the Male Lead, Lu Jingheng.]
[That thing—anyone who wants it can have it.]
[All I want is money.]
Father Shen sharply caught the words "Lu Jingheng."
The Lu family again.
Shen Wang's eyes grew colder.
But Mother Shen was caught between laughing and crying at that "all I want is money."
This child was terrified out of her mind.
Yet she was still working so hard to carve out a path to survival for herself.
She wanted money not out of greed.
It was because she believed that, apart from money, nothing truly belonged to her.
Mother Shen reached up and gently smoothed the stray hairs by Shen Zhi's ear.
"Zhizhi, whether or not Qingli comes back, you are our daughter."
Shen Zhi froze for a moment.
She looked up at Mother Shen.
Those eyes were too gentle.
So gentle she could barely bear it.
Shen Zhi quickly lowered her head, avoiding that trace of warmth.
"Mm, I know."
[Don't do this.]
[If you keep this up, I won't be able to let go.]
[But I can't afford to be attached.]
[Once the real daughter returns and the Shen family is reunited, it's time for this extra person to know her place and bow out.]
Mother Shen's hand froze in midair.
Father Shen watched her in silence, his eyes growing complicated.
Shen Wang turned his head to look out the window.
For the first time, they saw it with perfect clarity.
Shen Zhi didn't not care about the Shen family.
Quite the opposite.
She cared.
That was exactly why she was afraid of being an eyesore.
That was why she kept reminding herself, over and over, that she had to leave.
Father Shen's voice grew even gentler.
"The matter with Qingli isn't fully settled yet."
"We only have some leads."
"Until she comes back, everything at home stays as it is."
Shen Zhi nodded at once.
"I understand."
【Got it.】
【A transitional period, huh.】
【I'll be a quiet, low-maintenance, low-cost temporary resident.】
Shen Wang: "…"
Father Shen: "…"
Mother Shen: "…"
Temporary resident?
Mother Shen nearly had a heart attack from those four words.
She held herself back, again and again, from grabbing the girl into her arms right then and telling her she wasn't allowed to go anywhere.
Just then, Shen Wang's phone vibrated.
Chen Zhou's name flashed on the screen.
The atmosphere in the living room tightened instantly.
Shen Wang glanced at Father Shen.
Father Shen gave an imperceptible nod.
Shen Wang rose and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window before answering.
On the other end, Chen Zhou's voice was pitched very low.
"President Shen, Zhao Wencheng's accounts—there really is something wrong with them."