“And the reason?” Wen Conghan retracted the gentle smile from her face. Her cold expression was now a mirror image of Shen Yuxin.
Counterintuitively, Wen Conghan resembled Ji Yanru more when she smiled, but when she was serious, she looked exactly like Shen Yuxin. Seeing their two unsmiling faces side by side, no one would ever doubt their biological connection. One look was enough to know they were mother and daughter.
“The two of you are not a good match.”
Shen Yuxin’s reason was blunt and devoid of hesitation, causing Wen Conghan’s scrutinizing gaze to falter for a moment.
Wen Conghan said nothing. She merely stared into Shen Yuxin’s eyes with indifference. Just as Shen Yuxin prepared to speak, Wen Conghan suddenly reached out and gripped the frame of her bedroom door.
Blue veins popped out on the back of her long, fair hand as her fingers exerted immense force. Her nails dug into the wooden door so deeply it seemed she might draw blood if she pressed any harder.
Wen Conghan had thought this mother, who kept claiming to love her and wanting her to come home, would offer a better reason. Instead, she was met with a reason that sounded utterly absurd.
“If that is your only reason, I will not agree to it.” Wen Conghan finally released her grip on the doorframe.
She was slightly taller than Shen Yuxin, and her youthful, aggressive aura flared up in that moment. However, Shen Yuxin had expected this and began to explain the cause.
“Our family carries a recessive Alpha hereditary disease. The incidence rate is not high, and it sounds like a minor condition: Emotional Apathy.”
“However, this disease causes a person to lack normal human feelings toward many things. Furthermore, those afflicted become exceptionally paranoid regarding the person they love.”
“The deeper they love, the more they disregard the outside world and other people. Eventually, they may do something irreversible. A patient might even take their lover with them into death.”
“Conghan, if you resent me or Ji Yanru, we can endure your revenge. It was our fault for not looking after our own child. We deserve it.”
“But Mianyue is innocent. She had no choice in this.”
“Please, do not take your revenge out on an innocent person, all right?”
Shen Yuxin’s words caused Wen Conghan’s sharp, outward emotions to gradually turn inward. As she looked at Shen Yuxin, the doubts in her heart began to unravel piece by piece.
Since childhood, Wen Conghan had been a child with very dull emotions. Her perception of any feeling was incredibly slow. Whether it was joy or sadness, her awareness was weak. This resulted in her having very few friends, which had been a constant source of worry for the Mother and Mommy who raised her.
But at that time, Wen Conghan did not care. Her world was small. As long as she knew she loved her Mother and Mommy, it did not matter if anyone else loved her.
“So,” Wen Conghan began.
“Why did you not just abort me the moment you found out I was an Alpha during the prenatal checkup?”
Wen Conghan’s features relaxed as she asked the question in a cruel tone. It was difficult to describe the distress she felt upon hearing this reason.
If she did not exist, regardless of whether Ji Mianyue had been switched, her Mother and Mommy would not have had to worry about her until the moment they died.
Wen Conghan knew her words were heartless. She watched Shen Yuxin’s face turn pale as she began to sway on her feet. But she was truly confused. Her thin capacity for emotion had originally been placed on her parents; now, it was placed on Ji Mianyue. She had nothing left to give to Shen Yuxin or Ji Yanru.
“I apologize. It was my fault.” Wen Conghan took a deep breath and bowed to Shen Yuxin.
“I simply had some questions. I did not mean to hurt you intentionally.” Wen Conghan sighed, her eyes filled with exhaustion.
“To be honest, I just feel that if I had never been born, everyone’s life would have been better.”
“But fate has brought us here, and I will absolutely not let go.”
“Ms. Shen, you are mistaken. I do not want to seek revenge on anyone. You are a bit late with your warning. I love her. I have fallen in love with Ji Mianyue.”
“I cannot let go of her.”
“Please leave.”
Wen Conghan spoke these words in a calm, steady tone, as if she were discussing the day’s weather. It was this version of Wen Conghan that made Shen Yuxin even more convinced she was suffering from Emotional Apathy.
“Do you not understand? If you truly like Mianyue, you should not be with her.”
Wen Conghan looked at her, her eyes cold.
“But you have already given birth to me. From the moment I was born, there was no room for reversal.”
“To make me let go, you would have had to stifle me before I came into this world.”
Shen Yuxin stared at the person before her. She did not understand why Wen Conghan could rub salt into her wounds over and over again.
“By the time I discovered you, you were already moving. How could I have given up on you?”
Shen Yuxin looked at her daughter, but she received no response. Instead, she faced a gently closing door.
Wen Conghan understood what Shen Yuxin meant, but she refused to follow that line of thinking. Except for Ji Mianyue, she could not feel alive through anyone else. Without Ji Mianyue, she was no different from a walking corpse. Under these circumstances, she could not leave Ji Mianyue unless she died.
In her daze, her mind was filled with the Mother and Mommy who had actually raised her. Mother Wen was a very gentle person who knew Wen Conghan did not have many feelings. So, she took Wen Conghan’s hand and taught her, bit by bit, what emotions were.
In the beginning, Wen Conghan did not understand. She simply followed her nature. If she was attacked, she would get angry or strike back. That lasted until she saw her mother’s tears. From that day on, Wen Conghan became obedient and began to learn from Mother Wen.
After discovering she and Ji Mianyue had been switched at birth, Wen Conghan had actually been angry. She had simply been suppressing her rage and pain. If they were switched, what about the suffering her Mother and Mommy endured? They had been worried and apologizing for her until the moment they died.
Ultimately, the one Wen Conghan hated most was herself. If it were not for her, her Mother and Mommy would not have been so sad.
Knock, knock.
There was another knock at the door. Wen Conghan felt a surge of irritation, assuming it was Ms. Ji Yanru. But when she opened the door, she saw Ji Mianyue. She was holding a cup of hot milk, her eyes filled with confusion.
It was the first time Ji Mianyue had seen Wen Conghan like this: exhausted, and perhaps even a little weary of the world.
“I noticed you did not eat much tonight. I was afraid you would have a stomachache on an empty stomach.”
Wen Conghan’s heart softened instantly. She took the milk with one hand and pulled Ji Mianyue into her arms with the other.
“It hurts.”
“It really hurts.”
Wen Conghan could not describe her distress. She simply did what she used to do long ago: hide in the arms of the warmest person she knew when she was in pain. Back then it was her Mother and Mommy; now it was Ji Mianyue.
She was being unfair, because she could not tell if her feelings for Ji Mianyue were more about love or dependence. But she could not help it. She could not be fair. Without Ji Mianyue, she would die, or suffer something even more painful than death.
“Does it hurt? Where does it hurt?”
“Why do we not go see a doctor? Okay?”
Ji Mianyue hurried to soothe Wen Conghan’s emotions. She wrapped her arms around Wen Conghan and gently patted her back.
“No, I do not like doctors.”
Wen Conghan rejected the suggestion, even showing a bit of a temper. It was rare for Ji Mianyue to see Wen Conghan act this way, and it felt incredibly fresh to her.
“But you still have to see a doctor. Otherwise, what if the illness gets worse?” Ji Mianyue analyzed the situation bit by bit, trying to persuade her.
“No. I do not want a doctor. As long as I have you, it does not hurt anymore.”
The way Wen Conghan spoke was completely different from her usual self. She sounded almost like a child.
“I am not some kind of miracle cure,” Ji Mianyue tried to persuade her again.
“You are. I think you are.” Wen Conghan buried her face in the crook of Ji Mianyue’s neck, her voice muffled.
“How can you think the pain away just like that?”
Ji Mianyue felt somewhat helpless. She was still trying to convince Wen Conghan to see a doctor when Wen Conghan suddenly pulled her into the room.