It wasn’t because she couldn’t sleep in a new bed.
It was because everything in the room was too new.
The bedsheets were new. The bathrobe was new. The toiletries were new. Even the scented diffuser on the vanity looked as though it had been unwrapped only half an hour ago. The guest room was immaculate and elegant, yet it bore no trace that anyone had ever lived there.
It felt like a hotel.
Not a home.
She woke once in the middle of the night and walked to the window. Looking down into the garden, she saw someone making a phone call.
A slender woman stood beneath the moonlight, wrapped in a shawl, her shoulders trembling as she cried.
It was Shen Wan’er.
The man standing in front of her, gently comforting her in a low voice, was Ye Chen.
The breeze carried a single sentence up to the window.
“Don’t worry. Even if she comes back, no one can take your place.”
Shen Nian listened quietly before pulling the curtains shut again.
She had never expected this so-called fiancé of hers to be a decent man anyway.
Still, seeing him and Shen Wan’er acting so openly without a shred of restraint made the little patience she had left shrink even further.
Early the next morning, the Ye family arrived.
And they came fully prepared.
Ye Chen.
The Ye family’s butler.
Their lawyer.
They had even brought the company’s official seal.
It was as if they were terrified the engagement wouldn’t be canceled cleanly.
By the time Shen Nian finished washing up and came downstairs, the living room was already full.
Shen Chongshan sat in the seat of honor, his brows tightly knitted.
Lin Man sat beside him, her expression equally unpleasant, though she struggled to maintain appearances.
Shen Yanzhou stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, handling work on his phone. Clearly, he had also been summoned back early that morning.
As for Shen Wan’er, she wore a pale pink lounge dress. Her eyes were still red, making her look gentle, delicate, and pitiful.
As though the woman who had clung to Ye Chen and cried in the garden last night wasn’t her at all.
A document lay on the coffee table.
Four bold characters on the cover stood out glaringly.
Engagement Termination Agreement.
Shen Nian walked over, lowered her eyes to it for two seconds, then pulled out a chair and sat down.
No one spoke.
Finally, Lin Man broke the silence.
“Nian, have a seat. Young Master Ye came today because he wants to settle everything properly.” She softened her voice as much as possible, trying to preserve some dignity as an elder. “Since you and Ye Chen have never really met before, this engagement…”
“…isn’t suitable,” Ye Chen finished for her.
He didn’t even bother hiding the appraisal and disdain in his eyes.
“Don’t worry. The Ye family won’t mistreat you. Five million yuan, plus an apartment in the southern district of the capital. That’s more than enough to support you for the rest of your life.”
Shen Nian raised an eyebrow.
“Five million?”
Thinking she was tempted, Ye Chen’s tone grew even colder.
“You’ve only just returned. You probably have no idea what things cost in the capital. Most people can’t earn that much money in their entire lives.”
Shen Nian smiled.
“You’re right.”
“I really have no idea.”
She nodded thoughtfully.
“So that’s all you’re worth.”
Ye Chen’s expression stiffened.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you’re trying to buy out an engagement with just five million.” Shen Nian flipped open the agreement and leisurely read through the first two pages. “Young Master Ye, do you think you’re that valuable, or do you think I’m that easy to dismiss?”
After speaking, she calmly turned through the remaining pages.
The compensation clause read like charity.
The confidentiality clause, on the other hand, was absurdly long.
Especially the final sentence—
“Neither party may make any statement detrimental to the Ye family regarding the engagement.”
The calculation behind it was practically written across her face.
“Very thorough.”
She flicked the pages with a finger.
“The money isn’t much, but you’re certainly determined to keep my mouth shut. What? Afraid people will find out the Ye family’s heir kept his fiancée while carrying on with another woman behind her back?”
The Ye family’s lawyer immediately stepped in.
“Miss Shen, the Ye family has come here in complete sincerity. You’ve only recently returned to the Shen family and are unfamiliar with many things. The Ye family simply wants to provide you with solid security—”
“Security?”
Shen Nian looked up.
“Are you here to cancel an engagement…”
“…or to hand out poverty relief?”
The lawyer was left speechless.
Lin Man frowned.
“Nian, don’t speak like that.”
“Then how should I speak?”
Shen Nian laid the agreement back on the table.
“They brought a lawyer and the company seal right to my doorstep. Am I supposed to thank them for letting me save face?”
Shen Chongshan finally spoke.
“The Ye family has been our business partner for many years. If this matter becomes public, it won’t benefit either side.”
“So?”
Shen Nian looked directly at the man who was supposedly her father.
“You want me to sign it?”
Shen Chongshan avoided answering directly.
“You and Ye Chen never had any feelings for each other. A forced relationship never ends well.”
It sounded like persuasion.
But in reality…
He was still standing on the Ye family’s side.
Shen Nian suddenly found the whole situation rather amusing.
Last night’s family reunion banquet had been their way of putting her in her place.
This morning, they all sat here calmly watching her be publicly dumped.
From beginning to end…
Not a single person had asked her one simple question.
Did she want this?
“A forced relationship never ends well.”
Shen Nian nodded.
“That’s true.”
“But that doesn’t mean a rotten melon gets to choose for itself.”
Ye Chen’s face darkened.
“Shen Nian, don’t push your luck. Without the Ye family, do you really think you’ll have a secure place in the Shen family?”
As if startled by his words, Shen Wan’er hurriedly tugged on his sleeve.
“Brother Ye Chen, don’t say that. Sister just came home. She must already be hurting…”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Ye Chen sneered.
“When she embarrassed you in front of everyone last night, did she ever stop to think how other people would feel?”
The moment he said it, Shen Wan’er’s eyes immediately filled with tears again.
Lin Man’s heart ached for her, and her tone became even more biased.
“Nian, Wan’er and Ye Chen grew up together. Their feelings for each other have always been deep. Why don’t we just let the engagement go?”
“Let it go?”
Shen Nian leaned back slowly in her chair.
“My mother’s belongings—you tell me to let those go.”
“The engagement—you tell me to let that go too.”
“Is it because, in your eyes, as long as I don’t make a fuss, don’t fight back, and don’t speak up…”
“…everything naturally belongs to someone else?”
Lin Man’s face turned pale.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
The room instantly fell silent.
At last, Shen Yanzhou turned away from the windows.
His voice was cold.
“The engagement was arranged by our elders. Since neither side wants it, there’s no need to make things so ugly.”
Shen Nian looked at him.
“Neither side wants it?”
She smiled faintly.
“President Shen, I think you’ve misunderstood.”
“It isn’t that I don’t want it.”
“It’s that no one has ever bothered to ask whether I wanted it.”
Those simple words left even Shen Yanzhou silent for two full seconds.
Ye Chen had clearly run out of patience.
He gestured for the lawyer to slide the agreement across the table.
“Sign it.”
“If this drags on, the only one who’ll lose face is you.”
“You’ve only just returned to the Shen family. Leave yourself a way out.”
Shen Nian stared at the agreement for a long moment before asking,
“Who drafted this?”
The lawyer answered instinctively.
“The Ye family’s legal department.”
“It’s terribly written.”
She reached for the fountain pen on the table.
A flash of satisfaction crossed Shen Wan’er’s eyes.
She had thought Shen Nian’s stubbornness was nothing more than empty pride.
But in the next second, Shen Nian swiftly wrote a single sentence across the blank space on the final page.
“This engagement is hereby terminated due to Ye Chen’s moral misconduct. The cancellation is initiated by Shen Nian.”
She tossed the pen back onto the table.
“If you want to end the engagement, fine.”
She looked straight at Ye Chen.
“Before noon today, both the Ye Corporation’s official website and your personal account will publish a public statement.”
“I’ve even written the wording for you.”
Ye Chen laughed in disbelief.
“Dream on.”
“You stood beside Shen Wan’er at last night’s family reunion banquet.”
“You hugged her.”
“You comforted her.”
“That alone is enough for everyone outside to get the wrong idea.”
She spoke calmly.
“And now you want to quietly pin all the blame on me?”
“On what grounds?”
She pushed the agreement toward him.
“The statement is simple.”
“First: The engagement is being canceled because Ye Chen lacks integrity. It has nothing to do with me.”
“Second: Ye Chen and Shen Wan’er maintained an inappropriate private relationship, making the engagement impossible to continue.”
“Third: I, Shen Nian, am the one rejecting Ye Chen.”
“It is not the Ye family showing me charity.”
Every sentence landed like a slap across the face.
The living room fell into a suffocating silence.
Ye Chen shot to his feet, gritting his teeth.
“In your dreams! Who do you think you are? You think I’d publish something like that?”
“That’s fine.”
Shen Nian nodded.
“Then I’ll release the surveillance footage from last night’s family reunion banquet.”
“Let everyone see exactly how the Ye family’s heir embraced another woman and declared his undying devotion on the very day his fiancée was welcomed back into her family.”
Shen Wan’er’s face instantly turned deathly pale.
She had cried in the garden last night only to make Ye Chen feel more sorry for her.
She had never imagined Shen Nian had witnessed the whole thing.
“Sister…”
Her voice trembled.
“How can you say that? Brother Ye Chen and I simply grew up together. I’ve always treated him like an older brother…”
“When you were crying in his arms last night…”
Shen Nian interrupted coolly.
“Did you remember to call him ‘Brother’ then?”
One sentence.
That was all it took to freeze Shen Wan’er completely.
Lin Man’s expression also changed.
“You were spying on them last night?”
“This is the Shen residence.”
“I happened to see them while standing at my own bedroom window.”
“Does that count as spying?”
Her tone remained calm.
Yet Lin Man couldn’t think of a single word to refute her.
Ye Chen glared at Shen Nian, fury blazing in his eyes.
“Shen Nian, don’t go too far.”
“Too far?”
A faint smile tugged at her lips.
“You came to my home with a lawyer to cancel the engagement.”
“You tried to buy my dignity with five million.”
“Last night you held her in your arms and promised no one could ever take her place.”
“None of that is going too far?”
“Or is it that, in your eyes, humiliating someone else is called preserving dignity…”
“…but exposing the truth is what counts as going too far?”
The room fell completely silent.
The Ye family’s lawyer looked utterly embarrassed.
Even the butler didn’t dare lift his head.
The veins at Shen Chongshan’s temples bulged.
The situation had clearly become too ugly to ignore.
“Enough.”
“Everyone, stop.”
He turned toward Shen Nian, his voice carrying unmistakable displeasure.
“No matter what, the Ye family is still our business partner.”
“Do you really have to tear things apart like this?”
“So what you care about…”
Shen Nian said quietly,
“…is the business partnership.”
“Not me.”
Her voice was soft.
But the softer it was…
the harder it struck.
Shen Chongshan froze, clearly not expecting her to tear away the last layer of pretense so directly.
Shen Yanzhou frowned as well.
Just then, Shen Yue came downstairs.
Hearing those words, he paused halfway.
Before he could speak—
A heavy thud suddenly echoed from upstairs.
It sounded as though something massive had crashed to the floor.
Then came a servant’s terrified scream.
“The Old Madam is coughing up blood!”
The cry exploded through the mansion like thunder.
Lin Man was the first to rush upstairs, her face drained of color.
“Mom!”
Shen Chongshan and Shen Yanzhou leaped to their feet almost simultaneously.
Even Shen Yue forgot to ask what had happened and sprinted upstairs.
Ye Chen stood there in shock for a moment before instinctively moving to follow.
But Shen Nian had already thrown down the agreement and rushed up the stairs ahead of everyone.
As she rounded the staircase, chaos erupted behind her.
The Ye family’s lawyer quietly called, “Young Master Ye,” seemingly asking whether they should leave first.
Shen Wan’er was still crying, her sobs thin and frantic.
Lin Man’s cries of “Mom!” had become hoarse with panic.
Just moments ago, everyone had been sitting around the same table discussing dignity and appearances.
Now, in the blink of an eye…
their true faces had all been revealed.
The Old Madam’s bedroom door stood wide open.
Inside, the room was in complete disarray.
The elderly woman slumped against the side of the bed, blood staining the corners of her mouth.
Her face had turned bluish, and her fingertips twitched uncontrollably.
Several family doctors stood around her bedside.
Each of them was pale with fear.
None dared insert a needle.
“What’s going on?”
Shen Yanzhou demanded coldly.
One of the doctors was drenched in sweat.
“The Old Madam’s heart rhythm is extremely unstable. It looks like an acute complication, but… it doesn’t resemble an ordinary attack.”
“Grandma!”
Shen Wan’er threw herself toward the bed, tears streaming down her face.
“How could this happen? She was perfectly fine last night…”
Standing at the doorway, Shen Nian took only one glance before her eyes turned icy.
This wasn’t a sudden illness.
It looked far more like poisoning.
She strode forward and seized the Old Madam’s wrist to check her pulse.
Shen Yanzhou immediately reached out to stop her.
“What are you doing?”
“If you don’t want her to die…”
Shen Nian raised her head, her gaze frighteningly cold.
“Then shut up.”
For a brief moment, Shen Yanzhou was so overwhelmed by her eyes that his hand loosened involuntarily.
Shen Nian pressed two fingers against the pulse.
A few seconds later, her gaze snapped toward the IV stand beside the bed.
“Remove that medication.”
One of the doctors froze.
“But that’s to stabilize her heart rate…”
“I said.”
“Remove it.”
Her voice wasn’t loud.
But it carried an unquestionable authority.
No one moved.
Shen Wan’er cried even harder.
“Sister, don’t do this! Grandma’s already in such a critical condition…”
“Keep acting.”
Shen Nian’s voice was icy.
“And she’ll really be dead.”
She reached out and pulled the IV needle free herself.
The very next second—
The Old Madam suddenly coughed up another mouthful of blood.
This time…
It was black.
Every face in the room turned deathly white.
Without the slightest hesitation, Shen Nian pressed two acupuncture points on the Old Madam’s chest.
Her voice remained terrifyingly calm.
“Prepare the silver needles.”
“Now.”