Today was Lin Shu and Zhou Yanli’s sixth wedding anniversary, but he had taken their daughter to celebrate his mistress’s birthday.
Sitting in the back seat, Lin Shu quietly watched her husband, her daughter, and the other woman he had kept hidden for six years.
The young woman wore a vivid red dress, and the little girl wore a matching outfit from a mother-and-daughter set. The man stayed by their side as they enjoyed themselves. They looked every bit like a happy family of three.
“Wen Xin, it’s your birthday today. This is my present for you.”
Lin Shu watched as her husband slowly opened the expensive jewelry box in his hands. The color drained from her face.
It was an emerald necklace, a keepsake her mother had left her. Zhou Yanli had borrowed it, saying it “had an important purpose.”
She remembered how, long ago, Wen Xin had seen it around her neck and remarked casually, “Zhou Yanli, I love this so much. I wish I had one too.”
Her husband had tricked her out of the keepsake her mother left her and given it to another woman.
“Shuangshuang, come give Auntie a kiss.”
Zhou Yanli gently nudged their daughter toward Wen Xin.
Lin Shu clutched her chest. She had carried Shuangshuang for ten months. Her daughter had never been close to anyone but her—let alone kissed another woman.
And yet—
Zhou Shuang planted a kiss on Wen Xin’s forehead and threw her arms around her.
“Auntie Wen Xin, could you be my mommy too?”
So this was the wonderful daughter she had raised with her own hands.
When had Shuangshuang gotten so close to Wen Xin?
Zhou Shuang was the daughter Zhou Yanli had begged Lin Shu on his knees to have. Lin Shu had once suffered an ectopic pregnancy and nearly lost her life. Ever since, she had been afraid of childbirth.
The Zhou family had only one son in each generation, and Zhou Yanli was their only son. Knowing how afraid she was to give birth, he had pleaded with her, promising that the Zhou family would cherish their child, boy or girl, as the apple of their eye.
She had heard that Wen Xin had come this close to marrying into the Zhou family.
But—
She couldn’t have children.
Was Zhou Yanli letting Zhou Shuang get so close to Wen Xin because he wanted to give her their daughter?
Lin Shu slowly closed her eyes, unwilling to think about it anymore.
Six years of marriage. The hardship of carrying a child for ten months.
Because she loved Zhou Yanli, she had risked her life. And what had she gotten in return?
Lin Shu—
Weren’t you just a tool Zhou Yanli had used?
Through the car window, Lin Shu picked up her phone and called Zhou Yanli.
She could hear his ringtone from inside the car. Zhou Yanli clearly looked at the screen, but still didn’t answer.
Not until Zhou Shuang reminded him.
“Daddy, is that Mommy? If you don’t answer, she’ll pull that suicide stunt again.”
Only then did Zhou Yanli swipe to answer.
“Lin Shu?”
His voice was cool and distant, nothing like the tenderness he used with Wen Xin.
Lin Shu lowered her eyes.
“Where did you take Zhou Shuang?”
Zhou Yanli glanced at Zhou Shuang and Wen Xin, then touched a finger to his lips, signaling Zhou Shuang to be quiet. The understanding between the three of them was the kind shared by family.
Silence stretched across the line.
Lin Shu gripped her phone until her knuckles turned white.
“Today is our wedding anniversary. When are you coming home?”
Zhou Yanli’s expression stiffened.
After a long pause, Zhou Yanli finally spoke.
“I remember. I bought you a present. I was going to come home later and surprise you.”
Fireworks suddenly burst above the amusement park…
The tremendous boom reached both of them as they held their phones.
Zhou Yanli instinctively looked up.
Straight ahead, at twelve o’clock, his wife sat in a red Ferrari, gazing at him through the window.
Wen Xin had picked up Zhou Shuang, leaning close against Zhou Yanli.
At the sight of the three of them together, so perfectly at ease, Lin Shu no longer felt like getting out of the car.
Sorry for intruding…
She thought…
So she was the one who had interrupted them.
Zhou Yanli’s pupils suddenly contracted. He started to move toward her, but Wen Xin and Zhou Shuang both caught hold of his hand.
“Daddy, was Mommy following us?”
Wen Xin’s voice was soft and delicate. “I’ll go explain things to Lin Shu. She must have misunderstood.”
Lin Shu’s voice came through the phone, so flat it barely sounded human.
“Don’t bother. I haven’t misunderstood.”
She slowly lowered the phone and fixed her gaze on Yu Yu in the driver’s seat. “Drive.”
Back at the villa, Yu Yu briefed Lin Shu as they walked.
“Miss Wen and Mr. Zhou were together for several years. They were close to getting married. But Miss Wen can’t have children, and the Old Master refused to approve the marriage, so—”
Yu Yu didn’t finish. Lin Shu smiled faintly.
“So he married me.”
The Zhou family wouldn’t be satisfied with having only Zhou Shuang, a girl. Last month, Zhou Yanli had brought up his wish to have another child.
Another one?
Ha—
Was this all to prepare the way for Wen Xin to enter the household as its mistress?
That way, the next Mrs. Zhou wouldn’t have to go through the pain of childbirth. She could simply take over Lin Shu’s husband—and be handed a son and a daughter as well.
What a schemer. What a calculating move.
“The good news is, three months ago Wen Xin was diagnosed with stomach cancer. She has only a year to live.”
Lin Shu’s breath caught.
The Old Master had stomach cancer too.
What a family. Even their illnesses were remarkably alike.
Night deepened, and the clock on the wall had just struck ten.
A fire burned in the fireplace. Lin Shu sat on the sofa, wide awake.
The door opened, letting in a gust of icy air from outside.
Only Zhou Shuang came home. Zhou Yanli was nowhere to be seen.
“Mommy, why did you go to the amusement park for no reason today—”
When Zhou Shuang saw Lin Shu, two bright red patches stood out on her rosy cheeks. She was clearly furious.
“Daddy and Auntie Wen Xin promised to take me to see the midnight fireworks. It’s Christmas today, and because of you, Daddy made me come home early.”
Lin Shu’s heart ached. Right—today was Christmas, and her birthday.
Lin Shu stood and crouched in front of Zhou Shuang, reaching out to brush the snowflakes from her clothes. Zhou Shuang turned her face away in disgust and kept her distance.
“Auntie Wen is sick, so we’re keeping her company. She’s so good to me. She buys me everything I like, and whatever I want to eat, she’s happy to come along. Of course I should keep her company too.
“Mommy, you’re so mean. You won’t even leave a sick person alone. You followed us, and now Auntie Wen is upset and Daddy won’t take me out to play anymore. You got what you wanted.”
Zhou Shuang pouted, her big eyes full of hatred for Lin Shu.
“Miss, you can’t say that. Madam hand-knitted a sweater in your favorite style, and there’s a big Christmas stocking filled with all your favorite toys.”
Even Nanny Wu could hardly listen to this anymore. The young miss had been raised by her mother, yet she’d known the woman her father had on the side for only a few days and was already turning against her own mother.
Zhou Shuang didn’t even look at her. “I’m grown up now. Who wants those baby toys?”
Lin Shu’s heart hurt until it went numb. It wasn’t her daughter’s accusations that hurt most, but the genuine disgust on Zhou Shuang’s face—it was exactly the same look Zhou Yanli wore when he was impatient with her.
Nanny Wu hurried over and covered Zhou Shuang’s mouth. “Miss, you mustn’t say things like that. You’ll upset your mother.”
Lin Shu slowly stood up. The room was warm, but she could no longer feel her body.
“Shuangshuang, Mommy is going to divorce your daddy.”
Even with Zhou Shuang treating her so cruelly, Lin Shu had still held on to a sliver of hope. After all, she was her daughter. Maybe—
“That’s for the best. I want Auntie Wen to be my mommy too.”
“I want Auntie Wen to be my mommy too” was the final straw that broke Lin Shu’s marriage.
She had made up her mind—
This time, she would absolutely not stay with Zhou Yanli any longer.