CHAPTER 105: CHAPTER 105; NO, NOT HIM....

Shen Xiao clenched his jaw, trying to remain composed. "You mean Shen Xuan? Should I call him?"

"No. Not him." A pause. "The other one."

His heart thudded in his chest like a warning drum. "There is no other one," he said carefully. "You never told me, Yueyao, if there was another pregnancy, another child....."

She turned her head slowly toward him.

And for the first time, her eyes truly met his; they were not vacant, not wild, but deeply piercing.

"If I told you, they’d come back and take her!"

"Who?"

She didn’t answer. She shut her eyes again, and her body shivered despite the heavy blankets.

Behind them, the elder maid silently motioned for the younger to fetch the doctor.

But Shen Xiao raised a hand, don’t. Not yet.

He moved closer, kneeling by her bed, voice shaking as he whispered, "You’re not alone, Yueyao. Whatever happened... whatever they did... I will help you."

But she didn’t reply.

Instead, she began to hum, softly, tunelessly, like a lullaby that had no beginning or end. A sound made only for someone who no longer lived in this world.

And Shen Xiao... just listened.

The weight of an invisible child pressed into the space between them.

The silence, thick with things unspoken, stretched long into the night.

Was this what it meant with being cursed? Was his life cursed for eternity?

The hum tapered off, slipping into silence as Yueyao’s lips stilled. Her eyes remained closed, but Shen Xiao knew she wasn’t asleep. She had simply retreated, somewhere far beyond his reach.

He sat there for what felt like an hour, maybe more. The maids had long since withdrawn to the corner, keeping watch from a respectful distance, unsure whether to intervene or just... disappear.

At last, Shen Xiao rose to his feet, his joints stiff, his mind heavier than his body.

"Keep watch of her and notify me in case of any episode..." He eyes her for one last gaze before leaving the room and letting the maids accompany her.

Shen Xiao stepped out of the room, pulling the heavy door shut behind him with a quiet click. The muffled hum of Yueyao’s lullaby still clung to the edges of his memory like a haunting echo.

The hallway beyond was dim, sunset filtering faintly through the frosted glass panels. It should have felt warm, familiar, but instead, a chill settled in his bones. He took a breath, deep and sharp, as if trying to anchor himself back to reality.

A guard approached quickly but respectfully, bowing slightly. "Master Shen, there’s a call from the Old Mansion. It’s regarding the Young Master."

Shen Xiao’s brows furrowed. His feet moved before his mind caught up. "Where is the line?"

"Downstairs, sir. The telephone was placed in the sitting room."

Without a word, Shen Xiao descended the staircase, each step echoing dully through the silence of the house.

The marble underfoot was cool, polished to a fault. Paintings loomed on the walls, ancestral faces that seemed to watch him pass with knowing eyes.

He reached the sitting area. Light streamed in through the tall windows now, warm and golden, yet it did little to soften the storm building in his chest.

The antique telephone rested on a small lacquered table near the window. The receiver had already been lifted from its cradle by the steward, who now extended it to him with both hands.

Shen Xiao took it slowly, pressing it to his ear.

"This is Shen Xiao."

There was a crackle on the other end, followed by the voice of the caretaker from the Old Mansion, quiet and tense.

"Hello Master Shen, it’s Old Master Shen and Madam wanted to talk to you, let me take this phone to them." The caretaker responded as he received the call.

"Okay...."

"Shen Xiao..."

"En."

His father’s voice came sharp and clear, laced with restrained displeasure. "What’s going on, Xiao? Xuan’er just arrived sobbing like a lunatic. He kept saying that the woman had gone mad. Your mother is hysterical trying to calm him down."

Shen Xiao’s jaw was tightly clenched. He knew they would call, but at the moment, his staying there was the only solution.

"That woman," his father continued coldly, "has finally shown her true colors, hasn’t she? We warned you from the beginning. Yueyao was never fit for our family, to be the mother of our heir. A low-born girl with nothing to offer but a pretty face and clever lies. We knew this day would come. And now see?"

Shen Xiao said nothing. He couldn’t say a word at such a moment, he was already exhausted handling two women plus Shen Xuan.

His mother’s voice suddenly came through in the background, thin and shrill. "Didn’t I say she was unstable from the start? Didn’t I tell you madness is a genetic disorder? She has always been so quiet and sweet, too sweet! A snake in sheep’s skin. She only married you for our family name and protection. You should never have brought her into this house."

"How could she hold her child hostage and scream at him? That’s the child she gave birth to..." his father snapped, louder now. "What kind of mother does that? If the boy’s traumatized, it’s her fault. Divorce her, Xiao. Do it cleanly and quickly. Don’t let this become a scandal. I won’t let you destroy what I have worked hard for."

Shen Xiao’s knuckles whitened where he gripped the phone. His voice, when it came, was flat and emotionless.

"Enough."

There was a pause. His father’s voice was lowered, dangerous, and cold. "You are letting sentiment cloud your judgment again. Haven’t we cleaned up enough of her messes for you? That woman is a liability, not a wife. Divorce her as soon as possible, and get Shen Xuan’s custody, she doesn’t seem to be fit to be his mother..."

Shen Xiao’s gaze dropped to the dark floor beneath him. A single memory flickered across his mind, Yueyao’s soft laugh from years ago, the way she used to sit on the balcony reading quietly as the sun dipped behind her silhouette. That woman no longer existed. Or maybe... maybe she never did.