CHAPTER 158: CHAPTER 158; MOMMY! NO

Yueqin pulled back, eyes wide at her mother’s words, her pout deepening. For the first time, she seemed uncertain. She glanced from Yueyao to Jin Shuren, as though trying to measure the truth of it all. Why are they trying to scam her?

Jin Shuren set down his pen with deliberate care, the quiet sound of it clicking against the desk pulling every gaze back to him.

His arm around Yueyao firmed, an unspoken declaration, before he leaned slightly toward his daughter. His voice was steady, calm, but laced with the weight of an emperor delivering judgment.

"Yueqin," he said, each syllable deliberate, "your mother is not just ’big but she is the reason you have me at all. She is the first, and she is mine before anyone else, including you."

The little girl froze, her round eyes glassy as his words settled. Her lip wobbled, a storm of hurt and incomprehension in her small chest.

But then Jin Shuren’s hand, the same that held the empire in place, lifted to stroke her hair. His touch was slow, patient, the faintest warmth softening his iron voice. "That does not mean I love you any less. It means you must never fight her place. Without her, Yueqin, there would be no you... and no me."

Yueqin’s throat bobbed as she tried to understand, her tiny fists loosening their grip. She leaned against him again, quieter now, still sulky but subdued.

Yueyao’s eyes shimmered, her heart twisting at the way he had placed her above all else so plainly, so firmly, in front of everyone. The jealousy in her chest softened, though it did not vanish, because she knew, even in his arms, she would always crave more.

On the screen, the executives’ voices had gone faint, drowned by the silence that thickened within the room. None of the servants dared to move. Jin Zhou’s pen hovered uselessly above his paper.

Because in that moment, every soul present understood a truth sharper than glass: the empire belonged to Jin Shuren, but Jin Shuren belonged to Yueyao.

Yueyao’s breath trembled, the knot in her chest tightening. She could feel Yueqin’s little arms clinging possessively to Jin Shuren’s neck, the warmth of her daughter pressed against the man she herself was trying to keep only for her.

Her lips curved into a faint smile, soft to anyone watching, but beneath it, her eyes flickered with a jealous heat.

Her hand slipped down Jin Shuren’s sleeve, brushing once over his wrist, as though drawing courage from his steady pulse, then, with deliberate gentleness, she pried Yueqin’s tiny arms away.

"Come, Yueqin," Yueyao murmured, her tone calm but brooking no refusal. "Daddy has work to do. We will sit over here and wait for him."

The child frowned instantly, her small hands trying to cling tighter. "No! I want to sit with Daddy...."

But Yueyao didn’t let her finish. She gathered Yueqin up into her arms, her hold deceptively tender though her nails pressed faintly into the girl’s cotton sleeve.

Rising gracefully, she carried her toward the sitting area, her skirts trailing like silk across the polished floor.

Yueqin wriggled, her pout turning into a small protest. "Mommy, no! That’s my spot...."

"Hush," Yueyao cut her off softly, almost sing-song, though her voice carried a sharp edge. "You have had enough of Daddy’s lap today. Let him focus on his work and earn money for us..."

She sat down on the low sofa, settling Yueqin on the cushion beside her. One hand smoothed the girl’s damp hair, but the other arm looped possessively around her small shoulders, keeping her firmly in place as if she feared she might dart away again.

Across the room, Jin Shuren had not shifted. His gaze lingered briefly on the two of them, his woman staking her quiet claim, his daughter sulking under the weight of her mother’s hold, before returning to the glowing laptop and the faceless boardroom awaiting his verdict.

Still, the hand at the edge of his chair tapped once against the armrest, a rhythm Yueyao would recognize. A silent reassurance and a reminder.

Yueyao’s lips curved faintly at the signal. Her arm tightened around Yueqin, pulling her into her side. The girl squirmed, huffing softly, her eyes darting longingly toward her father.

But Yueyao leaned close, whispering against her daughter’s ear, her voice low and velvet. "Yueqin, don’t fight me for him. No matter how small you are, no matter how much you pout... Daddy will always be mine first."

The little girl’s lashes fluttered, her lips trembling as she tried to argue, but the words tangled on her tongue.

In the silence that followed, Jin Shuren’s voice cut once more through the room, cold and commanding as he addressed his executives. Yet every stroke of authority, every order given, seemed underscored by the quiet weight of his presence, one that tethered both woman and child unshakably to him.

And in that quiet sitting area, Yueyao held Yueqin a little tighter, not letting her forget that even in this war of affection, the first and final victory belonged to her.

"Fang Lin.... Don’t you think Mommy is a little bit different?" When they met and when they had chatted she didn’t show any signs of being clingy and fight against her for everything like this. Did something happen?

She moved closer to her cousin Fang Lin.

Fang Lin blinked at Yueqin’s whisper, her small brows furrowing as she looked from her cousin to Yueyao across the room.

Yueyao’s figure was poised, elegant, almost serene as she kept Yueqin tucked close, her hand smoothing rhythmically down her daughter’s back.

To anyone else, she appeared like a picture of gentle motherhood. But Fang Lin, who had known her since they were girls, caught the difference instantly. Her best friend’s eyes no longer held warmth but a sharpness, a possessive flame she had never seen before.

She couldn’t understand what had changed her so drastically. Yueyao had never even known her uncle before, yet since meeting him she seemed consumed, obsessed, even dangerously possessive. Could it be that something was wrong with her mind?