“Mia~” A low whisper echoed, and the cat’s nose blushed slightly.
The cat felt the guilt of being caught doing something wrong.
Shang Xuci picked up the cat and, without even glancing back toward the room, typed a few words on his phone with an expressionless face before driving home with the cat.
The lights on the third floor remained on.
Half an hour later, a Rolls-Royce pulled up to the garage, and the person who got out was none other than Shang Wei.
The two had just finished, and Xu Rong lay on the bed, trying to persuade him to stay.
“Xiuyuan, it’s late. You should just stay here tonight.”
Fang Xiuyuan shook his head. “No. The longer I stay, the more danger you’ll be in. I’d better go back to my room.”
“It’s always like this,” Xu Rong muttered. She wanted nothing more than to sleep in her beloved’s arms until dawn.
Fang Xiuyuan put on his underwear and gently kissed her forehead. “I’ll wait until next time you come to my house.”
Xu Rong reached for her phone and complained, “Shang Wei won’t be home today.”
She opened the tracking app she had secretly installed for her husband, ready to show him—when she noticed the dot was already near Shang Wei’s old house. Her face suddenly changed.
Xu Rong threw back the covers and hurriedly gathered her husband’s things.
“Shang Wei’s back.”
Fang Xiuyuan quickly put on his shoes and grabbed his belongings. “Didn’t he say he wouldn’t be back?”
“Now’s not the time for that. Go.”
Xu Rong nudged him toward the stairs while she quickly cleaned up both the house and herself.
She stood by the bed, watching the man leave safely. Breathing a sigh of relief, she gathered her clothes and put on another coat.
How could Shang Wei have come back so suddenly? Xu Rong sat at the dressing table, her gaze fixed on her phone. The two location markers drew closer and closer until they overlapped.
She closed her eyes and turned off the phone.
Shang Wei’s expression was grim. He hurried into the elevator, pressed the button for the third floor, and went straight to the bedroom.
Bang—
The door was kicked open.
Xu Rong looked startled, turned toward the man, and feigned surprise.
“Husband, you’re back? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her delicate, chastising tone did nothing to endear her to him.
Shang Wei snorted coldly.
“Telling you so your lover can escape?”
He strode into the room and began searching everywhere.
Under the bed, in the closet, behind the curtains, under the desk—anywhere a person could hide—he looked with a sullen expression.
Xu Rong didn’t dare move. Tugging at the hem of her clothes, she asked in an aggrieved tone, “What do you mean by this?”
Catching the scent of alcohol on him, she offered gently, “You’ve had too much to drink. I’ll go downstairs and make you some sobering soup.”
Unable to find anyone, Shang Wei grew even angrier. He glared at her.
“I’m not drunk. I don’t need it.”
“You brought a man home.”
It wasn’t a question—it was an accusation.
Xu Rong’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. Panic flashed in her eyes, but she quickly composed herself and denied it.
“No.”
Shang Wei narrowed his eyes.
“Do you want me to take you to see the surveillance footage?”
There were no cameras in the bedroom, but there were in the garden and at the main entrance—anyone entering would have been caught on video.
He grabbed her hand and started pulling her toward the door.
“You’re hurting me,” Xu Rong bristled.
Shang Wei turned back, his voice icy.
“Take off your clothes.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. She clutched her hand tightly, tears welling in her eyes.
“You don’t believe me?”
Shang Wei’s tone was grim.
“Since you don’t want to talk and don’t want to see the evidence, I’ll use the simplest and most brutal method.”
Earlier that evening, during an important dinner, someone had knocked on the door and—right in front of several company CEOs—told him he was being cuckolded and urged him to go home and catch the adulterer.
His face had darkened. The others stayed to watch the drama unfold, while he forced himself to remain calm and feign ignorance. But inside, a storm of images ripped through his mind.
Excusing himself to the bathroom, he had in fact been seething. He hadn’t even called Xu Rong. The housekeeper told him that his mistress had given him the day off—his suspicions deepened.
Shang Wei was adept at catching lies. From the moment he entered the bedroom, he had smelled something unfamiliar.
It wasn’t Xu Rong’s scent.
When she refused to undress, he took matters into his own hands, practically tearing her clothes off.
Xu Rong had never been treated this way before. Ever since she became pregnant, Shang Wei had always been patient with her and treated her with respect.
She clutched her belly, resisting fiercely, using the baby as leverage, sobbing as she begged him to stop.
He had drunk heavily at the banquet, and though he could usually hold his liquor, tonight he acted like a man possessed, heedless of his words or actions.
Xu Rong was shoved onto the bed, her fear turning to terror. After Fang Xiuyuan left, she had not had time to shower—only to wipe herself hastily—praying Shang Wei wouldn’t touch her.
But the very thing she feared… happened.
Shang Wei, like a madman, began his rough “inspection.”
…
Shang Xuci’s house.
As soon as the man unlocked the door, Jian Xun jumped out of his arms and squeezed through the gap. He looked up at Shang Xuci obediently, waiting for him to bring out the special foot towel for cats.
It was a snow-white square handkerchief embroidered with a few small pink plum blossoms.
Shang Xuci held out his hand, and Jian Xun placed his paw in it without hesitation, watching intently as the handsome man focused on wiping his feet.
The cat couldn’t help but purr.
“The other one.”
The little white cat lifted his left front paw cooperatively.
When it came to his hind legs, he lay on the ground, tail tucked in, shyly covering his balls while stretching his legs to make them look longer.
A cat wearing a little skirt—so long as it didn’t flare up and reveal the bald spot—wouldn’t draw anyone’s attention to its rear.
But his kitten was clearly shy.
After wiping his feet clean, Shang Xuci gave the cat’s plump, perky butt a rather inappropriate pat and said, “Alright, come in.”
Jian Xun turned to look at him in disbelief.
You actually patted that vulnerable spot!!
Before he could even glare at him, the man—taking advantage of his long legs—was already inside.
The cat stamped his feet.
…
The next day, Shang Xuci learned from Gu Ming that Xu Rong had been hospitalized.
Xu Rong’s child was gone.
Gu Ming gossiped as he spoke.
During the physical examination, he had asked what had happened. Xu Rong looked grim and hesitated for a long time. Under Shang Wei’s cold glare, she told Old man Shang that it had been an accident—she had slipped and fallen down the stairs.
The bruises on Xu Rong’s body did match injuries from a fall. At first, Gu Ming dismissed any suspicion. But later, while examining her lower body, he discovered signs of intense sexual activity. While this alone wouldn’t necessarily harm the child, he had overheard Shang Wei muttering about “infidelity” and “cuckoldry,” and began to suspect that Xu Rong’s miscarriage wasn’t as simple as she claimed.
Of course, it was a family matter. After Shen Yanran’s death, his family had cut ties with Shang Wei. If it weren’t for Shang Xuci, Gu Ming wouldn’t have paid it any attention—there were plenty of such cases.
Curiously, Gu Ming asked, “Who wrote the report?”
Shang Xuci, reviewing the document in front of him, typed: “Me.”
Gu Ming: ???
…
Hua Pai Shu Nursing Home.
Xu Rong lay on the hospital bed, flanked by two men.
She looked deeply saddened. Shang Jue knew she valued the child more than anyone else, and, given her advanced maternal age, such a loss would take a serious toll on her health. Not wanting to pressure her further, he offered a few words of comfort and told Shang Wei to take good care of his wife before leaving.
Shang Wei held his breath. He had drunk too much the night before and hadn’t considered the consequences. But his actions had confirmed one thing—Xu Rong had indeed betrayed him.
That realization made him question whether the child she had been carrying was even his.
But it was a life, after all. He still remembered how much he had once longed for the birth of this child. Although he hadn’t slept with Xu Rong, he often rubbed her belly and lay beside her whenever he had the time.
Anything else could have been fake, but his genuine affection for the child was real.
Shang Wei thought back to what Xu Rong had said the night before.
She had accused him of having affairs, and now this had happened. Xu Rong hadn’t told Old Man Shang that he was the one who pushed her down the stairs. Because of that, Shang Wei relented and compromised.
“The child is gone. You should take good care of yourself. I’ll pretend nothing happened last night.” Shang Wei lifted the blanket over her, staring at the woman and speaking slowly, each word deliberate. “I don’t care who he is, and I won’t investigate. But you must break up with him.”
“If there’s a next time, I can’t guarantee what I’ll do,” Shang Wei warned.
Deep down, he couldn’t tolerate betrayal. Perhaps he only admired Xu Rong’s face, which resembled his ex-wife’s in her youth. Perhaps it was her delicate and considerate nature, which catered to his chauvinistic streak in a way Shen Yanran never had. His true feelings for Xu Rong weren’t love; at best, she was like a well-behaved child he had raised—pleasing to the eye and obedient.
Xu Rong remained silent. Once Shang Wei discovered her affair, the child would be sent for a paternity test. She knew that when he saw the results, he wouldn’t let her go—he would divorce her and all her efforts would be for nothing.
Abortion had been the best option.
What a pity.
For now, she could only insist that the poor child had been Shang Wei’s.
After Shang Wei left, Xu Rong clutched the bed sheets tightly, her eyes filling with resentment.
She had always kept track of her husband’s whereabouts; that was why she’d dared to call Fang Xiuyuan over. But Shang Wei’s return had been so sudden, it was as if someone had deliberately tipped him off.
Who could it be? Xu Rong frowned. She had given the servants the night off, so even if someone had seen what was happening, they wouldn’t have dared report it to Shang Wei without her permission…
Just as she was pondering this, Fang Xiuyuan called.
Xu Rong’s eyes welled up.
“Shang Wei knows about us,” she said sadly. “I’m sorry… we couldn’t save the baby.”