“N-no, it's not. This is for you.”
Lu Yinghan's eyes widened.
But her shock lasted only a moment before her expression returned to calm.
Her eyes were filled with scrutiny and suspicion.
She wasn't doing it on purpose.
It was just that the Lu family's usual attitude toward her made it impossible to fathom why He Shu would bring her a dessert.
And strawberry crepe cake, at that—Lu Xuanyao's favorite.
Lu Yinghan's gaze left He Shu at a complete loss for words.
Facing her own biological daughter, she actually felt deeply awkward.
“Mom just felt... that yelling at you tonight was wrong...”
He Shu's voice grew quieter and quieter.
Yelling at her was wrong—and then what?
Bring a cake over to soothe her anger, to get her to brush off what happened today?
And brush off everything from the past, too?
He Shu didn't know whether Lu Yinghan would forgive her, but she knew one thing.
If she were in Lu Yinghan's shoes, she would definitely feel deeply upset.
“Oh... I'm fine. You can just put it on the desk.”
“Oh, oh, all right.”
Lu Yinghan didn't overthink it, though she did find it quite novel.
This was the very first time He Shu had ever brought her food.
Sitting in her chair, she watched He Shu step forward, gently place the crepe cake on the desk, and wait for her to leave.
With her hands empty now, He Shu wrung them together awkwardly, looking completely lost.
Lu Yinghan said she was fine.
But He Shu didn't feel like it was fine at all...
“Um... Yingying, Mom didn't mean what she said today. I was just really anxious at the time...”
He Shu realized that in a moment like this, the more she spoke, the messier her words became.
Phrased like that, it sounded as if as long as she was anxious in the future, she could treat Lu Yinghan however she pleased.
Realizing how bad it sounded, He Shu fell silent, unable to find the right words...
“Mom, I understand. You don't need to say any more. I have to do my homework now. Could you please step out for a moment?”
Lu Yinghan looked up, her unblinking eyes fixed on He Shu, her tone carrying a faint hint of plea.
She genuinely didn't know what attitude to adopt when facing a mother acting like this.
In her mind, scenes from her past life surfaced—after Lu Xuanyao had gone missing, this mother, with whom she had rarely spoken, had shoved her forcefully.
Shoving her repeatedly, spewing harsh, cruel words, yelling at Lu Yinghan without a shred of mercy.
Just like tonight.
“Why didn't you watch your younger sister?! Huh?! How could a person as big as you not see her?! What kind of evil intentions do you have?!”
In that past life, thirteen-year-old Lu Yinghan, after being subjected to a torrent of verbal abuse from her biological mother, had given up on her entirely.
Pressing her lips together, Lu Yinghan glanced at the thunderstruck He Shu before lowering her head to continue taping her workbook. She lightly smoothed out the creases and picked up her pencil to write.
He Shu stood frozen in place, an acute pang of sorrow spreading rapidly across her chest.
She felt as though she finally understood what that sudden heartache in the garden a few days ago had been...
The window facing the garden opened out to the hallway leading to the storage rooms.
So Lu Yinghan had walked past that hallway that day?
It was just that she hadn't noticed...
Although her daughter still called her “Mom,” it carried the polite distance of a stranger...
“Mom, look at the dinosaur I made out of Play-Doh! When my little sister is born, I'm going to give it to her~”
A long-buried memory resurfaced hazily in He Shu's mind; she could no longer clearly recall what the scene looked like.
But she remembered Lu Yinghan's voice with striking clarity.
Soft, sweet, and adorable.
Filled with affection for her, and bubbling with eager anticipation for the unborn Yaoyao in her belly.
“Y-Yingying... All right, Mom will leave now. I won't disturb your homework.”
He Shu was already choking back tears.
Her mouth trembled with grief, and she uttered those words with careful hesitation through a thick, nasal voice.
With that, she covered her mouth with her hand and hurriedly left Lu Yinghan's room.
“Huh... What is she crying for?”
Hearing the choke in He Shu's voice, Lu Yinghan raised her eyebrows in bewilderment.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she refocused on diligently working through her assignments.
He Shu stumbled back to her own bedroom. The more she thought about everything, the more miserable she felt.
Aside from feeling sorry for Lu Yinghan due to her dismal living conditions,
she actually felt somewhat aggrieved that Lu Yinghan had treated her with such cold distance.
In fact, that feeling of aggrieved self-pity occupied a far larger share of her heart.
If Lu Yinghan knew about this thought, she would definitely roll her eyes hard.
Blaming her instead?
Back in their bedroom, Lu Xiong was sitting at his desk, earnestly reading a book.
“Oh, you're back. Where did you go?”
Hearing the door open, Lu Xiong spoke to He Shu in a doting tone without looking up.
There was no reply, only a few stifled sobs.
Startled, Lu Xiong snapped his head up, dropping the book from his hand.
Hurrying over to He Shu, he stood before her, flustered and anxious.
“Honey, what's wrong? Who made you cry? Tell me! I'll teach them a lesson for you!”
He Shu wiped her tears and glared viciously at Lu Xiong.
She suddenly balled her fist and struck his arm.
“It's all your fault!! Let me ask you: did you tell Yingying to yield her room to Yaoyao?!”
A forgotten memory surged back into Lu Xiong's mind.
He sucked in a sharp breath.
Oh, crap!
He had forgotten to give Lu Yinghan another room!
“W-Wife... I did, but she never came to talk to me about it afterward. I thought Yingying was living comfortably enough, so I forgot about it...”
He Shu's gaze turned hostile in an instant.
Living comfortably enough?!
She didn't even dare touch the desserts in the fridge because she thought they belonged to Yaoyao.
She was even less likely to take the initiative to ask Lu Xiong for a proper room!
“Do you have any idea where Yingying is living right now?!”
“Huh? I... I don't know. I told Butler Liu to arrange it. There are so many guest rooms in the house...”
Anxious to explain himself, Lu Xiong felt his heart violently skip a beat the moment the words “guest rooms” left his mouth.
A wave of numbness washed over him, rendering him speechless.
Glancing guiltily at his wife, his face darkened.
Family members were strictly forbidden from living in guest rooms—that was a rule Lu Xiong himself had set for the sake of the Lu family's prestige.
The huge villa had plenty of rooms, but many had been converted into specialized spaces for the children: the eldest son's study, the second son's dance studio and recording room, the third son's design studio, walk-in closets for his wife and Yingying, as well as a dedicated playroom—all of which had originally been made for Yingying.
With so many rooms, Lu Xiong had always assumed that whichever room Lu Yinghan was staying in couldn't be that bad...
If Yingying wasn't in a guest room, where was she living?
How could He Shu not recognize her husband's expression?
Furious, she hit him again, venting in exasperation:
“Lu Xiong! Do you never follow through on what you say to the kids?! Ever since her room was taken away and given to Yaoyao, Yingying has been living in a storage room!! If Butler Liu hadn't led me there tonight, I wouldn't even have known where our storage room was! And yet that's where Yingying has been living!”
The image of Lu Yinghan's ice-cold, indifferent eyes flickered in He Shu's mind. Filled with grief and aggrieved sorrow, her voice choked up completely by the end.
“What?!”
Lu Xiong was utterly shocked, his heart pounding so hard that every breath sent a sharp pang of pain through his chest.
His eyes widened in utter disbelief.
He froze, staring blankly...
Rate on N.U.
