The once bustling Mo Family Villa now felt eerily quiet.
Mo Tingting had been at the hospital for the past few days, but she wasn’t much help since she wasn’t accustomed to doing any practical work. Still, she wasn’t entirely useless. After handling her grandfather’s funeral, she finally had a chance to return home and rest.
A series of blows had left Mo Tingting utterly exhausted. Her career as a star was completely ruined, and her family was in shambles.
Auntie Wang was at the hospital taking care of Qin Ni, and the driver and the cook wouldn’t arrive until their scheduled working hours. Now, she was the only one left in the house.
After yet another unanswered call, Mo Tingting gave up on trying to reach Mo Qingqing. Since that one appearance at the hospital, Mo Qingqing had completely disappeared.
The police had just left after questioning her about Mo Jinpeng and inspecting his room. They had taken his laptop and the desktop computer’s CPU.
Mo Tingting was at a loss. Even now, she couldn’t fully grasp what had happened. Mo Jinpeng was her father’s illegitimate son, and her real brother, who had been switched at birth, had died. Now, Mo Jinpeng was wanted for criminal activities, and it wasn’t until the police showed up that she learned he had even gotten involved in gambling.
If there was one person among the three Mo sisters who could be considered relatively innocent, it was probably Mo Tingting—but only by comparison.
Her biggest mistake was being too naive.
Suddenly, Mo Tingting stood up and walked to a guest room on the second floor. It was the room Mo Xuan had used when he lived in the Mo Family Villa, located at the very end of the hallway.
She pushed the door open and stepped inside. The room had been cleaned spotlessly. Although Mo Xuan had never been relegated to living in a storage room or a maid’s quarters like in some novels, the simple furniture and sparse decor made Mo Tingting feel a pang of bitterness.
“Jinpeng’s room is the largest in the house, and Mom personally picked out all the furniture for him…” Mo Tingting sat down on the bare mattress. “But Mo Xuan’s room… it’s like there’s nothing here.”
Indeed, Mo Xuan’s room only had a wardrobe, a desk, and a bed. The relatively spacious guest room felt oddly empty. She remembered that when Mo Xuan left, he only took one suitcase—the same one he had brought with him when he first arrived.
As if struck by a thought, Mo Tingting stood up and opened the desk drawer. Surprisingly, the items inside were still there, untouched.
Auntie Wang had secretly kept them. She always felt that Mo Xuan hadn’t done anything wrong and didn’t know if these things would ever be useful, so she had hidden them away.
After all, she knew that Mo Changshan and Qin Ni wouldn’t care about them.
Inside were Mo Xuan’s high school textbooks and a few test papers. Most of his belongings had been kept at his grandmother’s place. When he first came back, his grandmother had told him not to bring too much.
Looking back, the old lady had been right.
Mo Tingting didn’t know any of this. Her attention was now fixed on the textbooks and test papers Mo Xuan had left behind. Mo Xuan’s grades had always been excellent, and his handwriting was neat, his papers clean and orderly.
She opened the topmost physics textbook. Every page was filled with Mo Xuan’s notes, along with additional knowledge recorded on sticky notes.
Without exception, the handwriting was meticulous, the notes thorough.
“Hah… how ironic…”
Mo Tingting laughed bitterly and closed the textbook. Her own grades hadn’t been particularly outstanding, but just one glance at Mo Xuan’s materials was enough to see how much effort he had put in.
For some reason, ever since Mo Changshan’s incident, Mo Tingting had found herself thinking about Mo Xuan—the brother who had resolutely left home and severed all ties with the family.
She realized she had never truly understood him, and it seemed he hadn’t cared whether she or the rest of the family ever did.
“Third Miss, what are you doing here?”
Auntie Wang’s voice interrupted Mo Tingting’s thoughts. She looked up, puzzled. “Auntie Wang, why aren’t you at the hospital?”
“Madam asked me to come back and fetch something for her.”
Auntie Wang didn’t know what had happened, only that Qin Ni had received a phone call, then angrily smashed her phone and threw away the medicine the doctor had prescribed.
Then, she had told Auntie Wang to hurry home and bring her a file from her bedside.
“It seems something’s gone wrong at Madam’s company. I heard Second Miss is on the verge of a breakdown.” Auntie Wang glanced around the guest room and sighed. “Third Miss, once Madam is discharged this time, I don’t think I’ll stay on. My daughter-in-law just had a baby, and I need to go back to the countryside to help take care of the child.”
Mo Tingting was taken aback. Auntie Wang smiled and said, “I’ve reached that age. After so many years working for the Mo family, it’s time for me to retire.”
Auntie Wang turned to leave but hesitated after a few steps. She looked back at Mo Tingting and added, “In the past, Young Master often asked me about your preferences. But later, he told me he didn’t need to anymore.”
“Why?”
Mo Tingting looked up, startled by Auntie Wang’s words. Auntie Wang gave a bitter smile. “Maybe… he just let go.”
With that, Auntie Wang left, leaving Mo Tingting standing dumbfounded at the door, lost in thought.
When Luo Muqi returned to the estate with Mo Xuan, Luo Shiya was already sitting on the sofa. She glanced at them, a cold smirk forming in her heart.
*You think I don’t know? You were in that hotel for nearly two hours. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? I didn’t install that tracker on your phone for nothing.*
When Mo Xuan met Luo Shiya’s gaze, he felt a sudden awkwardness and quickly changed the subject. “Where are the kids?”
“Oh, they’re in their room. Uncle Zheng is playing with them.” Luo Shiya replied calmly. “Actually, they’ve been asking for their dad. Why don’t we all go up together?”
Luo Muqi was surprised. Normally, if her sister knew she and Mo Xuan had been together, her jealousy would have flared up.
Of course, she was the same way, so she couldn’t really judge.
But why was her sister acting so normal today? Something was definitely up!
Yet everything seemed ordinary. Luo Shiya acted as usual, even joining Mo Xuan in playing with Luo Wei’er and Luo Xue’er. There was no sign of anything unusual.
After dinner, as Mo Xuan was heading back to the bedroom, Luo Shiya suddenly stopped him. She smiled and said, “I’ve got a surprise for you. I’ve been thinking, Wei’er and Xue’er are over three now, and they’ve been asking for a pet. So, I asked Sister Hui to pick out a kitten. What do you think? If it’s a good fit, we can keep it.”
Mo Xuan thought about it. It was a good idea. He loved animals himself. His grandmother had once owned a tabby cat—adorable and clever—but it had passed away when he was ten.
It would be good for the kids to have a pet. Mo Xuan nodded. “Sure, they’ve been begging for a cat or a dog. If they really like it, we can get them one.”
Luo Shiya nodded and reached for her phone but couldn’t find it.
“I must have left it when I changed earlier. Xiao Xuan, could you come with me to the bedroom to get it?”
Mo Xuan didn’t think much of it and followed her to her bedroom. Luo Shiya deliberately let him enter first, then quietly closed the door and locked it.
“Shiya, isn’t your phone right here?”
Mo Xuan spotted the phone on the bed, but as he turned around, Luo Shiya pounced on him, pushing him onto the bed.
“…Shiya, aren’t we supposed to look at the cat?”
Luo Shiya slowly pulled out a cat-ear headband, put it on, and smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Do I look like one now? Meow?”
Mo Xuan felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. Was this the same Luo Shiya who was usually cold and aloof in public but gentle at home?
“You’re not going anywhere tonight, Xiao Xuan. You’re mine…”
Before Mo Xuan could protest, Luo Shiya’s lips were already on his…
Meanwhile, Su Yanran, who had been working overtime at the company, walked out of her office, exhaustion evident in the dark circles under her eyes.
Since the banquet, Su Yanran had been living in constant fear, always on edge.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that Sister Hui knew her every move, and Luo Shiya’s threat still hung over her like a dark cloud.
She felt like she was being watched, as if someone had her in the palm of their hand, ready to crush her at any moment.
If it weren’t for a problem with one of her projects, she wouldn’t have stayed at the company a second longer than necessary.
"Could you drive me home today…" Su Yanran said to her assistant. "I'm not feeling well…"
The assistant didn’t say much, as Su Yanran’s condition had been worse than usual these past few days. She seemed perpetually exhausted, as if she hadn’t been getting enough rest.
The two of them made their way to the underground parking lot. Su Yanran handed the car keys to the assistant and walked toward the passenger seat. Suddenly, a figure rushed out from behind the car, and a knife plunged into Su Yanran’s abdomen…