Chapter 43 How could your parents abandon you? Don't overthink it.
The car was filled with the scent of a high-end fragrance, but it couldn't mask the cautious aura emanating from Madam Shen.
"Moon Soul".
Madam Shen looked at Shen Yuepo's profile in the rearview mirror, her heart filled with a thousand words, yet she didn't know where to begin.
In the end, she could only awkwardly ask the most trivial questions in an attempt to close the distance, "What...what do you like to eat?"
Her fingers, painted with exquisite nail polish, unconsciously rubbed against the steering wheel:
"Mom will have the kitchen prepare it when she gets home. Chinese food? Western food? Seafood? Or dessert?"
By the way, what scent do you like for shampoo and body wash? Rose? Jasmine? Or…?
She went on and on, asking almost every question she could think of.
It was as if they wanted to fill in the eighteen-year gap in an instant through this method.
Shen Yuepo listened quietly, her gaze fixed on the fleeting street scenes outside the window.
Just as Madam Shen asked her again if she liked a certain kind of flower tea, Shen Yuepo slowly turned her head and looked at her calmly with her clear and cold eyes.
That gaze was like a bottomless, icy pool, instantly choking Madam Shen's eloquent words into her throat.
“Madam Shen,” Shen Yuepo’s voice was soft, yet it struck Madam Shen’s heart clearly, “Have you ever heard this saying?”
Madam Shen's heart skipped a beat, a strange unease rising within her: "Wh...what did you say?"
"You can't have your cake and eat it too."
"Right now, you're only concerned about me, your daughter, showing me warmth and care..."
She paused slightly, her gaze seemingly able to penetrate the roof of the car and see the scene in another place at that moment.
“Your other daughter probably won’t want to come home.”
The moment her words fell, it was as if to prove her point—
The Bluetooth ringtone in Madam Shen's car sounded particularly jarring in the quiet cabin.
When Madam Shen saw the name "Yichuan" flashing on the screen, her unease instantly intensified.
Her fingers trembled as she swiped to answer the call, but before she could speak, Shen Yichuan's helpless voice boomed out:
"Mom, where did you go? When Yu Rou saw that you weren't here, she told the driver to turn around and go to the villa in the west suburbs! Now she's crying so hard she can't breathe, saying that you don't want her anymore."
Madam Shen's face turned deathly pale instantly.
She subconsciously glanced at Shen Yuepo through the rearview mirror.
Shen Yuepo had already turned her gaze back to the window, her profile cool and calm.
Madam Shen's heart felt as if it had fallen into a bottomless ice cave.
You can't have your cake and eat it too.
The palm of your hand is flesh, and the back of your hand is flesh too.
But no matter which way she turned, it seemed she was stabbing another piece of flesh until it bled profusely.
The car stopped in front of the Shen family villa.
Shen Yuepo didn't look at the distraught Madam Shen again. He got out of the car, picked up his tattered cardboard and small stool, and disappeared through the gate.
Madam Shen sat in the car, her knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.
She took a deep breath, started the car, turned around, and sped off towards the western suburban villa.
Western suburbs villa.
As soon as Madam Shen pushed open the living room door, Shen Yurou's petite body was curled up in Shen Yichuan's arms, trembling with sobs.
Her eyes were swollen like peaches, her long eyelashes were soaked with tears and strands of hair clung to her pale cheeks.
"My mom, dad, and older brother don't want me anymore. They only want my older sister. Am I... really in the way? Waaaaah..."
Her sobs were intermittent, each word striking Shen Yichuan's heart, causing him unbearable heartache.
"Nonsense! Who said that!"
Shen Yichuan held her tightly, his chin resting on the top of her head, his voice filled with heartache:
"With your second brother here! How could Mom and Dad abandon you? Don't think nonsense, that Shen Yuepo... what is she anyway!"
He looked up and saw Madam Shen walking in; his eyes instantly became complicated.
"Mom, where have you been? Look how badly Yurou is crying! Do you know how scared and upset she is? Have you really been bewitched by that Taoist nun, neglecting your own daughter whom you've raised for eighteen years?!"
Madam Shen walked over step by step, squatted down in front of Shen Yurou, and reached out to touch her daughter's tear-streaked face.
Shen Yurou shrank back like a startled bird.
She buried her head even deeper into Shen Yichuan's arms, only her red, tear-filled eyes showing as she timidly looked at him.
"Yu Rou".
Madam Shen's voice was weary and helpless as she looked into Shen Yurou's eyes.
Shen Yuepo's words, "fish and bear's paw," echoed in her mind.
She had to make a choice, or rather, she had to make Shen Yurou face reality.
"Yu Rou, listen to what your mother has to say."
Madam Shen's voice was soft, yet carried an unprecedented seriousness:
"Mommy has never abandoned you, never. You will always be Mommy's daughter, the apple of Mommy's eye..."
Shen Yurou's crying subsided a little, but she was still sobbing, her eyes fixed on her.
Madam Shen took a deep breath, as if using all her strength, before uttering the unavoidable truth:
"But Yuepo...she is her mother's biological daughter, whom she carried for ten months and searched for for eighteen years."
Shen Yurou's body stiffened abruptly, even her sobbing stopped, and she looked at Madam Shen in disbelief.
Shen Yichuan's expression instantly turned even uglier, and he tightened his grip on Shen Yurou's arm.
"Mom knows this is hard for you to accept..."
Madam Shen's eyes also reddened, and tears silently streamed down her face. "Mom...it also took Mom a long time to accept this fact. But it's a fact that can't be changed."
She reached out her hand, and this time, Shen Yurou did not dodge, but her body remained stiff.
Madam Shen gently grasped Shen Yurou's icy hand, her voice pleading:
"Yu Rou, Mom loves you, and I love Yue Po too. You two... are both Mom's daughters. Mom hopes... Mom really hopes that you two can... can get along peacefully and become sisters."
Our family needs both of you. Mom doesn't expect you to be as close as sisters right away, she just asks that you accept each other's presence and give each other a chance, okay?
This was the first time Madam Shen had so firmly expressed her hope to Shen Yurou that she would accept Shen Yuepo.
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