Jiang Chen found it intriguing, realizing there was a side to Lu Chiyuan he hadn’t known about.

After lunch, Lu Chiyuan wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Jiang Chen volunteered to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen. Lu Chiyuan sat in the living room for a while, only heading out with Jiang Chen after receiving a call from the villa’s security team.

Shen Zhiyi’s cousin, Shen Jun, was sprawled on the sofa with a few of his hometown buddies, all rough and rowdy. They held sticks, cigarettes dangling from their mouths, sporting messy hairstyles, exaggerated gold chains, and pierced ears.

The security personnel stood nearby, not intervening as Shen Zhiyi dealt with them. If Shen Zhiyi hadn’t been flushed with anger and tears, the security team wouldn’t have called Lu Chiyuan.

When Shen Jun saw the security guard making a call, he leapt up, brandishing a steel pipe and cursing, “Who’re you calling? Want me to mess you up?”

The guard ignored him. Shen Jun, feeling disrespected, jabbed the pipe at the guard’s arm.

The guard glanced down, raised a hand, and in the blink of an eye, Shen Jun felt a sharp pain in his wrist. The steel pipe was now in the guard’s hand.

Shen Jun froze, unprepared for such skill, and immediately backed off. But with his buddies watching, he felt humiliated and grew furious. Not daring to confront the guard, he turned his anger on Shen Zhiyi, kicking the coffee table. “I told you to call the police and get my mom out! Are you deaf? She only took one of your necklaces, big deal! She cooks and cleans for you every day, and you can’t even give her that much? Without her, you think you’d be living this cushy life as a rich girl?”

The coffee table screeched as it scraped against the tiles, startling Shen Zhiyi.

Terrified, she looked at Shen Jun. Her cousin had always been a troublemaker, skilled at petty theft and worse. After a stint in jail, he’d become even more reckless.

He was bold enough to barge in with his crew, and he might actually hit her.

Shen Zhiyi glanced at the security guards. They were assigned by Lu Chiyuan to look after her; surely they wouldn’t stand by and do nothing.

With that thought, she gained some confidence. “Haven’t I been good to your mom? I pay her a high salary every month, and she still stole from me when she left. And you have the nerve to come here demanding things?”

If it were any other piece of jewelry, Shen Zhiyi wouldn’t have cared—she could just ask Lu Chiyuan to buy her another. But her aunt had taken her favorite birthday gift, a necklace she’d worn proudly that day, basking in the envious glances of others. She still remembered strutting through the crowd, their eyes fixed on her.

That piece of jewelry had made her feel captivating, and until she found a replacement, it was irreplaceable.

Now that her interests were at stake, she wasn’t about to let it go.

“What do you mean ‘stole’? Watch your mouth!” Shen Jun roared, spewing profanities. “You live in this fancy house and pay my mom pennies. You think you’re tossing scraps to a beggar? I’m telling you, not only do you need to get my mom out, but you also owe us compensation for emotional distress. You fired her, so you’d better pay up per the labor contract. We’re not asking for much—just twenty million and that necklace for my mom.”

Shen Zhiyi’s eyes widened. “Why don’t you just go rob a bank?”

“Rob? You little brat, watch how you talk! Your whole family’s gone, you’re a walking disaster. If it weren’t for us giving you a place to stay, you’d probably be sold off somewhere by now!”

Shen Jun leered at Shen Zhiyi maliciously. “Heard you brought a guy to the girls’ dorm. That desperate, huh? Fooling around in the dorm and getting expelled…”

Shen Zhiyi’s face drained of color. She stood and slapped Shen Jun, trembling with shock and fear. “You’re talking nonsense! That never happened!”

Stunned by the slap, Shen Jun’s eyes blazed with rage. He lunged to kick her.

The nearby guard acted swiftly, shielding Shen Zhiyi while kicking Shen Jun back. Shen Zhiyi shrank back, terrified.

Shen Jun crashed into the sofa behind him and fell to the floor. His buddies rushed to check on him, two of them brandishing steel pipes.

They shouted loudly, but their thick regional accents made it hard for the guards to understand.

Shen Zhiyi collapsed onto the sofa, sobbing. Shen Jun, dazed for a moment, sat up, his face stinging and his stomach churning.

He shoved his friends aside, still defiant, when he noticed the room’s atmosphere shift. The guards all turned to look behind him.

Shen Jun glanced back and saw two men walking in calmly.

One, refined and composed, clicked his tongue twice. “Busy, huh?” he said mockingly, as if watching a group of clowns.

The other, tall and long-legged, strode over and looked down at Shen Jun with icy blue eyes that sent a chill through his soul.

Shen Jun instinctively shrank back, his bravado crumbling.

The man was like a calm, dangerous leopard.

Jiang Chen surveyed the living room. After Shen Zhiyi’s outburst yesterday, the butler had stored away the valuable items, so there wasn’t much on display. Even if Shen Jun’s crew tried to wreck the place, there wasn’t much to damage.

Seeing Lu Chiyuan, Shen Zhiyi, still tear-streaked, felt a surge of smugness. See? No matter how upset Lu Chiyuan was with her, he’d always rush to her side when she was in trouble.

With him here, every problem would be solved.

Shen Zhiyi looked up, ready to pour out her grievances, but Lu Chiyuan cut her off, asking, “Who let them in?”

Every entrance to Moonlit Lakeside was guarded, with residents’ cars registered. Unfamiliar vehicles weren’t allowed in without clearance.

Shen Jun’s car was an old, grimy wreck—hardly something security would overlook.

How had he gotten in so easily? It was suspicious.

Shen Zhiyi seemed to realize something, her planned complaints catching in her throat.

[Who else could it be? Of course, the heroine let the wolf in herself—she registered Shen Jun’s car.]

Registered cars weren’t thoroughly checked at the gate.

Lu Chiyuan’s gaze sharpened. Shen Zhiyi turned away, silent.

He sat on the sofa, hands clasped, and coldly surveyed the group of gaudily dressed strangers.

Shen Jun scrambled to his feet, shoulders slouched, head down, looking every bit the thug. “You’re Lu Chiyuan? You’re the one who had my mom thrown in jail?” He put on a menacing face. “You’ve got guts. If you get my mom out, we can pretend this never happened. If not, I won’t let you off.”

Jiang Chen couldn’t help but roll his eyes. This arrogance felt all too familiar.

[This guy’s got some serious guts. If it weren’t for Shen Zhiyi, he’d never even get a chance to meet Lu Chiyuan. Where does he get the nerve to threaten him?]

Lu Chiyuan gave him a faint, mocking smile. “Make me pay? You’ll have to get out of jail first.”

Shen Jun froze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You broke in with weapons, intimidated and extorted. The villa’s cameras caught everything. The Lu family won’t settle. Good luck.”

At the mention of jail, Shen Jun’s buddies panicked, dropping their steel pipes and distancing themselves from him.

“We didn’t do anything! We didn’t say anything! We just came to back him up!”

Seeing his friends abandon him, Shen Jun cursed furiously. “Cowards! What’re you scared of? This house belongs to Shen Zhiyi. I’m her brother. It’s only right for me to visit. Don’t try to scare me—you think I’m intimidated?”

“Shen Zhiyi’s name is on the Lu family registry. Besides sharing the same surname, what connection do you have?” Lu Chiyuan asked coldly.

Shen Jun and Shen Zhiyi weren’t even full siblings, already a distant relation, and with her household registration moved, the tie was even thinner.

Shen Jun’s attempt to use it as a shield was delusional.

Only then did Shen Jun realize he’d come to get his mother out and bleed Shen Zhiyi dry, but now, not only had he failed, he’d landed himself in trouble.

“Why would you call the cops?” Shen Jun’s bravado faltered, but he pressed on. “No matter what, Shen Zhiyi grew up eating our family’s food. Can’t we talk this out? You just jump to calling the police—have you even considered her feelings?”

Lu Chiyuan turned to Shen Zhiyi. “Do you have a problem with me calling the police? Or do you want to pay them off? Twenty million’s not much. That necklace? I can buy you a better one.”

His tone was flat. In his world, it was pocket change.

Shen Zhiyi’s breath hitched, her face showing hesitation.

Shen Jun, seeing a chance, lit up with greed. “Shen Zhiyi, look, your brother’s got class. Give me the money, get my mom out, and the Shen family will always have a place for you.”

His buddies, hearing talk of money, eagerly chimed in.

“It’s just a misunderstanding, a sibling spat. Shen Jun, just let your sister have her way.”

“Yeah, family’s family. Her household’s moved, but she’s still Shen blood. She might need us folks from back home someday.”

Jiang Chen: “…”

His mouth twitched.

[Are they seriously this clueless? And what’s with Shen Zhiyi’s face? Is she actually considering it? It’s not even her money, so of course she doesn’t care!]

[Why would Lu Chiyuan even suggest this?]

Jiang Chen was baffled, his inner voice screaming to knock some sense into Lu Chiyuan.

Shen Zhiyi sat up straighter, looking at Shen Jun with less disgust. Generously, she said, “Apologize, and I might let this slide.”

Shen Jun, fixated on the money, forgot his stinging face and grinned obsequiously. “Good sister, I was wrong. We’re family, after all. I know you’re the best—you wouldn’t let us suffer. So, the twenty million—can you give it now? A voluntary gift?”

Seeing him grovel, Shen Zhiyi felt satisfied. She glanced at Lu Chiyuan, pursed her lips, and said, “Brother, am I being too soft?”

Jiang Chen: [Hopeless. The Shen family’s a bottomless pit. Does she think she can fill it?]

Lu Chiyuan said, “If that’s your choice, give them the money and let them go. Whatever necklace you want, we can buy today.”

Shen Zhiyi blinked. “You’re not paying?”

Lu Chiyuan replied, “In this matter, only one thing concerns me: your birthday gift. Beyond that, it’s your choice. You think I control you too much? I’m stepping back now. Are you unhappy?”

He made it clear: the offer to pay was for her to pay, not for him to clean up her mess.

Shen Zhiyi felt something was off. Wasn’t Lu Chiyuan supposed to help her no matter what?

Why had he changed?

Shen Jun caught the shift in Lu Chiyuan’s tone. The twenty million was slipping away. Dropping his fawning act, he glared at Shen Zhiyi, seething. “You’re playing me!”

“Who’s playing you? I didn’t agree to anything,” Shen Zhiyi shot back, quick to protect her interests. “Go to jail!”

Shen Jun’s mood swung from ecstasy to despair. Furious, he lunged to hit her, but Shen Zhiyi dodged.

The nearby guard, prepared, subdued him swiftly.

Shen Zhiyi, shaken, watched as Lu Chiyuan remained unfazed, calmly observing the fallout. “Well done,” he said. “That’s the right choice.”

Shen Zhiyi looked up, silent. Panic surged. This wasn’t right.

Was this really the right choice? She’d played the villain, sending her own family to jail. What would people think? Would they call her cold and heartless?

Why had Lu Chiyuan forced her to make this choice?

He’d decided to be the bad guy and send them to jail, so why dangle hope in front of them, only to make her crush it, turning her into a villain too?

Couldn’t he protect her, keep her clean, and let her stay kind?