The Shen family’s old residence had not been this quiet in years.

The livestream was still playing on the large screen in the living room, afternoon sunlight slanting through the carved wooden windows and falling across the polished floor in pale, fractured lines.

No one spoke.

On the screen, Shen Qingyu sat calmly on the Lu family sofa, Xiao Nian pressed against one arm while Xiao Heng stood beside him, clutching the hem of his sleeve.

The child’s young, serious voice echoed through the room again from the replay.

“According to basic moral logic, Dad, you were not wrong.”

Old Madam Shen’s fingers trembled around the teacup in her hand. The tea had already gone cold.

For a long time, everyone in the Shen family had treated Shen Qingyu’s departure as a matter of temperament. Their opinions of him varied, but they could all be summarised in the same way: he was proud, stubborn, bad-tempered, unwilling to lower his head, and never knew how to speak softly.

He was unlike Shen Jianing, who cried quietly, apologised first, and always made people feel that raising their voices at him was a kind of cruelty.

So when Shen Qingyu left the Shen family, they had all thought he would eventually come back. After all, he was the youngest, he had grown up there, and where else could he go?

But Shen Qingyu had not come back.

Soon after, he had married Lu Jingheng and become the spouse of the Lu family’s head. Not only that, he had given birth to two children and built a home that looked warm even through a screen.

And the first person to tell him he was not wrong had not been his parents, nor any of his older brothers.

It had been his three-year-old son.

The eldest Shen brother, Shen Huaijin, stood near the window with his phone in his hand. The screen had already gone black, but his fingers remained stiff around it.

He was thirty-two this year, the current acting head of the Shen family business, always calm, always rational, and always the one expected to maintain order.

Four years ago, he had also been the first one to speak after the door opened. He remembered it very clearly.

Shen Qingyu had stood at the doorway, his face white and his eyes red with fury. Behind him, Shen Jianing had been sitting on the bed, wrapped in a blanket and crying so hard he could barely breathe, while Xie Linchuan stood in front of him with an ugly, protective expression.

At that time, Shen Huaijin had looked at Shen Qingyu first. Not because he cared more about him, but because Shen Qingyu had looked like the only one still capable of controlling himself.

So Shen Huaijin had said, “Qingyu, calm down first.”

Calm down first — those three words now felt like a slap returning across four years.

His youngest brother had been sixteen. He had opened a door and seen his fiancé in bed with his fifth brother, yet Shen Huaijin’s first reaction had been to ask him to calm down.

The second brother, Shen Yunting, sat on the sofa with his elbows on his knees. He was a lawyer by training, sharp with words and always able to dismantle other people’s logic.

But now, his own past logic stood before him, full of holes.

Back then, he had told Shen Qingyu, “The engagement can be cancelled. There’s no need to ruin everyone’s dignity.”

Everyone’s dignity — but whose dignity had he been protecting? Xie Linchuan’s? Shen Jianing’s? The Shen family’s? Had he ever once thought about Shen Qingyu’s dignity? Shen Yunting closed his eyes.

The third brother, Shen Mozhi, had always been the most emotional. He was a director, someone who understood cameras, editing, and public narrative better than anyone else in the family.

That was why he felt the coldest now, because he knew exactly how terrifying a narrative could become once it was shaped.

Back then, when the online rumours about Shen Qingyu grew worse and worse, he had told himself that Qingyu did not care about these things. He had always been too proud to care. But what if that pride had only been the last thing Shen Qingyu could use to protect himself? What if they had mistaken silence for indifference? What if Shen Qingyu had not defended himself because he knew no one would believe him?

The fourth brother, Shen Zhiyuan, was the youngest of the older brothers and the closest in age to Shen Jianing and Shen Qingyu. He was also the one who had once played with Shen Qingyu the most when they were children.

Now he stood in the corner, his face pale.

He suddenly remembered something.

When Shen Qingyu was seven, he had fallen from a horse during a family outing. He had scraped his arm badly, but he had not cried. He had only stood there with his lips pressed tightly together, refusing to let the servants carry him.

At the time, everyone had laughed and said the youngest young master had a stubborn temper.

Later that same day, Shen Jianing had been frightened by a barking dog and cried. The whole family had surrounded him.

Shen Qingyu had stood beside the window, his injured arm wrapped in gauze, watching silently.

Shen Zhiyuan remembered walking over and asking, “Does it hurt?”

Shen Qingyu had looked at him and said, “No.”

So Shen Zhiyuan had believed him, just like that. He had believed him.

The screen changed.

In the livestream, Shen Qingyu looked toward the camera and said, “I only said what happened to me. And somehow, he is hurt again.”

Old Madam Shen suddenly made a broken sound. She covered her mouth with one hand, but tears still slipped down.

“He was talking about Jianing?” she whispered.

No one answered, because they all knew the answer.

Old Master Shen’s face was heavy. His cane rested beside him, but the hand on top of it had turned faintly blue from the force of his grip.

“Turn it off,” he said hoarsely.

No one moved.

After a long time, Shen Huaijin said, “No.”

Old Master Shen turned his head sharply. “What did you say?”

Shen Huaijin’s voice was stiff. “If we turn it off now, what changes?”

Old Master Shen’s expression darkened.

Shen Huaijin looked at the screen.

“Four years ago, we didn’t listen to him. Are we going to stop listening again now?”

The room froze.

Old Madam Shen’s tears fell harder.

Shen Yunting let out a low, bitter laugh. “Listen? Did he ever have the chance to speak?”

No one could answer that either, because Shen Qingyu had tried.

They remembered now.

He had stood there, shaking with anger, and said, “Xie Linchuan was my fiancé.”

Shen Jianing had cried and said, “I didn’t mean to…”

Xie Linchuan had held Shen Jianing and said, “Don’t scare him.”

Their mother had said, “Qingyu, Jianing is already like this. Can’t you say less?”

Their father had said, “This is embarrassing enough.”

Their eldest brother had said, “Calm down first.”

Their second brother had said, “The engagement can be cancelled.”

Their third brother had said, “Don’t let this spread outside.”

Their fourth brother had stood there, silent.

No one had said: Qingyu, you were wronged.

No one had said: Qingyu, it’s not your fault.

No one had said: Qingyu, you don’t have to forgive them.

And four years later, his son had said it for them.

The screen showed the livestream ending temporarily.

Director Zhou’s voice could be heard off camera, calm and controlled.

“Today’s home recording will end here. Thank you, Teacher Shen and President Lu.”

Shen Qingyu nodded.

Lu Jingheng stood beside him, while Xiao Nian and Xiao Heng each held one of Shen Qingyu’s hands.

The image froze for a second before the livestream cut to the programme logo.

The Shen family living room fell into complete silence.

Then Shen Zhiyuan suddenly picked up his phone.

Shen Huaijin looked at him. “What are you doing?”

Shen Zhiyuan’s fingers trembled as he opened Shen Qingyu’s contact.

“I’ll call him.”

Shen Yunting grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t.”

Shen Zhiyuan’s eyes reddened. “Why not?”

“Because what are you going to say?” Shen Yunting asked coldly. “Sorry? We misunderstood? We didn’t know?”

His grip tightened.

“We knew.”

Shen Zhiyuan froze.

Shen Yunting’s voice dropped very low.

“We knew Xie Linchuan was his fiancé. We knew Shen Jianing was his brother. We knew he was sixteen. We knew he was angry because he was wronged.”

He released Shen Zhiyuan’s hand.

“We just thought Jianing needed us more.”

That sentence fell into the room like a knife.

Old Madam Shen sobbed quietly.

Shen Huaijin closed his eyes.

The most painful thing was not that they had known nothing. It was that they had known enough and still chosen wrongly.

At the same time, Shen Jianing’s villa was filled with a different kind of silence.

The tablet screen showed the rapidly changing trending list.

#WhatExactlyDidShenQingyuDoWrong#

#ShenQingyuWasSixteen#

#XieLinchuanShenJianingTimeline#

#LuJinghengPrenuptialAgreement#

#ShenJianingPregnancyAffected#

The last topic had been pushed high, but it no longer carried the clean sympathy it was supposed to create.

The comments beneath it were no longer one-sided.

【Why is Shen Jianing hurt again the moment Shen Qingyu speaks?】

【Shen Qingyu only said he caught them in bed. Is that false?】

【If it’s false, deny it directly. Why talk about pregnancy being affected?】

【Don’t use pregnancy to avoid the timeline.】

【I used to feel bad for Shen Jianing, but now this pattern feels strange.】

【Every time Shen Qingyu is wronged, Shen Jianing faints, cries, or gets affected.】

【Can someone answer the question? What did Shen Qingyu do wrong?】

Shen Jianing stared at that question until his eyes stung.

What did Shen Qingyu do wrong? How could they ask that? How could they suddenly ask that after so many years?

Back then, no one had asked.

Back then, everyone had understood him.

He had been afraid. He had truly been afraid. He had not expected Shen Qingyu to open the door, and he had not expected the matter to become so ugly. He had cried because he did not know what else to do.

And once he cried, everyone came to him.

That had always been the case.

Shen Qingyu was too sharp, too beautiful, too talented, and too proud.

He was born an SSS+ Omega, born with everything Shen Jianing could not have. Even when he stood still, he made Shen Jianing feel like a shadow beside a cold, bright moon.

So what was wrong with wanting one thing? Just one thing.

Xie Linchuan had looked at him first.

Xie Linchuan had chosen him.

Was it his fault that Shen Qingyu did not love Xie Linchuan? Was it his fault that everyone liked softer people more? Was it his fault that Shen Qingyu never knew how to lower his head?

The light around Shen Jianing flickered, soft gold, thin and trembling, like a halo disturbed by wind.

Xie Linchuan stood beside the window, phone pressed to his ear.

His manager’s voice came through urgently.

“Linchuan, you need to respond. The timeline is being dug up. Some people have already found old engagement rumours between you and Shen Qingyu. If this continues, it’ll affect both you and Jianing.”

Xie Linchuan’s face was dark. “What do you want me to say?”

“Don’t deny it too strongly. If Shen Qingyu releases evidence, we’ll look worse. The safest response is to say that the engagement was arranged by the elders, that there was no romantic relationship, and that all three of you were young and immature. Emphasise that Jianing was under pressure and is pregnant now. Ask everyone not to reopen old wounds.”

Xie Linchuan looked toward Shen Jianing.

Shen Jianing’s face was pale, one hand resting protectively over his abdomen. His eyes were red but dry, as though he was trying very hard not to cry.

Xie Linchuan’s heart tightened out of habit.

“Fine,” he said.

He ended the call.

Shen Jianing looked up. “Are they asking you to clarify?”

Xie Linchuan softened his voice. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”

Shen Jianing’s lashes trembled. “Qingyu must hate me very much.”

Xie Linchuan frowned. “This is not your fault.”

Shen Jianing laughed faintly, fragile and self-mocking. “But he was right. Back then, he did see us. He was hurt. I know.”

Xie Linchuan paused.

If Shen Jianing had denied everything, he would have found it easier to protect him. But this kind of soft admission made him feel even more distressed.

Jianing had always been like this: kind enough to blame himself first, gentle enough to make others unable to say harsh words.

So Xie Linchuan said, as he had said four years ago, “The engagement between me and Shen Qingyu was arranged. I never loved him. He never loved me. It was only a matter of time before it ended.”

Shen Jianing lowered his head.

“But he was still your fiancé.”

Xie Linchuan’s expression stiffened.

That sentence, from Shen Qingyu’s mouth, had been sharp. From Shen Jianing’s mouth, it became guilt, and somehow, guilt was easier to forgive than anger.

Xie Linchuan sat beside him and held his hand.

“I chose you.”

Shen Jianing looked at him.

Xie Linchuan repeated, “I chose you.”

The light around Shen Jianing steadied slightly.

His eyes softened.

A few minutes later, Xie Linchuan posted on Weibo.

Xie Linchuan V:

The past involved many complicated family arrangements. Qingyu and I had an engagement arranged by the elders, but we had no romantic feelings for each other. Jianing and I have always felt guilty for the hurt caused during that immature period. Now Jianing is pregnant, and I hope everyone will stop reopening old wounds. I also hope Qingyu can live well.

It looked sincere, restrained, and gentle.

But the internet was no longer the same internet from four years ago.

The comments appeared instantly.

【You wrote so much, but you didn’t answer whether Shen Qingyu caught you and Shen Jianing in bed before the engagement was cancelled.】

【“No romantic feelings” doesn’t mean betrayal didn’t happen.】

【Why are you mentioning Shen Jianing’s pregnancy again?】

【Translation: yes, we did it, but please don’t scold us because Jianing is pregnant.】

【Qingyu? Are you close enough to call him that?】

【“I hope Qingyu can live well” — he is living very well. Did you not see Lu Jingheng making breakfast?】

【You had no romantic feelings, so it was fine? Then if someone steals from me but I didn’t like the stolen item, it’s not theft?】

【This statement is useless. Answer the timeline.】

The protagonist halo struggled, and another wave of sympathy comments rose.

【Jianing is pregnant. Stop forcing him!】

【They were young back then. Why can’t Shen Qingyu let go?】

【Shen Qingyu is already married to Lu Jingheng. Why mention old things?】

But this time, the rebuttals came faster.

【He mentioned it because the programme team asked about his “bullying scandal.”】

【He didn’t bring it up randomly.】

【Why is Shen Jianing allowed to be protected by pregnancy, but Shen Qingyu wasn’t protected at sixteen?】

【One was nineteen and pregnant years later. One was sixteen at the time. Which one was more vulnerable?】

【You can’t use current pregnancy to erase past betrayal.】

Shen Jianing read the comments until his breathing became unsteady, his hand pressing against his abdomen.

Xie Linchuan immediately noticed. “Jianing?”

Shen Jianing’s face was white. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

“I just…” Shen Jianing bit his lip. “I just don’t understand why everyone suddenly hates me.”

Xie Linchuan’s expression hardened. “They don’t hate you. They’re being led by Shen Qingyu.”