The next morning, while Shen Zhe was still submerged in a drug-induced stupor from the heavy sedatives, a frantic ringing of the doorbell shattered the apartment's deadly silence.
In the kitchen, Lin Yan's hand—holding a fruit knife—froze mid-air. She glided to the door and peered through the peephole. Her pupils constricted like a cat's eyes under the blazing sun.
Outside stood a woman of elegance, now haggard, her eyes swollen from days of relentless weeping. It was Mrs. Shen—Shen Zhe's mother. She was desperately searching every room in this decaying apartment complex based on a faint, flickering lead.
"Is anyone home? Please... I'm looking for..." Mrs. Shen's voice, fragile and choked with sobs, drifted through the wooden door.
Inside the bedroom, Shen Zhe's heart seemed to sense her presence. He stirred weakly, his dry throat letting out a raspy call: "Yan... who... who is at the door?"
Lin Yan shuddered. She dropped the knife and lunged into the bedroom with terrifying speed. Ignoring his frailty, she grabbed a speaker and cranked up a lyricless track to its maximum volume, drowning out the sobs from the hallway. She threw herself onto Shen Zhe, shielding his ears with her hands and pressing his head hard against her chest.
"It's no one! Just some debt collectors looking for the neighbor. Don't listen, don't listen to anything!" she shrieked, her voice trembling in a perfect act of utter terror.
"But I... I thought I heard my mother..." Shen Zhe tried to push her hands away, suspicion flickering in his clouded eyes.
Lin Yan bit her lip until it bled, the metallic tang of blood filling her mouth. She stared directly into his eyes, her face a mask of agonized betrayal. "Shen Zhe! Wake up! Have you forgotten? Your mother was the one who signed the disownment papers to save the reputation of that damn corporation! She threw you away! She is never coming here to save you!"
Outside, Mrs. Shen continued to knock persistently. "Please, I am Shen Zhe's mother, I know my son is somewhere here..."
Lin Yan glared at the door, her eyes flashing with the cold ruthlessness of a predator guarding its territory. She let go of him, her voice suddenly softening. "Let me go drive the debt collectors away. Stay still, don't make a sound, or they'll find you."
She stepped out and slammed the bedroom door shut. The moment she faced Mrs. Shen through the gap in the security chain, her vulnerability vanished. In its place was a frigid face and a voice as sharp as a blade.
"Go away. Shen Zhe said you are the person he loathes most right now. He doesn't want to see the mother who abandoned her son just to save a few stocks."
Mrs. Shen gasped, clutching the doorframe. "Who... who are you? Is Zhe here? Let me see him, just for a minute!"
"He's gone. He fled the country with another woman to escape the warrant. The more you look for him, the more he hates you. Stop letting your selfishness kill him."
With that, Lin Yan coldly slammed the door, leaving the poor mother to collapse in a heap of sobs in the cold hallway. Leaning her back against the door, Lin Yan whispered with manic joy: "Shen Zhe is mine. No one, not even you, is allowed to take him away."
Taking a deep breath, she painted a mask of panic back onto her face and rushed into the bedroom, collapsing by Shen Zhe's bed.
"Zhe... we're finished," she whispered, her face deathly pale.
Shen Zhe struggled to remain conscious, his trembling hand grasping her shoulder. "My mother? Is she gone?"
Lin Yan looked at him with eyes full of tragic despair. "Your mother didn't come to find you... she brought the police. Zhe... the leader of the thugs that night... he's dead. The police say your blow to his head was the direct cause. They've branded you a murderer to cover up their smuggling ring."
Shen Zhe shook violently, his breath catching. "No... I was only defending myself!"
"No one believes you!" Lin Yan screamed, before pulling his head back into her lap to soothe him. Her voice was like honey-coated poison. "Your mother gave the police false evidence to pin everything on you, just to protect your father's prestige. She chose the corporation over her own son. Now, the whole world wants you dead. Only I... only I would dare to hide a 'murderer' like you."
Shen Zhe went numb. The last thread connecting him to humanity and family had snapped. He stared at his hands, feeling them stained with thick, black blood—even though no one had actually died. A heart-wrenching howl of agony escaped him before he collapsed entirely, sobbing in Lin Yan's arms like a child abandoned in a dark forest.
Lin Yan smiled—a chilling, hollow smile in the darkness. She kissed his forehead gently, stroking his hair as if comforting a pet whose claws had just been clipped.
"Good boy. From now on, you are no longer the Shen Zhe of the Shen family. You are simply... my Zhe."