After Mistaking My Stepsister’s First Love - Chapter 68

Housekeeper Wu arrived quickly, accompanied by a doctor and two nurses.

Jian Mo’s condition could only be temporarily stabilized for now. Since she had regained consciousness, it was only natural for the doctor to check on her.

After the examination, the doctor glanced at Jian Mo and said to Housekeeper Wu, “She’s stable for the time being, but it’s hard to say how long that will last. I recommend preparing for the next steps as soon as possible.”

With that, the doctor left the ward.

Relieved to hear that there was no immediate danger, Housekeeper Wu let out a sigh. However, when the doctor mentioned permanent marking again, her heart skipped a beat. Instinctively, she turned to look for Ye Wenjin—only to realize she wasn’t there.

It was only then that she noticed Ye Wenjin hadn’t even entered the room.

Housekeeper Wu was puzzled. “Why hasn’t Miss Wenjin come in? I’ll go call her—”

“Aunt Wu.”

Jian Mo suddenly spoke up, stopping Housekeeper Wu in her tracks. She turned to her with a questioning look. “What is it, Miss?”

Jian Mo’s gaze drifted toward the door, her eyes deep and unreadable. “What exactly happened to me?”

Housekeeper Wu hadn’t expected this question. She had assumed Ye Wenjin had already explained everything to Jian Mo.

So Miss Wenjin hadn’t told her after all. A flicker of hesitation crossed Housekeeper Wu’s face—perhaps Miss Wenjin simply didn’t know how to broach the subject.

After a moment of deliberation, Housekeeper Wu finally replied, “Miss, your… heat cycle came early this time due to the influence of an inducer. But given your pre-existing hormonal imbalance disorder, it has… triggered some complications. There’s only one way to fully resolve this, and that is…”

She hesitated, but under Jian Mo’s steady gaze, she reluctantly continued, “Permanent marking. Only a permanent mark can stabilize your hormones.”

Jian Mo’s expression froze momentarily—clearly, she hadn’t anticipated this.

But realization quickly dawned on her. This must have been the reason for Ye Wenjin’s troubled demeanor earlier.

Permanent marking…

Her fingers, hidden beneath the blanket, curled involuntarily before clenching into a fist, then abruptly relaxing again.

Jian Mo lowered her eyes and let out a soft sigh.

“So that’s it. No wonder A-Jin looked so strange.”

Housekeeper Wu heard her murmur and couldn’t help but feel conflicted.

Having worked for the Jian family for so many years, she knew Jian Mo well.

Even though Jian Mo had never spoken of the events from her childhood, Housekeeper Wu could tell—she seemed to harbor some resistance toward emotions, especially love.

If that were the only issue, it might not have been so bad. But on the day of her secondary gender manifestation, something else had happened, and afterward, she became even more withdrawn.

What’s more, during her mother’s funeral, another incident had occurred—one that still weighed heavily on Housekeeper Wu’s mind.

Shen Xiyun’s death had struck Jian Mo too hard. At the funeral, she had been numb, moving through the rituals like a puppet controlled by invisible strings.

Unlike others who had lost their mothers, she hadn’t shed a single tear. Kneeling before the black-and-white portrait, she had simply stared blankly at the photograph, her thoughts unknown.

If not for the faint rise and fall of her chest, everyone might have thought the young girl had been driven to madness by grief.

But Jian Mo simply hadn’t known how to react. A gaping hole had opened in her heart, letting in nothing but a relentless, icy wind.

Until Jian Li arrived.

Not only did she fail to show up promptly for her own wife’s funeral, but she even brought someone with her when she finally appeared.

The sight immediately sparked murmurs among the funeral attendees.

It was common knowledge that Shen Xiyun was hopelessly devoted to Jian Li, to the point of being irrationally love-struck. Yet, no one expected that at her funeral, her wife would not only show such disregard but also bring another woman along.

The absurdity of the scene made everyone who witnessed it gasp in shock.

Naturally, the commotion caught Jian Mo’s attention.

With an expressionless face, she turned her head and saw Jian Li swaggering into the funeral venue with a woman in tow. Her demeanor suggested she wasn’t there to mourn her deceased wife but to attend some trivial gathering.

The woman beside her was even more outrageous—dressed inappropriately for a funeral and behaving intimately with Jian Li as if no one else was around.

Jian Mo trembled with rage, her eyes instantly turning icy.

No one could believe that Jian Li wouldn’t even bother to put on a facade in public. Was it simply because Shen Xiyun was already dead?

Defying all expectations, Jian Mo, who had been standing like a lifeless doll, suddenly erupted. Before anyone could react, she stormed up to the pair and slapped them both hard, coldly uttering a single word: “Scum.”

The sharp sound of the slap echoed through the silent space, freezing the atmosphere as if time had stopped.

But Jian Mo seemed oblivious. After striking them, she picked up Shen Xiyun’s ashes and strode away without a backward glance.

From then on, her relationship with Jian Li deteriorated rapidly. By the time Jian Mo was in university, she had openly declared war on Jian Li. Their battles raged back and forth, but to everyone’s surprise, Jian Mo emerged victorious. Under her leadership, the Jian family swiftly rose to become an unstoppable force.

Yet, Butler Wu had always known how difficult Jian Mo’s journey had been. She also knew that Jian Mo had little regard for emotions—or rather, she had grown indifferent, as if all her feelings had vanished with her wife’s passing.

But one day, Butler Wu noticed that Jian Mo seemed to have changed. When she returned from outside, there was a palpable sense of relaxation about her. Strangely, this wasn’t just a one-time occurrence.

Curious about the shift, Butler Wu was eager to understand, but Jian Mo at the time was too guarded to share anything. Still, seeing her in better spirits was a relief—at least she seemed more alive.

Later, Butler Wu realized Jian Mo had developed a fixed habit: leaving twice a week, though no one knew where she went. The only clue was that she always returned in a noticeably better mood.

During the most intense phase of her conflict with Jian Li, Jian Mo was under unbearable pressure, living in a constant state of high stress. Worried that the strain would break her, Butler Wu hesitated but eventually worked up the courage to ask.

After all, Jian Mo hadn’t gone out alone in nearly two weeks.

Jian Mo, however, fell silent.

Butler Wu immediately regretted her nosiness. Just as she assumed Jian Mo wouldn’t answer, she heard her say quietly:

“It’s too dangerous.”

At the time, Butler Wu didn’t understand. It wasn’t until Jian Mo had fully taken control of the Jian family that she realized the truth—those words hadn’t been about Jian Mo’s own safety, but about the danger she might bring to someone else.

Jian Li was exactly the kind of person she understood all too well. If he found out Jian Mo still had someone she cared about, he wouldn’t hesitate to target that person.

It was only after everything had settled that Jian Mo resumed her old habit of going out alone every week.

Though Wu the housekeeper didn’t know who she was meeting, she knew that person was very important to Jian Mo.

After so many years of living together, she had come to understand Jian Mo even better. So, when she learned that Jian Mo had suddenly gotten married, she had a strong premonition.

That person was Ye Wenjin.

But it was clear the young lady hadn’t told Wenjin about it. Though they were supposed to be wives, their interactions carried a sense of unfamiliarity and awkwardness.

Especially Wenjin—Wu could tell the girl was a good person, sincere in how she treated others. Yet when she first arrived, she had been so reserved, like a startled fawn, wide-eyed and constantly assessing her surroundings as if gauging danger.

At first, Wu didn’t understand why she was like this. But after learning about Wenjin’s background, it all made sense.

So it turned out to be two wounded souls saving each other.

That was why, upon hearing that a permanent mark was needed for treatment, her first thought was concern.

Neither of these two had experienced a happy upbringing—would a permanent mark become a burden for them?

Wu couldn’t help but worry.

But when she saw that Mo had woken up while Wenjin had slipped away, Wu understood.

At least for Wenjin, the permanent mark truly seemed to be a burden.

She wasn’t even willing to explain the situation herself. Wu couldn’t suppress her growing unease.

“Young lady…”

Wu called softly, but Jian Mo stopped her.

“Aunt Wu, there’s no rush. I know my own body—this is just another symptom. It won’t kill me. But there is something I need you to do immediately. Have someone investigate everything about that charity gala. Leave no detail unchecked.”

At the mention of the charity gala, Wu’s gaze turned cold. “Understood. I’ve already had someone copy the surveillance footage from that night, though I haven’t had time to review it yet. I’ll oversee it right away.”

After a pause, she hesitantly added, “And what about Miss Wenjin…?”

Jian Mo lowered her eyes slightly. “As for A-Jin… there’s no hurry. A permanent mark is indeed a serious matter. I won’t force her—I’ll give her time to think it through, and myself time as well. Let’s leave it at that for now.”

Wu opened her mouth as if to say more but ultimately nodded in understanding.

“Then I’ll fetch Miss Wenjin before returning to investigate.”

Jian Mo gave a slight nod and closed her eyes to rest.

Wu left, and soon after, the door opened quietly as someone entered.

Jian Mo opened her eyes to see Ye Wenjin’s uneasy expression.

Neither spoke, and an unspoken tension filled the room.

Not wanting to prolong the strange atmosphere, Wenjin finally mustered the courage to break the silence. “How are you feeling, sis?”

Jian Mo replied slowly, “Nothing serious. We’ll go home soon.”

Wenjin nodded, then fell silent again.

With Jian Mo’s condition stabilized, there was no reason to stay.

So Wenjin went to handle the discharge procedures, and the two returned to the villa together—though the atmosphere along the way remained oddly strained.

Ye Wenjin nervously twisted her fingers, her face a picture of inner turmoil—wanting to speak yet not daring to, so lost in thought that she didn’t even realize when she had followed Jian Mo into the room.

Jian Mo didn’t point it out either. She simply sat on the bed, watching with quiet amusement as emotions flickered across Ye Wenjin’s face.

She was so easy to read—every feeling written plainly on her features, no guessing required.

Seeing that Ye Wenjin was still lost in her own world, Jian Mo finally sighed softly and called out, “A-Jin.”

Ye Wenjin startled back to awareness, only then realizing she had been standing dumbly in front of Jian Mo. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she’d completely tuned out her surroundings.

“Sorry, sis. I spaced out. You… maybe you should rest a little more?”

Despite all the mental preparation, the words still wouldn’t come, and she instinctively deflected instead.

A flash of frustration crossed Ye Wenjin’s face. She couldn’t keep doing this. Just as she steeled herself to speak, Jian Mo cut in first.

“A-Jin, listen to me first.”

So Ye Wenjin closed her mouth and nodded obediently, letting Jian Mo pull her down to sit beside her.

“A-Jin, I know how you feel about permanent marking, so I won’t force you into it. I’ll give you time to think it through—and myself time too. This is important for both of us. What do you think?”

Ye Wenjin was silent for a long moment before murmuring, “I thought… you’d think I didn’t care about you.”

Jian Mo held her gaze. “How could I?”

Meeting her eyes, Ye Wenjin suddenly relaxed. The words that had been so hard to say now flowed out naturally. “I’ve actually been thinking about this for a long time—ever since I first heard about it.”

“I used to be afraid of forming close relationships, afraid of permanent marking. Because I’ve seen how it controlled Ye Shuyao. The memory itself isn’t frightening, but it’s stuck in my mind.”

“When I first heard we’d need a permanent mark, I rejected the idea. I was scared it would hurt you, scared it would change who you are. So I resisted instinctively.”

Jian Mo listened intently, then encouraged, “And then?”

Ye Wenjin’s voice softened. “Then I realized—I’m not Yin Yu, and you’re not Ye Shuyao. We’re different.”

Jian Mo suddenly smiled. “Recognizing that means you’ve grown a lot, A-Jin.”

But Ye Wenjin sighed sheepishly. “Even though I know that’s true… I still need some time to adjust my thinking. So…”

Her tone turned solemn. “Thank you, sis.”

Thank you for always considering so much ahead of time, for embracing all her imperfections.

If meeting Jian Mo had cost her all the luck in her life, Ye Wenjin would never regret it.

Because her sister was the most precious gift of all.

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