Mistaken ‘O’ is a Crazy Gorgeous Boss - Chapter 58

The drizzle intensified into a downpour, raindrops as large as beans rolling onto the blades of wild grass sprouting from the crevices between stones.

In the back seat of the car, the partition was raised. Amelia instinctively lowered her head, focusing intently on handling work matters for her boss. Meanwhile, Yan Shuang, who was at the center of the conversation, glanced at her friend beside her in surprise.

“Have you been possessed?” she couldn’t help but ask. “Since when do you ask about such things?”

Shen Yunxi remained silent.

Yan Shuang teased, “It’s because of your partner, isn’t it?”

“That’s not an answer to my question. Have you been possessed?”

Yan Shuang chuckled softly, the pheromone bracelet on her left wrist gradually turning red. “Whether I like it or not doesn’t change the fact that she’s my Omega.”

Shen Yunxi closed her eyes, her stunningly beautiful and cool countenance resembling that of a frost goddess.

Half an hour later, the car arrived at its destination. The mountain rain abruptly ceased, as if someone had pressed a pause button, and the thin mist enveloping the emerald mountains gradually dissipated.

The driver stepped out first, respectfully opening the car door for the passengers inside before lowering his head and standing to the side, not daring to look directly at the Omega and Alpha as they exited the vehicle.

The two of them walked unhurriedly inside. A cool breeze laden with moisture swept past them. Though the Omega was at a height disadvantage, her presence was in no way inferior to the Alpha beside her, in fact, it clearly overshadowed the Alpha’s.

The Omega was as beautiful as polished jade and as cold as frost, a pair of silver-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, concealing much of the chill in her eyes.

An elderly steward standing by the fountain greeted them with a warm smile before leading them in another direction.

The mansion nestled among the emerald mountains was worth a fortune, its interior and exterior decorated in a distinctly retro style. As they walked along the elegant ancient corridor, a lone fish swam in the stream meandering between rockeries, while vibrant flowers bloomed on either side, creating a picturesque scene.

In an old tiled pavilion beside a pine tree and rocks, a woman in a light blue qipao, her long hair pinned up with a wooden hairpin, was flipping through the latest edition of Haicheng Times. Every movement she made was as graceful and refined as an orchid.

As the two approached, Shen Yunxi did not take a seat immediately. Instead, she called out to her first, “Aunt Lan.”

Lan Yu looked up from the newspaper and responded gently, “Yes, Koukou and Xiao Shuang are here.”

After greeting her, Yan Shuang sat on the rosewood chair to Lan Yu’s right. Shen Yunxi took a pale apricot-colored shawl cloak from a nearby rack and handed it to Lan Yu.

“Aunt Lan, the autumn temperatures in Haicheng are low. Please take care to stay warm.”

Lan Yu smiled softly, the corners of her eyes revealing traces of time, as if an orchid had been delicately embroidered there.

She didn’t look at all like a calculating businesswoman, nor did she seem to have any connection to the world of fame and fortune. Instead, she appeared to be a sage-like teacher who had long been immersed in books.

“Alright, Aunt Lan understands,” Lan Yu said as she draped the soft shawl over her shoulders, then poured two cups of tea for the younger women. “Koukou, have the latest test results come out?”

“Yes.”

“What did the doctor say?”

“A 99% compatibility rate, with very noticeable effects. The frequency of episodes has continued to decrease, and the severity of the pain is slowly diminishing. The current condition is much better than before.”

Lan Yu’s face broke into a relieved smile. “That’s wonderful.”

“Aunt Lan, you should take care of your health too,” Yan Shuang suddenly interjected. “When we arrived just now, I noticed Xiao Yuan’s medicine bowl was still full. Have you not taken your medicine yet?”

Hearing this, Shen Yunxi turned her gaze to Lan Yu. “Aunt Lan.”

“Let’s drink a bit later, no rush.” Lan Yu stood up, her posture as upright as a pine tree. “Xiao Shuang, rest here for a while. Koukou, come take a walk with Aunt Lan.”

“Alright.”

Walking toward the garden, the long corridor felt like winding through a dense forest. Only when the sky peeked through the forest’s edge did the flowers along the path begin to bloom, vying for fragrance. Lan Yu was slightly taller than Shen Yunxi. The reflections of their figures and faces shimmered in the lake’s surface, making them look like a loving mother and daughter.

“How have things been with Xiao Qu lately?”

Among all the people close to Shen Yunxi, everyone except Qu Zhen herself knew of Shen Yunxi’s feelings for her.

“Quite well.”

Lan Yu picked up a fallen flower from the ground and gently placed it back on the branch. “I heard from Lan Wan about what happened at Shengcan Venture Capital. Xiao Qu and those young women were very brave.”

“This incident was my oversight. The group and all its subsidiaries have been thoroughly reviewed and reorganized,” Shen Yunxi continued. “She has always been brave, and this time was no exception.”

Lan Yu suddenly called her: “Koukou.”

“What is it, Aunt Lan?”

“It’s nothing. I just wanted to apologize to you.” Lan Yu explained, “In the past, Xiao Shuang and I advised you to try matching with other S-class alphas and complete the preliminary treatment plan before the four-year deadline.”

Hormonal Agitation Syndrome follows a four-year cycle. According to hospital data, most patients can survive the first four years. But Shen Yunxi’s case was different. Because her biological mother was an Omega with an implanted artificial gland, her own gland developed weaker than that of a typical Omega, making her condition more unique and challenging.

As the expert team stated, her chances of surviving the first four years were only 13%. This probability was so slim that the concerned Lan Yu and Yan Shuang had advised her many times.

Yet none of their attempts at persuasion were successful.

Back then, Shen Yunxi was like a stubborn rock, unmoved even as her illness wore her down. Once, after failing to persuade her, Lan Yu returned to find Shen Yunxi, frail and gaunt, collapsed from an episode. Lan Yu stayed at Green Desert Manor for a week, tending to her and persistently urging her all the while.

The hospital experts had cited examples of patients who were either married or in relationships. Yet when they found alphas or Omegas with higher compatibility, they all chose to part ways with their former lovers or partners, without exception, even if there were regrets.

No one was as stubborn as Shen Yunxi. After all, in the face of life and death, what does love, whether light or heavy, truly matter?

The two continued along the bluestone path, where chrysanthemums of various kinds were in full bloom. The pale yellow Lanting chrysanthemums were particularly eye-catching, attracting colorful butterflies to linger around them.

Lan Yu’s voice resumed: “I advised you more times than Xiao Shuang did, staying for days on end. Even bees weren’t as noisy as I was.”

“You must have been very annoyed with me back then. I was supposed to be a close elder, yet I didn’t respect your feelings and kept nagging for so long.”

“Not at all.” Shen Yunxi slowed her pace and said gently, “I understand why you and Yan Shuang did what you did. There’s no need to apologize to me. After all, I never imagined a miracle would happen either.”

Born with sin into this world, she was an ill-omened calamity from the start, how could she dare pray for a miracle to happen to her? Thus, she made peace with Hormonal Agitation Syndrome earlier than Yan Shuang or Lan Yu. She could calmly accept her own death.

Whether on some winter day, a spring night, or perhaps during an autumn rain, she would quietly depart from this world.

“Apologizing when you’ve done wrong is only right,” Lan Yu said softly. “Koukou, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, Aunt Lan.”

“Then Aunt Lan will take it as Koukou forgiving me.”

“Mhm.”

As they reached the pavilion deep in the garden, Lan Yu suddenly said, “Two days ago, the people I sent out finally found Xin Hui.”

Shen Yunxi’s footsteps paused.

The name Xin Hui was not unfamiliar to her; on the contrary, she knew very well that this was the maid who had accompanied her mother back in the day.

When Shen Wenxi, the former head of the Shen family, was in power, the mansion was filled with an especially large number of servants. To Shen Wenxi, all the servants in the mansion were nothing more than dogs to be ordered around at will. She had assigned Xin Hui to stay by Yun Yun’s side, ensuring she ate and slept on time.

Of course, Yun Yun would not commit suicide, the lives of the remaining members of the Yun family were in Shen Wenxi’s hands. By the time Yun Yun passed away, no one knew where Xin Hui had gone.

It wasn’t until four years ago, when Shen Yunxi sent Shen Wenxi to the hospital for a check-up, that she learned Shen Wenxi had been insanely determined to have Xin Hui buried alive with Yun Yun.

But Xin Hui had escaped.

“Her condition isn’t good. I had someone take her abroad for treatment, and before she left, she gave me a letter. She said it was a letter Yun Yun left for you before she passed away.” Lan Yu glanced at her sideways. “Koukou, that letter is now on the desk in the study.”

She smiled, her eyes filled with boundless tenderness at the mention of that name. “Go on. I think Yun Yun has been waiting for this moment for a long time.”

The pale purple hibiscus flowers swayed in the wind, and Shen Yunxi stood frozen in place.

For as long as she could remember, she had known that her Omega mother was gone, leaving her with only her Alpha mother.

But her Alpha mother, Shen Wenxi, did not like her, in fact, one could say she detested her. She remembered the first time she called Shen Wenxi “Mom,” her voice timid and soft, filled with a child’s longing for a mother.

But all she received was a slap.

In front of her other children, Shen Wenxi slapped her expressionlessly and then said indifferently, “You are not worthy of calling me that.”

The mark of the slap burned on her left cheek. The pain brought tears to her eyes, and a sharp ringing filled her ears. Yet, she wasn’t even allowed to cry, otherwise, her right cheek would bear the same mark.

With her left cheek swollen and red, she was forced to kneel by the dining table, enduring the cold stares of everyone, treated as lower than even the Shen family’s servants.

Throughout her upbringing, such incidents were too numerous to count. Compared to the punishments that followed, a single slap was considered mild. Shen Wenxi never treated her as a daughter. Instead, she repeatedly told her that Yun Yun had died because of her.

“If it weren’t for you, Yun Yun wouldn’t have died.”

“Why couldn’t you have died in her place? It should have been you, not Yun Yun.”

“You killed Yun Yun. How dare you live in this world? You don’t deserve anything. You only deserve to live like a sinner.”

Countless words like these piled up over time, until she began to doubt whether she had truly caused her mother’s death. Especially after learning the truth about Yun Yun and Shen Wenxi’s marriage, she once felt that it must indeed be her fault.

No one rejoiced at her birth; only death and separation followed in its wake.

If it weren’t for Shen Wenxi, Yun Yun would have continued to be that exceptionally talented, dazzling chief perfumer, with Lan Yu by her side, living a beautiful life. If it weren’t for her, Yun Yun could have kept living, continuing… to live with hope.

She was the sin crafted by Shen Wenxi’s hands; she never dared to hope that Yun Yun would like her.

So much so that when she heard the letter was left for her, her first thought was, did Yun Yun… also despise her like Shen Wenxi did? Could it be a letter telling her how much she loathed her arrival?

A chill spread from her fingertips, and she froze in place, unable to move.

Lan Yu turned and left, leaving her alone in that small corner. Colorful butterflies fluttered among the flowers, fish swam in the pond, and countless blossoms faced the sun, all these beautiful, warm things had nothing to do with her.

She felt as if she had fallen into an icy abyss, until a ray of sunlight spilled over her shoulder, brightening the world before her eyes, and her consciousness gradually returned.

The study on the first floor was close to the garden. Following the stone path straight ahead, she could push the door open directly.

As she drew nearer, her steps paused before the side door of the study. Her fingers hovered over the doorknob, hesitating to enter.

Clouds drifted across the sky, and jasmine vines climbed the walls, spilling over the edges, splitting the beam of light in two. Shen Yunxi stood half in light, half in shadow, the converging rays meeting at her feet.

She lowered her gaze to the cast shadow, her eyes behind the thin lenses profoundly dark.

She knew she was sick, twisted, and flawed.

She tried hard to appear healthy in front of Qu Zhen, struggling to restrain her possessiveness, not letting her true self frighten her. Because she knew Qu Zhen would only like Shen Zhikou, not Shen Yunxi.

No one would like Shen Yunxi… not even Shen Yunxi herself.

So, it was only natural that Yun Yun didn’t like her either, she thought.

Gripping the doorknob, she pushed the door open and entered. Facing the familiar layout, she walked straight to the walnut-colored desk, expressionlessly staring at the aged letter, though her slightly pursed lips betrayed her unease.

The yellow envelope had faded to a pale yellow-white. She picked up the small knife beside it and methodically began to open it.

Taking out the musty-smelling letter paper from the envelope, she paused briefly before unfolding the creased sheet. The white paper was wrinkled in several places, yet the first sentence that met her eyes was filled with such treasured love.

[To my dear daughter, Koukou:

My precious, I’m sorry we have to meet this way. By the time you read this letter, Mama has likely become a star shining down on you.

There are so many things I want to say to you, but time is running out for me, so we must keep it brief. After I’m gone, your alpha mother might blame you for my departure. It was my incompetence and failure that I couldn’t protect you properly, and I apologize for that. Even if you resent me and cannot forgive me, that is your right. In my eyes, you will always be my little one who never has to grow up. But please, do not believe anything your alpha mother says, because no matter what happens, I will always love you, and you will forever be my precious daughter.

I have never regretted being Koukou’s mother, I only regret that I cannot stay with my Koukou a little longer. If your alpha mother treats you poorly, or if you encounter problems you cannot solve, go to Aunt Lan Yu, my dear friend. She is a good person and will surely help and care for you. Please trust me on this.

Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, we will meet again in another form. But always remember, I will always love Koukou, and Koukou will forever be my cherished, beloved daughter.

Unbothered by the vexations of spring, only composing verses of budding blossoms. I hope my precious Koukou will always be happy and free from worries, leading a life of peace, smoothness, joy, and well-being.]

The scene before her gradually blurred, and the distinct WeChat ringtone belonging to Qu Zhen suddenly rang out, as if transcending time to tell the former Yun Yun that someone, just like her, loved Shen Zhikou sincerely.

A glistening tear silently traced from the corner of Shen Yunxi’s eye, falling onto the end of the letter and soaking a small patch.