The Scumbag’s Redemption: Kept by Her - Chapter 70

Perhaps her shock was too obvious. Shen Yuwei lifted her eyes and gave her a calm, steady look, a hint of curiosity flashing beneath her gaze.

In that moment, Ling Jiao realized she had acted too impulsively.

Someone who had married into the Ling family should not have shown such open curiosity about the previous matriarchs. But this matter was truly shocking. Before the car accident, her father, Ling Fengye, had been the one who indulged her the most. If not for his excessive spoiling, the original Ling Jiao would never have developed such an arrogant and unruly personality.

After being loved unconditionally for so long, it was hard not to feel something.

“I was just curious how he passed away so suddenly,” Ling Jiao said, adjusting her expression and smiling lightly. “The outside world has heard very little about the former family head in recent years. I assumed he had gone off to retire somewhere. As far as I know, the couple had always been in good health.”

Shen Yuwei’s gaze didn’t waver.

“Life is full of uncertainties,” she said quietly. “Even the strongest person can collapse overnight after losing a daughter in a sudden accident. That kind of pain can break a person completely. Once the spirit weakens, illness follows.”

“The illness hit hard. During one banquet, the family head fainted and was taken to the hospital. He was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer.”

For some reason, Shen Yuwei seemed willing to talk about the past tonight. Her voice was slow and steady, as if telling someone else’s story from a distance. She no longer sounded like someone who had lived through it but more like a quiet observer of life and death from far away.

“His condition was kept a secret, but my mother-in-law could not be fooled. She rarely involved herself in family matters, but she’s a gentle woman. When she found out, she sometimes made nourishing porridge and brought it to the hospital for him.”

Ling Jiao was waiting for the rest, but Shen Yuwei suddenly stopped talking. Ling Jiao couldn’t help but ask, “And then?”

Late-stage liver cancer meant his death was only a matter of time. But her mother… Shen Yuwei said she was gentle?

In her memory, her mother, He Meiyi, never showed any real emotions. She always seemed distant, as if she didn’t care about anything in the family. She didn’t care about Ling Fengye, and she certainly didn’t care about her own daughter. The version of He Meiyi that Shen Yuwei described, who would personally cook porridge and visit her ill husband, was difficult to believe.

And unless she remembered wrong, her mother had been forced into marriage with Ling Fengye under questionable circumstances. There had always been tension between them. In the end, it was unclear if they had ever reconciled.

Where was she buried now?

“Knowing too much only shortens your life,” Shen Yuwei said softly, brushing a damp strand of hair from her forehead. “Unless you’re in a hurry to leave this world.”

Ling Jiao didn’t respond.

Fine. She hadn’t expected Shen Yuwei to reveal everything in a single night. The truth would come eventually.

“You didn’t bring me up here just to tell stories, did you?” Ling Jiao asked with a lazy smile. “Or is Madam too eager to make our marriage official?”

“As the saying goes, spring nights are short and the sun rises early. Why waste a lovely evening?”

Ling Jiao smirked and stood up, her expression playful and suggestive.

Before Shen Yuwei could react, Ling Jiao leaned forward and pressed down on her shoulders, slowly sliding the soft robe down inch by inch.

“You…”

For the first time, Shen Yuwei’s composed expression shifted.

The difference between an alpha and an omega’s physical strength was significant. Even though Ling Jiao’s body had once been gravely ill, now that she had recovered slightly, her strength was still far beyond that of a naturally fragile omega. Even though Shen Yuwei had been raised as an alpha before her secondary gender revealed itself, she still could not match it.

She immediately tried to break free.

It took all of Ling Jiao’s strength to hold her down on the lounge chair. Seeing her struggle, she gave a cold smile.

“Didn’t you consider the possible consequences when you decided to take a husband?”

“My parents are both gone. I have nothing to lose. Did you think someone like me would be easy to control?”

Feeling someone else invading her space, Shen Yuwei froze. “Guar—”

Before she could finish calling for help, a warm shawl fell over her shoulders, covering the skin exposed during the struggle.

The soft hum of a hairdryer followed.

Ling Jiao was drying her hair.

Shen Yuwei’s fingers gripped the armrests tightly. Her lips were taut, but she didn’t finish the call for help.

Ling Jiao gently massaged her scalp with warm fingers. It felt unexpectedly comforting. Slowly, Shen Yuwei closed her eyes and allowed herself to be pampered.

Ling Jiao moved the hairdryer back and forth, carefully drying every strand until the roots and ends were completely dry.

After a while, the sound of the dryer stopped.

Shen Yuwei did not open her eyes.

Ling Jiao’s voice came from above, sharp and sarcastic. “I suppose your late husband never told you to dry your hair before bed.”

“No wonder he died early. A woman who can’t take care of others has no right to expect anything in return.”

Shen Yuwei didn’t reply.

In a foul mood, Ling Jiao scowled and gave her hair a rough rub before tossing a comb into her lap.

“Comb it yourself.”

After the rough handling, her hair looked a little messy and fluffy. Compared to her usual neat and proper appearance, it gave her a more natural softness. Shen Yuwei ran her fingers over the horn comb and leaned against the chair, her gaze shifting slightly.

“Have you ever been in love?”

Ling Jiao glanced at her. “I thought your people had already given you my full file.”

“Answer me.”

“Once.”

Shen Yuwei smiled faintly. “Alphas are always proud, obsessed with their status. They would never stoop to caring for their partners. To them, omegas are like beautiful ornaments kept at home to water plants and do skincare. They think that’s love.”

“But you were very good to your ex-girlfriend.”

Ling Jiao said quietly, “No one in this world loved her more than I did.”

Shen Yuwei raised an eyebrow. “What a shame. When you were sick and dying, she didn’t come to take care of you.”

When Zhou Xiaojun was bedridden, almost no one visited her except for Milo.

Ling Jiao fell silent.

“It’s getting late. You should go back and rest.” Shen Yuwei waved her hand, the fatigue of the past few days showing clearly in her expression. “Go.”

Ling Jiao looked at her deeply.

At that moment, Ling Jiao thought, maybe it would be better to lay everything bare, to be honest with Shen Yuwei now. That way, Shen Yuwei could rest earlier and finally let go of all the burdens she was carrying.

But too many things were still unclear. She didn’t know how much feeling Shen Yuwei still held for her. If her identity was revealed now, someone as guarded as Shen Yuwei would surely shut herself off completely and keep every secret from her with ease.

“Madam should get some sleep too.”

Ling Jiao sighed silently, turned, and left the room.

Just as she was about to close the door and turn away, the butler passed by her carrying a tray covered with black silk. As they brushed past each other, Ling Jiao felt a faint chill radiating from the edges of the tray.

The butler gave her a sharp glare. “Keep your eyes to yourself. Some things aren’t meant to be seen.”

Ling Jiao nodded obediently, then stepped into the elevator, watching the butler’s back as he pushed the door open and entered the room.

Inside.

The butler carried the tray over to the balcony where Shen Yuwei was sitting and knelt beside her, carefully setting the wooden tray down.

“Madam, why didn’t you keep her here?” he asked.

Shen Yuwei paused, her hand still resting on the armrest. She lifted her eyes and stared quietly at him with a gaze that seemed to see through everything.

The butler lowered his head, peeled back the black silk on the tray, and whispered, “Madam, we don’t have much time left.”

From the tray, a thin stream of white mist curled into the air, cold and sharp.

On the tray lay a long, slender glass syringe, filled halfway with a clear liquid.

This was a suppressant. Omega hormone blockers used during heat, typically when a husband was not present. Some variants could temporarily disguise an omega as a beta, or even mimic the scent of a strong alpha.

The butler had once heard at a Union military gathering that an omega with excellent physical condition had purchased these suppressants from the black market. She successfully passed as a beta and entered the Union Military Academy, living and training alongside alphas. No one around her had noticed.

It wasn’t until the Union began cracking down on counterfeit suppressants that her supply was interrupted. In desperation, the black market sold her fake ones. If not for an accident, her true identity might never have been exposed.

That incident nearly triggered mass chaos. Dozens of alphas nearby went feral, lost all reason, and almost tore the sweet, irresistible omega apart. They turned into mindless beasts driven only by instinct.

What became of her afterward remained unknown. The Union sealed all information, and the case is still classified. Perhaps it won’t be declassified for hundreds of years.

That was how the butler learned suppressants have a time limit. According to reliable sources, the shortest effective period is three years and the longest is four. After that, the body begins to develop resistance. Once that starts, the suppressant loses its effect more and more until it can no longer hold back the heat and everything erupts.

When that happens, unless the scent gland is surgically removed, and if a malicious alpha catches the scent and forces a bond, the Union will intervene. They will take the omega into custody, often never to be seen again. As if they vanished from the face of the earth.

Only a few people know this truth.

The butler had served the Ling family for four years and had been Shen Yuwei’s most trusted aide from the beginning.

Four years. The longest known duration of effective suppressant use.

What the butler didn’t know was how long Shen Yuwei had been using suppressants before he even arrived.

The young master of the Ling family had died in a car crash six years ago.

They said his body was never found. It had been swept away by floodwaters. When they buried him, they had to use his old belongings to build a symbolic tomb.

A cold gaze lingered on the butler’s face for a long time. He knew that was Madam’s stare.

Taking a deep breath, he reached out to pick up the syringe, preparing to inject the liquid into her body.

“Isn’t it funny?” came Shen Yuwei’s quiet voice.

The butler’s hand trembled.

Shen Yuwei narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “I saw her shadow.”

The butler looked up, part earnest, part helpless. “Madam, you’ve said that before. It was a silhouette once, then a side profile, a voice, even a cat. The young master’s body was never found, so you keep clinging to this idea. But we can’t live like this. People die. They don’t come back. We have to move forward.”

She threw her hands up in exaggerated frustration.

“If reincarnation or body-swapping really existed, with how many people die each year, wouldn’t the whole world be in chaos?”

“I’ve made an appointment with the doctor. He’ll arrive in two days. I’ll take you then.”

Shen Yuwei gently placed a hand on his and spoke softly, her voice low and calm. “No. You don’t understand.”

“This is a secret between me and her.”

The butler blinked. “What secret?”

Shen Yuwei smiled faintly. “I can’t tell you.”

Madam must be losing her mind, the butler thought.

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