Chapter 3: The Crown Prince of Hong Kong, Shen Suinian

"You dared to peek at me while I was bathing!"

Her grief-stricken roar brought her stepmother, Shen Chunmei, and her biological father, Jian Suishan, to the scene.

"Tangtang, Yuyang? What has happened here?"

No one understands a son better than his mother; Shen Chunmei knew her son—whom she had brought into this family—all too well. With just one glance, she guessed what had transpired.

"Yuyang, didn't I tell you to go ask your sister Tangtang what she wanted for breakfast tomorrow? Did you ask her?"

Shen Yuyang exchanged a glance with his mother and immediately said, "I just knocked on the door, and Tangtang didn't answer. I thought she might be busy, so I was planning to come back and ask her in a little while..."

"You're lying!" Jian Tang shouted angrily. "You were clearly peeking at me while I was bathing just now!"

Before Jian Suishan could speak, Shen Chunmei gasped, "Tangtang, even though you and Yuyang are not blood-related, he is still your brother in name. You are the same age as Feiyu, and he has always treated you like his own sister. How could he possibly do such a thing?"

Bolstered by his mother's intervention, Shen Yuyang immediately spoke with righteous indignation, "Sister Tangtang, I know you have always been resistant to our parents' remarriage, but we are a family now. You cannot... ruin my reputation like this."

"Suishan, although Yuyang is not your biological son, he respects you deeply as a father and cares for Tangtang as a sister. There must be some misunderstanding here. It is my fault for being lazy and asking Yuyang to check on Tangtang's breakfast plans. I will do it myself from now on to ensure such a thing never happens again."

Jian Suishan patted Shen Chunmei’s shoulder comfortingly, then looked at Jian Tang with a stern expression. "Did you hear that? Making such a scene before even figuring out the facts—what does this look like?"

Jian Tang clenched her fists. "To ask me what I want to eat, did he need to push open my bathroom door without a word? Does he take me for a fool, or do you think you have no ability to discern the truth at all, Father?"

Jian Suishan’s brow furrowed as he looked at Shen Yuyang.

Shen Yuyang stiffened, immediately saying, "Dad, how could I do such a despicable thing? It must be... Tangtang is mistaken. She spent too long in the bath and was lightheaded from a lack of oxygen, which is why..."

Jian Tang, pushed to the limit of her rage, slapped Shen Yuyang across the face. "Is there any despicable act you haven't committed outside these walls?!"

"Last year, you and four of your hoodlum friends drugged two female students, leaving them permanently disabled."

"Four months ago, you got into a violent brawl over a hostess, leaving two people severely injured."

"Two months ago, you sexually harassed a pregnant woman while drunk, causing her to go into premature labor!"

"With this track record, what is there that you aren't capable of doing?!"

Seeing her son struck, Shen Chunmei wailed and sobbed, "Tangtang, what nonsense are you spewing? We are all one family; why are you siding with outsiders to frame your own brother? I know you don't like me—if you don't like me, I can leave! But you cannot pin such crimes on Yuyang..."

Jian Tang gritted her teeth. "Like mother, like son. Shen Chunmei, you..."

Jian Suishan’s face turned livid. "Jian Tang! Addressing an elder by their full name—where are your manners?"

Jian Tang’s emotions surged, and her body trembled uncontrollably. She clenched her hands to keep from losing her composure. "Manners? Are there any manners left in this house? I can be bullied like this in my own home by an outsider! By a stranger! What kind of manners is that?!"

Shen Yuyang looked at Jian Tang, whose chest rose and fell with indignation. This "sister" was more alluring than any woman he had ever played with, and every look at her made him feel an intoxicating thrill.

"Tangtang, I truly don't have those kinds of thoughts toward you, brother. I really do think of you as a sister."

Jian Tang met his revolting gaze, wishing she could gouge his eyes out. She raised her hand, and Shen Chunmei, instinctively thinking she was about to strike Shen Yuyang again, shielded her son protectively. After all, Jian Tang hitting Shen Yuyang over a "misunderstanding" was one thing, but daring to strike her stepmother would be an act of total rebellion.

Jian Tang looked at Shen Chunmei with a sneer. Her raised hand wasn't to strike anyone, but to point at the pinhole camera near the door.

"Checking the surveillance will make everything clear."

From the day she decided to leave with her inheritance, she had been guarding herself against everyone in this house. With her mother gone, this place was no longer a safe harbor.

Seeing the blood drain from the faces of Shen Chunmei and Shen Yuyang, a surge of indescribable satisfaction washed over Jian Tang. "Auntie Lin, go get my phone."

The maid, Auntie Lin, hurried into Jian Tang's bedroom to retrieve it. "Here you go, Miss."

Shen Yuyang stared intensely at the scene. Shen Chunmei glanced at Jian Suishan, who was frowning as he waited to check the footage, and cold sweat began to bead on her forehead.

Just as Jian Suishan stepped forward to examine the device, Shen Chunmei suddenly collapsed into his arms.

Jian Suishan’s face changed dramatically. "Chunmei! Chunmei, don't scare me!"

Shen Yuyang cried out urgently, "Dad, Mom must have been angered by Tangtang’s words! You—you must take her to the hospital immediately!"

"Father, the surveillance, aren't you going to..." Jian Tang immediately saw through Shen Chunmei’s ruse and held up her phone, intending to expose her pretense.

But Jian Suishan, looking furious, snatched the phone from Jian Tang and smashed it on the ground. "Your mother is in this state, and you are still being so aggressive! How could I have such an unfilial daughter like you!"

Jian Tang looked down at her shattered phone and gave a bitter, hollow laugh. "My mother was buried long ago... and I don't even want to be your daughter, Jian Suishan..."

Jian Suishan was incensed. "What did you say? Is this what your mother taught you?!"

Hearing him mention her mother with such a hideous expression while he held Shen Chunmei so tenderly, Jian Tang stubbornly lifted her chin to keep her tears from falling. "None of you have the right to pass judgment on my mother."

"Rebellious girl!"

Jian Suishan raised his hand to slap Jian Tang, but was stopped by a voice as cold as a winter gale.

"Quite a spectacle."

Shen Suinian, the Prince of Hong Kong, stood at the end of the hallway, tall and composed. He was alone, accompanied only by his personal assistant, yet he carried the crushing authority of a monarch commanding an army.

"S-Suinian."

Jian Suishan hurriedly pulled back his hand and straightened his clothes. His tone was intimate, but his posture was stooped. "I've let you see something laughable. The child is just being unreasonable."

Shen Yuyang, supporting the "fainting" Shen Chunmei, spoke with a mix of respect and fear. "Uncle."

The three of them did not look like they were greeting a relative, but rather like subjects bowing before a king who held the power of life and death over them.

Jian Tang clenched her fists. She disliked Shen Chunmei and her children, but she hated this Shen Suinian even more; he was the one who had orchestrated the remarriage between Shen Chunmei and Jian Suishan.

Shen Suinian’s dark, inscrutable gaze landed on Jian Tang. She kept her beautiful, clear eyes lowered, standing silent and so thin she looked as if a gust of wind could sweep her away.

"Little Begonia, you tell me."