Volume 1 Chapter 20: Do Not Bring Another Woman's Pajamas for Me to Wear

The manager was completely sober now.

In his momentary fit of rage, he hadn't noticed, but it was clear that the child who had splashed him with water was with Shang Linyuan.

"Young Master, I am sorry. I failed to recognize your stature. Please, spare me..."

The manager, who knew when to bend and when to stand tall, hurriedly scrambled to beg Lu Mingxi for mercy. Just then, the owner of the western restaurant rushed over, offering profuse apologies to Shang Linyuan and Lu Xiaoman, and promising to fire the manager and the waiter immediately.

Worried that Lu Xiaoman might catch a cold from being soaked, Shang Linyuan wrapped his arms around her and took the two children away. Once the four of them left, the onlookers dispersed.

The restaurant owner kept his word and promptly fired the manager and the waiter. The manager, refusing to accept the outcome, left while grumbling and cursing after collecting half a month's wages. The waiter, however, showed no reaction, as if he were willingly accepting the punishment.

When no one was looking, he walked straight toward a nearby corner, but it was already empty.

"That bitch, she dared to trick me!" the waiter fumed.

Just a moment earlier, a stylishly dressed young woman had suddenly called him over. "See that table? That woman is a homewrecker who specializes in stealing other people's husbands. If you teach her a lesson for me, these five thousand are yours. Once it's done, I'll give you another ten thousand."

He had been momentarily blinded by greed, thinking that since she was a mistress, he was doing a public service. Even if he were fired, fifteen thousand was three times his monthly salary—it would be worth it. But he hadn't expected that he would end up fired, scolded, and completely denied the ten thousand he was promised.

That damned woman—he had better never run into her again!

The car sped along. Wrapped in Shang Linyuan's coat, Lu Xiaoman felt dizzy and lethargic. She leaned back against the seat, with her son Lu Mingxi and Xinxin beside her. Shang Linyuan sat in the front passenger seat and whispered an address to the driver.

When they arrived, Shang Linyuan opened the door, and the two children climbed out first. Lu Xiaoman had been drifting in a daze, but as she opened her eyes at the sound of the door, she was met with Shang Linyuan’s face.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"My home."

Without another word, he bent inside, placing one hand under her lower back and the other beneath her knees, appearing ready to lift her up in one motion. Startled, Lu Xiaoman shifted to the left, accidentally striking her left arm against the car door and gasping in pain. But a second later, Shang Linyuan lifted her with ease.

After exiting the car, Lu Xiaoman looked at the towering building before her; it did not match any house from her memories.

"I bought this villa after you left," he said, pausing before adding, "I intended for it to be my bridal home."

Lu Xiaoman's heart skipped a beat. A bridal home? For Shang Linyuan and Chu Yan. For some reason, an image of him and Chu Yan getting married immediately flashed in her mind. It was blindingly painful.

"I want to go back," Lu Xiaoman said abruptly, her tone sharp.

Shang Linyuan, assuming she was just uncomfortable, didn't pay it any mind. "This was the closest place, and there are clean clothes inside, so I brought you here directly."

"Mommy, you need to change quickly. It's easy to catch a cold when you're wet. Come on!" Lu Mingxi, seeing the two of them lingering, grew impatient. He was very curious about the large house and couldn't wait to go inside and explore.

"I..." Lu Xiaoman tried to persist, but Shang Linyuan was already carrying her toward the entrance.

Before them stood an ornate wrought-iron gate, its bronze-colored lotus patterns gleaming in the sunlight. The villa, made of cream-colored marble, stood in the center, adorned with exquisite Corinthian columns. In the courtyard fountain, a white marble statue of a goddess trailed water from her fingertips, while sunlight poured through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows into the high-ceilinged living room, where crystal chandeliers reflected the gilded patterns of the inlaid marble floors.

The surroundings were filled with vast patches of blue plumbago, woven into a dreamlike floral landscape. The entire estate exuded luxury, serenity, and grandeur. If not for her physical discomfort, Lu Xiaoman would have stopped to admire the beautiful flowers. The tiny blue petals of the plumbago clustered into spheres, glowing with a misty, ethereal quality in the sunlight, as if a piece of the clear sky had been kneaded into the flowerbed.

Plumbago was her favorite flower. When she lived at the Shang family’s old estate, she used to pick them for vases in the back garden. She remembered one time when Shang Linyuan saw her, he had given her a rare compliment: "These flowers are nice, they remind me of..."

Unfortunately, he didn't finish his sentence before his grandmother called him away. Remind him of what? For a long time afterward, she had wondered what he had left unsaid.

Lost in her thoughts and the scenery, she didn't realize they had already entered the hall. Servants were cleaning and quickly bowed in greeting: "Good day, Mr. Shang."

Still cradled in his arms, Lu Xiaoman felt embarrassed. "Put me down..."

Shang Linyuan acted as if he hadn't heard her. He instructed the servants to look after the children, turn on the television, and fetch them some refreshments, before carrying Lu Xiaoman up to the second floor. There was a master bedroom and a children's room. He placed her directly onto the bed in the master suite.

As soon as she landed on the bed, Lu Xiaoman used her right hand to push herself up, intending to get off.

"A doctor will be here soon. You should change your clothes first..." Shang Linyuan was opening the wardrobe to find something, but he touched something, pulled his hand back, and reached for a different item instead. "Would you like me to have a maid help you?"

Lu Xiaoman looked at the purple silk pajamas he handed her. The lace trim on the collar looked garishly exquisite, not at all the simple style she preferred. In an instant, it felt as if a thin ice pick had been driven into her heart. It wasn't a sharp agony, but a spreading, numbing chill.

She lowered her head, afraid that the bitterness welling in her eyes would be discovered. Her throat felt tight, and she couldn't even force a polite smile.

These were Chu Yan's pajamas.

Shang Linyuan had actually expected her to wear pajamas that Chu Yan had worn.

Lu Xiaoman felt a lump in her throat and a stinging sensation in her eyes. She took a deep breath, desperately suppressing her emotions.

"Excuse me, I'm fine. I'm going home."

She tried to leave, but Shang Linyuan grabbed her right arm.

"What is this temper about?" he asked, staring intently into her eyes.

Lu Xiaoman turned her head away to avoid his gaze. "I have no temper."

This scene felt like a return to years ago, when she had first transferred schools and was ostracized by the class beauty, eventually escalating to bullying. She had resisted, but she was alone and powerless. Later, she refused to go to school, playing truant several times until the teacher called her parents.

How had she answered the homeroom teacher back then?

"My mother is dead."

"And your father? Ask him to find time to come in."

"He... is also dead."

She hadn't been lying. From the moment her father fled abroad with his mistress and her half-sister, leaving her alone to face everything, the man who was her father had already died in her heart. She had become an orphan, living under someone else's roof.