Song Wenzhao’s voice was hoarse, as though laced with gravel, or as if his throat had been seared by fire.
He had been waiting for this moment for a very long time.
When Shu Yu heard the raw rasp in Song Wenzhao’s voice, her heart ached despite herself.
Yet she knew clearly that she was not Song Wenzhao’s sister. She—her body, her soul—came from another world entirely.
She could not have any familial bond with anyone in this world.
Song Wenzhao’s real little sister was out there, waiting for him to find her.
If that sister ever learned that her brother had mistaken someone else for her, and had taken on another younger sister in his search for her, she would surely be heartbroken.
Summoning her courage, Shu Yu poked her head out from behind the tree again and blurted out what she had to say. “You’ve mistaken me for someone else. I’m not your sister.”
“Your sister is waiting for you to go find her.”
A flicker of panic crossed Song Wenzhao’s usually gentle face, and his composure cracked. “I haven’t mistaken you, Yu Bao.”
“Do you remember how, when you were little, you used to wrap your arms around my neck and call me ‘brother’?”
“You loved sitting on my shoulders, giggling and tugging at my hair.”
“I even used to braid your hair. You’d think my braids were ugly, pout, and run to Mom with tears in your eyes. Yu Bao, have you really forgotten all of that?”
Song Wenzhao’s gentle eyes glistened with barely perceptible tears of longing. Seeing that, Shu Yu felt a pang of sadness herself.
But she was not Song Wenyu. How could she possibly have those memories?
Song Wenzhao was essentially pouring all of this out to a stranger.
Shu Yu stepped out from behind the tree and reached up to lightly touch Song Wenzhao’s eyes. “I really am not your sister. Please don’t be like this.”
The ache in Song Wenzhao’s heart eased just a little at her words. He gazed intently at Shu Yu’s features—this was the first time he had seen her face this close.
Song Wenzhao told himself: it’s fine. Once he got proof, Shu Yu would believe him.
The fact that she had been willing to come close today already counted as progress.
“Yu Bao,” Song Wenzhao said, “can you call me ‘brother’ one more time?”
Shu Yu bit her lip. Seeing the sorrow in his expression again, she lifted her face. “Brother, don’t be sad. You’ll find your sister.”
Si Yiheng strode quickly toward where Shu Yu should have been hiding.
When he reached the spot where she had concealed herself, what greeted him was the sight of Shu Yu standing before Song Wenzhao, her face tilted upward.
Shu Yu was softly comforting Song Wenzhao, even calling him “brother.”
And Song Wenzhao was looking down at her with an intensity so fierce it could barely be contained.
When Song Wenzhao heard Si Yiheng’s footsteps, instead of pulling back, he lifted his gaze to meet Si Yiheng’s eyes, a soft, practiced smile on his face.
Si Yiheng’s hand tightened on his tie, the veins on the back of his hand standing out starkly.
“Yu Bao,” Si Yiheng said in a low voice, “we should go.”
Shu Yu turned at the sound of his voice. “Brother, you’re here?”
Seeing Si Yiheng, she decisively walked toward him. “Let’s go, then.”
Si Yiheng took her hand, deliberately ignoring the icy glare Song Wenzhao shot his way.
Just as Shu Yu and Si Yiheng were about to pass him, Song Wenzhao called out, “Yu Bao, can we meet again?”
Shu Yu paused for a moment. “Go find your sister soon. Don’t meet with me anymore.”
Song Wenzhao silently seethed. One meeting and all progress is reset to zero?
Si Yiheng cast a cold glance at Song Wenzhao before walking away with Shu Yu. Once they were far enough, he asked, “Baby, what did Song Wenzhao say to you?”
Shu Yu saw no reason to hide anything from Si Yiheng. “He just mistook me for someone—he thinks I’m his sister.”
“He looked pretty upset, so I comforted him a little.”
Song Wenzhao is always putting on an act, Si Yiheng thought. To talk to Shu Yu, he would even use his so-called missing sister to stir her sympathy.
His eyes turned cold. “Little treasure, do you remember what I told you before?”
Shu Yu blinked. “That Song Wenzhao is a bad person?”
“Mm. The fact that you’ve already told him you’re not his sister, yet he still pestered you—that alone proves he's no good.”
Shu Yu was full of questions. She wanted to explain that Song Wenzhao genuinely seemed heartbroken, but she felt that if she tried to defend him, it would only make Si Yiheng more convinced that Song Wenzhao was a manipulator—because only if she had been duped would she speak up for him.
So Shu Yu obediently nodded. “I know now. He’s really a bad guy. Don’t worry, I won’t talk to him anymore.”
Seeing how quickly she nodded and how earnest she looked, Si Yiheng pressed his thin lips into a straight line.
This dumb little kitten of his really had been fooled.
She was even covering for Song Wenzhao—was she afraid he’d hurt him?
Well, of course. Shu Yu pitied him, so she would pity others too.
But he wanted her to pity only him.
Only him.
See only him.
Call only him “brother.”
He was her one and only brother.
Shu Yu had no idea what was racing through Si Yiheng’s mind, nor did she know that once Si Yiheng decided someone was a problem, he would never stop looking for ways to make trouble.
Elsewhere, Song Wenzhao was waiting for the butler’s good news—only to hear the butler report, “Young Master, Si Yiheng is a freak. He took one of Miss’s toothbrushes.”
Song Wenzhao was speechless.
He knew Si Yiheng was no pushover.
“So you came back with nothing?”
“Young Master, Si Yiheng treats Miss terribly. She’s even losing hair.”
“I did manage to pull a strand of Miss’s hair off the hem of Si Yiheng’s jacket.”
