Transmigration; Married to My Ex-Fiancé's Uncle-Chapter 162; Lu Yuze & Lin Shuyin (l)
How could she choose?
How could any mother choose?
The two girls clung to her dress, faces pressed against her sides.
The boy stood slightly apart, his eyes moving between his mother and the beautiful woman who’d spoken such terrible words.
He was the quietest of the three, the one who’d learned earliest to make himself small, to avoid attention, to survive.
And somehow, he understood.
He understood before anyone explained.
Shuyin bent down, bringing herself to the children’s eye level, her jade eyes softening with something almost like kindness.
"This Auntie wants one of you," she said gently, sweetly, as if offering a treat rather than separation.
"Your mommy promised one of you to me."
The simple, childlike words made the transaction somehow more horrifying.
The girls pressed closer to their mother, beginning to cry.
But the boy stepped forward.
Small.
Brave.
Already protecting his sisters the only way he knew how.
He moved toward Shuyin’s direction, his chin trembling but lifted, his small hands clenched into fists at his sides.
Take me.
Leave them.
Please.
The unspoken plea was written in every line of his tiny body.
Shuyin reached out and gently ruffled his hair, her touch surprisingly tender.
"Good boy," she murmured, something complicated flickering across her face.
Then she straightened up, returning to adult height, her voice resuming its business-like tone.
"Now, it’s about the company. Go and get the files, Chen Wan. We’ll do a complete purchase today."
The boy had moved to stand beside Shuyin now, his small hand catching the fabric of her skirt, holding on like an anchor.
Chen Wan’s eyes watered, tears spilling over despite her best efforts to hold them back.
She wanted to scream, to refuse, to grab her son and run.
But she couldn’t go back on her word.
The deal was struck.
The price agreed upon.
The entire Chen family patriarchy had been destroyed, all the abusive men were suddenly dead of natural causes, and it was impossible to prove otherwise.
The only people left were their wives and children.
Shuyin had fulfilled her part.
Now Chen Wan had to fulfill hers.
The other women at the table watched in confused silence, not understanding what was happening but sensing the weight of it, the significance of this exchange.
Lu Yuze stood near the doorway, Yuyan pressed against his side, both witnessing but not interfering.
This wasn’t their business.
This was the price of dark bargains, of freedom purchased with blood and sacrifice.
"The files are in the study," Chen Wan whispered, her voice breaking.
She knelt down and pulled her son into one more desperate embrace.
"Mama loves you. Always remember Mama loves you so much."
The boy nodded against her shoulder, not speaking, not crying, just holding on for one last moment.
"I’ll take care of him, you don’t have to worry about that, and you won’t be surprised if you see him back tomorrow," Shuyin said quietly, and there was something in her voice that might have been a promise or might have been a threat.
"He’ll have everything he needs."
Except for his mother, the unspoken words hung in the air.
Except his family.
Chen Wan released her son and stood on shaking legs.
"I’ll get the files."
She walked toward the study like a woman walking to her own execution, leaving her son standing beside the mermaid princess who’d bought him with death and freedom.
Behind her, her daughters sobbed.
And in the suddenly cold sitting room, frost continued to spread across the windows like fingers reaching, claiming, taking what had been promised.
The boy looked up at Shuyin with eyes far too old for his face.
"What’s your name?" she asked gently.
"Chen Xiao," he whispered.
"My name is Chen Xiao."
"Well, Chen Xiao," Shuyin said, her hand resting lightly on his shoulder, "welcome to your new life."
And in that moment, surrounded by grieving women and confused children, with frost spreading and temperatures dropping and a small boy accepting his fate with impossible bravery.....
The true cost of Shuyin’s bargain became clear.
Freedom was never free.
Someone always paid.
And today, a five-year-old boy paid the price for his mother’s liberation.
THE STUDY
Chen Wan’s footsteps echoed hollowly through the corridor as she made her way to the study, each step heavier than the last.
Behind her, she could still hear her daughters’ muffled sobs, the sound cutting through her like glass shards embedded in her heart.
The study door was heavy mahogany, carved with traditional patterns of prosperity and longevity.
Bitter irony, considering the men who’d sat behind that desk were now corpses waiting for burial rites.
She pushed it open.
The room smelled of old paper, leather, and the lingering ghost of expensive cigarette smoke.
Her husband’s domain.
His brothers’ and father-in-law’s gathering place.
Where they’d made decisions about assets and investments and which wife needed to be "disciplined" for speaking out of turn or even more.....
Chen Wan had only been allowed in here to clean or to serve tea.
Now she walked to the massive desk and began opening drawers with shaking hands.
Files.
She needed the company files.
The ownership documents.
The proof that the Chen family’s manufacturing business existed and could be transferred.
Her fingers finally closed around a leather portfolio, embossed with the company seal.
Inside were incorporation documents, shareholder agreements, financial statements, and property deeds for the factory.
Forty years of business, built by her Father, and then her father-in-law, and expanded by his sons.
And she was about to hand it all over to a mermaid princess who’d just claimed her son.
Fresh tears blurred her vision, but she blinked them back furiously.
No.
Don’t think about Xiao.
Don’t think about his small hand letting go of yours.
Don’t think about how he stepped forward to protect his sisters.
Don’t.....
A sob escaped despite her best efforts.
"Mrs. Chen."
The voice made her jump.
She spun to find Lu Yuze standing in the doorway, his expression unreadable as always.
