The Past

Chu Tianqing had a god's-eye view and knew the real reason the true and false heiresses had been switched.

It had been no accident. The false heiress's mother had painstakingly plotted it in secret.

She had sent her own daughter into a wealthy family and taken the wealthy family's daughter to live a chaotic life with her.

She was not a kind woman and treated the true heiress poorly, beating and scolding her at the slightest provocation. The true heiress had grown up relying on help from the neighbors.

After the true heiress got into university, she happened to discover that her blood type did not match her mother's. She secretly took a parentage test, which exposed the conspiracy.

At first, the true heiress thought she had been abducted and sold, so she went to the police to investigate her origins. The investigation led to the hospital, where the truth finally came to light.

Later, when the false heiress's mother saw that her scheme had been exposed, she even had the gall to sue the hospital for compensation.

When Jiang Youyi learned of it, she offered the false heiress's mother a sum of money to put the matter to rest.

In the original story, the false heiress had once looked forward to meeting her birth mother, only to discover that the woman was addicted to mahjong, had questionable relationships with many men, cared about nothing but money, and had not a shred of responsibility.

The gulf between expectation and reality dealt the false heiress a heavy blow. She could not accept having such a rotten person for a mother, and this was one reason she descended further into darkness.

So Chu Tianqing had no intention of contacting the false heiress's mother. She had only told Papa Shen that to put his mind at ease.

But Shen Yunsheng was not reassured. He had investigated the woman long ago: she was a thoroughly rotten person who had not worked for years, lived off a succession of men, and had a gambling habit.

Still, she was Xixi's birth mother, and he could not oppose the mother and daughter acknowledging each other.

Shen Yunsheng smiled and said he supported Xixi's decision, but as soon as he went out, he sent his son a message, telling him to take good care of Xixi and not let her go back to find her birth mother.

Shen Heng was in a meeting when he received his father's message. Though he was very impatient, he obediently replied, "Okay."

If he did not reply, his father would surely call, and he did not want to pause the meeting over family matters.

By the time the meeting ended, it was nearly eight in the evening. Shen Heng called his personal assistant over, gave her his false younger sister's contact information, and told her to pick her up from the hospital the next day and get her settled.

Fang Ke was no ordinary personal assistant. She was from Hong Kong and had worked for Shen Heng since she was eighteen, so she knew quite a bit about his private affairs.

That included the farce involving the Shen family's true and false heiresses, as well as what kind of person Shen Xixi was.

Shen Xixi was a notorious young lady. Attending to her was no pleasant job; at the very least, it would cost Fang Ke half her life.

But Fang Ke did not dare refuse an order from the big boss.

Fang Ke gave a wry smile and braced herself. "All right, President Shen. I'll do my best to make the arrangements."

Shen Heng glanced at her and saw her reluctance. He said mildly, "Don't worry. Her temper is much better now than it used to be. If she makes any unreasonable demands, you can brush her off and tell her to come straight to me."

Shen Heng did not like making things difficult for his subordinates. That was a sign of an incompetent manager.

Fang Ke was delighted, and a hint of something different entered her gaze as she looked at Shen Heng. But it lasted only an instant before she quickly concealed it, afraid he would notice.

She admired Shen Heng, but she did not dare show it, because she knew that if he found out, he would surely fire her.

The time was not right yet. In any case, Shen Heng still had no woman by his side, and she had plenty of opportunities.

She believed that, with her companionship over a long time, he would surely come to see her good qualities.

He would appreciate her, acknowledge her, and eventually... fall in love with her.

Fang Ke left the president's office, her heart pounding uncontrollably, and went off happily to prepare for the next day.

At noon the next day, Fang Ke arrived at the hospital an hour early to greet Shen Xixi.

Chu Tianqing saw a somewhat familiar-looking beauty in office attire, but this time her brain did not pull up any information. Who is she?

Fang Ke smiled and introduced herself again. "Hello, Miss Shen. I'm President Shen's personal assistant, Fang Ke."

Heavens, this young lady really thinks no one else is worth noticing. We've met several times, and she still pretends not to recognize me. She makes me introduce myself every time.

This time, the information in Chu Tianqing's brain clicked into place. She said warmly, "Oh, right, right! You're Special Assistant Fang. Hello, and thank you for coming to pick me up."

"You're welcome. These are the clothes I brought for you. Would you see if you're happy with them?" Fang Ke handed her the bag she was carrying, maintaining a professional smile.

Chu Tianqing saw that they were designer clothes and thought, What's there to be unhappy about?

Smiling, she changed into the clothes, took a few personal belongings, and left the hospital. She followed Fang Ke into the car.

Fang Ke sat in the front passenger seat and glanced at Miss Shen through the rearview mirror. President Shen had been right: her temper really was much better now.

Come to think of it, that made sense. She was not the Shen family's biological daughter and no longer had the backing to act arrogantly. She no longer dared offend people as she had before, probably because there was no one to stand up for her.

Thirty minutes later, the car stopped outside a luxury apartment building in the city center.

Fang Ke took Chu Tianqing upstairs and told her that this was one of President Shen's private properties. Not many people knew about it, so she could settle in without worry.

Inside the apartment, Fang Ke showed her around and told her that all the household necessities had been prepared. A cleaner would come every other day, and if she needed one, they could also hire a cook.

"No need. This is already very good. I can manage on my own."

Chu Tianqing sat on the sofa and looked around the spacious living room, marveling inwardly. Damn rich people, how can they have such a beautiful home? I'm actually a little reluctant to leave.

Fang Ke stood beside the sofa and asked with a smile, "Do you have any other questions, Miss Shen?"

"Uh, actually, I do have one." Chu Tianqing straightened up and asked hesitantly, "Can I contact President Shen?"

Fang Ke was taken aback, but quickly answered with a smile, "President Shen didn't say you couldn't."

So that meant she could. Chu Tianqing knew where she stood and thanked her with a smile. "I understand. Thank you. I don't have any more questions."

Fang Ke had not expected today's job to be so easy, but no one liked being mistreated. As soon as Miss Shen said she had no questions, Fang Ke wasted no more words and hurried away.

Chu Tianqing closed the door, let out a long breath, and stood in front of the large floor-to-ceiling window in a daze.

After quite a while, she worked up the courage to call Shen Heng.

To be honest, she was a little afraid of him. As she waited for him to answer, her heart raced with nerves.

Shen Heng did not pick up immediately. Just as Chu Tianqing thought the call was about to end automatically, a voice finally came from the other end. "Hello, what is it?"

"Oh, hello, um, yes, there's something. Do you have time?" Chu Tianqing steadied herself and said with a smile, "I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

Shen Heng was speechless. Wasn't she asking a question she already knew the answer to? She had deliberately called during working hours, so of course she was disturbing him!

But he had already paused the meeting. Shen Heng said patiently, "You're not disturbing me. What is it? Go ahead."

"Um, hehe," Chu Tianqing said cautiously, "Brother, I didn't bring anything with me when I left. Could you go back to the Shen family home and get all my documents for me?"