The Shen Family had gone bankrupt!
The plunge from hundreds of billions in assets into an abyss of crushing debt was horrifying.
Shen Shuyi, heir to a century-old family business, had been driven to jump from a building, leaving no intact body behind.
The pampered members of the Shen Family had been driven out of their mansion like stray dogs, either dying far from home or ending up on the streets.
Shen Banxia, their biological daughter who had only been welcomed back less than a year earlier, had been branded a jinx and died on her way to beg a powerful figure to save the Shen Family.
The entire Shen Family had been wiped out!
Meanwhile, the culprit, Xu Junshan, had taken the enormous fortune he had siphoned off, along with his mistress and illegitimate children, overseas to live the good life.
Wow, this plot was a little-intense!
There sure was-plenty of juicy drama!
And just like that, halfway through enjoying the drama, Shen Banxia transmigrated!
The good news was that she had become the true daughter of a wealthy family. From now on, she could live in luxury and enjoy a front-row seat to all the drama.
The bad news was that the wealthy family was the Shen Family, which had already gone bankrupt, and she was about to die. In plain terms, she was short-lived cannon fodder.
Cannon fodder was good. That meant fewer scenes and less work.
Short-lived was even better. She could finish her mission sooner and go back to lounging around and enjoying the drama.
Just as Shen Banxia was grinning smugly to herself,
she noticed a middle-aged couple before her, dressed in a way that practically announced wealth and status. They were studying her with expressions that were hard to describe.
"Is she really our biological daughter?"
"Unless all three paternity tests were wrong, she's undoubtedly our biological daughter!"
"She doesn't look like our daughter at all. Our Mingyue is so beautiful, but our biological daughter is-"
"...Would she look better after we took care of her for a while?"
Their doubts and distaste were understandable.
After doting for more than a decade on an exquisitely pretty daughter, they had unexpectedly discovered that she was not their biological child.
They had finally found their biological daughter, only for her to be a country girl in tacky clothes, with dark skin and an expression that alternated between blank stares and foolish grins.
Anyone would have struggled to accept it at first.
Xu Junshan's brows knitted tightly. He could not suppress his loathing and disdain for his biological daughter standing before him. What had those people been doing? They could not even handle one little girl.
Unwilling to spare her another glance, he quickly looked away and suggested with obvious irritation,
"Why don't we just pretend none of this happened? We can give her adoptive parents some money and make sure she's provided for. There's no need to bring her back into the family. Mingyue will still be our daughter."
Shen Banxia was a little confused.
Wasn't I supposed to arrive after the Shen Family went bankrupt? Why does this look like the moment they first acknowledged their daughter? She glanced at the scumbag-
No, her biological father.
She had to admit that although Xu Junshan was middle-aged, he had taken excellent care of himself. There was no sign that he was already nearing fifty.
On top of that, he had the polished good looks of a gentlemanly scoundrel.
No wonder the hopelessly lovestruck Shen Shuyi had insisted on marrying Xu Junshan back then, despite her parents' fierce opposition, acting as though she could not live without him.
That said, Xu Junshan, a social climber from a poor background, certainly knew when to swallow his pride.
For the Shen Family's fortune, he had married into their family without hesitation, biding his time for a decade or two while presenting himself as hardworking and highly capable.
After gaining his parents-in-law's approval and being entrusted with running the Shen Corporation, he had begun plotting against them.
Having successfully reached the group's upper management, he had then sweet-talked Shen Shuyi into transferring the shares in her name to him.
Once he became the Shen Corporation's largest shareholder, he had wasted no time running for chairman of the board.
That had created opportunities and made it easier for him to launder money and transfer assets later.
He truly was a ruthless scumbag, the perfect example of a handsome exterior hiding a rotten core.
Checking the displayed date again, she confirmed that she had arrived at the reunion, not after the Shen Family's bankruptcy.
There were still more than six months before the scumbag's scheme succeeded.
Doing the math, she had another year before her own death. It looked like she would not be going back anytime soon.
Depressed and even more displeased with her scumbag father, she could not help rolling her eyes inwardly.
You filthy scumbag!
Of course you don't want to acknowledge your biological daughter!
After all, Mingyue is the daughter you had with your first love, your precious little darling.
Otherwise, you wouldn't have risked secretly switching the babies back then. You just never expected the truth to come out one day.
Now this is going to be a good show.
After her inward rant, Shen Banxia suddenly realized why she had transmigrated into the moment of the reunion: in this life, Xu Junshan's people had already killed the original owner of her body!
The reason the original girl had been so vacant lately was that her soul was gone.
Damn, Xu Junshan was even more ruthless than she had thought!
Shen Shuyi froze. She seemed to have just heard something earth-shattering.
She turned to look at Xu Junshan, but he showed no reaction. Had she imagined it?
Puzzled, she looked back at her biological daughter's vacant gaze, unable to suppress her heartache and helplessness.
Her heart ached because her biological daughter had been left outside the family to suffer so much.
She felt helpless because, compared with Mingyue, the daughter she had raised for seventeen years, the girl was worlds apart in looks, bearing, and even intelligence. The difference was enormous, but she was still her biological daughter.
"No! Whatever else she may be, she's our biological daughter," Shen Shuyi objected.
How could they refuse to acknowledge their own daughter?
My biological mom is the reliable one, after all!
Shen Banxia studied her mother, who looked elegant, dignified, and kind.
She seemed a little worn out, though, perhaps because of the matter involving her biological daughter.
Still, the fact that she was willing to welcome back a daughter like this instantly raised Shen Banxia's opinion of her.
"But looking the way she does, are we really going to announce publicly that she's our biological daughter?
"Aren't you worried about what that will do to our image and the Shen Corporation's?"
Xu Junshan could not keep the displeasure out of his voice.
Mom, the daughter you've treasured all these years is actually the illegitimate daughter your scumbag husband had with his mistress. Exciting, isn't it?
Soon, they'll team up with outsiders to strip the Shen Group of its assets and force you, its legal representative, to jump off a building. Bet you didn't see that coming!
Your sons will end up dead or disabled, and the Shen Family will be ruined! How's that for a surprise?
Never one to mind adding fuel to the drama, Shen Banxia unleashed a furious inward rant.
Shen Shuyi's face turned deathly pale.
The first time might have been her imagination, but she had heard it repeatedly now, and so clearly. How could she possibly be imagining it?
She turned to Xu Junshan again. His expression was still perfectly normal. Was she the only one who could hear her daughter's thoughts?
Too shocked to determine whether any of it was true, Shen Shuyi could only continue speaking without betraying her feelings.
"She's like this because she was taken away at birth and didn't grow up with us.
"If she'd lived with us since she was little, she wouldn't be like this.
"Now that we can't change what happened, we should treat her all the better and make it up to her.
"How could we refuse to acknowledge our own daughter?"
Xu Junshan was about to say something else when Shen Shuyi challenged him,
"Are you saying that Mingyue, a daughter whose origins we don't even know, matters more to you than your own biological daughter?"
"No...of course not. It's just that this happened so suddenly. I haven't had enough time to prepare myself."
Faced with Shuyi's questioning gaze, Xu Junshan dodged the real issue.
"Why don't we take care of her for now? Like you said, perhaps she'll improve after a while."
Shen Shuyi nodded and said nothing more. After all, she had to investigate what she had just heard before deciding what to do next.
Unable to change Shen Shuyi's mind, Xu Junshan felt frustrated and uneasy. He then left the Shen Family home, claiming that he had an important meeting that afternoon.
Liar! What important meeting? He just wants to discuss a plan with his mistress!
At those words, Shen Shuyi's eyelid twitched several times. Instantly on her guard, she took note of the car her husband drove away in.
She had never interfered with her husband's freedom before, but now she wanted to see whether Xu Junshan really went to the office that afternoon-or somewhere else.
Before you continue