CHAPTER 106: CHAPTER 106; I WILL NEED TO SPEAK WITH HER

"Xiao," his mother pressed, "you need to think of Xuan’er, yourself, and our name. She isn’t fit to be Mrs Shen, the matriarch of our family... She will only be an embarrassment.."

"...I will handle it," he said quietly.

"You had better solve it as soon as possible," his father growled. "We are not covering for anything. If there’s a scandal, handle it yourself."

And the call ended.

He stood there for a long moment, the phone still pressed to his ear even after the screen had gone black and no sound was coming out of it.

He slowly lowered the receiver, setting it back into its cradle with a soft clack, though the sound rang in his ears like a final verdict.

The sitting room was quiet now, save for the faint creak of the floorboards as a maid passed distantly in the hallway beyond.

A painting on the far wall caught the late light, his grandfather in full military regalia, sharp-eyed and stiff-backed, watching Shen Xiao as if judging the man he’d become.

He felt like a son standing trial, not for crimes committed, but for sins inherited.

His fists tightened at his sides. He didn’t move, not yet. The words still rang in his ears.

"Divorce her immediately and get custody of Shen Xuan. Do it cleanly. She’s a liability... Don’t cause any scandals.."

He had known this call would come through. Knew how predictable the Old Mansion’s verdict would be. But hearing it laid bare, cold and clinical, cut deeper than he’d expected.

They spoke of Yueyao like she was an inconvenience. A cracked ornament that was no longer worth anything. A blight on the family’s pristine lineage. But they hadn’t seen her yearning for that invisible child. Hadn’t heard the lullaby whispered into silence.

Shen Xiao closed his eyes trying to get himself to calm down.

He could still hear it.

Not the hum, but the response she had whispered like a curse: "You are not meant to know." Why couldn’t she know? What was it? Why did things become like this? He just couldn’t comprehend.

And beneath that, there was something else. Something she hadn’t said.

A truth wrapped so tightly in her grief that it couldn’t be named. He didn’t know if there had really been a second child, or if her mind had fractured under the weight of something too dark for her to bear alone.

But what chilled him more than doubt... was the possibility that she was telling the truth.

And he had failed her.

Again.

He couldn’t believe he could have lost a child... Their child...

Shen Xiao stood in the sitting area, his gaze distant as he stared out past the sheer curtains dancing in the breeze.

Footsteps approached, measured, and were quiet.

"Master Shen," his gate guard greeted with a respectful bow. "The specialist you requested is here....."

Shen Xiao turned slowly, his expression unreadable.

The guard stepped aside, allowing a slender man in his mid-fifties to approach, a composed figure in a dark tailored suit, a leather satchel hanging from one shoulder. His silver-rimmed glasses caught the light, but his eyes were sharp, observant. He gave a slight nod in greeting, his voice calm, professional.

"Master Shen. Dr. Lin Zhiyuan is a psychiatric trauma specialist. It’s an honor."

Shen Xiao offered a brief nod checking him out from head to toe. "Have you been informed of her condition?"

"Only in general terms by Liang Chen Master Shen..." Dr. Lin politely responded. "The full picture tends to shift once I meet the patient. I prefer to assess without too much outside coloring." He paused, "Though I understand this is a particularly sensitive case."

Shen Xiao’s jaw tightened slightly, his voice low and rough. "I don’t know if it’s hallucinations or reality, but she has been having outbursts lately, and they are very violent. I also noticed her skin was having thin cuts that were healing like she was abusing herself! She doesn’t even want her child, but thinks of this nonexistent one."

Dr. Lin’s expression remained neutral, but something shifted subtly in his gaze, a flicker of deeper attention.

"Self-harming behavior with delusional association," he said quietly. "Has she attempted to harm the child in any way?"

"I don’t know if it’s self-harming, but she used him as a hostage earlier today, but still she didn’t scratch him even a little, but she openly said she hates him.. I don’t know how that situation can be charged."

Dr. Lin nodded slowly, as though cataloging the information.

"Hate is a strong word to use so carelessly, especially when spoken aloud about one’s own child. But sometimes, in trauma cases, it’s not the child they hate, probably it’s what the child represents. Perhaps a traumatic memory. A moment. A guilt too large to voice."

Shen Xiao’s fingers curled into his palm. "She was never like this with him. She used to condone anything when it came to him. She waited for him like he was the one thing that could save her."

"And now?"

"Now she looks at him like he’s a stranger. No... like he’s the intruder." Shen Xiao’s voice dropped, heavy with frustration. "Earlier on, she was asking where her ’real’ child was. When I told her she had no one other than our son, she looked at me like I was the one who stole something from her. Like I’m the one who took the baby away, she insisted the baby was a princess, a beautiful girl but we have a boy."

Dr. Lin’s brows knit together faintly, but his tone remained composed. "I will need to speak with her alone. I will also observe her interactions with others, particularly the child, if possible."

"You will be careful with her, handle her with very much care.." Shen Xiao said firmly, more warning than a request.

"I’m not here to break her," Dr. Lin calmly responded, "I’m here to find what already broke."

There was a silence between them, taut and charged. Then Shen Xiao gave a tight nod.