Chapter 18: A Mother’s Secret and a Daughter’s Plight

Xia Zhiquiu had lost all sense of time, pressed down and kissed by the young man until her lips felt utterly swollen before he finally released her.

Drained of all strength, she could only prop herself up with trembling arms, collapsing onto the bed as she cast a glacial gaze upon the young man who stood by the bedside, a faint smile playing on his lips as he watched her.

In that moment, Xia Zhiquiu could only imagine a pair of horns sprouting from the young man’s head; he was nothing short of a little devil.

“What exactly do you want?”

Hearing her question, Bai Hao smacked his lips, the mature, rose-like scent of the woman still clinging to his palate.

“Aunt Xia, you must know exactly what I want, mustn’t you? Or… perhaps you’d prefer I continue to ‘corrupt’ your daughter?”

Xia Zhiquiu’s beautiful eyes immediately widened at the young man’s words, and she ground her teeth together.

“Shameless!”

Unfazed, Bai Hao merely responded.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

As he spoke, his gaze drifted to the towering peaks of the mature woman’s chest, where, perhaps due to their recent struggle, two buttons of her shirt had already come undone.

“Oh, and Aunt Xia, you wouldn’t want your daughter to discover your true identity as a woman, would you?”

Having regained a measure of her composure, Xia Zhiquiu couldn’t help but let out a cold scoff upon hearing the young man’s words.

“So you intend to threaten me? You’re overthinking things. What difference would it make if Xia Wei knew I was a woman? The only reason I’ve kept it from her is purely out of convenience.”

Bai Hao paused, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. This was indeed a miscalculation on his part; he had assumed the woman was concealing her identity from her daughter due to some unavoidable circumstance.

Was it truly just a matter of inconvenience?

With this realization, Bai Hao merely spread his hands.

“If that’s the case, then I truly can’t threaten Auntie. However, if Xia Wei were to learn that her most beloved mother was actually stealing her boyfriend, I wonder how she would feel then?”

At his words, Xia Zhiquiu’s lithe body stiffened, and the anger that had only just begun to recede now surged back with renewed force.

“Do you find this amusing?”

Bai Hao settled onto the edge of the bed, a gentle smile gracing his features. Xia Zhiquiu instinctively recoiled, yet the young man’s grip firmly held her delicate hand.

“Aunt Xia, I truly am too fond of you. There is no other recourse; this is the only way we can maintain our relationship.”

Xia Zhiquiu let out a mocking scoff, not believing a single word the young man uttered.

The fellow simply lusted after her body, a fact she, having once been a man herself, understood with absolute clarity.

Yet, upon reflection, she realized how truly foolish she had been.

This little scoundrel had known her identity as a woman all along, then manipulated her into pretending to be his girlfriend, ultimately orchestrating this entire predicament.

A heavy silence descended upon the spacious room, enveloping the two of them.

After a considerable pause, Xia Zhiquiu’s other clenched hand slowly unfurled. She cast a frigid glance at the young man.

“You’re very pleased with yourself now, aren’t you? You think you’ve got me cornered?”

“Say whatever you want to Xia Wei, I won’t be threatened by you anyway!”

As she spoke, Xia Zhiquiu wrenched her hand free from the young man’s grasp, rising from the bed to leave, a sense of resigned defiance radiating from her.

She understood implicitly that if she were to yield to the young man now, he would only press his advantage further.

Bai Hao was somewhat taken aback by the woman’s refusal. As her graceful figure gradually vanished around the corner, a hint of vexation furrowed his brow.

For if things continued this way, rekindling their intimate moments would prove rather difficult. He couldn’t possibly resort to outright force, could he?

‘Well, that might not be a terrible idea either, but for the moment, it remained outside the scope of Bai Hao’s considerations.’

***

Meanwhile, after Xia Zhiquiu had driven away from the young man’s villa, she pulled her car to the side of the road.

Her hands gripped the steering wheel, her heart a tumultuous mix of profound anger and unsettling anxiety.

Clearly, Xia Zhiquiu was far from the composed facade she had presented to the young man; she harbored a deep fear of her daughter discovering her secret involvement with him.

Moreover, the mere thought of how the young man had just tormented her sent Xia Zhiquiu scrambling for a wet wipe, with which she compulsively scrubbed her reddened lips, a futile act of self-deception.

“Bastard! I’ll definitely make you pay!”

Xia Zhiquiu muttered through gritted teeth. Never in all her life had she been so utterly humiliated; how could she possibly quell her rage?

After a considerable time, Xia Zhiquiu’s tumultuous emotions finally began to settle. Only then did she resume driving, making her way home.

Yet, no sooner had she reached her doorstep than a parking ticket for an infraction popped up on her phone.

Xia Zhiquiu could only conclude that her day had been utterly cursed, and the sole progenitor of her misfortune was that wretched scoundrel!

Upon arriving home, Xia Zhiquiu donned her bracelet, transforming back into her accustomed male guise.

Yet, after the day’s harrowing events, she found herself contemplating when to finally confess her true identity to her daughter; after all, perpetually maintaining the deception was simply unsustainable.

She could only wonder, however, if Xia Wei would be resistant to the revelation that her father was, in fact, a woman.

With this trepidation weighing on her, Xia Zhiquiu opened the front door. She had expected her daughter to be home, yet the living room was eerily silent, bearing no sign of anyone’s presence.

‘Could she be in her room?’

Xia Zhiquiu’s brow furrowed in confusion. No sooner had she changed her shoes than a sudden, inexplicable sensation washed over her, causing her expression to instantly falter!

In that precise moment, a subtle, unsettling aura of strangeness had suddenly permeated the house.

Disregarding all other concerns, Xia Zhiquiu swiftly moved with heightened vigilance towards the rooms. Reaching her daughter’s tightly shut bedroom door, she called out urgently.

“Xia Wei, are you in there?”

“Don’t, don’t open the door…”

Her daughter’s trembling voice echoed from within the room; how could Xia Zhiquiu possibly remain unmoved?

Pushing open the door, she found her daughter’s typically immaculate bedroom in utter disarray, with the curtains tightly drawn, plunging the space into oppressive gloom.

Nevertheless, with the door now open, a sliver of light finally pierced the room’s pervasive darkness.

Xia Zhiquiu’s heart clenched at the sight of her daughter huddled in the corner. She rushed forward, embracing her tightly.

“Don’t be afraid, Xia Wei, Dad’s here.”

Xia Wei, enveloped in the soft, warm embrace, felt a pang in her nose and could no longer suppress her tears.

“Dad, you’re finally back…”

Xia Zhiquiu had no idea what her daughter had endured, yet she continued to offer soothing, gentle comfort.

After a long while, perceiving her daughter’s emotions had significantly settled, she finally spoke, her voice laced with inquiry.

“Xia Wei, tell Dad, what exactly happened?”

Xia Wei cast a fearful glance towards the sliver of light from outside, her voice trembling faintly.

“Dad, my, my shadow is gone!”

Xia Zhiquiu froze, startled by her words, and for a moment, failed to fully process them.

“Your shadow is gone? What do you mean?”

Xia Wei shook her head, then began to recount the sequence of events.

It transpired that her day had unfolded ordinarily, with school attendance and dismissal as usual, until, at some unknown point, a friend had suddenly noticed that Xia Wei no longer cast a shadow!

Xia Wei had initially dismissed it as unbelievable, yet no matter the angle or lighting, she cast not the slightest shadow!

At this terrifying realization, she truly panicked, a creeping dread consuming her until she could only seek refuge in the deepest, darkest corners, devoid of light.