The next morning, Tang Shi prepared to go to Bo Ye’s company. She applied a touch of makeup, slipped into a lightweight trench coat, and stepped into a pair of low heels before heading out the door. Just as she was leaving, her phone rang. It was Tang Yi. “Is Weiwei really with him? Shishi, are you sure you’ll be alright on your own?” Tang Shi drew a deep breath as the wind whipped through her hair. “I’m fine, Ge,” she said, her voice steady. “I’ll call you if anything happens. Just focus on your trip.” Tang Yi offered a few more words of caution before finally hanging up. For a long moment, Tang Shi stared out at the street, a flicker of resolve hardening her gaze. Then, with a decisive click of her heels on the pavement, she hailed a cab and headed for the Bo Corporation. She paid the driver and stepped out of the cab just as the morning rush of office workers was surging into the building. As she emerged, heads turned. She was tall and slender, her lightweight trench coat fluttering around her with each step in the morning breeze. The sunlight caught her, tracing her elegant silhouette in gold. The woman who strode through the main doors had a captivating face, dominated by a pair of eyes that glittered like tempered steel—hard and cold. Her lips were pressed into a thin, determined line, and her fair complexion was a mask of tension and icy resolve as she walked briskly to the reception desk. The receptionist, taken aback by her presence, took a moment to recover. “Can I… help you? Who are you here to see?” “Bo Ye.” She said his name—the name of the great Young Master Bo—so casually. The receptionist hesitated. “But miss… you need an appointment to see Mr. Bo…” Hearing this, a few people nearby began to whisper. “She’s here for Young Master Bo!” “Shh, keep your voice down! Look at the way she carries herself. She must have connections!” “Exactly! Maybe she’s his secret mistress.” “A secret mistress? But isn’t Miss An the one he loves?” At the mention of Miss An, a pain like a knife's edge twisted in Tang Shi's heart. Her face paled further, yet the smile that touched her lips was all the more chilling. “Just tell him my name,” she said. “Bo Ye will see me.” Before the receptionist could ask who this confident woman was, a voice called out from behind her. “Well, what have we here?” Tang Shi turned to see Jiang Xie, the man with the Maserati, sauntering in with a lazy smile. His eyes, shaped like peach blossoms, sparkled with amusement. Seeing Tang Shi at the desk, he walked over. “Yo,” he said. “Here to see Ye?” The moment the receptionist saw that the young master of the Jiang family from the next city knew this woman, she immediately motioned for her to go up. Everyone stared in shock. Who was this woman, that even Young Master Jiang knew her? In the elevator, Tang Shi nodded her thanks to Jiang Xie. “Thank you.” “No need to thank me,” Jiang Xie said with a wave of his hand. “I’m here to see him on business too, but you can go first. Besides, the Tang family has shares in this place. You’re just walking into your own company, really.” “You’ve certainly done your homework on me.” Tang Shi’s voice was laced with a sarcasm directed as much at herself as at him. “A pity it’s not mine anymore.” Jiang Xie glanced at her. “Five years ago, when you went to prison… was it really Bo Ye who sent you there?” Tang Shi didn’t answer. She only offered a faint smile. But it was a smile steeped in so much pain, the smile of someone at the bottom of an abyss, with not a single ray of hope in sight. Jiang Xie didn’t press further. The elevator opened automatically on the twentieth floor, and they both stepped out, drawing curious glances from people in the hallway. Bo Ye was in his office waiting for Jiang Xie. He saw the door open and someone following behind his friend, and called out playfully— “What the hell, Jiang Xie? You bring a woman with you to a business meeting now?” But when he saw the person behind Jiang Xie, his expression froze. “What are you doing here?” “Considering the Tang family's blood and money are sunk into the Bo Corporation, why shouldn’t I be here?” Tang Shi’s shoulders trembled, but she fought to keep her voice steady, her eyes, slightly red, fixed on Bo Ye. The man sat at the center of the office, his face so handsome it was almost demonic, with deep-set features and a sharp, chiseled jawline. His looks could put most celebrities to shame, making him utterly captivating to the average person. Countless women in this city dreamed of climbing into his bed. Tang Shi had once thought herself the lucky one, his wife. Only later did she realize it was the beginning of her greatest tragedy. The pain of guarding a man who would never truly be yours… it was an agony like no other. Sensing the volatile atmosphere, Jiang Xie immediately backed away, a strained smile on his face. “Heh… well, if you two have things to sort out… I’ll, uh, I’ll just make myself scarce…” Before the words were even fully out, he had slipped out of the office, winking at the secretary on his way. “Hey there, beautiful. How about some morning tea? I don’t think your president will be free for a while~” The secretary, flustered and charmed, let him lead her away, oblivious to the storm about to break inside the president's office. On the other side of the heavy wooden door, the atmosphere in the luxuriously appointed office dropped to freezing. Tang Shi stood there for a long time before she finally looked up at Bo Ye. “Surprised to see me, aren’t you?” Bo Ye’s eyes narrowed, an eyebrow arching. “I didn’t think you’d come.” “Yes, I didn’t think I would either.” Tang Shi smiled, a devastatingly beautiful expression. “I wanted to run as far away from you as possible, to never see you again for the rest of my life. And yet here I am, knocking on your door. Bo Ye, I’ll never be as ruthless as you.” Hearing this, a wave of anger surged through Bo Ye, and he sneered, “That just proves one thing, Tang Shi. You’re pathetic.” Pathetic, Tang Shi. She said nothing, a bitter taste filling her mouth. Yes, wasn’t she just pathetic? She clenched her jaw and looked him in the eye. “I’m here for my son.” “He’s my son, too.” “No, he is my son, and mine alone!” Tang Shi’s voice suddenly rose, sharp and piercing. “I raised him for five years! From the day I went to prison until now!” Five years. Five long years. In that sunless hell, the only thing that kept her from dying in that cage was the thought of her precious son. Tang Wei was her life, the one person in this world she would protect at all costs! Even if it was Bo Ye himself trying to take him, she would not yield an inch. Seeing her like this, Bo Ye’s smile widened with cruel amusement. “But you can’t change the fact that my blood runs in his veins!” “Really…?” Tang Shi’s laughter was choked with tears. “You actually want to acknowledge him now? Are you serious, Young Master Bo? Didn’t you hate me so much you wanted me dead? Weren’t you the one who said only An Mi could bear your children? What’s changed? You want to snatch away the son of a murderer now, too?!” The son of a murderer