Chapter 12: Stepmother by Mistake

The spacious living room was plunged into an eerie, paralyzing silence.

Under the jade light, Ning Shangyu’s handsome, sharply defined features seemed to be outlined by a layer of cold, frosted light.

He didn’t speak.

No one else dared to speak either.

Especially the two “abandoned children” brought here on a seduction mission.

As soon as she pointed at them, they shrank together by the edge of the cabinet, curling up into a ball.

Lin Zhishui, seemingly oblivious to the strange atmosphere, continued to step across the soft carpet toward them, as if curious, blinking dazzlingly, and then blinking again.

Lin Zhishui’s attention was caught by the silk butterfly bows tied on their slightly trembling bodies.

They were actually pink.

Her fingertips even went to brush them lightly.

As the secretary, Xi Yan was always quick and sharp to respond.

However, Lin Zhishui’s earth-shattering remark about “two children” had left him so stunned that he still hadn’t recovered.

Now, seeing her apparently about to help Ning Shangyu unwrap his “presents,” he was just preparing to explain when—

The next second, Lin Zhishui only touched them lightly, her hand falling quietly to her side, her excessively honest little mouth unexpectedly began to introduce herself, “Hello, my name is Lin Zhishui.”

Lin Zhishui tilted her head, thinking for a few seconds.

These two were Ning Shangyu’s “abandoned children,” and she and Ning Shangyu were engaged, so…

After carefully and seriously sorting out the relationships, Lin Zhishui showed a reserved smile and said softly, “I’m your stepmother, okay?”

Xi Yan was dumbfounded, Stepmother?

Would a normal person react like this when suspecting their fiancé has two children?

No!

What normal person would suspect that a twenty-something fiancé could have two eighteen-year-old children—

And two of them at that!!

He subconsciously glanced at that person’s expression.

After all, Ning Shangyu was known for his cleanliness and dislike of chaos, especially anyone who dared to drink and then make a scene in front of him.

But unexpectedly, Ning Shangyu simply leaned back on the sofa, calmly watching Lin Zhishui.

His amber eyes were as deep as still water, showing no sign of anger.

Lin Zhishui looked composed tonight, but in fact, her logic had already gone off swimming naked in the Pacific.

He didn’t even stop her, as if he wanted to see how Lin Zhishui would play out this “stepmother” role.

Lin Zhishui was actually planning to keep going.

Her little brain recalled the period dramas she’d watched with Ah Xiao and the others.

In a big family, as an elder meeting the juniors for the first time, you had to give a meeting gift to avoid being rude.

She lowered her head and looked herself over, then, in the next second, took off the diamond bracelet on her slender wrist, intending to give it as a meeting gift right then and there.

But she paused.

Her gaze fell on the butterfly-tied hands of the other party, and she was about to untie them.

She was certainly generous.

Ning Shangyu’s lips curled in a faint, cold arc.

Finally, his patience for Lin Zhishui’s “stepmother” game ran out.

“Su family.”

At this moment, Ning Shangyu’s cold, sharp voice echoed through the spacious and elegant room. From the tone alone, one could sense the underlying threat.

“Take them away.”

“Yes.”

Xi Yan responded instantly, and within a minute had swiftly cleared the scene.

As the two doors closed tightly, Lin Zhishui still stood there in a daze.

It was her first time being drunk, her brain sluggish, still holding the diamond bracelet, ready to put it on someone, now staring at the empty floor.

Huh?

Where are they?

Gone?

Just then, Ning Shangyu stood up and walked over, towering above her as he looked down.

He noticed that apart from her fair earlobes down to her ankles all being flushed red, even her shallow breaths carried the scent of alcohol.

Because Lin Zhishui had been drinking, her eyes looked even brighter and clearer than usual, and she stared back at him, dazed and innocent.

Two seconds later, Ning Shangyu was still looking at her as he asked, “You said you had something important to discuss with me?”

With this reminder, Lin Zhishui belatedly remembered she almost forgot her main purpose.

Her drunken mind couldn’t hold that many things, and she’d already tossed those two “suddenly vanished” “abandoned children” out of her head.

Now her mind was full of “important matters.”

She looked up at him earnestly and said, “You missed two days of soup, so I’m here… to make up for it.”

Make up for it.

The two days’ worth of medicinal soup he’d missed had to be made up for every last drop, to nourish Ning Shangyu’s tall and imposing body.

“I need to make up for it?”

Ning Shangyu let out a faint laugh.

Lin Zhishui insisted gently, “You need it.”

Ning Shangyu, his voice cool and slow, asked her, “Fine. May I ask, what exactly do I need to make up for?”

Make up for what?

Lin Zhishui thought of the message Xin Jingxuan sent her tonight, and suddenly reached out her fingertip to poke Ning Shangyu’s abs, sliding it over the black silk suit fabric, answering earnestly, “Right here.”

The suit was too smooth, and just as her finger was about to dangerously slide another inch lower and landed on his wrist bone—

Ning Shangyu caught her restless slender wrist and continued to ask, “You’re like this—how much did Ning Xianyu let you drink?”

Lin Zhishui’s long, curled lashes fluttered as she denied, “I’m not drunk.”

She even knew she shouldn’t implicate Ning Xianyu for her own drunkenness, so she quickly changed her story, spinning a lie with no psychological burden, “I don’t even drink, really, I didn’t have any.”

Ning Shangyu, his meaning unclear, “Is that so?”

Lin Zhishui wanted to nod.

But in the next second, Ning Shangyu suddenly bent down and scooped her up without warning, carrying her into the bathroom. With a few deft movements, his long, slender fingers stripped off her dress, revealing her gradually reddening shoulder blades and limbs.

Before Lin Zhishui could fully react in her drunken haze—

Ning Shangyu removed his expensive tie, used it as a bracelet, and tied her wrists together.

For a moment, Lin Zhishui was stunned, and she even caught the wrong point.

She instinctively wanted to see if he’d tie a butterfly bow for her too.

But she soon found her body couldn’t move, as Ning Shangyu pressed her forward against the vintage full-length mirror with shell-carved patterns.

He leaned over her, his vibrant body heat silently overpowering the earlier coldness, almost pressing against her ear as he asked, “Look in the mirror. Your whole body, down to your toes, is red. If you’re not drunk, Lin Miss, are you perhaps… shy?”

Ning Shangyu rarely ever spoke so frankly and suggestively.

But his tone remained calm, as if stating a fact.

Under the light, her ankle skin was so red… it looked as if it had been soaked in warm wine, almost matching the two red moles at the corner of her eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

Lin Zhishui could be quite tactful at times.

Having been caught red-handed, with the evidence being herself, and her drunken mind no longer in control, she spoke softly and vividly, “Mr. Ning, can you forgive me for telling a little lie while drunk?”

Ning Shangyu was not so easily appeased.

He said, “I don’t sense any sincerity in your apology.”

How could he not sense it?!

Lin Zhishui’s eyes widened in confusion, staring straight at his reflection in the mirror, “I already apologized, and I was thinking about your health, even went out of my way to find a medicinal soup recipe and made it myself for you.”

All these things, weren’t they written all over her face?

Could Ning Shangyu really not see it?

This made Lin Zhishui frown in frustration.

She was about to turn around and argue, completely forgetting she was tied up and pressed against the spotless mirror.

She muttered to herself, “So cold, and so hot…”

The “cold” referred to the mirror.

The “hot” was, of course, Ning Shangyu behind her.

Even though his black silk suit was perfectly tailored and only slightly dishevelled at the collar from pulling off his tie, everywhere else it was meticulously fitted, the lines sharp and long.

The heat was impossible to ignore, surging over to her without any barrier.

“You’re really not shy at all.”

Lin Zhishui suddenly and sincerely blurted out this compliment.

Ning Shangyu had already gotten used to her chaotic thoughts tonight.

His elegant, handsome face didn’t show a single ripple of emotion. Instead, he went along with her words and asked, “Did you go to such trouble to make me soup just for this?”

She cooked so skillfully, just because he missed a little.

Lin Zhishui caught the trick. Even drunk, when it came to her own secret, she kept her mouth tight and wouldn’t reveal her real purpose.

Her brain wasn’t completely clouded yet, and she instinctively knew she couldn’t let Ning Shangyu know.

She did care about his health, but the real reason she made the soup was because she was afraid if his health failed young, she’d lose her own freedom as well.

Seeing her silent for a long time, Ning Shangyu simply changed the question, “You’ve never seen it yourself, so how do you know my size?”

Lin Zhishui was stunned for a few seconds.

She blinked, forgetting her wrists were tied with the tie, and wanted to point to her own eyes with her fingertip, thinking she’d never seen it, but with years of tailoring experience making nightgowns by hand…

Just by sight.

Lin Zhishui could estimate his size with perfect accuracy—definitely shockingly large.

After this bold declaration, Ning Shangyu let out a low laugh, repeating the four words with deep meaning, “Perfect accuracy.”

Lin Zhishui was a beat slow to react.

The next second, she wanted to take it back and regret it—she’d really overestimated herself.

“I’ll give you a chance to measure it tonight.”

She was pressed against the mirror, her hands locked behind her, just enough space to move, being deeply watched by Ning Shangyu through the mirror, drawn in…

And so, inch by inch, the “measurement” began.

Clearly, she was the one affected by alcohol, but the one whose body temperature kept rising was Ning Shangyu.

Ning Shangyu, “Do you think I need to make up for it?”

Lin Zhishui went from shaking her head at first, to slowly saying, “No, you don’t need it anymore…”

Ning Shangyu used his absolute authority and facts to prove he didn’t need any tonic soup at all, and that her glass-like eyes could be donated to a museum for display.

At least they’d be pleasing to look at.

Lin Zhishui pressed her forehead against the mirror, closed her eyes, and apologized again, “I was wrong.”

Even if Ning Shangyu had to get injections early in the morning, she shouldn’t have meddled with all those tonics, and definitely shouldn’t have been so confident in her own judgment…

Now it felt like she was the one whose body was going to give out.

Yet, Ning Shangyu, his brows lowered as he pressed against her, clearly didn’t intend to let her off easily.

He was like the strongest beast at the top of the food chain—a lion with a touch of pity for its prey, considering her delicate constitution.

But she, like a little lamb, only knew how to nibble on the softest grass, never appreciating his concern.

She often used her innocent, easily deceived appearance to circle around him, doing all sorts of bold and outrageous things.

Ning Shangyu, wearing a family crest ring, lifted her chin, the cold metal and his warm breath arriving almost at the same time.

“Lin Miss, if you break the rules, you have to be punished.”

The next second.

Lin Zhishui was kissed by him. Unlike their first kiss, this time Ning Shangyu’s predatory technique changed, kissing her with an even more oppressive, masterful intensity.

Was this the punishment?

She was confused for a moment, but finally chose to close her eyes and accept it.

Her hands, still bound behind her waist, instinctively tried to hook onto Ning Shangyu’s jacket, and her body pressed uncontrollably against the mirror, leaving wet marks on the spotless surface.

Suddenly, her upper arm stung—Ning Shangyu’s palm had landed with a crisp smack.

The slap came without warning, but it was just the beginning of her real punishment—another slap followed, making the water in Lin Zhishui’s eyes tremble uncontrollably.

How could she withstand Ning Shangyu?

When the third punishment fell—

After drinking, she was like a transparent crystal bottle filled with red wine.

In an instant.

The beautiful, fragile bottle shattered completely, and bright, glistening liquid streamed down the shell-patterned vintage mirror, flowing onto the golden marble floor.

So much water.