Seeing the worried look on Nina Shaw’s face, Lauren Shaw shook her head and said, “I’m fine now.”

She’d felt dizzy earlier, but after all the commotion, she actually felt like she’d snapped back to her senses.

Mrs. Chen came over, her face full of concern. “Shengsheng, tell me, what’s going on here?”

Earlier, her worry had left no room for rational thought, but now that things had calmed down, she realized something was seriously off.

“Mom, let’s talk about this after the annual party ends.”

There were too many eyes and ears around—not the best place to discuss things. As for Mandy Snow, it would be best to wait until Yancy Shaw had finished the paternity test before telling the family.

The banquet wound down, and Mandy Snow never reappeared. No one could tell if it was because of Eva Snow’s incident or something—or someone—else.

Nathan Shaw walked over to stand beside Yancy Shaw. His features were sharp, bearing a family resemblance to Yancy Shaw himself.

He addressed Mrs. Chen, “Mother, I have work to finish this afternoon and need to head out now. Could you please explain to Father for me?”

Seeing how rushed he seemed, Mrs. Chen didn’t want to delay him further and gently urged, “Alright, go on then.”

“Big Brother,” Yancy Shaw called after him.

He held a glass of wine in his hand. “We haven’t had a drink together yet today.”

Nathan Shaw chuckled, accepted the glass, and downed it in one go before setting it on the table.

“Next time drinks are on me. The three of us brothers need to cut loose together sometime.”

“Sounds good,” Yancy Shaw replied calmly. After his brother left, he cast a thoughtful gaze at the wineglass Nathan Shaw had just emptied...

Early the next morning.

Yancy Shaw made a trip to the hospital’s DNA testing department. After last night’s event had ended, he’d collected DNA samples from Nathan Shaw and Shen Siyi to bring here.

He Min happened to run into him at the hospital. Spotting him, he asked with curiosity, “What brings you here? Back to work already?”

Wait—a second—this was the DNA lab, not cardiac surgery. What was Yancy Shaw up to?

He stared suspiciously. Yancy Shaw’s expression was neutral: “Just checking on something.”

“What’s there to see in the DNA lab? Just a bunch of guys,” He Min craned his neck, trying to peek inside.

Yancy Shaw couldn’t be bothered to reply and turned to leave, only for He Min to block his path.

“Did you hear about what happened at the banquet yesterday?”

“What happened?”

He Min glanced around, lowered his voice, and whispered, “Big drama at the hotel last night.”

He drew things out, hoping to see curiosity on Yancy Shaw’s face. But all he got was calm indifference. So he continued, “I heard the Xue and Mo family engagement is off.”

Yancy Shaw reacted as if he’d already known. He Min’s eyes gleamed with gossip. Yancy Shaw simply replied with a nonchalant, “Oh.”

He Min’s desire to share only intensified.

“Guess what? Eva Snow was caught at the hotel last night with another man—by her own fiancé, no less!”

No one knew who first leaked the news, but it’d already spun wildly out of control. Some said Eva Snow never really fancied the disabled young master of the Mo family, but the marriage had been arranged by Old Master Xue, so this was her way of rebelling.

Others insisted she just wanted excitement.

Whatever the reasons, none of that mattered now.

“Old Master Xue flew into a rage when he found out and called off the wedding. He was so furious, I hear he nearly wanted to beat Eva Snow himself—locked her in last night.”

Yancy Shaw’s brow lifted. With growing interest, he studied He Min, whose storytelling grew even more animated.

“Do you know who the guy was? Bet you’d never guess,” He Min said, eyes alight.

Yancy Shaw waited for the punchline.

“It was that Sung family boy! Wasn’t he your old rival in love? The Snow family’s sure to chew him up after this.”

Now that the Xue and Mo engagement was off, and with the second branch of the Snow family being notoriously ruthless, it wasn’t looking good for Yvonne Sung.

Yancy Shaw let out a low laugh.

He Min nudged him and grinned, “No comment?”

Yancy Shaw smiled meaningfully, checked his watch, and said, “I’m going to pick up my wife for lunch. We’ll have to catch up another time.”

Before He Min could reply, Yancy Shaw was already walking away.

He Min curled his lip, mimicking in a mocking tone, “I’m going to pick up my wife for lunch. Tch, like nobody else has a wife—show-off!”

…

At the Xue residence.

Yvonne Sung stood in Xue Wenchang’s study, head hung in utter defeat, not daring to move.

The couple from the Snow family’s second branch stormed in, faces burning with rage. Fang Lin slapped him across the face and furiously snapped, “What the hell are you? How dare you touch my daughter! Who gave you permission?”

Eva Snow was the precious jewel of the Snow family, her mother’s darling. For this to have happened—compared to marrying her off to that cripple, at least the Mo family had power and influence. Who was Yvonne Sung to her? His family was ruined, and yet he dreamed of marrying up—a hopeless frog lusting after a swan.

Yvonne Sung stood there rigidly, silently enduring Fang Lin’s slap and curses. In no time, bloody scratches marred his skin. Seeing this, Xue Wenchang finally moved to restrain her.

“That’s enough. What’s done is done. What good does it do to kill him now? If your own daughter doesn’t know how to behave, who else is to blame?”

Fang Lin stopped, her face twisted with anger. “You’re blaming Eva Snow for being shameless? She’s your niece! How can you talk about her that way?”

“What do you want to do, then? This scandal has spread across Ancheng, and the Mo family’s officially calling off the engagement. Now it’s not just Eva Snow’s reputation on the line—our entire family’s dignity is in shambles.”

Xue Wenchang was furious and frustrated. He’d warned Fang Lin and Xue Qiang to keep a close eye on Eva Snow—not to let anything happen. But look what happened: they’d tried to steal a chicken and ended up losing the rice, too—all caught in their own mess. Unbelievably stupid!

“What do we do now? Yueyue’s locked herself in her room, refusing to eat or drink, saying she wants to get even with the Shen family,” Xue Qiang said helplessly. Compared to his wife, at least he remained a bit calmer.

Xue Wenchang paused, heaving a deep sigh. “All we can do now is to let them get engaged as soon as possible—otherwise, the gossips will eat us alive, and our family’s reputation will be in shreds.”

No one knew who started the rumors, but now the scandal was the talk of Ancheng’s elite. At any mention of the Snow family, everyone just sneered, shaking their heads in contempt.