Sylvia Shaw stared at him in shock, her whole body drained of strength, eyes bloodshot. "Dad, you're angry at me, aren't you? How could I possibly not be your daughter?"

Although she was usually headstrong, she reined herself in around Nathan Shaw. She craved his affection, but Nathan Shaw was always distant and cold toward her, their relationship lacking any father-daughter closeness.

She could overlook these things before, but after eighteen years as the Shen family's heiress, to suddenly be told today that she was not his biological daughter—how was she supposed to accept that?

Nathan Shaw's expression was unreadable. In truth, when he first learned that Sylvia Shaw wasn't his child, he had experienced all kinds of complicated emotions. But on his way home, those feelings slowly gave way to resignation.

Mandy Snow looked at Nathan Shaw with biting sarcasm. "So I'm not the only one who couldn't warm your heart. What fault has the child? All these years, she's only ever seen you as her real father, and yet you insist on being so heartless to her?"

"Did you ever imagine this day would come when you lied to me back then?"

He met Mandy Snow's gaze with icy indifference. He could have had a happy marriage, but her selfishness had driven away the one he loved, making him muddle through life for eighteen years. How could he not hate her for it?

Yuan Ran entered and walked to Yancy Shaw's side, whispering a few words in his ear. Yancy Shaw nodded, glancing over at Shen Wenting.

"The Snow family is here."

Shen Wenting's face darkened. He snorted, "Good timing! I was just about to ask them what on earth is going on."

No sooner had he spoken than Xue Wenchang walked in, quickly taking in the scene before him.

He forced a smile onto his face. "This whole matter with Eva Snow is our fault for not teaching her better. Please don't be angry, Old Master Shen. The rest of the family has already brought her home. Rest assured, I'll see to it she gets a stern lesson and won't trouble you again."

His words were met with an awkward silence in the living room; nobody responded.

Seeing Shen Wenting glaring at him only confused Xue Wenchang further. Had he said something wrong?

"Nanfeng, aren't you going to say something?"

He shot Nathan Shaw a look. In the past, even though Nanfeng didn't like Mandy Snow, as the eldest son of the Shen family, he still treated the Xue elders with respect.

Yet now, both Mandy Snow and her daughter were silent and shell-shocked, which baffled Xue Wenchang.

Just as he was about to ask, Shen Wenting's authoritative voice rang out: "You are Mandy Snow's elder brother, so you must know something about this. The Snow family must be quite a household to have raised you to do such shameless things!"

No matter how cunning Xue Wenchang was, he couldn't guess what Shen Wenting was really implying.

"What is that supposed to mean? What shameless thing have we done?" Being scolded so harshly, even Xue Wenchang couldn't keep his composure. If they weren't in the Shen household, he might have thrown his teacup at someone.

Shen Wenting flung the paternity test report in his face. Xue Wenchang glanced at it, his expression turning ashen. A moment ago, he looked ready to bite someone's head off; now, he was utterly speechless.

"Wh—What's going on here?"

Madam Chen scoffed. "What's going on? You still have the nerve to ask us? So the Shen family has raised someone else's child for over a decade!"

She didn't believe for a second that Xue Wenchang wasn't in on it. The way they'd plotted to have Nathan Shaw marry Mandy Snow back then proved he must have known. But at this point, there was little point in going over old ground.

"That's nonsense! You're all liars! Liar!" Sylvia Shaw screamed hysterically, shoved Mandy Snow aside, and ran out. Mandy Snow quickly chased after her.

With everything exposed, Xue Wenchang could no longer save face. He slunk out of the Shen house in defeat.

Guarding the door, Xue Qiang hurried over and asked, "Big Brother, what did they say?"

Xue Qiang worried that Eva Snow might have said something out of line at the Shen house; upsetting the Shens could jeopardize several critical projects their companies had together. If Eva Snow ruined their collaboration, the old man would probably skin him alive.

Already fuming from the tongue-lashing inside, Xue Wenchang snapped at Xue Qiang when he approached, "Ask them yourself!"

Xue Qiang was left stunned by the outburst. What had happened? Everyone acted like they'd swallowed gunpowder—barely short of exploding.

Back in the living room, Nathan Shaw maintained his stiff posture, back straight, his face expressionless and unreadable.

Madam Chen sighed softly, concern in her voice. "Nanfeng, are you alright?"

She worried that this would be a bitter blow for Nathan Shaw; after all, for a man, such a revelation was a public humiliation.

"I'm fine. Father, Mother, I will be filing for divorce from Mandy Snow."

He wasn't seeking their advice—just calmly stating his decision.

In the past, perhaps Shen Wenting would have tried to talk him out of it. But now, he found himself agreeing wholeheartedly.

Lauren Shaw had expected Nathan Shaw would take the news hard. But surprisingly, he seemed unaffected; in fact, he looked relieved.

Leaving the Shen house, they found the sky gray and overcast, the biting north wind stinging their faces—a chill that made one shiver involuntarily.

Nathan Shaw stood beneath an old tree in the yard. Withered leaves landed softly on his shoulders, and the sight of his back radiated a sense of weary solitude.

She nudged Yancy Shaw beside her and whispered, "Shouldn't you go comfort your brother?"

Surely he must be feeling fragile right now.

Yancy Shaw lowered his eyes and looked at her, noticing her nose turning red in the wind. He pulled her into his arms. "Trying to comfort him now won’t do much good. It might just make him more upset."

Sometimes it’s better to leave someone to their own solitude—prodding an old wound only makes it hurt more.

As they spoke, Nathan Shaw turned and looked their way. Seeing the couple standing by the door, he smiled.

"Yancheng, thank you for telling me the truth." There was a rare trace of gentleness and relief in his smile.

Yancy Shaw nodded. "I just didn’t want the deceit to go on any longer."

Nathan Shaw looked at both Yancheng and Lauren Shaw. "And I should thank Lauren Shaw as well. If you hadn’t overheard something that day, we’d still be in the dark about Mandy Snow’s lies."

No wonder, he thought to himself—he’d always had trouble feeling attached to Sylvia Shaw. He’d always thought it was his own failing, never considering a paternity test. From the moment he’d married Mandy Snow, his heart had gone numb, unable to find joy in anything; his only pleasure these years had been research.

So, after marriage, he’d thrown himself wholly into work, leaving all the rest behind.

Lauren Shaw pressed her lips into a gentle smile. "It was just something I overheard by chance."

Nathan Shaw looked up at the overcast sky and muttered, "Maybe... this was all fate's doing."