211: Break

Night, Sister Qin's apartment.

The apartment was warmly lit, filled with the faint scent of body wash.

Xiao Qian was curled up on the living room sofa,

wearing a loose, cream-colored long sweater,

with what seemed to be only a black cropped T-shirt underneath, revealing a sliver of her fair, slender waist.

She wore black-rimmed glasses and was focused on the TV,

but the soft fabric of the sweater couldn't hide the overly full and proud curves of her chest,

rising and falling slightly with her breath, exuding an aura that was both youthful and slightly languid.

The bathroom door opened, and Sister Qin walked out.

She had just finished showering and was wrapped only in a white bath towel, which barely covered her key areas,

revealing her rounded shoulders, delicate collarbones, and a large expanse of snow-white chest.

Her wet hair was draped loose, and water droplets occasionally slid down her graceful neck, disappearing into the deep cleavage wrapped by the towel.

The plump, alluring, and damp charm of a mature woman after a bath

was displayed to the fullest by her.

"Mom, are you done washing?"

Xiao Qian looked up for a moment, then continued watching TV.

"Mhm, finish this episode and go to sleep early, don't stay up too late."

Sister Qin said, picking up her pajamas from the sofa, preparing to go back to the bedroom to change.

At this moment, the doorbell rang.

Xiao Qian's eyes lit up, and she practically jumped off the sofa to run and open the door,

"It must be Brother Zhan!"

Standing outside the door was none other than Li Zhan.

He walked in and naturally hugged Xiao Qian, who had rushed over to him,

but his gaze went over her head,

and met the eyes of Sister Qin, who was standing in the middle of the living room wrapped in a bath towel.

In the instant their eyes met, a tacit understanding and hidden meaning that only they understood flashed by.

"Brother Zhan, why did you only just arrive!"

Xiao Qian hugged his arm and acted coquettishly,

completely failing to notice her mother's momentary unnatural expression and slightly flushed cheeks.

"I was delayed by something."

Li Zhan smiled and ruffled Xiao Qian's hair, his movements intimate.

Sister Qin quickly regained her composure,

pulled her bath towel tighter, and tried to keep her tone as natural as possible,

"A-Zhan is here? Well... you two chat, I'll go in and change first."

After speaking, she walked quickly into her bedroom and closed the door.

Li Zhan accompanied Xiao Qian to watch TV in the living room for a while; the night grew late.

Xiao Qian was young after all; not long after watching TV, she started rubbing her eyes,

and fell into a hazy sleep while leaning on Li Zhan's shoulder.

Li Zhan gently carried her back to her bed and carefully tucked her in.

Looking at the young girl's peaceful sleeping face, he leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Once Xiao Qian's breathing became even and deep,

Li Zhan quietly exited the room as usual, gently closed the door, and headed to the master bedroom.

In the master bedroom, Sister Qin had already changed into a silk nightgown and was leaning against the headboard reading a book, but she was clearly distracted.

Hearing the door click, she looked up, her gaze meeting Li Zhan's as he entered,

and an ambiguous, forbidden atmosphere instantly filled the air.

The two didn't say much and quickly embraced.

In Li Zhan's embrace, Sister Qin indulged in this secret passion...

However, tonight seemed destined to be different...

I don't know how much time passed, but Xiao Qian suddenly woke up from a nightmare, her heart racing, with fine beads of sweat on her forehead.

She subconsciously reached out to grope beside her, but felt nothing.

"Brother Zhan..."

She called out hazily, but no one responded.

Xiao Qian sat up in confusion; the room was pitch black and silent, and she was alone.

It's so late, where did Brother Zhan go? Did he go to the bathroom?

An inexplicable sense of unease drove her out of bed; she wanted to find some water to drink, or perhaps just to confirm if Li Zhan was in the living room.

She went barefoot and gently opened the bedroom door.

The living room was empty, with only moonlight spilling onto the floor through the window.

Just as she was about to retreat back to her room, an extremely faint but strange sound vaguely drifted from the direction of the master bedroom.

That sound... it was like suppressed gasps and the slight creaking of a mattress...

Xiao Qian's heart skipped a beat, and as if possessed, she held her breath and crept toward the door of the master bedroom.

The closer she got, the clearer the sound became...

It was also mixed with her mother's low moans, which seemed to be desperately suppressed yet impossible to stop...

She froze in place as if struck by lightning, her mind going blank!

Through the crack in the door that wasn't fully closed, she vaguely saw the intertwined figures on the bed and the men's clothing scattered on the floor...

It was Brother Zhan's clothes! And Mom's bath towel!

Boom! It was like a thunderclap exploding in her mind!

Xiao Qian froze instantly, her face turning deathly pale; immense shock and disbelief swept over her...

She violently covered her mouth, barely managing not to scream out loud.

Her heart was beating wildly, as if it were about to burst out of her chest.

A bittersweet feeling of being betrayed and deceived, along with indescribable chaotic emotions, exploded in her heart!

So... so this was it! All the previous doubts instantly had answers.

Why her mother had been so radiant recently... why her mother's gaze when looking at Brother Zhan was sometimes so different... why her mother sometimes returned home late at night...

Why, one time, she saw her mother being picked up by a familiar black car...

That car, wasn't it Brother Zhan's car?!

She had thought it looked familiar at the time, but didn't think much of it... So they had long since...

A massive shock and heartbreak of being betrayed and deceived by the two people closest to her instantly engulfed her.

Tears welled up uncontrollably.

She knew Li Zhan had many women; she had never really felt anything about that, but why did it have to be her mom?!

This was too absurd! It was too hard for her to accept!

The immense shock and pain made her almost suffocate.

She took a sudden step back and accidentally knocked into a small ornament in the hallway.

A soft "clatter" sound.

The sound inside the bedroom stopped abruptly!

Xiao Qian was so scared her heart almost jumped out of her chest,

she didn't have time to think, and like a frightened deer, turned and fled quickly back to her room,

slammed the door shut, slid down the door panel to the floor, panting heavily, tears streaming silently and uncontrollably.

Inside the master bedroom, Li Zhan and Sister Qin also heard the commotion outside and stopped instantly; the two looked at each other, their expressions becoming serious.

"It seems... it was Xiao Qian..."

Sister Qin's voice was filled with panic and trembling.

Li Zhan's brows were tightly knit, his eyes complex.

He knew that what was bound to come had finally arrived.

Xiao Qian sat on the cold floor, her heart full of struggle and chaos.

She felt shock, betrayal, anger... but at the same time, that deep love and reluctance to let go of Li Zhan pulled tightly at her.

Leave him? She couldn't do it...

But if she didn't leave, would she have to... share a man with her mother in the future?

This thought made her feel incomparably ashamed and lost...

The night grew deeper. But for the three people in this house, no one was destined to sleep.

A more complex and tangled relationship had already been unveiled...