Chapter Four: Truly the Height of Irony

“Second Brother, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.” Huangpu Deep Affection took the documents Ouyang Mufeng handed him and hurried off, but saw nothing.
Only thick black mist lingered in the silent night, swirling in every direction.

——

No matter how fast she hurried, she was still late when she got home—her father had already arrived before her. On the sofa sat Shangguan Xing, seemingly reading some documents.
The butler, Shangguan Yang, stood beside him, winking at her.
“Father,” Shangguan Enran walked toward the sofa.
“Where have you been? Why are you back so late?”
He had planned to come home early from work just to see his precious daughter. And yet, she was nowhere to be found until this hour.
“I just got back to the country and went out to dinner with Wanqing and the others. Father, let me introduce you—this is Ye Zuo, and this is Ye Xin. They’ve returned with me.”
“Mm. If you need anything, just contact the butler,” Shangguan Xing said to Ye Zuo and Ye Xin, then looked at Yang the butler.
“I understand, Father. I’ll arrange everything.”
Ye Zuo and Ye Xin nodded politely to them both, then left the living room.
Shangguan Enran followed Shangguan Xing up to the study on the third floor. The study was adjacent to his bedroom and lined with three rows of bookshelves, with a desk in front.
Shangguan Enran took a seat on the sofa by the desk, sitting beside her father and looping her arm through his. “Father, did Mother say when she’ll be back?”
“No, she’s been busy lately. I’ve called her, but she hasn’t answered,” he replied, sounding dejected.
Shangguan Enran couldn’t help but laugh. Her mother was always busy, rarely at home, shuttling between different countries.
Since her father had to manage the company and her mother was gone most of the year, she’d grown up studying in Country Y with her grandfather.

Most people there had blue eyes, blond hair, and fair skin. Perhaps because of these regional differences, she made few friends.
“How about I call Mother later and see what she’s up to?”
“No need,” Shangguan Xing waved it off. He could make the call himself.
“Tell me your plans. I’ve already arranged a position for you at the company. When do you plan to start?”
“Father, I just got back. Let me rest for two days at least.” She hadn’t even had time to explore the country properly—how could she be willing to join the company right away?
“Alright, I’ll give you two days. But remember to report to the company in a few days.”
“Yes, Father.”

——

When Shangguan Enran returned to her room, she called her mother, but as usual, no one answered. She was used to it by now; it would be strange if she did pick up.
She then took a vial of solution from her suitcase and dropped some into her eyes. Instantly, her black pupils turned pale blue. Shangguan Enran blinked at herself in the mirror, her eyes now bright and clear as limpid water.
Ever since the accident when she was young, her grandfather had someone develop this solution for her. It would temporarily change her pupils to black without harming her eyes.

Meanwhile, at the Ouyang family home in the city center, Ouyang Muya returned after dropping Xia Wanqing off. The servants told her that Ouyang Mufeng had also gone out for dinner and had yet to return.
She was truly exasperated by her younger brother, who did nothing all day but play around.
“Sis, why aren’t you asleep yet?” Ouyang Mufeng saw his sister as soon as he walked into the living room.
“Because of you! How can you be out so late?” It was almost ten o’clock—if their father found out, he’d be in for a scolding.
“It’s nothing. I was with Gong Yi and lost track of time.”
The Huangpu clan, the Gong family, and the Ouyang family were all part of City A’s upper crust, closely followed by the Xia and Jun families, among others.
In recent years, the Bai and Ye families had also risen in prominence. The Shangguan family had long since faded from public view, rarely appearing before the masses.

Back then, the Huangpu clan was even more illustrious, and the new generation seemed poised to surpass their forebears—all because of one person: Huangpu Deep Affection.
The old master Huangpu had married twice. It was said his first wife was a political and business match, but she died after a few years. The second wife was his first love, whom he’d been forced to part with years ago.
But who could know the real secrets of those great families, given how stories changed from mouth to mouth?
After returning from the restaurant, Huangpu Deep Affection drove to the old mansion. Ever since his grandmother and father passed away, he’d rarely set foot here; this place meant nothing to him now.
The most ridiculous thing was that after his father’s death, that woman remarried and never returned. To that family, he was always an outsider.
And his name—Deep Affection—was the cruelest irony. In the Huangpu family, where was there any deep affection? All that existed was the web of interests and intrigue.

“If I hadn’t sent for you, would you never have come back?” The man in the seat of honor spoke in a booming voice, his eyes fixed intently on the figure before him.
Beside him sat Jun Ruohan, dressed in a purple suit and adorned with a sapphire necklace, elegant and dignified, though the passage of time showed in the wrinkles on her face.
She was now the matriarch of the Huangpu clan. On one side of the sofa sat the second branch, Huangpu Rong and Bai Ting; on the other, their children, Huangpu Qing’an and Huangpu Qingyin.
“Do you think I have any reason to return?” Huangpu Deep Affection replied coldly, then walked to the farthest sofa and sat down, as if to distance himself from them, his whole being steeped in silence.
“You unfilial child…”
“Enough, dear. He’s just come back, no need to get angry,” Jun Ruohan said gently, her grandmotherly demeanor impeccable after so many years of endurance and careful maneuvering.
“Grandmother, why bother with someone who doesn’t want to come home? Why waste your warmth on someone so cold?”
Huangpu Qing’an sneered. If not for him, he’d already be the president of the Huangpu Group—no need to work in some insignificant company.