HBWMA -Chapter 141 Butterfly Effect

Jiang Huashan was slightly stunned and instinctively looked at Shen Jiao in front of her.

Yao Ge’s expression turned strange. “A-Jiao, stop joking. It’s not like she doesn’t have a mother. Besides, she’s already this old—do you really think you can raise her as your own?”

Fu Sui’er was instantly triggered and rushed forward to argue.

But Shen Jiao didn’t give her the chance. She shot back sharply, “Whether I can raise her or not is my business. There’s no need for you to worry about it, sister-in-law. I’ve delivered my message and given the gift today. I just hope you’ll conduct yourself better in the future.”

Fu Sui’er froze for a moment, her eyes suddenly sparkling as she looked at Shen Jiao.

At first, she had been a little unhappy about being dragged here to apologize. But if this was the kind of apology… she suddenly understood her mother.

The smile on Yao Ge’s face stiffened immediately. She frowned at Shen Jiao. “Is this your attitude when apologizing?”

Shen Jiao replied calmly, “If sister-in-law isn’t satisfied, I can change my approach—but I doubt my elder brother would want to see that.”

Yao Ge stood up, looking down at the woman before her. “What do you mean by that?”

Shen Jiao stood up as well, her eyes full of an arrogant, domineering air befitting a young miss. “Yao Ge, drop the act. You’re just lucky to have been born in this era. A hundred years ago, you’d be nothing more than the wife of a concubine’s son. A few decades from now, your husband would be an illegitimate child. You wouldn’t even be worthy of carrying my shoes—let alone daring to make my daughter kneel to you.”

“You—!”

Yao Ge had always used Shen Guiling’s illegitimate status to humiliate him. Now Shen Jiao returned that humiliation in full—it was devastating.

Jiang Huashan and Fu Sui’er exchanged glances and silently gave a thumbs-up.

Shen Jiao pointed at the two gift boxes in front of her. “My mother was the Old Master’s legally wedded wife. What about your mother-in-law? Next time you dare make my daughter kneel, don’t blame me for making Shen Qian observe the proper hierarchy between legitimate and illegitimate lines.”

“What did you say?”

Yao Ge was both furious and shaken. Over the years, Shen Qian had risen higher and higher. The second branch had clearly surpassed the third. Even Shen Che and Shen Rang didn’t dare speak to them like this—so how could Shen Jiao, a discarded woman kicked out by the Fu family, dare?

“Fine! Fine!” Yao Ge clutched her aching chest. “I’ll call Shen Qian right now and let him hear what you’ve said—”

Shen Jiao didn’t indulge her at all. She directly dialed an overseas call and put it on speaker.

“Ah! Help! Mom! Save me, please save me!!!”

Yao Ge, who had been hysterical, instantly fell silent upon hearing the voice.

“Mom! Mom!!!”

“A-Nian!” Yao Ge’s eyes turned bloodshot as she stared at Shen Jiao. “What have you done to my son?”

Shen Jiao replied coolly, “Relax. He may not be that close to me, but he’s still my nephew. As long as you don’t provoke me, I won’t do anything to him.”

“Have you gone insane?!” Yao Ge exploded in rage. “I only disciplined your daughter a little, and you actually sent people to S Country to target my son?!”

Shen Jiao narrowed her eyes. “Disciplined her? That’s putting it lightly. Where did the scratches on her face and the bruises on her neck come from? I can’t even bear to touch her, yet you beat her like that? Yao Ge, do you think I’m dead? Fine—since we’re family, I’ll just ‘discipline’ your son for you as well.”

“Don’t! Don’t touch my son!” Yao Ge gritted her teeth, forcing herself to calm down. “What happened at noon wasn’t aimed at you. I didn’t even know Jiang Huashan was related to you. As for Sui’er, she was the one who talked back first.”

Shen Jiao nodded. “Alright, I’ll believe you this once. I don’t care how your second branch handles its dirty affairs, but don’t drag my daughter into it. Yao Ge, you know how I am—I mean what I say. Yes, I divorced Fu Jiaming, but don’t forget your son is in S Country. If I really want to do something, I don’t even need the Shen family to step in.”

Yao Ge’s face turned grim.

The third branch’s madam, surnamed Li, was the daughter of the Li family—one of the top financial dynasties in S Country. Together with the Bai family, they controlled the lifeline of the nation. The Lis governed, the Bais commanded the military—people joked that these two families were an unshakable sky over S Country.

Seeing that she had made her point, Shen Jiao stopped there. She gave an order into the phone, “Alright, send young master back. If you keep teasing him, he’ll think it’s real.”

She hung up and looked at Yao Ge. “Sister-in-law, are you satisfied with this ‘gift’?”

Yao Ge gritted her teeth. “Satisfied.”

Only then did Shen Jiao turn around and push the two girls forward. “Your aunt has accepted the gift, so she probably won’t make things difficult for you anymore. Shouldn’t you also show some sincerity?”

Jiang Huashan and Fu Sui’er spoke in unison, “Aunt, we’re sorry.”

Yao Ge was so furious she almost laughed. Just then, a maid tremblingly brought over three glasses of water.

Shen Jiao casually picked one up, gestured toward Yao Ge, took a light sip, and set it back down. “It’s getting late. I won’t disturb your rest. We’re leaving.”

Jiang Huashan and Fu Sui’er obediently said, “Goodbye, Aunt.”

The three came and went as they pleased. The moment the door closed, Yao Ge completely lost control—she grabbed the gift boxes on the table and hurled them at the door, then started smashing the glasses, scaring the maid into fleeing in panic.

“Ahhh!!!” After a bout of hysterics, she suddenly went eerily calm, as if she had split personalities, and slowly took out her phone.

“Shen Qian, I don’t care what you do—this year, I must see A-Nian. Otherwise, don’t blame me for forgetting our marital ties.”

—

After leaving Bihu, Jiang Huashan still felt like she was dreaming.

Wait… was this really Shen Jiao’s personality? This fierce? This unreasonable?

In her previous life, all her attention had been on pleasing Fang Mei and Fu Xiaoxiao. Until Shen Jiao’s death, she had only thought of her as arrogant and domineering.

But now, thinking back—Fang Mei had always been afraid of Shen Jiao. And whenever Shen Jiao was around, everyone was unusually tolerant of Fu Sui’er. She had assumed it was because of the Fu family, but it turned out it was all due to Shen Jiao alone.

Fu Sui’er herself had never seen this side of her mother either—her eyes were practically overflowing with admiration.

“Mom, you’re insanely cool!”

Shen Jiao raised her brows slightly, tossing her hair with a queen-like air. “This is nothing. Before I even had you, half the socialites in A Country had their hair pulled out by me. Compared to me, what you girls deal with is just child’s play.”

Jiang Huashan looked at the high-spirited Shen Jiao before her, a smile slowly spreading in her eyes.

She seemed to understand now.

Shen Jiao’s shackles had been Fu Sui’er. In her previous life, because of Fu Sui’er’s desperate pleas, she had dulled her edges and hidden her brilliance, struggling to maintain that undignified marriage.

But in this life, Fu Sui’er was no longer her restraint—she had become her armor.

And so, in this life, Shen Jiao was once again the most untouchable young miss of the Shen family.

A butterfly flaps its wings once, and sets off an unexpected chain reaction.