Mind reading saves the whole family; I'm firmly in the role of a charlatan.

Chapter 261 Love Yourself Before Loving Others
Every family has its own troubles. While Madam Shen is indeed annoyingly gossipy and has a vain ambition to climb the social ladder by any means necessary, she is actually quite pitiful in this matter.

It turns out that Madam Shen and her husband were a couple who had gone through thick and thin together. They met when they were young and started their business together. It can be said that she had shared all the hardships with her husband along the way.

Even when she was pregnant, she was still traveling around with her husband for business.

Unexpectedly, because of this, Mrs. Shen went into premature labor when giving birth to her daughter. Due to work, she was not taken to the hospital in time, which led to a ruptured uterus and massive bleeding during the delivery.

In order to save her life, Madam Shen had no choice but to endure the pain of having her uterus removed, thus completely losing her ability to have children.

At first, the husband felt heartbroken and guilty. With tears in his eyes, he swore to his wife and newborn child at her bedside that he would treat them well for the rest of his life and that they would only have this one child.

Mrs. Shen believed it, but her husband's mother, her mother-in-law, made a huge scene when she found out.

He was dissatisfied that Madam Shen only gave birth to a daughter and would not be able to have a second child, thus failing to leave them a male heir to carry on the family line.

At first, Mrs. Shen's husband would try to reconcile them, but as time went on, he got annoyed by the constant arguing and started staying away from home.

Mrs. Shen first caught her husband cheating when her daughter was ten years old. She felt like the sky had fallen. After catching the mistress, she went back to her husband and asked for a divorce. Unexpectedly, her husband knelt down on the spot, apologized to her with tears in his eyes, and repeatedly reiterated his love for her.

He told her that she made this mistake because she was in so much pain and loneliness from arguing with her mother-in-law every day, and that when she occasionally talked to her business partners about their children, especially their sons, they would always ask her about having a second child, which made her feel bitter.

He asked her to give him another chance and promised again that no matter how much he played around outside, he would not leave the child behind, and Mengmeng would always be their only child.

Thinking of her young daughter at home, coupled with her mother-in-law's constant nagging and brainwashing, Madam Shen was exhausted both physically and mentally. She couldn't help but feel a terrible thought that she might be indebted to her husband because she was unable to bear children for him and carry on the family line.

In the end, Mrs. Shen compromised. She did not divorce him, nor did she care how many women Mr. Shen kept outside the marriage. She only asked that he absolutely not leave behind any illegitimate children to threaten her daughter's status as heir.

Men's words are deceitful. The reason he doesn't want a divorce is entirely because he can't bear to part with you, his free caretaker and capable assistant, and especially because he's unwilling to divide assets. It has absolutely nothing to do with love. If he truly loved you, why would he deliberately bring up the children to rub salt into your wounds and try to manipulate you? Isn't that just blatant manipulation?

The Du family members nodded in agreement without realizing it, and their gazes toward Madam Shen held a newfound sympathy for her.

Madam Shen pretended to be deaf and dumb for decades, thinking that once her mother-in-law passed away and no one in the family would use the topic of offspring to provoke her anymore, the family would return to its original state.

But as it turns out, she was too naive.

After his mother-in-law died, Mr. Shen did not "turn over a new leaf." He continued to keep women outside the marriage, changing them one after another, but he still maintained a seemingly harmonious and perfect marital relationship with her.

It was at this point that Madam Shen finally gave up hope. Her decision to keep those so-called male models and male college students as mistresses was also driven by a sense of defiance. She thought that since he could find women outside, she could find men too, and neither of them would lose out in their mutual infidelity.

In reality, Madam Shen only kept these men for their looks; she didn't do anything with them below the neck.

At most, sometimes when he gets really angry because of those mistresses, he'll go and touch the well-developed abs of those male models to console himself.

Du Anrao: "..." So, what exactly were you trying to achieve with all this? Everyone: "..." She's a prime example of having lustful thoughts but lacking the courage to act on them. When An'an told me about it before, I thought she was going to play some fancy game, but this is all? This is all!

So, no matter who you are, you must love yourself before loving others. Otherwise, if you give your love to others, no one will love you in return. Promises are just that—promises when they're useful, but when they're useless, they're nothing but bullshit, easily discarded by any dog.

Thinking about this, Du Anrao suddenly understood why Madam Shen was so hostile towards Qin Yanqing.

Perhaps, the perfect love in every woman's heart is like that of Grandpa and Grandma Qin, a couple who are together for life, regardless of family background, offspring, or even temperament, simply because of each other, simply because they are the only ones.

Despite having no offspring and being separated for many years, they have never forgotten each other and have stayed together until now, relying on the love in their hearts. Even after many separations and reunions, they will eventually come together again.

In contrast, she only gave birth to a daughter, not a son, and gradually drifted apart from her husband. Despite all her efforts, everything ended in chaos.

How can she not be envious? How can she not feel jealous? How can she not feel resentful?

Thinking of Madam Shen's daughter, Du Anrao hesitated for a moment, but still kindly added a reminder: "There's something else, isn't this his first illegitimate child?"

"Wh...what do you mean?" Madam Shen was already quite shocked, and her expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

"It means that this is not his first child outside the marriage, but his first son."

In other words, the promise to make her daughter her only child has long been broken.

Before this, the children born to him by other women were all girls, just like his Mengmeng, and did not pose much of a threat to his daughter's status, which is why things were so peaceful.

But today's child is the son her husband has longed for for many years. His birth means that the scoundrel is very likely to harm her and even her daughter, making them make way for the child and his mother who has gained power through his son!

Realizing this, Madam Shen's last shred of hope vanished completely, leaving her teetering on the brink of collapse, yet she gritted her teeth and stopped.

Because she is not only a woman and a wife, but also a mother.

"Bitch, beast, trash, bastard..." Madam Shen repeated every curse word she knew over and over again until she regained some strength and her eyes regained some light.

“I admit to what happened today, and you can punish me however you want afterward. Now, I’m going back to settle accounts with that bastard. No matter what, we’ve been husband and wife for so many years, I’m going to take him down with me before I die.”

As she spoke, Madam Shen raised her head again, adopting a proud and imposing posture, ready to fight at any moment.

But as he passed Du Anrao, he paused, turned his head awkwardly, and muttered, "Thank you, and I'm sorry."

(End of this chapter)