Chapter 9

Xu Wanning went too far.

In the end, I was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

A serious illness.

As compensation, Fu Jun transferred three million yuan to me.

He said, “It’s more than what you were going to ask for, so stop making trouble, Jingjing.”

I didn’t have the energy to argue with him. I sent the money back, hoping to buy that photo.

But the money was returned.

The photographer’s account had been deactivated.

I sat in the hospital, dazed.

Sunlight, like molten gold, streamed through the glass window and fell on me.

Yet, I felt as if I couldn’t sense any warmth at all.

I don’t know how much time passed before there was a knock on the door of the hospital room.

I looked up and saw a middle-aged man with a grave expression.

On the day of my discharge, he took me to an inconspicuous, secret little building.

“The situation is very dangerous. You must stop looking for He Zhou. We can’t reach him now, either.”

He said, “Whether he’s alive or dead, we’ll have an answer in at most a month.”

I stared at him blankly. “So, he’s not dead?”

“He wasn’t before. Now, I can’t say. His mission is extremely dangerous. We lost contact with him a week ago.”

Tears spilled over uncontrollably.

My voice trembled as I asked, “Then why wouldn’t he let you tell me?”

“He Zhou knows you’re married now, and that you married… Fu Jun.”

“He said he didn’t want to disturb you.”

“He wanted you to believe he died seven years ago.”

…

When I left that little building, the sky had darkened.

I looked at the sinking twilight in the west and felt as if fate had played a colossal joke on me.

When I returned, Fu Jun was sitting in a wheelchair, waiting in the villa courtyard.

When he saw me, he spoke in a low voice, “Where did you go after leaving the hospital, Jingjing?”

“Are you angry with me?”

I looked at his proud, faintly displeased face.

In truth, it bore only a faint resemblance to He Zhou’s face, sharp and steely after enduring the trials of gunfire and bloodshed.

But I… I missed him so much.

Even that faint resemblance was enough to pull me back from the suffocating brink of despair.

But after today, it felt as if none of it mattered anymore.

I walked past him woodenly, ignoring him.

But my wrist was seized.

“If this is about Ah Ning, I admit, I’ve been a bit partial to her.”

His tone softened deliberately.

As if he were making some great concession for me.

“As compensation, I’ll have my assistant transfer you another sum of money.”

“Don’t make trouble anymore.”

I didn’t respond. I just stared into the distance, at the setting sun in the twilight.

Bit by bit, it was swallowed by the distant mountains.

When night fell completely, I spoke quietly:

“Fu Jun, let’s get a divorce.”