Yan Nuo paused.

  He looked up at the video and saw that Fang Yusheng was frowning. “You didn’t guess wrong. The mission failed.

  “My sister and the rest arrived at Meng Hai and broke through the defenses. They barged into the villa. However, they realized that the hostages had been executed. Madam Shi Piaopiao’s family and servants were all shot dead, and she herself had her head cut off by the rebel leader…”


  When Fang Yusheng heard this, his eyes darkened.

  He fell silent.

  Even though Fang Yusheng had been living in his house all these years, he still knew this person. Shi Piaopiao was a forthright woman from Northeast L Province and also a beautiful woman. She had many identities—an outstanding diplomat, the wife of the famous jewelry businessman Qiao Jingren, Qiao Yunfan’s daughter-in-law, and Qiao Jiusheng’s biological mother!

  An ominous thought arose in Fang Yusheng’s heart.

  “I remember that Qiao Jingren and Shi Piaopiao died in a plane.” Fang Yusheng’s voice was weak.

  He would not be mistaken. The incident of Shi Piaopiao and her husband’s death had caused a sensation back then and made it onto the newspapers and news channels.

  Yan Nuo frowned and said, “That’s just an external report. The reason it was faked is Shi Piaopiao’s daughter.”


  Fang Yusheng was a little surprised. “Ah Sheng?”


  “Yes. That delicate wife of yours.” Yan Nuo gave Fang Yusheng half a minute to digest all this information.

  Fang Yusheng’s thoughts were changing quickly.

  He recalled Ah Sheng’s reaction in the villa, and the thought in his heart grew stronger. He slowly asked Yan Nuo, “She… She witnessed the entire process?” If that was the case, her reaction today could be understood.

  The man on the screen nodded. “That’s right.”


  Yan Nuo saw Fang Yusheng’s eyes turn wide and said, “Back then, when Madam Shi Piaopiao had gone for a vacation in the Sea of Thunders, she had brought her husband and younger daughter with her. When the villains barged into the villa at night and kidnapped Madam Shi Piaopiao, Qiao Jingren had taken the opportunity to hide their younger daughter in the secret compartment behind the wine cabinet in the hall.”


  After a pause, Yan Nuo continued, “When my sister and the rest found Madam Shi Piaopiao’s younger daughter, the girl was frightened. She could not speak for several days. Even after she was brought back to the country, Qiao Jiusheng was in a highly frightened state for a long time, unable to speak. Later on, she underwent psychotherapy for nearly a year and a half before she regained the ability to speak.

  “According to what I know, she was not really cured. Instead, she was hypnotized by Ji Qing, the daughter of an internationally renowned hypnotist. She forgot about the accident. For the psychological condition of Madam Shi Piaopiao’s daughter, the newspaper company deliberately reported fake news.”


  When Fang Yusheng heard this, his heart ached.

  He had never thought that Qiao Jiusheng would’ve experienced these things after their separation.

  The villa he had seen today was the scene of the incident. Fang Yusheng remembered the renovation of the villa’s hall clearly. The secret compartment of the wine cabinet where Qiao Jiusheng had once hidden was on the right side of the hall. Qiao Jiusheng had been hidden there by her father, and it was very likely that she had secretly witnessed the entire incident through the gap in the doors.

  The helpers she was familiar with were executed, the father she respected was killed, and the mother she loved was brutally murdered…


  Even an adult would probably go crazy after witnessing such a thing, let alone Qiao Jiusheng, who was just a little girl at that time.

  When Fang Yusheng recalled Qiao Jiusheng hugging her head and sorrowfully crying, his heart ached so much that he had difficulty breathing.

  He rubbed his throbbing heart and muttered, “I was too cruel to her.”


  The romance he wanted was built on Qiao Jiusheng’s grief.

  Frustration, guilt, and heartache surged into his heart.

  Yan Nuo saw that Fang Yusheng was thinking with his head lowered. His eyes flashed, and he cut off the video call.

  Fang Yusheng sat alone in the collection room for a long time. Only when the morning sun rose from the clouds and shone on him, giving him warmth, did he look up at the window.

  The sun was so bright, but his Ah Sheng had lived so bitterly.

  It was not enough to witness the cruel death of her loved ones. Her sister had then plotted to murder her, and Fang Mu had let her down.

  Among the six billion people in the world, she had only him.

  Fang Yusheng suddenly stood up and controlled his numb legs to go downstairs into the master bedroom on the second floor. Qiao Jiusheng did not sleep elegantly. She was wearing pajamas with suspenders, and her long legs were outside the blanket. She slept soundly, hugging Fang Yusheng’s pillow.

  Fang Yusheng sat down by the bed. He could not help but reach out his fingers and touch her eyebrows and nose all the way to her chin. His actions were rarely gentle and loving.

  Qiao Jiusheng knocked his hand away in a daze. “Fang Yusheng, stop it,” she muttered and turned around to continue sleeping

  Fang Yusheng retracted his hand, took off his shoes, lay down behind her, and hugged her from the back.

  Qiao Jiusheng was already awake and could not sleep.

  She turned around in his arms and looked up at him. She realized that he was looking at her with a pair of cheesy green eyes. She got goosebumps from his stare early in the morning. “Why are you looking at me like that?” She held her chest and firmly resisted. “Don’t think about it.”


  Fang Yusheng was speechless.

  “I don’t want to. Sleep with me for a while.”


  Qiao Jiusheng did not believe his words, but she was relieved to see that he was really just sleeping with his arms around her. Noticing that his eyes were a little dark, she guessed that he must have not slept the entire night. Qiao Jiusheng stopped talking and stayed in his embrace, looking at him quietly.

  As she looked at his quiet sleeping face, she felt that she had forgotten something.

  Qiao Jiusheng could not remember. She subconsciously rubbed her chest, and it seemed to have suffered a heart-wrenching pain.