Xiu Mei almost shot up from her bed as she went into a coughing fit as soon as she woke up. She felt a comforting hand on her back then a glass of water appeared before her eyes. She drank it slowly until she felt her throat didn’t feel too itchy and stuffy anymore.

  "Thank you." She subconsciously spoke. The hand on her back paused and Xiu Mei herself suddenly felt her mind turning clear as she realized what just happened.

  She lifted her gaze and saw a doctor and a pair of nurses at the foot of her bed, her son holding a glass of water and Lu Chen close by her side.

  Before she could try to open her mouth again, Lu Chen signaled something to the nurse before running out.

  "I……" Xiu Mei touched her throat and looked at Lu Chen. She noticed the worry in his eyes as he lowered his head and planted a kiss on her hair.

  "Thank god you woke up. You made me so worried." He murmured while he clasped her hand with his.

  Xiu Mei blinked in confusion before remembering what happened to her before she fainted.

  Right! She bumped into Zhu Lin then…… he drugged her.

  "Zhu Lin! He was he—"

  "I know. But you’re safe now."

  "Did they catch him?"

  She was really wondering how he was able to get inside the military hospital. Did he have some relative in the military so he was able to get in?

  Lu Chen paused for a few moments before hesitating to answer, "……yes."

  Just…… they didn’t really need to catch Zhu Lin at all.

  Xiu Mei picked up on the hesitation in his voice and inquired more, "Why? Is there something wrong?"

  Lu Chen sighed.

  "Before the soldiers could catch him, Zhu Lin ran into an empty room and jumped from the window."

  Her breath hitched. "……and?"

  Lu Chen shook his head in response. She suddenly felt a chill go down her back remembering how crazy Zhu Lin looked like when he was chasing after her.

  Was he perhaps on drugs? Or……

  A small hand grabbed hers cutting off her thoughts.

  "Mom, are you okay now?" Lu Qiang worriedly asked. She quickly changed her expression and tried to comfort him when the doctor approached her.

  "How are you feeling Ms.Xiu?" She glanced and recognized him as one of the Yu military doctors. "Are you feeling some pain anywhere?"

  "No, I feel…… fine, I think."

  She should be…… look, she was lowkey in shock finally being able to speak while talking with somebody other than her husband.

  "That’s great. We did some examinations and your results turned out fine so if you feel like there’s anything wrong with your body for the next few days, please do have a check-up at a hospital just in case." After that, he left with the nurses behind him.

  A little while later, Dr.Lee entered her room.

  "Princess, you’re finally awake." He said as he strode over to her side while lightly fl.i.c.k.i.n.g her forehead. "You keep getting into trouble, maybe I should have Lee Yu An be your bodyguard 24/7."

  Xiu Mei got annoyed and slapped away his hand.

  "I’ll have Brother Lee beat you up first before you could open your mouth then."

  Something flickered in his eyes but Dr.Lee quickly retorted.

  "So the princess first before the family?"

  "Of course. Maybe if you all stop calling me Princess then maybe we can talk it over."

  He chuckled at my response as he signaled to Lu Chen to leave them alone for a moment. After picking up Lu Qiang, the father and son immediately left the room.

  Dr.Lee sat beside her bed as he quickly halted his teasing and talked seriously.

  "So how are you feeling?"

  She repeated her answer when the other doctor asked her the same question.

  "You think? So you’re not quite sure yet if you’re really okay."

  Thinking back on what happened before she fainted, and that weird dream she just had. Including the fact that she somehow recovered without understanding how she was able to overcome her disability, she nodded hesitantly.

  "How……how am I suddenly able to talk?" She asked him, wishing that he could give her the answer.

  "Princess, the only person who can clearly answer that question is yourself. The reason why you suddenly couldn’t talk, may not necessarily be the answer to why you suddenly overcame your disability. It could be an entirely different reason, but the answer to that will come from you and not from me. So, unfortunately, I also don’t have an answer to that."

  Silence fell within a room as she pondered.

  She remembered shouting for help before she fainted, and it was a person different from Lu Chen nor herself. Was it really just because of her desperation that she somehow got over the mental pressure that was restricting her from speaking?

  Or maybe…… because she got past her fear?

  She recalled the fear she felt when Zhu Lin suddenly jumped on her, attempting to do something to her. She felt helpless, and the same fear of almost being assaulted just like that night. But this time, she didn’t just freeze and surrendered.

  This time……somehow, she found herself being desperate. Desperate to get away, to run to Lu Chen, to hide somewhere safe, just somewhere away from Zhu Lin. In her mind, it wasn’t complete fear that conquered her, but there was that courage who made her push him away, that kind of strength that brought her to safety in the end that made everything worthy.

  She fell into contemplation as she carefully thought over and over the possible answer to her question.

  Was it that? The fear that she couldn’t get past from that night, now instead of just giving up on her fate, maybe, the answer was tenacity?

  For ten years, the thing she thought she had all this time was something she actually didn’t have all along?