Huo Tingjun pried open her fingers, taking her hand into his palm. Her hand was very cold, while his palm was broad and hot.
"Sleep, and everything will be better when you wake up tomorrow."
"Huo Tingjun! Answer me, is it true, my mother she..."
The man remained noncommittal, merely pressing her shoulders to make her lie down on the bed.
Su Qi breathed in pain, as if every breath was like a knife cutting her throat. "Huo Tingjun, I don't believe you..."
The man picked up the sedative from the bedside table and slowly injected it into her wrist.
After a moment, the little woman finally drifted off to sleep.
Huo Tingjun raised his finger and wiped away the tear stains on her cheeks.
A knock sounded from behind him.
Huo Tingjun went downstairs. Hearing the footsteps, Xu Linchuan turned his head up. "Tingjun."
"How is the hospital situation being handled?"
"The body has been sent to the morgue. An autopsy was performed, and there were no external injuries. We just don't know the reason for the fall. The police are still investigating, and the surveillance footage has been tampered with." Li Cuiping was a frail woman, suffering from cerebral thrombosis. Who could be so heartless as to harm a patient so severely?
Lighting a cigarette, Xu Linchuan looked up at the man before him. "I heard you divorced Su Qi?"
Huo Tingjun raised his eyes, a cold glint flashing within them. "En?"
"Since you and Su Qi are divorced, and my sister is now carrying your child, and Su Qi is free, it's not unreasonable for me to pursue her, is it?"
Xu Linchuan smiled faintly, gazing intently at Huo Tingjun.
Huo Tingjun's brows furrowed. His expression remained unreadable as he leaned back, his handsome face disappearing into the darkness, making it impossible to discern his emotions. Xu Linchuan smiled slightly and didn't press further. After all, Su Qi was no longer related to Huo Tingjun, so he naturally didn't need to ask for Huo Tingjun's opinion.
"Since there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
Xu Linchuan stood up to leave. Lin Te walked down from upstairs. "Master, why not tell the Xu family that Miss Lin Yun's unborn child is actually not..."
Why was Master so insistent on marrying Xu Lin Yun? They had met so few times, and he could tell that Master no longer had those feelings for Miss Lin Yun. Why? Obsession.
Huo Tingjun took a deep drag of his cigarette, looking at the cigarette butt between his fingers. The fiery red tip resembled a rose.
Marrying his little rose was his lifelong wish.
"Keep an eye on Su Qi. I'm going out." Huo Tingjun crushed the cigarette butt, grabbed his car keys, and left.
He drove to his former residence. Many people had moved out of this villa district. After entering, there was little sign of life. He parked the car at the entrance of the villa and looked up. He had moved to America when he was very young and hadn't returned here in a long time. Although it had become much more dilapidated, the impression was still deeply etched in his mind, not forgotten.
Standing outside, he smoked a cigarette before pushing open the rusty iron gate and entering the villa.
Walking through the backyard, everything familiar sprang into view.
He had expected to see overgrown weeds, but to his surprise, the weeds outside the dog hole had been removed at some point, revealing a complete opening.
Had someone returned here?
Huo Tingjun's brow furrowed. He cast a deep glance at the dog hole, then turned and walked back to his car.
When Xu Lin Yun learned that Huo Tingjun had arrived, she threw on a coat and hurried downstairs without even tidying her appearance. Seeing the man sitting in the living room, her heart leaped with joy.
"Tingjun, why are you here?"
He rarely visited her this month!
Every time she asked him to come, he said he was busy with work!
"Come here." Huo Tingjun beckoned. Xu Lin Yun quickly sat down beside him. Then, she gestured to the servants to leave. Once the servants were gone, Huo Tingjun turned his head and looked intently at Xu Lin Yun beside him. "Have you been back to your old residence?"
"I haven't been back!" Xu Lin Yun blurted out instinctively. Seeing Huo Tingjun frown, she realized she had said the wrong thing and covered her mouth. "What's wrong?"
Xu Lin Yun stared at Huo Tingjun nervously, not understanding why Brother Tingjun would ask her such a question.
She hadn't been back since moving out as a child.
"Haven't been back?" Huo Tingjun asked again, his eyes as black as midnight, fixated on Xu Lin Yun's face, as if trying to extract an answer from her.
"I think I went back once..."
"When?"
"Ah? When? It seems like it was a few months ago?"
After Xu Lin Yun finished speaking, Huo Tingjun stood up. "You rest well. I have work to do."
The man stood up ruthlessly and walked towards the door. Before Xu Lin Yun could catch up, he had already gotten into his car, and the sound of the engine gradually faded away. Xu Lin Yun stood rooted to the spot for a long, long time, her breathing unable to calm down.
She pursed her lips tightly, thinking carefully, but found no clues. Even she herself didn't understand why Huo Tingjun had fallen in love with her at first sight and promised to marry her.
A woman's intuition told her that this matter was not that simple.
Xu Lin Yun picked up the phone. "Brother, I have something I want to ask you."
Huo Tingjun returned to Shallow Water Bay and happened to see Su Qi coming downstairs. Her face turned pale when she saw the man walking in from outside. She tightened her grip on the handrail and quickened her pace, wanting to leave. However, the man stood like a wall, blocking her path.
"Where are you going?"
The man's voice was deep and hoarse. Su Qi's head was still a bit dizzy, unsure if it was from illness or the immense shock. She felt unsteady. "I'm going to the hospital."
She refused to believe Li Cuiping was dead and wanted to see for herself. Her mother had just woken up; how could she suddenly commit suicide by jumping off a building? It absolutely couldn't be suicide.
The scene was so chaotic; someone must have framed Li Cuiping.
She had to get to the hospital quickly to check the surveillance footage. If she was any later, it would be tampered with!
Su Qi was anxious to leave but was held by Huo Tingjun's shoulders. "No need to go."
"Let go of me!" This man was utterly cold-blooded and heartless! What right did he have to control her!
"The surveillance footage was tampered with beforehand. The police searched the scene, and your going there will be of no use. Li Cuiping is in the hospital morgue now. What are you going to the hospital for? Don't you know you're a mother?"
Huo Tingjun stared at the stubborn woman with a frown. Since discovering Su Qi had changed, he found it increasingly difficult to control her. Everything was clearly within his grasp, but this woman alone, time and again, made him feel a sense of losing control.
"So you know I'm a mother, but she's not my mother?! Let go of me!"
She knew it!
The surveillance footage had indeed been tampered with in advance!