Susu thought he must be busy with something. She put down her phone, changed into a flowing long dress, and also went to the beach to meet the gentle sea breeze.
The next morning, Ya Nan did not sleep in. After breakfast, she efficiently helped Susu check the wedding venue setup and communicate with the hotel staff to ensure the formal wedding tomorrow would be flawless.
She asked Susu to stay in the room with Little Star to rest and gather her energy, so she could just be the most beautiful bride tomorrow.
In the room, Susu let Little Star play by himself while she stared blankly at her phone. The text message she sent to Qin Tianyi the previous evening had not yet received a reply.
She held up her phone and tested it; there were no issues with the network signal here.
This made her feel that something was not quite right, but she was afraid she was overthinking it. Perhaps he had many important matters to handle before coming to the island.
Did he not want anyone to disturb him?
But yesterday morning he had only said he would arrive this afternoon, without specifying a time. She wouldn't disturb him, but she could ask Xiao Anjing.
Susu didn't know why, but she nervously dialed Xiao Anjing's phone.
His phone was on, but no one answered. A song was playing.
Susu hoped Xiao Anjing would answer, yet she was also afraid he would. She listened to the love song playing on his phone repeatedly.
She comforted herself, thinking that if Xiao Anjing's phone was on but not answered, it meant they were busy and simply didn't have time to reply.
Perhaps they were busy checking the guest list, busy arranging guest flights?
But just as she was trying to think positively, the song stopped, and Xiao Anjing's voice came through, "Susu, you, you..."
"I'm at the hotel on the island. Are you and Tianyi preparing to board? Have all your people arrived?" She tried to keep her tone as light as possible. Xiao Anjing had called her Susu for the first time; before, he had called her Young Mistress or Miss Gu.
His calling her Susu made her heart flutter with anxiety.
Xiao Anjing said in a very low voice, "Susu, you must remain calm. Tianyi, he, he can't make it to the island anymore... something happened to him..."
"What happened? Is he not feeling well? Ask him to talk to me. I want to hear his voice."
"He can't talk to you... he's gone." He said the last three words very softly.
"Gone, what's gone?" Susu smiled nervously, thinking Xiao Anjing loved to joke the most and was surely joking with her. "The wedding venue here is all prepared. He said he would wait for me, and he would come to find me today..."
"Susu, the wedding probably can't go on," Xiao Anjing said after taking a deep breath. "I've arranged for a chartered plane to pick you up. Pack your things, and we'll talk when we meet. You, you take care of yourself..."
Susu threw her phone aside, no longer listening to what Xiao Anjing was saying. She hurriedly got up to open her suitcase and started stuffing things from the room into it.
"Mommy, you'll break my toys like this." Little Star, not knowing what had happened, followed her and picked up the toys she had knocked over.
Susu felt her mind reeling. She frantically and quickly stuffed things into the suitcase, causing the clothes that had been neatly arranged to fall everywhere.
Little Star called for her to pull him, but she didn't respond, like a machine mindlessly packing.
Little Star quickly ran out of the room to call for someone and happened to run into Ya Nan, who was returning from the wedding setup.
He started crying, "Auntie Ya Nan, my mommy... she's gone mad..."
Ya Nan thought the child was just being emotional and smiled, asking, "Aren't you being good? Did Mommy scold you?"
Little Star shook his head, took her hand, and led her back to the room, saying, "Quick, go see my mommy."
Ya Nan then realized something might have happened to Susu and quickened her pace back to the room with Little Star. Upon entering the room, she found it looked like a world war had taken place. A suitcase was stuffed full by Susu, who was trying to close it forcefully, but half of the clothes were inside the suitcase and half were still outside. How could it possibly close?
Clothes, toys, and daily necessities were scattered everywhere on the floor, bed, and tabletop...
She immediately let go of Little Star and stepped forward to help her pack the suitcase, saying, "Why are you suddenly putting everything into the suitcase? Where are you going?"
Susu didn't answer her. She sat slumped to the side, pouting, and said, "A plane will come to pick us up soon. The wedding, the wedding can't be held again..."
Ya Nan pushed the suitcase aside and came to her side, touching her forehead. She wasn't feverish and asked, "What exactly happened? Stop joking. Everything is ready, just waiting for President Qin to arrive, and tomorrow will be the most romantic day of your lives..."
"Go notify the others. Have them pack their things quickly. We're going back," Susu said blankly, looking at her with certainty.
Ya Nan felt that something major had happened and hesitantly asked, "But the prepared wedding venue, and the deposits paid to the hotel..."
"Tianyi, he's gone." Susu thought she had cried enough, but as she said this, tears still streamed down her face.
At this moment, Ya Nan's phone rang. She picked it up and saw several missed calls, all from Kang Xi.
Earlier, at the venue where the wedding was about to take place, she hadn't paid much attention to her phone. She quickly answered it and walked to the doorway. Kang Xi briefly told her that Qin Tianyi had an accident and asked her to take care of and comfort Susu.
She realized the seriousness of the situation. After hanging up, she glanced at Susu, who was still sitting dazed in the room, and quickly took Little Star to Chen Ma and Xiao Mei's room, asking them to pack their things and prepare to wait for the chartered plane to pick them up.
When she tiptoed back into the room, she repacked the suitcase and then sat beside Susu, placing a hand on her shoulder and softly comforting her, "It's okay. President Qin is blessed with great fortune and a long life. He will surely be found."
Susu asked softly, "You know already? What happened? Why did Xiao Anjing say he's gone?"
"He got on a speedboat. It might have been a trap, and then, then that speedboat exploded." Ya Nan had also heard a brief account of the events from Kang Xi.
At that time, Qin Tianyi and Xiao Anjing had followed Lü Yuanhong's taxi until they reached the riverside and saw Lü Yuanhong board a speedboat docked by the river.
Qin Tianyi suspected he was going to the sandbar in the middle of the river for an illegal transaction. He quickly got out of the car and told Xiao Anjing to wait on the shore for backup. He boarded another speedboat to chase Lü Yuanhong.
However, the speedboat he was on exploded on the river surface less than ten minutes after setting off. No one had anticipated this. For a moment, the river surface was ablaze, and no one could get close.
Xiao Anjing watched from the shore as debris flew during the explosion. Only after the fire subsided did the police boats approach. The exploded speedboat had already become a burnt-out black frame.
The speedboat driver and Qin Tianyi were both blown to smithereens. Within ten meters of the river surface, there was nothing but black ash and scattered debris.
The search and rescue team found nothing. Everyone understood that Qin Tianyi's remains were likely scattered on the water or sunk to the bottom, like the fragments of the boat, leaving no trace.