Susu smiled and looked at him, saying, "It's nothing. I have to go see Aunt Chen today, so I can't sleep in."
Tianyi rolled over and sat up. "Alright, I'll get ready first."
Susu watched Tianyi's back as he got out of bed, realizing that what happened yesterday wasn't a nightmare, but a reality they had to face.
They arrived at Aunt Chen's grave. After Aunt Chen's death, Tianyi had buried her next to his mother, hoping they would remain good sisters in the afterlife.
Susu placed a bouquet of flowers at each of their graves. Standing before Aunt Chen's tombstone, she couldn't help but shed tears. "Aunt Chen," she said to the tombstone, "we now know the truth about what happened to you. I'm so sorry."
As she spoke, she knelt down sadly, tears streaming down her face. "Aunt Chen, we know who killed you. Tianyi has caught her and won't let her go. You can rest in peace now, knowing that justice will be served..."
She was so overcome with grief that she couldn't speak.
Tianyi squatted down, supporting her. He also spoke to Aunt Chen's tombstone. "I will avenge you and make Sophie pay ten times the price for your suffering. Rest in peace, and we will be alright. If you see my mother, tell her I miss her and to spend more time with her for me."
He helped Susu up from the cold ground and comforted her. "Aunt Chen will hear us from heaven. She was always an optimistic person, and she'll be happy there too."
Susu tried to hold back her tears. She imagined what it would be like if none of this had happened, if Aunt Chen were still alive and they could laugh and talk together. Tears welled up in her eyes again.
"Let's go. It's windy here. We should head back," Tianyi said, seeing how sad she was. He felt a pang of pain in his own heart.
"If you yelled at me or hit me, I might feel a little better," Susu said, not following Tianyi but walking towards the cliff not far from the cemetery.
Tianyi stood beside her, and they gazed out at the distant sea together. "When I learned the truth, I really wanted to hit you," he said. "Your desire to repay Sophie and help her start anew – I agreed with all of that. But at the time, I felt you had no boundaries in trying to make up for your guilt. You were giving unconditionally, and instead of helping her, you ended up hurting her."
"You're right," Susu said, her tears flowing uncontrollably. "I naively thought my love could heal her, that if I just made up for what she had lost, she would get better. I was so foolish."
Tianyi sighed. "Mental illness is a disease. It's not a simple psychological problem. It requires long-term medication and professional care..."
"What if we let Sophie stay in the mental hospital permanently?" Susu suggested, trying to reason with him. "As long as she doesn't leave, she won't be able to harm anyone else. Keeping her locked up like this and letting her fend for herself isn't a solution, and you might even be breaking the law..."
"I don't want to hear about this," Tianyi said, his expression darkening as he looked at his phone. "I won't let her have a comfortable stay in the mental hospital. Let's not talk about it anymore. We should go back; there are some things at the company that need my attention."
Susu nodded and said, "Okay." They walked down the mountain together and returned to the seaside villa.
After Tianyi left for his business, Susu went to the studio.
She knew Sophie would never return to the studio. She distributed Sophie's clients and unfinished designs to different people, handing over the responsibilities.
Susu assigned one of Sophie's unfinished designs to Shishi, who was reluctant to take it.
Shishi followed Susu into the office and tried to refuse. "Sister Gu, I don't want to complete Sophie's unfinished design. She just ran off like this, it's so irresponsible, leaving behind a mess. Shouldn't she come back and explain herself?"
Susu picked up the design draft that Shishi had returned and looked at it. Her heart filled with hatred and pain. "She's not coming back to the studio, and she can't give me an explanation. If you don't want to take this design, I will."
"Sister Gu, you spoil her too much. Remember what I said earlier? She betrayed the studio, and we should have called the police to arrest her. No matter where she hid, they would have found her..."
"That's enough. You can go now."
Seeing Susu's slightly angry expression, Shishi, who had never seen her truly lose her temper, was startled and quickly retreated.
Susu felt a sense of quiet return. She rubbed her temples.
She picked up her phone and contacted Ya Nan, asking about Su Kangxi. As it happened, Kangxi was off duty that day, so she invited them to dinner that evening.
That evening, when they met, Ya Nan looked at the injury on Susu's forehead with concern. Seeing the deep mark, she worriedly asked, "Have you applied scar removal cream? Don't let it leave a permanent mark. You'll have to keep bangs covering it."
"I'm applying it every day," Susu replied with a smile. "I also asked the doctor. They said it would take at least three to four months for it to be unnoticeable. It's fine."
Ya Nan felt relieved and picked up her chopsticks. "Let's eat. Don't just sit there without touching your food."
Susu nodded and looked at Kangxi. "Last time, it was thanks to you personally leading the team here. Otherwise, I would have had to struggle with Huang Xiuli for a long time."
Kangxi said, "It was also timely that President Xiao contacted me. We confirmed that Huang Xiuli had mental health issues and have transferred her to a mandatory psychiatric hospital. However, the two who escaped were likely not with Huang Xiuli, so Sister Susu, you still need to be careful."
"I know. Tianyi has hired bodyguards. There are people guarding our house, and bodyguards protecting me in secret. We will be vigilant," Susu said, pushing a plate of Kangxi's favorite dish towards him.
Kangxi didn't say anything further and began to eat.
Susu ate with them, her mind occupied by questions she didn't know how to ask Kangxi.
As they were finishing their meal, Ya Nan remembered something. She took a certificate out of her bag and waved it in front of Susu. "Look, what is this?"
Susu snatched the conspicuous red booklet from her hand and examined it closely. Her face lit up with surprise and joy. "A Certified Public Accountant certificate! You got it! You finally got it! That's amazing!"
Ya Nan beamed, unable to stop smiling. Kangxi looked at her with admiration.
"Yes, who would have thought? Even I can't believe it," Ya Nan said, her eyes glistening with tears. "I used to think I could only be a petty gangster and just drift through life until I got old."
Susu handed the certificate back to her and joked, "How could that be? Even petty gangsters have to rely on their youth! Do you think you'll stay young forever?"
She rubbed her eyes and smiled, then turned serious. "There's something else I want to tell you. I want to transfer the clothing store in Dechuan City. I've been offered a job at an accounting firm in Lancheng. What do you think?"
"You should have returned to Lancheng long ago," Susu agreed immediately. "Kangxi is busy with work, and you're not in Lancheng. This way, you two won't have to be apart so often."
Ya Nan said with some reluctance, "That store holds so much of our hard work. After marrying Kangxi, I've had others manage it for me, but I've always been reluctant to let it go."