Chapter 14: She Has Returned
“Shouldn’t you be the one asking that? Corpses like this need to be sent for cremation.”
Fu Yanyan gazed at the woman draped in a cloud-shoulder shawl from the late Qing Dynasty, her posture and expression brimming with pride and arrogance.
His anger, which had flared so quickly, vanished in an instant...
“And then what? You want to call the police again? Do you have any evidence?”
“This is your house…”
“If you want to call the police, I’ll transfer the property immediately. Every minute of my day is worth a fortune.”
She abandoned the notion of calling the police. For someone of Fu Yanyan’s stature, if he were truly imprisoned for just a single day, the entire capital’s economy might grind to a halt.
“That’s your sister… She really didn’t dote on you in vain. Even after death, she receives the burial rites of an ancient empress.”
Suddenly, she noticed the eerie blue light reflecting off his jaw.
He looked at her face—so strikingly similar to another—and a memory seemed to surface, prompting a rare, gentle smile.
“She’s not my sister. She’s my beloved. I love her! I want to be bound to her in marriage for all eternity! My love for her will never die!”
Zhong Huayan met that nearly frenzied, fathomless gaze. “Why…?”
He drew closer, his voice trembling. “You’ll never know how unforgettable that faint light in the darkness of hell can be.”
She instantly froze.
Instinctively, she took a step back and blurted, “You’re… a little frightening.”
“Hah! Did you expect someone who crawled out of hell to be gentle and courteous, pure as jade? What you call frightening is only half the torment I’ve endured.”
Fu Yanyan narrowed his eyes, pondering deeply—wait, something’s not right…
Noticing her startled expression, he asked softly, “Who are you, really? How do you know this used to be my sister? No, you shouldn’t even be asking me these questions!”
Zhong Huayan was still reeling, hastily unfastened the cloud-shoulder shawl, and handed it back to him.
“I want to go home. Call your driver to take me back right now!”
Her eyes darted nervously, a cold sweat beading her brow, her panic unmistakable. When he made no reply, she strode straight out of the room, her footsteps echoing down the quiet stairs of the villa.
She even broke into a run!
Her mind was awhirl with what Fu Yanyan had just said—he loved her. Not as a sister, but with the passion of a lover.
All these years, her foster brother had buried such a repressed love inside him, only to blurt it out so suddenly—she couldn’t accept it.
She wanted nothing more than to escape, as far as possible.
Fu Yanyan still held the exquisite cloud-shoulder in his hands, droplets of water slipping from his hair, unnoticed.
He had ordered the butler to prepare this room in advance…
Just now, Li Yanyan had been so nervous, yet managed to unfasten this late Qing cloud-shoulder without a single mistake!
No girl lacking the polish of elite upbringing could have done that.
Upon seeing the corpse, her first reaction wasn’t to ask why it looked so much like her—
Instead, she spoke of his sister, as if it was a trivial matter.
Moreover, when he confessed his love, she hadn’t been angry, but rather deeply anxious and terrified!
Fu Yanyan narrowed his eyes, and in the darkness, a bold suspicion began to take root...
He pulled out his phone and dialed.
“Butler Chen, please escort Miss Li home, and add two bodyguards to the car.”
The scent of gardenias suffused the villa. The man lay in solitude beside the corpse. Turning his head, he could see her.
“Ah-Hua, this is your last chance for me, isn’t it?”
He clasped the woman’s icy hand, and a tear slipped, unbidden, from the corner of his dry eye.
After Zhong Huayan returned to her rented apartment, the more she thought about it, the more incredulous she felt.
She had always seen him as a younger brother, yet he wanted to be her lover.
So much for the so-called marriage proposal back then, which had only been a gesture of sibling affection.
Zhong Huayan called the original family to let them know she was safe.
She walked to the table and found a bowl of brown sugar water, with a neatly written note pressed beneath it.
[Dearest daughter, I was afraid you’d cry if you saw me off, but I must get back to work.
Every time you have your period, you always get stomachaches. Remember to drink this brown sugar water.
Mom is going home tonight. The fridge is full of your favorite snacks and fruit.
If you need spending money, just ask. Remember to listen to your brother—starting a business isn’t easy.
If you want to transfer schools, Mom will move you to a university in our hometown. Don’t bear grievances in silence—tell us, and know that we will always love you!]
Zhong Huayan’s eyes reddened. She couldn’t imagine how devastated they would be if they learned that the precious little princess they cherished had been bullied to death.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt the Xu family deserved to be damned!
Menstrual pain? This body shouldn’t suffer from a cold womb… But just in case, she reheated and drank it.
Back in her room, while tidying the wardrobe, she found a small key.
It seemed to fit a little box in the cabinet.
Inside were a few pages of a diary and some torn-up pocket money.
[Today, I confessed my feelings to Xu Chuyin. He often comforts me, so I really like him.
But Xu Yuan found out. She and Guan Yujing locked me in the bathroom all day again, and had someone dump food over my head.
In the end, I had to help the cleaning lady clean the entire cafeteria by myself.
Xu Chuyin told me I was disgusting, that he was only toying with me.
I’m in so much pain… I cry in secret so my family won’t worry.
The Xu and Guan families are powerful. What if it hurts my mother or brother?
Xu Yuan bullies me while having Xu Chuyin give me hope, just so I won’t transfer schools.
Now she doesn’t even hit me herself! Every time, she has Xu Chuyin do it, and won’t even let me cry.
My brother works so hard every day—I don’t dare tell him.
Even my pocket money was torn to shreds…]
The more she read, the more suffocated she felt…
How could people do such cruel things to another?
And this was just a glimpse of what Li Yanyan had endured. She’d been so frightened she dared not tell her family, let alone the police.
In truth, she should have reported it at once. Even the wealthy care about appearances; under family elders’ watch, they only dare to pick on the weak.
Back in the Zhong family, her elders had always warned her to protect the family’s reputation at all times and to never create too much scandal.
Li Yanyan hadn’t only been bullied by the Xu family, but also by the Guan family. To put it bluntly, the whole school treated her suffering as entertainment.
But what had she done wrong?
Suddenly, her phone chimed—a notification: [Fu Yanyan has sent you a friend request on WeChat.]
Zhong Huayan clicked on his name and profile picture, expressionless.
Of course, the photo suited him—aloof and pure on the surface, while secretly engaging in all manner of sordid deeds.
She ignored it.
No sooner had she put down her phone when another message arrived.
[Xu Yaochuan has sent you a friend request.]
She washed up and got into bed, feeling a wave of nausea, and ignored it as well.
She glanced at her private messages on the livestream app, planning to take on some appraisal jobs to earn extra money.
She promptly signed up for boxing classes, a gym membership, and judo lessons—all of them.
She was determined to give those bullies a taste of their own medicine.
Speak of the devil—another friend request popped up on WeChat.
[Xu Yuan wants to add you as a friend.]
A few extra lines came with it.
[Li Yanyan, how dare you change your WeChat! I’m coming back to school tomorrow—Guan Yujing is, too!
You think Fu Yanyan will protect you? You’re nothing but a chicken—who do you think you can count on?
I’ll make sure you’re finished tomorrow!]
No wonder Li Yanyan had been so terrified—every member of the Xu family seemed more despicable than the last!
She’d clearly provoked Xu Yuan recently, but it didn’t matter. Let’s see who comes out on top!