The news of Guiying's suicide spread like wildfire everywhere, including Zhou Yichen and Xie Nuying.
Xie Nuying tremblingly read the news, tears spilling out of her irises. She couldn't believe what she was reading. Never did she imagine that Ai's best friend would be the one by whose hands she would die one day. Neither did they realize how much resentment Guiying silently carried against her heart.
"Ai…"
The phone fell from her hands and she wailed with Ai's memories gushing inside her. The fact that Ai would only remain as a memory from now on was a grief beyond her capacity to bear.
Not only Ai, Guiying's suicide affected them equally as they never considered her any less than their daughter. Though she was responsible for Ai's death, a numbing pain still hurt them to know that Guiying was no more.
With Guiying's last message, the misunderstanding clouding over Ai's suicide had become crystal clear. Naturally, such a huge cover up brought bad press for Dream High. The scandal left a huge black stain on its reputation, which should have made Zhou Yichen happy but he was far from it.
It was true that he was at peace knowing that the ridiculous claim of Ai's suicide had proved to be wrong, but there was something else that bugged him like crazy.
Xie Nuying noticed his cold gaze and asked, wiping her tears. "What is it…?"
"I don't buy it."
She didn't understand. "Buy what?"
"Ai-chan's death. I don't buy it. It's not possible that she would fall off just because Guiying accidentally pushed her. The terrace was obviously supported by a railing that was as high as up to someone's chest. So how did she fall beyond the railing? It just broke off? I visited Dream High the day they spread shit news about Ai-chan. How come only that part of the railing broke off and the rest is fine!? There is definitely something fishy!"
Xie Nuying stiffened. "D-don't be foolish, Yichen. You cannot possibly imply that…somebody plotted f-for Ai to…d-die?" Her voice shivered at the end.
"I don't know but I will find it! Until I get all my answers about Ai-chan's…" he bit his lower lip hard, "I won't let this go. We have lost our only child, Nuying. I won't rest until I know from A to Z as to what happened and why it happened!"
And so Zhou Yichen set towards unearthing the real tragedy behind Ai's death by hook or crook, but he always met a dead end. Refusing to budge, he eventually contacted his friend from the police department he was acquainted with at one point during the time he worked part time as an assistant for a reputed lawyer. Working with the lawyer had helped him form connections with a retired police officer in Beijing.
Who was none other than Shui's Uncle, Soo Yunru.
As Soo Yunru heard his story, he couldn't help but part his lips, stunned. "Zhou Ai…She was your daughter?"
Zhou Yichen and Xie Nuying blinked at him. "Yes. Did you know her?" He anxiously asked.
"You are the one who met Liu Jinhai at the hospital, right?"
"How…do you know?"
His gaze was dim as he said, "I know his family. I am Han Shui's Uncle. She and Liu Jun were in a relationship at one point."
Their eyes widened in shock.
Xie Nuying softly gasped. "Liu Jun…you mean…"
"Yes. The same man who died with Zhou Ai that night."
There was a beat of silence. Zhou Yichen trembled as he said, "Ah…I never knew w-we would be connected like this…" he chuckled wryly, "this is the worst way to know each other, isn't it?"
Xie Nuying broke down into soft sobs, the pain of her daughter's death reliving fresh in her heart. A few moments later, she softly asked, "H-How is your niece?"
He clenched his fists, his eyes reddening. "How will she be? She lost Jun and Jin on the same day. One was her best friend and the other the love of her life. Their mother passed away too."
They jerked up, aghast. "Mrs. Liu Nana?"
He solemnly nodded.
Zhou Yichen stammered. "B-But we had met her too along with Mr. Liu Jinhai…"
"Indeed. But her health was already too fragile and her sons' deaths were the last straw. She couldn't…hold on anymore…"
The news of Nana's death shook them. They had met the Liu family only once but that one meeting was enough for them to know that they were good people.
"You can imagine Shui's state. My wife and kids are at the Han villa to stay with Shui. But…the situation isn't improving. She went into a total shock after their deaths. She isn't recovering from it."
Zhou Yichen smiled through his tears. "Han Shui will be fine. I know it. She will definitely be able to overcome this."
Yunru wiped the corner of his eyes. "I hope so. Coming to your visit. You think that something was tampered to cause Zhou Ai's death?"
Zhou Yichen nodded furiously. "I am sure of it! She…she cannot stumble just like this!"
Yunru furrowed his brows with a grave expression. "It's indeed strange for the railing to just dislodge like that and not then whole but just a part of it."
"That's why we need your help. Nuying and I want to know who is behind this. Why would somebody target like this? She was nobody's enemy!"
Yunru was looking at them but inwardly, his mind was churning with different possibilities.
"She was nobody's enemy till she was at her home city in Xuanhua. But she died as soon as she returned to Beijing. I don't think it's a coincidence. Do you know why Zhou Ai returned to Beijing?"
Xie Nuying said, "She had said that she wanted to collect her late editor Xing Bi's stuff from Dream High. She recently learned about her death in a car accident that happened around six months earlier. Ai was really heartbroken. Xing Bi wasn't just her editor but like her sister too…I remember she was really in a hurry and anxious to leave for Beijing. I did ask her, but she brushed me off."
"Then let's start with what brought Zhou Ai to Beijing after five years," Yunru stated. "Xing Bi's accident."
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶