Jinhai slowly opened his tired and exhausted eyes, but the space beside him on the bed was empty. Just like the last few painful days.
He always shut his eyes and went to sleep in hopes that the tragedy would turn out to be a dream and he would find his family all happy and smiling just as before. But everytime, his hopes would get slashed and the light in his eyes would dim.
Not a single day and moment went by when Jinhai didn't remember Nana, Jun and Jin and their memories only brought more hollowness and grief to his heart.
He slowly got up, his body feeling heavy and painful. His gaze was blank and so did he try to make his mind the same way too, but he failed. Taking slow steps, he went outside and found the villa eerily silent.
There wasn't the usual goofiness of Liu Hai, the playfulness of Jing, the idiotic laughter of the twins or Liu Chunhua's scolding to be heard anywhere in the villa.
Jinhai kept aimlessly walking and as he passed by Nian's room, he heard some frantic whispers and talking. He stopped for only a second before he decided to continue walking. But he stopped again as Jian's words fell on his ears loud and clear.
"Nothing was a fucking accident! It's all because she wanted fucking revenge!"
He felt as if he was suddenly splashed with ice cold water and woken up from deep sleep as those words hit him.
Revenge…?
Jinhai entered the room, making everybody inside taken aback for several seconds.
"Dad!" Nuo ran up to him and held his arm. "What are you doing here? Are you feeling okay? Should I bring anything for you?" She asked, concerned.
Jinhai looked down and stared at his daughter whose tired and reddened eyes matched just like his. He never wanted to see those beautiful irises filled with tears, but now here they were.
"What is this…about revenge? Who are you talking about?"
She hesitated. The twins exchanged glances while Yunru and Liu Hai remained somber. Jinhai felt the deep silence as if there was some hidden mystery. "What is happening?"
Yunru started off by talking about Zhou Yichen and Xie Nuying. "They had come to me to help them investigate their daughter's death."
His brows tightly furrowed. "...Zhou Ai?"
"Yes."
"But she died by falling off the terrace…" his own words pained him. It was hard to bear the death of the woman too who had brought a smile and peace in his son's life even though it was for a few moments.
"It's what the world knows but apparently, that's not the truth. And as we dug deeper, we found out about Zhou Ai's friend Cai Guiying, who recently committed suicide after accidentally pushing her."
"What about her?"
The silence turned heavier and prickly.
Nian said, "Zhan Yahui was her editor."
"Who?"
"Zhan Yahui. I am sure you remember that name."
Jinhai stared at Nian hard for several long seconds. At the back of his mind, he was remembering everything that had happened till now in slow motion.
"...Did Cai Guiying know anybody from our family?"
"She was Shui's friend. She was at her twenty-fifth birthday banquet."
Another deep silence hit the bleak atmosphere.
"Was…she somehow the reason why Jun's identity as Sky's CEO was leaked?"
"I am pretty sure that's the case," Nian said with a hardened gaze.
"Was she the reason why Jun couldn't come to Grandma's funeral?"
"I guess so."
Then he asked the question that was sending tremors in his heart, "Did Cai Guiying have anything to do with…Shui suddenly asking to marry Jin?"
Liu Hai said, "I think only Shui can answer that question."
Jinhai grabbed Nuo's phone, who was still standing beside him and dialed Shui's number. But it wasn't picked up so he dialed her brother, Siying's number instead.
A low voice filled with longing but also slight surprise came from the other side. "Nuo…"
"Give the phone to Shui."
"Uncle?" Siying was naturally taken aback to suddenly hear Jinhai's voice. "Shui…Shui isn't talking to anybody, Uncle."
"She will talk to me. Go to her right now."
Siying felt the urgency in his voice and wasn't sure what was happening but he quickly rushed to Shui's room and told her about Jinhai wanting to speak to her. But as expected, Shui was zoned out and didn't answer.
Siying put the phone on speaker and helplessly said, "She isn't responding…"
Jinhai cut straight to the chase. "Shui. Did Cai Guiying threaten you to marry Jin?"
Since the day hell broke loose, it was the first time in days that Shui's expression finally cracked.
"Shui?" Siying on the other side was stupefied by seeing the sudden change, but Jinhai's question threw him off even more.
"Threaten to marry? What is this about?" He anxiously asked.
"First, I want to know her answer."
Shui started to tremble hard and gasp breathlessly. Tears flowed out and she hugged herself, crying hard. She wanted to answer yes to his question, but there were so many things to explain that she didn't know where to start. Nothing could escape her lips, but the sound of her cries was enough of an answer for Jinhai.
Jinhai quietly said, "Take care of Shuiz Siying. I will explain everything later."
"...Okay, Uncle."
He almost uttered Nuo's name, wishing to speak to her, but he left it unsaid and cut the call.
Liu Hai released a deep and silent sigh. "It was indeed her."
Jinhai trembled with rage and darkness occupying every corner of his heart. Through Guiying, Zhan Yahui had been manipulating the chain of events for years now and nobody had a clue.
"She…Everything that happened in Jun's life was because she…"
Ouyang Haitao's death made him grit his teeth hard and ball his fists, the murderous intention filling him entirely.
"All because of that one man…all because of him…that so much grief and misery…"
The strength in his knees sapped away and he stumbled. "Dad!" The twins and Nuo quickly caught him.
"It's all my fault…I shouldn't have let them live. I should have killed them back then…" Jinhai shuddered, feeling the repercussions of his decision to give Zhan Kai-Ming and her daughter a second chance.
His tearful irises soon grew icy as he ordered in a voice akin to a demon breaking loose out of a fiery hell. "Find her…Find Zhan Yahui and bring her to me right now."
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