Lu Shangjin slammed the door and left.
Sitting in the car, he smoked one cigarette after another until the ringing in his temples was numbed and dulled by nicotine.
Yan Yi’s terrified, pleading expression surfaced again in his mind.
Lu Shangjin pressed a hand to his chest, slumped over the steering wheel, enduring the violent spasms of his heart. His legs were cold and numb—he could barely feel them even when he pressed the gas pedal.
This was, without a doubt, the most overwhelming rage he had ever experienced in his life.
For the next two days, he stayed overnight at the company and did not return home.
Most of the contracts piled on his desk had been signed, except for a stack from Jiu’an Hongye. He had no mood to even open them and simply left them untouched.
At first, the vice president of Jiu’an Hongye called to ask about it, but after sensing something was off, he did not dare press further.
After a meeting ended, Xia Pingtian walked out of the conference room, his face dark as charcoal.
What the hell was Lu Shangjin doing? Was he targeting Hongye Xia Group? Several contracts were about to expire, yet there was still no movement. What was he playing at?
That short-lived child his father left behind was doomed anyway—multi-organ failure. Who could save him? Was he some emperor trying to save a crown prince? Did he really expect Hongye Xia Group to go down with him?
The more Xia Pingtian thought about it, the angrier he became. He couldn’t hold back and called Lu Shangjin. If he didn’t pick up this time, Xia Pingtian was ready to head straight to Changhui.
It rang ten times before Lu Shangjin finally answered.
Suppressing his anger, Xia Pingtian spoke politely, asking a few questions.
Lu Shangjin replied coolly, “Did you help your brother look for Yan Yi?”
“Huh? No.” Xia Pingtian paused. He had indeed helped investigate, but he shouldn’t have done anything else.
“You’ve got quite a brother.”
Lu Shangjin hung up.
The frustration lodged in Xia Pingtian’s throat. He grabbed his assistant by the collar. “Go get me the report from the last examination Lu Shangjin took someone to.”
He yanked off his tie and stormed downstairs, driving straight to Xia Jingtian’s school.
Xia Jingtian had been staying in the dorm lately, too lazy to go home.
The dorm supervisor couldn’t stop Xia Pingtian as he barged in with several alphas.
Inside, Xia Jingtian was leaning against the bed, holding an old notebook, staring blankly.
He had taken it from the bedroom on the second floor of the ruined bar. He had already read it several times.
The handwriting was as neat and delicate as its owner.
Most of the notebook read like a diary—records of daily life, both happy and sad. Anything related to Lu Shangjin always had a score written beside it.
Page after page, loneliness seeped through the words.
Even when the score had dropped into the negatives, a single line—“took me home”—would bring it back up to full.
Mundane little things filled the entire notebook, and Xia Jingtian felt as if he had accompanied that little rabbit through ten years of life.
“Jingtian… are you okay?” his roommate asked hesitantly.
“Have you ever liked someone so much that even watching them from afar makes your heart ache?”
The roommate shook his head.
The half-closed dorm door was suddenly kicked open.
Xia Pingtian stormed in, had the roommate dragged out, and shut the door behind him.
Only the two brothers remained.
Xia Pingtian grabbed Xia Jingtian and yanked him off the bed, slapping him hard.
“Look at you! You’ve got guts, huh? Messing with someone else’s wife until she fakes a pregnancy? I taught you this?!”
Even though he held back, the slap still stunned Xia Jingtian.
“You like that little rabbit, don’t you?” Xia Pingtian threw a stack of reports at him. “Look what you’ve done—forced abortion from a false pregnancy. Lu Shangjin did it himself.”
Xia Jingtian flipped through the report, the words “confirmed false pregnancy” stabbing into his eyes.
Forced abortion?
How much pain must Yan Yi have been in?
“This isn’t right…” Xia Jingtian muttered, flipping faster. “I went with him before. They said it was a real pregnancy.”
“For decades, that hospital has never made a mistake,” Xia Pingtian said coldly, lighting a cigarette.
“Then something’s wrong with that other hospital. I’ll go check.”
“You walk out that door today, don’t call me your brother anymore.”
“You can beat me to death if you want.”
Fury surged. Xia Pingtian activated his ability, slamming Xia Jingtian to the ground and cuffing him.
“Go apologize to Lu Shangjin. This is on you—you’re not the victim here!”
Xia Jingtian was dragged away and locked up at home.
The next night, Xia Pingtian checked on him.
He found his brother lying on the bed, flipping through the notebook, eyes dim.
“Have you thought it through? Are you apologizing?”
“If anyone deserves an apology, it’s Yan Yi. Lu Shangjin doesn’t. He’s trash.”
Xia Pingtian sighed. “Fine. I’m sorry too. Turn around, let me see your face.”
After checking the swelling, he turned to call for help—
—and suddenly was yanked into the air and slammed into the wall.
Xia Jingtian had already slipped out and locked the door behind him.
“You little bastard! Get back here!”
—
Meanwhile, after four days, Lu Shangjin’s rage had dulled into numbness.
He kept checking his phone.
No messages from Yan Yi.
Shouldn’t Yan Yi apologize?
But…
Fragments of doubt crept in.
Yan Yi had never lied to him.
If it really was a false pregnancy, why would the first hospital diagnose it as real?
If Yan Yi knew the truth, why would he obediently follow him to a second check?
The more he thought, the more it didn’t add up.
And one terrifying realization surfaced—
What if Yan Yi truly believed he was pregnant?
Then…
Yan Yi must think he had deliberately killed their child.
Lu Shangjin stood up abruptly, grabbed his coat and keys.
He had to ask clearly.
—
Half an hour later, he reached home.
The door was ajar.
Inside, the flower pot lay shattered. Wilted roses soaked in water, petals scattered everywhere.
“Yan Yi?”
No answer.
The kitchen was empty. The fish soup had gone sour.
He searched everywhere—nothing.
Then he rushed to the storage room.
The closet was open.
The bedding inside was messy, stained with dried blood.
Yan Yi was gone.
On the pillow lay a small book.
He flipped it open.
Pressed petals fell out.
“I thought I didn’t like roses, but when I received them, my nose still stung… because they were from him.”
“Baby is one and a half months old… very well-behaved…”
Further in, there were names beginning with “Lu,” circled carefully.
“Lu Yuan” was circled.
“Lu Yan” was crossed out.
Lu Shangjin’s face turned pale.
Yan Yi…
had truly believed he was carrying his child.
Every single day, he had been waiting for it.
Lu Shangjin staggered, nearly collapsing.
The room was filled with a faint scent—
opium pheromones.
And on the door handle—
a strand of sticky spider silk.