Chapter 158: The Pain Deep Within His Heart
"Over the past few years, I have also been investigating Yang Lan, and I discovered that both Yang Lan and Ye Hua have continuously maintained contact with a mysterious organization. This organization operates with extreme caution; every time we get halfway through an investigation, we are thrown off the scent. The operatives planted by this organization have infiltrated various strata of society in the capital."
Ye Zehong's gaze fell lightly and shallowly onto Zhou Luoxi, probing him calmly, "Just like you, your investigations have yielded nothing."
"You're investigating us!" Zhou Luoxi stood up abruptly, blazing with anger and ready to resort to physical violence against Ye Zehong.
Lu Yao hurriedly grabbed Zhou Luoxi's hand, urging, "Calm down, calm down. We are allies, not enemies!"
"Who cares about being his ally!" Zhou Luoxi sat back down on the sofa in a huff, glaring sideways at Ye Zehong as if dismissing him as a lightweight unworthy of being their ally.
Lu Yao sighed helplessly, trying to persuade him in a gentle voice, "Although I've lived in the capital for three years, I'm completely in the dark about many things here, let alone able to reach people in the upper echelons. Therefore, only Zehong can help us."
"Didn't he just say it? He can't find that mysterious organization either!" Zhou Luoxi rolled his eyes in profound displeasure.
"Sigh, I..." Looking at Zhou Luoxi's uncooperative attitude, Lu Yao felt utterly exhausted.
Why was Zhou Luoxi harbor such intense hostility toward Ye Zehong?
She stood up, walked over to Ye Zehong, and whispered, "How about we go out to the courtyard to talk?"
Ye Zehong glanced at Zhou Luoxi and shook his head slightly. "Let's go to my place."
"Alright, let's just—"
"Nobody is going anywhere! We will talk right here!"
***
Before Lu Yao could finish her sentence, she was abruptly interrupted by Zhou Luoxi.
She sighed once more, her tone turning several degrees colder as she addressed Zhou Luoxi: "I just want to uncover the truth and let my mother rest in peace before my 'family' tracks me down here. If you don't want to help me, you are free to stay out of the way. You well know that I don't have much time left."
"Yao, I didn't mean it that way. I was just..."
Zhou Luoxi wanted to explain, but Lu Yao had no desire to listen.
With a distressed expression, she shook her head, took Ye Zehong's hand, and walked out of the villa.
Ye Zehong simply instructed Shen Yang to drive the car into the city center, and then drove back to his residence himself.
The two of them sat at the bar counter.
Ye Zehong poured a glass of red wine and downed it in one gulp.
Lu Yao tilted her head slightly to look at Ye Zehong, noticing his tense expression and low spirits.
A sharp pang struck her heart.
Keeping her gaze fixed on his face, she pressed her hand over his to stop him from pouring another glass, and said in a soft voice, "Drinking too much alcohol harms your body. You used to be a doctor; you should know that better than I do."
Ye Zehong set the wine glass down, his fingers slowly tightening into a fist.
After a long silence, he spoke in a hoarse voice: "Back then, my mother's illness came on so suddenly. In just three days, she went from a sudden heart attack, open-chest resuscitation, and ICU admission, to the doctor pronouncing her dead, and then the funeral ending. In the entire Ye family, apart from me, not a single person shed a tear for her. Even..."
***
Flashbacks of those years played through Ye Zehong's mind, his deep, dark eyes tinged with a hint of red.
Lu Yao's heart softened. Instinctively, she gripped his cold hand tightly, gently patting his back.
"Even a month later, my father made a grand spectacle of marrying Yang Lan and bringing her home."
A month?
Before her bones were even cold.
Ye Yingtang's actions were truly chilling to the core.
No wonder Ye Zehong harbored such deep resentment toward him.
"You're investigating Yang Lan because you suspect your mother's true cause of death wasn't a sudden heart attack, but rather..."