Chapter 93: His Concern, His Pain
Guan Ran looked at Lu Yao’s anxious face, eager for answers, and shook his head. With a faint smile, he said, “Only when you help me find my daughter and bring her safely to me will I tell you everything. You may consider it; I’ll give you three days.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Lu Yao replied, tightening her fists, a chill flickering in her gaze. “I agree to your conditions. But when the time comes, I want more than just words—I want evidence more convincing than this jade pendant.”
She would help him find his daughter; in return, he would help her gather proof of Ye Hua and Yang Lan’s crimes.
Thinking it through, it was a fair exchange.
She never did anything without a benefit in return.
“Deal.”
Guan Ran smiled with relief, as if, now that Lu Yao had agreed, he was certain he could find his daughter and escape with her. He handed the jade pendant to Lu Yao and left without further delay.
Lu Yao lowered her eyes to the pendant in her hand, tears she had held back for so long sliding silently down her cheeks.
Over a decade had passed.
Seeing something that belonged to her mother again, the pain in the deepest part of her heart was suffocating, as if someone were squeezing her throat.
She slowly crouched down, clutching the jade pendant tightly, her heart whispering, “Mother…”
The truth was almost within reach, yet her heart ached even more.
Years of waiting had felt like being roasted alive, every moment an agony.
Except for those three years with Ye Zehong, when the pain eased just a little.
She stood up slowly, but after crouching so long, stars danced before her eyes, her head spun, and she staggered, unable to stand steady. As she reached out for support, a pair of warm hands caught her shoulders, and a familiar scent drifted to her.
Lu Yao froze. When she came to her senses, she looked up in shock at the handsome face before her.
“How are you here?” she asked, disbelief in her voice.
Ye Zehong looked down at the small woman in his arms with a tenderness that softened his features, love welling in his heart with words he weighed again and again, but could not bring himself to say.
He had been in a project meeting at the Ye Group’s office when Shen Yang burst in, telling him Lu Yao had been followed and taken by Guan Ran. Without a thought for the shocked faces in the meeting, he had rushed out, not even bothering with his coat, and mobilized everyone to search for her.
After much effort, he finally found her—alone, crouched on the ground, weeping.
In three years together, he had never seen her shed a tear for anything.
Not even when they parted ways had she shown the slightest sadness.
What had Guan Ran said to her?
Why was she so heartbroken?
He hadn’t interrupted her grief, but stood quietly by, watching her, giving her space to process her emotions.
Yet, a trace of sorrow passed through his heart.
He mourned that, in her pain and sorrow, he wasn’t the first person she thought of.
He mourned that she didn’t see him as someone she could truly rely upon, choosing instead to bear everything alone.
After a long while,
He finally set aside his sorrow and spoke, “If I said I was just passing by, would you believe me?”
Lu Yao forced a smile, wanting to go along with his joke, but couldn’t muster the energy. Her smile looked more like a grimace.
His heart twisted; he scooped her into his arms and strode back to the car.
A breeze dried the traces of tears from the corners of Lu Yao’s eyes.
She quietly slipped the jade pendant into her bag, leaned silently against the seat, and gazed blankly out the window, her mind replaying scattered memories of her mother.
The wound in her heart felt as if it had been torn open, raw and bleeding.
Tears slipped quietly down the side of her face, the side that Ye Zehong could not see.
Through the rearview mirror, Ye Zehong watched her silent weeping, and a flash of pain flickered in his dark, deep eyes.
She still did not see him as the person she could trust most, the one she could truly depend on.
(End of chapter)