Chapter 2 — The Last Breath

The monitor beside the bed continued to beep.

Slowly.

Steadily.

Almost cruelly.

Shen Xie wanted to open her eyes.

She couldn't.

Her body felt impossibly heavy, as though every bone had been buried beneath stone. She tried moving her fingers, but nothing happened as if all strength has been lost.

Then she heard Hao Zeyu voice again.

“Wanqing, we can't stay here.”

Su Wanqing's voice was barely audible.

“What about her?”

“She won't wake up.”

Shen Xie's heart clenched and a known pain flowed out.

She had known, realisation downing upon her.

She had already understood that they had betrayed her.

But hearing those words beside her made the truth cruelly unbearable.

Su Wanqing hesitated.

“What if someone investigates the accident?”

“They won't.”

“How can you be sure?”

A long silence followed.

Then Hao Zeyu spoke.

“The driver is already gone.”

Shen Xie's breathing became shallow.

Driver?

She tried to remember.

The headlights.

The screech of tires.

The impact.

Had someone actually hit her deliberately?

Su Wanqing lowered her voice.

“And the surveillance?”

“Taken care of.”

Shen Xie's blood ran cold.

This was no accident.

Someone had planned this-her death.

She tried desperately to move.

Her fingers.

Her eyelids.

Anything.

Nothing responded.

Hao Zeyu walked closer to her bed.

For a moment, Shen Xie could feel his presence beside her.

The same man whose hand she had held countless times.

The same man she had defended against her family.

The same man who had told her that he loved her and would do anything for her.

His voice was quiet.

“Don't blame me, Xie.”

A pause.

“You made me choose.”

Shen Xie wanted to scream.

Choose what?

What had she done?

Why had he wanted her dead?

Before she could hear more, the door opened.

A nurse entered.

Hao Zeyu immediately stepped away.

His voice changed again.

“Doctor, how is she?”

The performance resumed.

The crying.

The worry.

The devoted fiancé.

Shen Xie listened until the voices faded.

Then darkness slowly closed over her.

The last thing she remembered was the silver-black orchid on a stranger's coat.

And a pair of unfamiliar eyes looking directly into hers as if it has seen through her soul.

---

The next morning, rain continued to fall over Jingdu.

The news reported a tragic traffic accident.

Nothing unusual.

A young woman from a prominent family had been critically injured.

The report lasted less than a minute.

By evening, it was forgotten.

But in another part of the city, a man stood before a floor-to-ceiling window.

“Sir.”

Lu Jing placed a file on the desk.

“The woman from last night is Shen Xie.”

Xia Yucheng's gaze remained on the city bustling below.

“Shen Xie?”

“Yes.”

Lu Jing paused.

“She is the granddaughter of Shen Zhenyuan.”

That finally made Xia Yucheng turn.

“Her fiancé?”

“Hao Zeyu.”

A faint crease appeared between his brows.

Lu Jing continued.

“We've been investigating the Hao family for three months.”

Xia Yucheng picked up the file.

His eyes moved across the first page.

Then stopped.

“Interesting.”

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

He closed the file.

“Continue the investigation.”

Lu Jing nodded.

Neither of them knew that the woman lying unconscious in the hospital had just become connected to an investigation that was much larger than they had realized.

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