---

“Pause,” Gu Shiyan said, carrying me into the bathroom.

“Zhou Zhiye? Or Shen Yuebai?”

Ever since that accident happened, I hadn’t been able to reach Shen Yuebai on the phone. She had to be added to my list of suspects.

“No…” Gu Shiyan hesitated before answering, “It was your second brother, Fang Mo.”

“What?”

Is he out of his mind? Why would he even kill his own family?!

“Because you stole a lot of his spotlight recently, including winning bids, making your dad very satisfied with you while he furiously scolded Fang Mo.”

I had guessed that might be the reason.

“And what about Shen Yuebai? Is she truly innocent?”

“That night, she and Zhou Zhiye set up an ambush on the mountain. There’s a high chance they didn’t make it out alive.”

“Wow… sounds like they were doomed from the start.”

“Don’t say that.”

The person behind me bit my shoulder harshly, then licked it as if in apology.

“I’ve already collected enough evidence about your brother’s actions and submitted it to the court. I will always protect you, Fang Huai. Trust me.”

---

After being confined in Gu Shiyan’s house for a week, I started getting restless. Even though he knew what I was worried about, he still wouldn’t let me leave.

His return time shifted from seven, to eight, to nine, and then to eleven. Even though he would change into clean clothes before coming home, just before he silenced me with a kiss, I’d still ask, “Whose blood did you get on you today?”

Gu Shiyan never answered.

Eventually, he stopped changing his clothes altogether.

The scent of blood on him grew stronger and stronger until I could no longer tell if it was his own or someone else’s. I felt anxious, on the verge of breaking down.

I knew he was playing a dangerous game with Zhou Zhiye and his crew, and I believed in him. But I couldn’t stand by and just watch.

That night, I turned off all the lights in the villa. When Gu Shiyan came back, he paused at the door, stunned. Through the moonlight outside, he saw what I had done—tools scattered across the floor, sharp objects pulled from the drawers.

He was angry.

He grabbed the bodyguard at the door and questioned him about what was going on.

“It has nothing to do with him.”

I staggered up from the corner of the couch, grabbed a wine bottle, smashed it against the coffee table, and pointed the sharp end at him. “Gu Shiyan, I don’t want your protection anymore… just let me go.”

“Don’t move.”

His face was darker than usual, a far cry from the Gu Shiyan I knew.

He stepped directly onto the broken glass, walking toward me.

Crunch—

Maybe some shards pierced his shoe soles, but he didn’t even flinch, pressing forward until I had nowhere left to retreat.

“Gu Shiyan… don’t come any closer.”

This wasn’t how I imagined it.

He was more terrifying, more dangerous than I had thought.

In a moment of panic, I tried to throw away the broken bottle, but Gu Shiyan suddenly grabbed my hand and forced me to stab it into his chest…

When the blood started soaking through his shirt, I was in shock.

“Is this enough?”

He held my hand firmly, leaning against my shoulder, his breath faint.

“I owe you, Fang Huai… I’m sorry.”

---

Owe me…?

The house was chaotic for a while, and soon a private doctor was called in.

The wound Gu Shiyan inflicted on himself was deep, but not fatal.

As I sat by his bedside, memories of the past flooded my mind: him rescuing me, questioning me, looking at me with disappointment… and killing me.

Gu Shiyan must have figured something out.

The night was deep, the moonlight soft as water.

I watched over him for two nights.

When he woke up, the first thing he did was hug me and choke out the words, “I’m sorry.”

“You remember everything now?”

Gu Shiyan didn’t deny it.

Seven years had built a chasm of misunderstandings between us, impossible to cross.

Maybe no one knew, but when I first returned to the country, Gu Shiyan was my first friend. We admired each other, trusted each other, and competed fairly.

But at some point, that changed.

One day, he showed up with someone bruised and battered, accusing me of being responsible. The first time, I explained, but the evidence was overwhelming. The fake evidence, and my own shady past, made it clear.

He didn’t choose to believe me.

From that day on, we became enemies. Eventually, I stopped bothering to explain.

Once someone forms a prejudice, it’s hard to undo.

I got close to Shen Yuebai because I thought she was the only one who believed me. I stayed by her side not out of love but because I craved her support—her willingness to stand with me.

---

“I lied when I said I liked Shen Yuebai.”

Gu Shiyan started explaining.

“In our past life, I had no part in your kidnapping and didn’t even know about it. The recording was a ruse to trick Zhou Zhiye, but I never expected it… would lead to your death.”

“The day I got to the basement, I had just received news of a friend’s death. No matter how much I investigated, all the evidence pointed to you.”

“I thought you were a killer who had taken too many innocent lives… unforgivable.”

“I was torn, in pain.”

“So that day, I chose to let you die, and then follow you.”

My hand trembled slightly.

Gu Shiyan gave a small laugh, “Who knew that, in the end, you’d confess your feelings to me.”

---

How did Gu Shiyan regain his memories?

Because he died too—just later than me.

“Gu Shiyan, this is such a loss for you.”

After hearing his explanation, my heart felt even more weighed down.

It turns out someone had been secretly driving a wedge between us all along.

And that person lived better and longer than both of us.

Zhou Zhiye.

“I’ll make sure he faces justice. Just wait for me… When I come back, we’ll start over, okay?”

Gu Shiyan grabbed my hand and kissed it reverently.

I didn’t pull away.

I just asked, “Do you love me?”

Gu Shiyan hesitated.

“If I come back alive, then yes, I love you.”

…

The shackles weren’t removed.

On the day I left the house, Gu Shiyan still hadn’t made me any promises.

But I stopped him.

I stood on tiptoe and hugged him, “I love you, so I’ll wait for you.”

…

He left for a week.

During that time, Jiangcheng was in chaos. A lot of things happened.

Zhou Zhiye, with his connections in both business and politics, wasn’t easy to take down.

I was stuck in the villa, with little news.

Finally, in the early hours of the eighth day—

Click—

The shackle around my ankle loosened significantly.