Chapter 97

The red snaked through the bathroom, staining a tubful of clear water.

It wasn’t the sound of dripping water.

It was the fresh blood dripping down Xie Fuyi’s wrist.

With a crisp sound of porcelain shattering, the chicken soup in Xie Huaixiao’s hand spilled all over the floor. He trembled as he approached the pale figure with closed eyes in the bathtub, feeling icy cold all over.

“Little treasure, wake up? Don’t scare your second brother…” Xie Huaixiao’s face turned pale, trembling all over. His mind was almost blank, instinctively wanting to rush to the hospital while holding the person, but he accidentally stepped on the broken porcelain and fell.

“Ugh.” He held the person in his arms and fell backward, the shards piercing his back.

His back was instantly stained red with blood, accompanied by intense pain, but he seemed oblivious, struggling to get up while holding the person in his arms.

At this moment, Xie Tingbai rushed over from the study upon hearing the commotion, and his heart almost stopped when he saw the scene!

“Yi Yi!” His face changed drastically, picking up the person and quickly heading downstairs. “Someone, prepare the car!”

The driver quickly drove them to the hospital.

Xie Tingbai’s face appeared calm except for being somewhat pale. But sweat beaded on his forehead, and his hand gripping Xie Fuyi’s hand showed prominent veins.

Only now did Xie Huaixiao belatedly feel the fiery pain all over his body, but he couldn’t care less, tightly holding Xie Fuyi’s cold hand.

The person in his arms grew colder, with hardly any heartbeat or breath.

Xie Huaixiao’s eyes were red, his whole body trembling. He turned to the driver and shouted urgently, “Faster!”

“Yi Yi, please be alright…” Xie Tingbai held him tightly, his heart seemingly bleeding, his voice unusually weak. He held his breath, almost only hearing the painful thumping of his own heart.

…

Ye Chiyàn returned home drunk, only sobering up around 3 AM. The first thing he saw when he checked his phone backstage was the breaking news — the third young master of the Xie family attempted suicide by wrist cutting, rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Impossible!

Ye Chiyàn’s hand trembled, dropping his phone on the floor. He couldn’t believe it; why would he commit suicide?

But his immediate reaction was to rush to the hospital, not even bothering to rid himself of the disheveled smell of alcohol.

Inside the hospital, just as he reached the emergency room door, he heard a heart-wrenching scream.

Ye Chiyàn saw Xie Tingbai and Xie Huaixiao, both equally disheveled and distressed. For a moment, his steps felt like they were weighed down, and he didn’t dare to approach.

But he needed to find out about that person…

His eyes red, he quickly grabbed Xie Huaixiao’s collar, gritting his teeth. “Where is he? What happened? When I left in the daytime, he was fine. What did you guys do?”

Xie Huaixiao seemed devoid of any energy, with no light in his eyes, allowing himself to be pushed to the ground.

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have pressured him…” He sat down, covering his red eyes with his hand, his voice choked, “He’s gone, he won’t come back…”

Ye Chiyàn staggered, his voice hoarse. “What do you mean, explain.”

Xie Tingbai, who had been the calmest, handed a letter to Ye Chiyàn, his face overly pale. “This was left in Yi Yi’s room… a suicide note.”

The last two words were uttered low and hoarse, almost as if squeezed out from his throat.

Ye Chiyàn’s temple throbbed, his vision almost blurred, but this was the last thing Xie Fuyi left behind.

Trembling, he took the letter and read it slowly —

It turns out his mind had long been troubled.

Knowing he wasn’t a child of the Xie family, he had been anxious every day, unable to sleep.

And it was precisely at this time that his two brothers still used this matter to threaten and coerce him.

And now, he had cut off the last thread of attachment himself.

In this world, there was no longer any lingering affection.

Death, for him, was a relief.

…

“You’ve been threatening and forcing him all along?” Ye Chiyàn’s eyes were red with coldness as he punched Xie Tingbai fiercely. “Those words were forced out of him by you, weren’t they? He didn’t say them willingly, did he?”

Xie Tingbai didn’t dodge. He stood unsteadily, his lips stinging. He closed his eyes, his voice faint and bitter. “Yes, we shouldn’t have pressured him out of selfish desires, nor should we have used your safety to threaten him out of jealousy…”

Xie Tingbai knew they were all implicated in Xie Fuyi’s death. He felt a pain in his heart, and he wouldn’t let others off easily.

He stared straight at Ye Chiyàn. “And what about you? You were the final straw! Clearly, he liked you, but just because of a few words in the morning, you believed them? Couldn’t you see something was wrong with him? Yet you still said such hurtful things to him?”

Ye Chiyàn’s face instantly turned pale. The contents of the suicide note flashed through his mind — he had lost his last bit of concern.

So, he did like himself.

Was it to protect himself that he said those insincere words?

But he hadn’t noticed at all.

“Yes, it’s my fault… I’m a blind fool…” Ye Chiyàn’s lips trembled, and he staggered away from there.

Xie Huaisiao no longer had his former vigor. He smirked mockingly. But wasn’t he just one of the damned ones?

…

The night Xie’s third young master died despite rescue efforts, Ye Chiyàn, heir of the Ye family, was found dead by suicide in his room, leaving behind only one sentence — “He would definitely be scared if he was alone; I have to go accompany him.”

And after attending Xie Fuyi’s funeral, Xie Huaisiao went to participate in an outdoor competition.

Those mountain trails weren’t much for him, but he let go of the steering wheel and plunged off a cliff to his death.

The once-grand Xie family now had only Xie Tingbai left.

Time flew by, and a year passed in the blink of an eye.

In this year, aside from managing the company’s affairs, Xie Tingbai hardly left his residence.

At this moment, he sat in Xie Fuyi’s bedroom. Though in his prime, his pale and weary face made him look as if he had aged ten years.

Looking at the familiar decorations in the room, as if that person was right beside him, touching these things caused a pain deep in his heart.

He still managed the entire Xie family, unable to be as carefree as Xie Huaisiao. But in this year’s time, he had made arrangements.

Xie Tingbai touched Xie Fuyi’s photo, revealing a soft smile. He murmured softly, “Yi Yi, I can come accompany you now. Forgive me for being late.”