023 | Chapter Twenty-Three - Wife

—You may hate me, but please, take care of the children.

Late at night, the bustling East Bank has always been one of the city's selling points, but beneath this lively and complex surface lie all sorts of illegal activities and shady transactions.

A towering building, resembling an ivory tower, stands on the edge of the city. Everyone with sense knows that it houses the Godfather's most treasured possession.

Any attempt to touch it is a preparation for being torn apart from one's body.

The Godfather has never allowed anyone to successfully challenge this, and he will not in the future.

That night, Xiaoyue slept very restlessly, tossing and turning on the specially made large bed. Cold sweat soaked the silk sheets, and she gasped for breath as if she were drowning, her eyelids snapping open as if she had been electrocuted.

She stared at the large, dark bedroom, instinctively reaching for a spot to the side, and whispered, "...Husband?"

But there was no one beside me, just like always... cold and disappointing.

Xiaoyue slowly sat up, leaning against the wall as she walked to the bathroom. She washed her face and wiped away the sticky sweat from her body. For some reason, her fingertips felt inexplicably restless and trembling.

This feeling is like being in a dark, deep sea, so cold it leaves you feeling helpless, and at the same time, it instills a strong sense of unease.

She needs Diaz, now, no matter what he's doing.

Xiaoyue threw on a blanket, without even wearing slippers, and stepped barefoot into the corridor. Holding her pregnant belly, she carefully walked downstairs, intending to go to the study to find Diaz.

The apartment was unusually quiet at two in the morning; apart from the restless beating of a heart, almost no other sounds could be heard.

She arrived at the study, her breathing unconsciously becoming lighter, but her heart pounded heavily in her chest, as if reminding her of the consequences of her last time barging into the study alone.

So this time, she learned her lesson—

"Knock knock".

A crisp sound rang out from the depths of the silent corridor, but after a few seconds of silence, no reply came.

She could only raise her wrist again and tap it a few more times.

However, on the other side of the door, there was a silence as deep as a black hole, as if the faint sound had been swallowed up without any response. This feeling startled her... Could it be that Diaz didn't want to see her and was deliberately ignoring her?

She looked at her fingertips resting on the doorknob, still trembling slightly uncontrollably. The words he had once told her, "Don't get involved in gangster matters," and the punishment she had received in the "game room" echoed in her mind.

The pulling sensation grew stronger in her mind, but the unease in her heart was even stronger, so she took a deep breath and slowly pressed down on the extremely cold doorknob.

She expected to see Diaz's shocked and ruthless expression, but what she saw instead stunned her.

The room was a mess. Clothes were scattered on the sofa near the window, and a floor lamp cast a faint glow in the corner. There were many white medicine bottles and scattered cigars on the coffee table, and the documents on the desk were a complete mess. It was hard to imagine that Diaz, who would tidy up her room and take good care of her, would have such a mess in his study.

Xiaoyue stepped lightly into the study, as if she had entered another world, so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

"Dias...where are you? What's going on here?" Her chest tightened, and an unease seemed to gradually engulf her like an undercurrent.

The documents on the desk caught her attention; they contained many words related to "school," "tutoring," and "financial funds." Just as Xiaoyue picked up the documents, a letter fell out from among them.

Looking at the letter on the ground, she felt as if her throat was being choked, making it very difficult to breathe, but she slowly bent down and picked it up.

When she turned it over, the words made her shoulders tremble; the handwriting was firm and clear.

To Xiaoyue, my wife—

"My dear wife, by the time you read this letter, I probably won't be able to speak these words to you in person."

"Please don't cry, because if you cry, even if I'm lying in a coffin, I'll get up and wipe away your tears."

"I have never regretted redeeming you from your servitude and marrying you properly."

"On the contrary, I feel very lucky to have married you and had Mark and the twins I never got to meet—"

Upon seeing this, Xiaoyue felt as if her heart was being squeezed tightly, making it difficult to breathe. She grabbed the table leg and almost fell into the leather chair, her bright blue eyes wide and trembling.

She stared at the words written in black and white on the paper, her eyes wide, as if trying to see every single stroke clearly.

However, my eyes were blurry and burning hot, blurring every word.

"I'm not here for you, so you have to be strong and take care of yourself and the children. I'll tell you what to do next, one by one. First—"

Those words burned her eyes as if they were scalding her, and her mind was filled with memories of these days: his haggard appearance, his tolerance, and his secretive behavior.

"Why... why did Diaz... keep this from me?"

"Didn't you say you'd always protect me? Didn't you always say 'I'm yours'?"

"Now you're planning to die with this secret... what kind of mob godfather are you? What kind of man are you!"

Xiaoyue slammed the envelope onto the table, unable to read another word. But her eyes caught sight of a half-open drawer. At that moment, she lost control of herself, like a survivor desperately clinging to a piece of driftwood, trying to find a glimmer of hope, turning over every word in the letter.

But in that drawer, there was not hope... but stacks of suicide notes that pushed her into the abyss.

"Mark is my successor, and I've already found the right people to teach him how to take over the gang—"

"If the twins are boys, I'll name them Ma Qiang and Ma Xi; if they're girls, I'll name them Xiao Lin and Xiao Xi—"

She looked at the letter, which clearly stated how Diaz expected the children to be taught, what areas they could each manage, and what preparations she had made for them.

Many letters also detailed the situation within the gang, how to invest finances, who could be trusted, and who could not.

Each letter I open feels like a knife piercing my heart.

It severely, grievously injured her.

"I know you don't love me anymore..."

"It doesn't matter. As long as you take good care of yourself and the children, you can rest in peace even in hell."

The last two lines felt like a shotgun blast to her heart, the pain almost making her vomit.

"No... I have to find him... I can't just sit here and wait to die..." Xiaoyue's tears were already out of control, soaking the collar of her pajamas. Her vision was blurred, but she still grabbed the local phone.

But at that moment—

"Ring ring—ring ring!" The ringing sound, loud enough to shatter despair, rang out from Sain's clinic.

"Sion! Where is Diaz? Is Diaz in danger?!" Xiaoyue's voice was filled with anxiety, and she immediately asked a series of questions. Her unclear voice showed how nervous she was.

Sainn lay on the sofa, unable to sleep due to his worries. Faced with this urgent question, he immediately sat up, recalling that not long ago Diaz had brought a lot of people and said that he was going to negotiate with a man named "Olima".

"Madam, please don't worry, I'll check the situation right away." He replied briefly and quickly picked up another phone and dialed Paul's number.

However, the phone rang only once before it was disconnected without being answered.

This is the code word when "negotiations break down"!

"Damn it! I'll send someone over to support the boss right away. Madam, please stay in your room and don't come out!" Saien said, standing up and preparing to leave while holding his phone.

The next second, the call was disconnected, leaving her alone, stunned, clutching her phone, tears still streaming down her face uncontrollably.

"Where is Diaz? Support... What happened?" She looked at the messy "suicide note" and documents on the table. The shock was so great that her vision almost went black and she could hardly breathe.

She learned that Diaz was still alive.

But we don't know if he will be able to return safely.

Xiaoyue cradled her pregnant belly, her breathing gradually becoming rapid. Her abdomen tightened and hardened as her emotions fluctuated, and the babies seemed to move a few times in protest.

This unspeakable pain deeply eroded every cell in her body, yet as a "mother," she had to consider the child in her womb and restrain herself even in her grief...

"Daddy...Daddy will be alright..."

As she regulated her breathing, she uttered words she herself could not believe. Her limbs felt numb and she could only hold the papers until her fingertips turned white.

...She had to get to Diaz's side.

Whether he was dying or still alive, she couldn't let him die without seeing him one last time—

Xiaoyue dialed Paul's number, her blue eyes showing no weakness, only resolute certainty.

"Husband, Madam!?"

A few seconds later, the call that Paul shouldn't have answered went through.

Then he responded to her in a tone of extreme surprise, yet one that he felt compelled to reply.

"Where is Diaz? Tell him to answer the phone, you son of a bitch!" Xiaoyue growled, her voice so unfamiliar that even she didn't recognize it. It was the first time in her life that she had given such a rude and angry order.

A few seconds later, she could hear a cacophony of shouts and some vulgar curses, but they seemed to be naturally ignored, as if blocked out, until Xiaoyue took a deep breath and roared from her diaphragm—

"Dias Vincent!"

"You fucking wake up! Or I'll jump off this apartment right now!"

These words exhausted all her strength, and the moment she finished shouting, her head even jolted, making it hard for her to breathe.

Even Paul on the other end of the microphone was slightly taken aback. The "godmother," who always seemed gentle and refined and needed protection, was now so bold as to threaten to harm him.

Upon hearing this roar, Diaz, who had fainted, frowned slightly, and his eyelashes seemed to tremble for a moment.

But before Xiaoyue could get a response, a sharp pain shot through her abdomen, causing her to instinctively cry out, "...Hiss!"

Then came a warm current that slowly soaked through her pajama bottoms, flowing down her thighs.

The next second, the phone slipped from her hand and landed on the carpet with a heavy "thud!" The concern on the other end of the phone was as blurry as if seen through a curtain of water.

Her vision gradually blurred into darkness, as the excruciating pain overwhelmed her.

The final shot lingers on the dark, plush carpet, amidst scattered documents, on that one line—

Wife, I love you.