35. Song Without Words, Op. 19, No. 4

◎Suicide◎

Even though Mr. Liang felt that the mother and daughter were taking advantage of his misfortune, he could only reluctantly agree with a twitching smile.

Calling the police would only scare him and wouldn't pose any threat to Liang Chuling.

Liang Chuling was actually hoping he would call the police, so everyone could see how Mr. Liang angered his first wife to the point of having a heart attack and being hospitalized, how he was so petty with his own daughter, and how he had an illegitimate child outside that he needed to take responsibility for. The media would be so interested in this dramatic family drama.

If things escalate, the losses will go far beyond money; they will also damage the image that Liang's father has painstakingly built, the company's stock price, and the business relationships that rely on a happy family as a guarantee.

She didn't need to scream; she bet he wouldn't dare, that he cherished his carefully crafted facade more than anyone else.

"Either sign here today, and we'll settle the payment and you go take care of your family matters, or we'll keep dragging this out and see who can't wait any longer."

Liang Chuling emphasized the word "wait" as if to stress to herself that she would never again be stuck in a cycle of waiting.

She would never.

If she could, she should discuss it with Li Xun. Li Xun would definitely not agree to this plan, would return to China, and would propose a long but correct solution.

But she won't.

From the moment she actively exploited Zhou Xu's sense of sacrifice, from the moment she knowingly made a wrong choice, from the moment she offered a reason to take a risk for her, and from the moment she let Zhou Xu continue acting out the script and adding to his own burdens, she stopped waiting.

Ms. Ma was also greatly shocked. Liang Chuling's words could not stop her, and she had already come out. But now was not a good time to ask questions. She was also worried that if she pressed for answers, she would inadvertently side with Liang's father, and thus put pressure on Liang Chuling.

The only option is to pretend nothing happened and ignore it.

It was as if Liang's father was truly getting to know his daughter for the first time.

"Okay." This one word almost exhausted all of Liang's father's strength.

But Liang Chuling was not happy. Looking at her father, who was once a great man in her heart, she realized that he was now just a worthless man.

--

Zhou Xu looked at the message Liang Chuling had sent on his phone and breathed a sigh of relief.

One can almost picture Liang Chuling staring at her hypocritical father in the hospital room, ultimately forcing him to sign a humiliating treaty. And he was the one who helped her in this battle.

This feeling of being needed by Liang Chuling comforted his anxiety caused by injuries and career setbacks. He felt a sense of pride that he had finally done something useful.

Now that the matter is settled, this trouble should also be dealt with.

I glanced at the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes on the sofa…

He didn't know how to hold a child; the child's fragile neck filled him with inexplicable fear. Before, when the child cried incessantly, he could only stand by and watch. In the end, it was only after the temporary nanny he hired fed the child some milk that he was able to finally soothe the child to sleep.

As planned, a car was arranged, the baby was placed in a baby carrier in the back seat, and the driver was instructed to ensure a safe delivery.

He thought the matter was over, that he had solved a major problem for Liang Chuling, and that it had a touch of chivalrous romance. Immersed in a sense of self-satisfaction, he underestimated the complexity of human nature and the misalignment of information.

After signing the papers and leaving the hospital, Mr. Liang did not contact the woman.

He felt the matter was resolved and there was no need to waste any more words, especially since he was still angry and of course couldn't reflect on his actions.

Now he can only blame that woman—he feels she is insatiable!

She also took her anger out on the child—if only this troublesome child hadn't been born!

It was this woman and her son who led him to his current predicament.

If it were Ms. Ma, she would clearly understand that this is simply his consistent style of doing things—selfish, only considering his own emotions and interests, and never taking into account the feelings and circumstances of others.

But the woman didn't quite understand.

The woman, dressed in pajamas with disheveled hair, was alone in Liang's father's company, watching her phone and feeling like every second was an eternity.

Should she call the police? She couldn't even say who the child's father was, and she was afraid of angering Mr. Liang and losing her last support.

Her son was taken away by unidentified people and disappeared without a trace. She frantically dialed Liang's father's phone number, starting with crying and pleading, then turning into desperate curses, until finally no one answered.

After finally getting through, Liang's father was extremely impatient on the other end: "Stop arguing, are you annoying or what? I'll handle it! If you keep making trouble, don't even think about me divorcing you and marrying you!"

Clinging to a last glimmer of hope, the woman arrived at Liang's father's company. The male receptionist recognized her and, citing that Mr. Liang was out, stopped her in the lounge area.

She sat on the sofa in the busy rest area from morning to afternoon.

The weight of the child still lingers in her arms, but now it feels empty.

She loves the child, but not necessarily. She and the nanny take care of the child, who cries constantly. She loses clumps of hair, and when she gets impatient, she wants to stuff the child into the closet to stop the crying.

I don't love her that much, but I can't just let her disappear like that... She gave birth to our child.

She grabbed anyone she met and begged incoherently, "Please, please help me find Mr. Liang, my son is missing, he's so young..."

Some people nodded perfunctorily, while others avoided the issue like the plague. In this space where profit and efficiency reign supreme, a woman with an emotionally unstable and awkward identity, along with her illegitimate child, is simply a nuisance.

Her anxiety, her fear, her repeated complaints went unnoticed.

Postpartum depression acted like a dark filter, distorting her perception of the world and amplifying the harm caused by every rejection. She felt abandoned by the whole world.

The driver of the car Zhou Xu arranged got stuck in traffic at an intersection near the company. Seeing that there wasn't much distance left, he had no choice but to call the recipient. The woman answered the phone, stumbled over, and immediately saw the child in the back seat.

The child was crying loudly with his mouth open because of the long bumpy ride and uncomfortable position.

She didn't know how the child came to be—was it a hallucination? Or…?

"My child!" She pulled the crying baby into her arms, feeling the warmth of life again. She bent down and kissed the baby's forehead and cheeks. Tears welled up.

The child's crying did not stop; because of this action and the mother's intense emotions, the crying became even more heart-wrenching.

The cries pierced her eardrums and her broken nerves.

Holding her child, whom she had lost and then found again, she looked around—

What good would going back do? Would I continue to face endless waiting, accusations, my child's crying, and that man's emotional abuse?

Rather than that, it would be better to...

Let's leave together.

She held her crying child tightly, murmuring to herself, "Don't cry, Mommy will take you away, we'll leave this place..."

After saying that, she stopped looking at the vehicles and rushed towards the traffic lane.

"Stop her! Quickly!"

"Child! Be careful!"

Exclamations, screech of brakes, and screams filled the air.

At the last second, the driver and several quick-thinking pedestrians pulled the mother and child away from the dangerous traffic.

The child cried even louder from fright, while the woman, restrained by the crowd, collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

The unusual behavior quickly attracted attention.

Someone called the police, and the media, with their keen sense of smell, quickly gathered around, their cameras focused on the out-of-control woman.

Zhou Xu and Liang Chuling saw the news push almost simultaneously.

[Shocking! Prominent entrepreneur Liang XX is suspected of being embroiled in an extramarital affair; his mistress, along with their young child, attempted suicide outside his company building!]

[Author's Note]

I want to reiterate once again that I hope readers will not hate Chu Ling and will try their best to understand her. Even if you don't understand her, please don't judge her. I do not accept any judgment of my female protagonists. I love them.

From childhood to adulthood, before meeting Li Xun, Chu Ling never benefited from love (emotional value is also a benefit). She only benefited from her family and once thought her family was wonderful. She was a content person because of her outstanding talent.

Talent and music are at the heart of her self-worth, and the sole source of her sense of accomplishment and existence. She is content because her rich inner world is enough to offset many worldly feelings of lack.

Her family was once her perfect haven; even without her parents, she could find contentment. Her parents provided ample material comforts, didn't interfere with her music, and their occasional reunions were a source of warmth. She interpreted this provision itself as love and happiness.

But when the family's fortress crumbled, both parents cheated on each other, and the father even tried to seize the family property using his illegitimate child, causing the mother to suffer a heart attack and be hospitalized, it was a devastating blow to Chu Ling.

In this situation, she asked Zhou Xu to carry out the kidnapping plan, not because she didn't know it was wrong, but because she felt she had no other choice but to choose the most extreme way to break free.

She didn't tell Li Xun because, in her heart, Li Xun represented a purer kind of relationship. She wanted their past to be frozen in time at a beautiful moment.

She is both exploiting human weaknesses and stubbornly guarding the humanity she cherishes. Her current environment is not one she is comfortable in, so judging her from the perspective of this environment is very unfair.

I hope everyone loves her, and I hope even more people will love her.