In mid-October, Gu Ci's driver was arrested. He stubbornly refused to admit that he knew Cheng Jie for three days in the interrogation room.

Even when Chen Ye threw the evidence in his face, he didn't say a word.

At this point, the case is not far from being truly closed, so Chen Ye is no longer in a hurry; he has plenty of time to slowly wear him down.

Sometimes they would wake the driver up in the middle of the night when he had just fallen asleep for interrogation. They would ask him a couple of questions, and if he refused to talk, they would just keep him waiting. If the driver showed any signs of falling asleep, they would bang on the table to wake him up.

By the fifth day, the driver had completely broken down and hadn't slept well for three days in a row.

Just as he was about to go to sleep, this damn cop started interrogating him, asking him some tricky questions he couldn't answer and then leaving him hanging.

"What exactly do you want?! I'm going to file a complaint against you, report you! You're deliberately torturing and insulting me!"

Chen Ye leaned back lazily in his chair, slowly twirling his cigarette case and tapping the table repeatedly. "Oh my, you've got a temper after all. I thought you were just a dutiful and loyal dog."

You're the dog!

"Hey!" Chen Ye pointed at him, "Insulting a police officer is an even more serious offense. I'll give you a chance to take that back."

The driver hesitated for a moment, then fell silent.

Chen Ye chuckled, stood up, and leaned against the edge of the table. "Why are you so persistent? Actually, we already know the answer in our hearts. We just need your testimony as evidence. It was Gu Ci who instructed you to go to Cheng Jie to kill Meng Sheng, right?"

"In late September, you received an extra two million yuan in your account. Gu Ci transferred it to you in three separate transactions, from different bank accounts. Was this what she promised you?"

The driver fell silent.

Chen Ye put on a good-natured act, "It's okay, if you want to drag this out, I can drag it out with you. There's plenty of time. You have no chance of getting out. Hiring someone to commit murder will get you at least three years in prison, and the stolen money will be frozen."

"If you confess now, you can get a reduced sentence and be a fine man again when you get out. But if you deliberately obstruct our investigation and refuse to cooperate, it will only increase your punishment."

Before he could finish speaking, the driver gritted his teeth and said, "It was the Third Miss! She's the one who told me to find Cheng Jie and instructed him to kill Meng Sheng. I... I actually tried to persuade her, after all, this is murder, no small matter, and I wasn't sure what to do..."

Chen Ye tilted his head and glanced at the clerk.

The clerk nodded.

That afternoon, Chen Ye, accompanied by six police officers, reappeared in the VIP ward of Chengxi Hospital.

Before I even stepped inside, a heart-wrenching cry came from within: "Aci, Aci, look at Mommy! It's Mommy! Mommy's here! Don't go, don't go! Mommy's here! Aci, my Aci, Aci!"

"Didn't you call last night and ask me to have dinner with you? Mom's here, and your brother's here too. Come back quickly, open your eyes and look at us! Ah! Aci, my daughter! How could you bear to leave us? Letting me, an old woman, bury my young!"

Chen Ye paused, sensing something was wrong, and quickly went inside, only to see the nanny standing at the door wiping away tears.

A few steps further in, the doctors and nurses stood a meter or two away from the bed, bowing their heads in silent mourning.

Liu Lingyi and Gu Lin lay on the edge of the bed, sobbing loudly.

He frowned. The nanny recognized them first, "Police... officers?"

Upon hearing the nanny's voice, all the doctors and nurses in the room turned around to look.

Chen Ye walked in, looked at Gu Ci on the hospital bed, whose face was pale and lifeless, and asked, "What happened?"

Gu Lin wiped away her tears, stood up, and looked at the men in plainclothes. "Are you police officers?"

Chen Ye simply pulled out his badge, "Chen Ye, Captain of the Chengnan Criminal Investigation Detachment."

“We are here today to invite Ms. Gu Ci to come back to the police station with us for questioning. According to her driver, Wang Yonglin, he was entrusted by Gu Ci to pay Cheng Jie to kill Meng Sheng.”

The whole room fell silent suddenly, and everyone stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Gu Lin spoke first, "Wh...what? You're saying my sister hired someone to kill someone? How...how could that be? Captain Chen, isn't there some misunderstanding? How could my sister..."

“Mr. Gu, we wouldn’t be here today without evidence. If Miss Gu Ci were to…”

"She can't leave." After the initial shock, Liu Lingyi's tears flowed even more freely. "You're too late. My Aci left six minutes ago."

Chen Ye paused for a moment, looking at the person on the hospital bed.

As expected.

When he came to the hospital last time, Gu Ci's condition was already quite bad.

But the doctor said that if she cooperates with the medication treatment, she should be able to hold on for another six months.

It's only been less than a month...

The doctor then stepped forward and said, "Mrs. Liu, Mr. Gu, please accept our condolences."

"Captain, what should we do?" Police officer Wu Yue walked up to Chen Ye.

Chen Ye frowned. Legally speaking, if a criminal suspect dies, it falls under the statutory category of "no criminal liability will be pursued." The case can only be dropped, and Wang Yonglin alone will be held criminally liable.

He hadn't expected things to turn out this way, and his feelings were a bit complicated.

"Let's go back," he said after a long pause.

Chen Ye and his group arrived and left in a hurry.

Today is actually Pei Sui's birthday. When he called Meng Sheng, the victim, Meng Sheng and Pei Sui were shopping in the mall, planning to go to the movies later.

"Gu Ci is dead?" Meng Sheng was still caught off guard.

"Yes, it was gone when I got there."

Chen Ye clicked his tongue, somewhat annoyed. "She's dead, so there's no way to pursue her criminal liability. I just called to let you know."

Meng Sheng frowned, paused for a moment, and then replied, "I understand. Thank you for your hard work, Captain Chen."

"It's alright, just... wish Ah Sui a happy birthday for me, this whole mess..."

"good."

After hanging up the phone, Meng Sheng looked at Pei Sui, opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Pei Sui nodded, "I heard you."

Meng Sheng was also a little angry, "Of all days..."

He could have died earlier or later, but of all times it happened to be on Pei Sui's birthday.

Who are they trying to annoy?

In the future, when he celebrates his birthday, will he have to remember that it is Gu Ci's death anniversary?

Pei Sui didn't seem to care much, and smiled as he took her hand, "It's alright, I don't mind. In any case, our two families won't be in contact anymore."

Meng Sheng sighed irritably, "I just feel uneasy..."

"Alright, let's shop around a bit more before the movie starts, don't think about these things." Pei Sui pulled her into another store, putting these unpleasant thoughts behind them.

Because the Gu family was going through a turbulent period, Gu Ci's funeral could not be kept low-key and still caused quite a stir online and in the industry.

Of course, because Gu Ci's scandals during her lifetime were so striking, most people viewed her death with the attitude of "she deserved it" and "she got what she deserved."

Some netizens would even stomp on it and hurl insults.

The funeral ended hastily.

In her second life, Gu Ci ultimately perished at her own hands, paying the price for all her obsessions. In her final moments, she also suffered greatly from illness and passed away at the age of 30.