Mrs. Qiao sighed, her cloudy eyes staring blankly at the photo of her and her two children on the bedside table. "I still want to hear your children call me maternal grandmother and paternal grandmother."

“Yes.” Qiao Zhen nodded.

Mrs. Qiao yawned, feeling drowsy, and closed her eyes to sleep.

Qiao Zhen stared at her for a while, and just as she was about to rest, her phone screen lit up.

Lu Zheng sent a WeChat message, "Asleep?"

Qiao Zhen estimated the time; Lu Zheng was still quite a distance from the city center. She replied casually, "Concentrate on driving and be careful."

Then she posted another message: "I'm very tired today, I'm going to sleep now. Good night."

"good evening."

Lu Zheng sent two words, and then his phone went silent.

Qiao Zhen closed her eyes, but the scenes kept replaying in her mind.

Lu Zheng suddenly appeared at the sanatorium, showering Qiao's mother with attention, forcefully threatening her, and then there was that kiss in the woods...

Qiao Zhen covered her head with the blanket to muffle her long sigh.

How long will she and Lu Zheng remain entangled on this path that is destined to have no future?

She was terrified that she would sink into the abyss woven by Lu Zheng and never be able to escape.

The next morning, Qiao Zhen hadn't slept well all night. With slightly red eyes and dark circles, she carefully covered them with concealer in the bathroom and then applied lipstick to make herself look better. Then, under the pretext of getting breakfast for her mother and the others, she went downstairs with her head down.

"Bang!" As she stepped out of the building, she bumped into a passerby and quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry..." She looked up, her pupils slowly dilating, staring in surprise at the conspicuous red spots on the person's face. "Mr. Lu... what happened to your... face?!"