Yan Ning quickly patted Xiao Zhuo's head, "Please tell your brother that I'm sorry, I have to go now!"

Before he could finish speaking...

She had already turned around and was running quickly toward the gate.

She rushed to the roadside and hurriedly flagged down a taxi.

He opened the car door and jumped in, his voice urgent: "Driver, to the city's central hospital, please hurry!"

The taxi carrying her sped away from Xie Family Garden.

Almost the very next second after the taxi left.

Xie Huaiye came from the house to the garden.

He glanced around and saw only Xiao Zhu standing there with her pouting.

"Xiao Zhuo, where is Sister Yan Ning?" he asked.

Xiao Zhu looked up, pointed towards the door, her face full of confusion:

“Brother, just now a man named Uncle Liu called Sister Yan Ning. After she answered, he said there was an emergency at home and ran away in a hurry.”

Xie Huaiye's brows immediately furrowed.

Butler Liu?

He knew that it was the old housekeeper from Yan Ning's household.

Leaving in such a hurry... something serious must have happened.

Central Hospital.

When Yan Ning arrived, there were many people gathered outside the ward.

She pushed open the door and the first thing she saw was Su Yanting lying on the hospital bed.

Su Yanting was covered in tubes.

The ventilator rose and fell, emitting a regular, soft sound.

His eyes were half-open, his gaze unfocused.

But when he saw her, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared in his eyes.

He struggled to raise his trembling hand, his lips moving slightly.

“Yan Ning…”

His voice seemed to come from a great distance:

"...Dad is sorry for you and your mother..."

"dad……"

Yan Ning walked over and grasped that withered, cold hand.

My throat felt like it was blocked, and I couldn't make a sound.

She just held on tightly.

I felt him gently squeeze back, the force so light it was almost an illusion.

Then, the hand suddenly loosened and fell to its side.

Su Yanting fell into a coma again.

The curve on the heart rate monitor started to drop.

"Brother—! Don't go!"

Su Yunting rushed to the bedside and burst into tears.

Jiang Lan immediately covered her face with a tissue, her shoulders trembling.

She quickly gave Su Muyao and Su Yao, who were standing to the side, a wink.

The two were stunned for a moment, then burst into tears in unison.

Suddenly, the ward was filled with cries.

"Quiet down, everyone!"

Su Chengyue let out a low growl, silencing the chaotic crying.

His bloodshot eyes looked at Yan Ning, and he said in a sorrowful voice:

"Yan Ning, come out here for a moment."

In the corridor.

The disinfectant smell was so strong and pungent.

With his back to the ward door, Su Chengyue looked as if he had aged several years in an instant.

"Yan Ning".

His voice was hoarse, “I know… I know you and your mother have been wronged, but your father hasn’t had a single good day in all these years.”

“At the very bottom of his study drawer, there’s a locked metal box filled with photos of your mother and letters of repentance he’s written over the years… He truly knows he was wrong.”

Yan Ning's heart clenched suddenly.

She had actually seen that metal box in secret.

That day, she accidentally discovered the key, unlocking a long-sealed secret.

On the faded photos inside.

The mother's smile was so gentle it was heartbreaking.

The words on those letters were often blurred by tears.

"grandfather."

Yan Ning spoke, her voice trembling slightly, "It's not that I'm unwilling, it's that... I can't."

"The method of defying fate comes at a great cost, and at most it can only buy him a few months of lifespan. In the end, the outcome will not change."

She paused, a deeper pain welling up in her eyes:

"Besides... I can't do it. My mother has been lying in a cold grave for twenty years. Who has given her a second chance?"

"If I save him, what do all the suffering and grievances my mother endured matter?"

Su Chengyue turned around abruptly, his emotions running high: "Why are you so stubborn! That's all in the past! Aren't living people more important than a memory?"

"Who is providing you with food and clothing now? Who are your true family members? Don't you understand?"

"I know what I'm doing."

Yan Ning raised her eyes, her gaze brimming with tears, yet her expression remained exceptionally firm:

"Because I am clear-headed, I know that some mistakes cannot be made up for, and some forgivenesses cannot be given on behalf of my mother."

“I’ve seen her, in every photo, in my aunt’s and grandmother’s memories.”

"She was beautiful and gentle. She shouldn't have ended up like that. I can't forget her."

"Good! Good! Good!"

Su Chengyue's face turned ashen with rage. "You won't save him! Fine! Then you won't get a single thing from what your father left behind—company shares, real estate, funds! Go ahead and stick to your own logic!"

He glared at her fiercely, slammed the door, and went back to his hospital room.

Yan Ning leaned against the cold wall alone.

She slowly closed her eyes, her heart aching as if it were being torn apart.

Is she really that cold-blooded?

No, that's her father.

An unbreakable bond flows in their blood.

For a moment, she almost rushed in and tried it without thinking.

But then, my mother's face appeared before my eyes once again.

That kind-hearted woman who died alone...

She cannot betray him.

At that moment, an even more piercing and desperate wail suddenly came from the ward.

Accompanied by the piercing long beep of the monitoring device—

alright.

it's all over.

Yan Ning's body slid down the wall.

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