"How is she...?" Zhu Jingwei cautiously walked to the door of Song Wan's room and happened to run into Lin Zhaojiang coming out of it.
Her eyes were filled with anxiety and worry, yet she was at a loss for what to do.
“The doctor said it might be a relapse of depression…” Lin Zhaojiang pulled her aside and whispered.
Zhu Jingwei was taken aback. "What depression?"
"It's just..." Lin Zhaojiang didn't want to dwell on that past. But now that Song Wan's condition was worsening, he had no choice but to confront it again.
“I understand.” Zhu Jingwei nodded, her brows furrowed. “I always felt that your relationship wasn’t simple, that she was a woman who only approached you for money… Turns out, she’s a stubborn girl, just like her mother when it comes to relationships!”
"I failed to protect her before."
“What’s done is done, there’s no going back,” Zhu Jingwei sighed. “But now, no matter the cost, we have to make her better!”
"I understand."
“Zhaojiang,” Zhu Jingwei led him to the study, took a box from a drawer and handed it to him, “You are my nephew, but you are no different from my own son. Now that you have found someone to spend your life with, so… I should give this to you.”
Lin Zhaojiang paused, opened the box, and inside was a jade bracelet.
The beautiful green and gentle white blend together, radiating a noble light under the lamp.
He recognized it at a glance; it was an heirloom of the Zhu family.
"Auntie, this..."
“Although your surname is Lin, your maternal grandfather’s family has never treated you as a ‘grandson’!” Zhu Jingwei said with a smile. “You are the heir of the Zhu family, and the Zhu family’s ancestral heirlooms should also be given to your wife!”
"Now we just hope Wanwan will get better soon. Your uncle and I will hold a grand wedding for you, so she can marry into our family in style and grow old with you!"
Lin Zhaojiang smiled and nodded, looking gratefully at his aunt.
He placed the bracelet beside Song Wan's pillow and gently stroked her face. The doctor had given her some sedatives, and she slept a little longer this time.
He thought of the environment she had lived in the Song family since childhood, and how Chen Li had used her as a tool to make money and sent her to his side...
Thinking back to the years she spent with him, she lived each day cautiously, as if walking on thin ice.
The thought that she couldn't even keep her own child, and that even after losing her memory, fate hadn't been kind to her in the slightest...
Lin Zhaojiang suddenly felt a pang of sorrow, and his eyes welled up with tears.
At the same time, she felt somewhat fortunate that the person she met was him.
If Chen Li had given her to someone else back then, she would have been stuck in a quagmire for the rest of her life, with no hope of ever seeing the light of day again.
"Ugh..." Song Wan groaned softly, her brows furrowing as she curled up in pain.
"Wanwan, what's wrong?"
Song Wan woke up with a start, sat up abruptly, and was stunned when she saw Lin Zhaojiang in front of her. She was speechless for a long time.
"Wanwan." Lin Zhaojiang held her hand.
The warmth of his palm gave her a sense of security.
"Shall I take you for a walk?"
Song Wan nodded in agreement, her expression still somewhat blank, like a puppet being pulled along by him.
These past few days, Lin Zhaojiang had been accompanying her around the island to relax. She thought this time would be the same, but to her surprise, Lin Zhaojiang took her directly to the dock and had the butler set sail.
A hint of surprise flashed across Song Wan's blank eyes.
She looked around and noticed a suitcase on the deck.
"Don't be afraid." He chuckled softly and put his arm around her shoulder. "You've probably gotten tired of living on the island for so long, haven't you? I'll take you to stay somewhere else for a while."
"Where...are we going?"
This was the first time she had spoken in days.
Suppressing his inner joy, Lin Zhaojiang whispered in her ear, "You'll know when we get there, you'll like it."
Song Wan leaned on his shoulder, the sea breeze caressing her face, carrying a cool and salty scent. Several seabirds circled their boat, emitting melodious and clear calls.
The sunset in the distance is breathtakingly beautiful.
Song Wan closed her eyes slightly. With him by her side, her heart felt like it was in a safe zone, able to land steadily no matter how high or far it flew.
*
Lin Zhaojiang took her back to the old villa.
That was their first little nest, filled with sweet memories, but also scars she didn't want to touch.
The moment she stepped into the courtyard, she seemed to be awakened by something, abruptly stopping in her tracks, looking at him helplessly.
Lin Zhaojiang's heart tightened. In her eyes, he saw fear and helplessness, and he saw her avoidance and fear of the past.
"Zhaojiang, I..."
“This place is cleaned every day, so that one day, the lady of the house can come back.” He looked into her eyes, his voice gentle. “Shall we stay here tonight?”
Song Wan blinked, but didn't speak. Her palms were icy cold, and so was the temperature in her heart.
She wasn't oblivious to Lin Zhaojiang's worries; it's just that she's been in such a state of confusion lately... She doesn't know how to face all of this, how to face her biological father, or how to cope with her misplaced life.
She couldn't understand why, why it had to be her, why everyone else could grow up under their parents' protection, but she couldn't.
"Come on, let's take a walk around." Lin Zhaojiang handed the luggage to the servant, took Song Wan's hand, and led her around the small courtyard to the small hill behind it.
She followed him aimlessly, and before she knew it, she stood in front of a small tombstone. Her heart tightened, and tears welled up in her eyes instantly.
There was a bunch of daisies in front of the tombstone, which Lin Zhaojiang had placed there the day before.
“I dreamt about her last night.” He smiled bitterly and said in a low voice, “It’s strange, I don’t know what she looks like, but I saw her clearly in my dream last night.”
Song Wan turned her face and stared at him blankly.
“She looks like you,” Lin Zhaojiang said gently. “She was about three or four years old, wearing a floral dress, and ran towards me like a happy little bird… She shouted ‘Daddy!’ I opened my arms and hugged her. In my dream, I felt very warm. This was the first time I had hugged my own daughter.”
Song Wan's voice trembled: "And then?"
Lin Zhaojiang paused, his voice slightly hoarse, "Then she asked me... if my mother has been unhappy lately?"
Song Wan covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders trembling slightly.
"Wanwan, my daughter asked me to tell you that she's doing well over there, so she hopes you're doing well too. She hopes her mother can let go of all her unhappiness and become the happy person she used to be."
"Yunqi wants you to get better." Lin Zhaojiang's voice choked with emotion. "Even just to put her mind at ease, you have to get better, right?"
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