Chapter 43 His Achilles' Heel
When Su Wantang arrived at the corridor of the military hospital, several people had already gathered at the ward entrance.
Grandpa Lu leaned on his cane, his face ashen. Grandma Lu held a handkerchief, constantly wiping the corners of her eyes, her gaze occasionally sweeping over a woman beside her, filled with a sense of dependence and acceptance.
Ye Manrou.
She was dressed in a well-fitting dress and wore delicate light makeup. She was gently comforting Grandma Lu, and her demeanor was exactly that of the future mistress of the Lu family.
Upon seeing Su Wantang, a hint of undisguised smugness and resentment flashed in Ye Manrou's eyes, but her face remained gentle and virtuous. She walked gracefully over and blocked Su Wantang's path.
“Miss Su, you’ve arrived.” Her voice wasn’t loud, just loud enough for the two elders of the Lu family to hear. “Brother Jingyan… sigh, he was so careless. But you don’t need to blame yourself too much. Some people’s fate is just like that, very tough, Kefu.”
After she finished speaking, she patted Su Wantang's arm understandingly, with an expression that said, "I understand you."
Grandma Lu stopped crying, and her gaze toward Su Wantang instantly turned sharp and mean, filled with disgust.
Su Wantang didn't even spare Ye Manrou a glance, nor did she pay any attention to the gazes of the Lu family elders. She moved like a gust of wind, directly bypassing Ye Manrou and placing her hand on the doorknob.
"You!" Ye Manrou's smile froze on her face. She hadn't expected that her powerful attack would hit empty air.
"Su Wantang! Didn't you hear me? Grandma doesn't want you to go in! You jinx, you're the one who brought bad luck to Brother Jingyan! The Lu family doesn't welcome you!" Enraged, she no longer cared about pretense and her voice became shrill.
Su Wantang's hand remained on the doorknob; she didn't turn around.
"Oh? In what capacity are you acting on behalf of the Lu family?"
One sentence left Ye Manrou speechless, her face turning a deep purplish-red.
Ignoring the farce outside, Su Wantang turned the doorknob and pushed the door open to enter.
With a "bang," all the noise was shut out.
The ward was quiet, with only the regular beeping of the electrocardiogram monitor.
Lu Jingyan lay in bed, his left arm in a sling and a thick cast. He was wearing a blue and white striped hospital gown, his face was deathly pale, with some abrasions on his forehead and chapped lips.
But those deep eyes were unusually bright.
He was awake and had been waiting for her.
Their eyes met, and neither of them spoke.
Su Wantang walked to the bedside, took something out of her pocket, and gently placed it on the bedside table.
It's a cufflink.
It's silver, leaf-shaped, and has a bit of dried soil clinging to it.
"The person is dead." Her voice was soft, slightly hoarse from the journey. "This was found at the scene."
In short, it is concise and to the point.
Lu Jingyan shifted his gaze from the cufflinks back to her face.
Her eyes were bloodshot, with faint dark circles under them, clearly indicating she hadn't slept all night. Yet, her eyes remained clear and bright, devoid of accusation or resentment.
There was no blame, no resentment, only a calm that made him feel utterly ashamed.
All the suspicion, anger, and misunderstanding became the most ridiculous joke at this moment.
Yes, how could she betray him?
This woman stood on the same side as him from the very beginning; she was frighteningly clear-headed and frighteningly powerful.
It was his old wounds, his inner demons, that turned him into a mad beast, baring his fangs indiscriminately and severely wounding his only ally who stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
He reached out his uninjured right hand and grabbed her hand that was resting on the edge of the bed.
"sorry."
He spoke, his voice hoarse and strained, as if it had been sanded.
"Wantang, I'm sorry."
Su Wantang lowered her eyes, looking at his hand gripping hers, his knuckles turning white from the force. She didn't struggle, nor did she respond.
The pain in Lu Jingyan's eyes intensified. He gripped her hand even tighter, as if afraid she would vanish like smoke.
“It wasn’t an accident,” he explained urgently, as if he wanted to expose his own chest to her. “Someone tampered with the car’s brakes. On the mountain road, a big truck came rushing towards us from the opposite direction, trying to kill me.”
"Before I lost consciousness, I saw the driver, who was Liu Mazi, the one who tipped you off at the cement factory."
Su Wantang's eyelashes trembled slightly.
Lu Jingyan took a deep breath, a look of extreme pain appearing on his pale face.
"Wantang, let me finish."
Faced with the test of life and death, and the fear of almost losing her forever, he finally agreed to tear open his bloody wound and expose the nightmare that had haunted him for ten years to her.
“I have a younger sister named Lu Jingyue. She disappeared ten years ago.”
His voice was low, and every word seemed to be squeezed out of his chest.
“Everyone says she got lost in the back hills of Xishan Sanatorium because she was playing around. But I don’t believe it. She’s the best-behaved and most obedient girl; she never runs away.”
“I found a clue, and I suspect it was my second uncle… I suspect it was Lu Wenbo. I took the evidence to question him, and to question my father and my grandfather.”
"But none of them believed me."
“They said I was crazy, that I was possessed, and that I should believe the evidence and the facts they ‘saw’.”
His breathing became heavy, his whole body trembled slightly, and his eyes were frighteningly red.
"What I saw was my sister's favorite hair clip lying on the edge of a cliff. What I saw was Lu Wenbo's hypocritical face. What I saw was everyone advising me to give up and accept reality."
“I was isolated. It felt like the whole world had abandoned me. Even my closest relatives were against me, saying I was wrong.”
Su Wantang listened quietly, and she could feel his hand gripping hers trembling uncontrollably.
"So, when I saw you standing with Liu Mazi at the cement factory..." Lu Jingyan's voice was thick with nasal tone. This tough man was as vulnerable as a child at this moment.
"I...I lost control."
“It’s not that I don’t believe you, Wan Tang, it’s not that I don’t believe you.”
He repeated it, as if trying to convince her, but more like trying to convince himself.
"I'm scared."
He looked up, and in his scarlet eyes reflected her cold face, filled with a vulnerability and fear she had never seen before.
“I’m afraid of experiencing that feeling again, afraid of watching helplessly as my family is taken away from me.”
"I subconsciously... have already come to regard you as family."
family.
Su Wantang looked at the man in front of her, a man who laid bare his deepest scars and most vulnerable weaknesses before her.
It turns out, he did believe her.
He was just too afraid of losing her.
Su Wantang's tightly pursed lips finally relaxed slightly. She reached back and gently covered his burning hot hand with her cool fingertips.
"Lu Jingyan".
She spoke, her voice still cool, but no longer so harsh.
You should be thankful that you're still alive.
"Otherwise, I will personally tear your second uncle's bones apart, then destroy the Ye family, and bury them with you."
Her tone was very calm, as if she were talking about something trivial.
But Lu Jingyan understood.
This woman was telling him in her own way.
—I've remembered your grudge. I'll protect your people.
A powerful surge of warmth instantly washed away all his defenses and pain.
Lu Jingyan suddenly pulled her towards him with force.
Caught off guard, Su Wantang fell into his arms.
His chin rested on the top of her head, his hot breath spraying onto her ear.
"Wantang..."
He called her name in a hoarse voice.
"Don't leave me."
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