After getting into the car, Gu Mai neatly folded his coat on the passenger seat. His clothes were all custom-made, but this one was not.
He had his assistant find this suit for him among various men's suit brand stores in S country, based on the beautiful look Zhuo Yue had described in his memory.
The entire road was covered in snow. Perhaps because there are few people in the suburbs, even the ice and snow on the road surface did not melt as much as the engines and tires of vehicles traveling in the city center.
Only when Gumai's car passes by, leaving tiny indentations and friction marks, these marks are quickly frozen and fixed on the ice surface by the cold air.
To make the road look less desolate.
As Gu Mai passed by the farm, the iron gate was already fastened together with thick iron chains, and large areas of the farm's trees had been cut down. It seemed the new owner hadn't yet decided how to plant anything.
The little wooden house, once filled with the warmth of a family's life, now had its eaves bent under the weight of thick snow, looking precarious and even unable to withstand a sudden strong wind.
Winter is truly a season when all things rest and decay.
The car continued driving until it stopped in front of a deserted, open body of water, where he got out with his clothes.
Despite the extreme cold, there were still streams of water that hadn't frozen.
He crouched down and put his hand into the narrow, flowing waterway. It was deep winter, and the feeling of the unfrozen water against his skin was the same as the pain of being cut by a knife.
But Gumai seemed not to feel it at all.
He didn't pull his hand out of the water until half of his finger started to turn purple and stiffen.
I put on the white suit neatly, but because my fingers were frozen, my hand, which usually holds a pen, now looked a little clumsy and inflexible as I just buttoned it up.
After she finished tidying up and sat down on a stone bench, she finally spoke.
"Moon, I'm too late. Perhaps I should have come to be with you when I knew you left from this place, but I forgot, I completely forgot."
“Your brother is right. I shouldn’t have associated with you when I couldn’t protect you. Your death was all because of me. I was certain he wouldn’t dare to harm the daughter of the Orland family, but I underestimated his ruthlessness. I never expected… I really never expected…”
Whether it was because of the cold weather or because he was talking to her, Gu Mai's voice began to tremble slightly.
"I forgot, he doesn't value human life..."
After a pause of unknown duration, he seemed to recall something happy, and a smile appeared on his lips.
His pale lips were alarming, but Gu Mai continued, "This is the white suit you said would look good on me. I had someone buy it for me. I'll wear it for you, okay?"
He looked down at his clothes, muttering to himself, "Is it still a bit late?"
No one responded to his words and questions. Just a few days ago, he could see her face whenever he closed his eyes. Why was she unwilling to see him now that he was here?
He thought that Zhuo Yue must be blaming him.
Yes, she should have been a princess growing up happily and carefree in Orland, doing whatever she wanted. She had just started university and chosen a major she liked, but why did she have to meet me?
If it weren't for her, someone like her, born in Rome, wouldn't need to go to hell.
A biting gust of cold wind blew out, and Gu Mai felt a sharp pain in his temples. Despite the scene of snow falling everywhere, his mind went dark. He saw Zhuo Yue lying on a stretcher, looking at him with broken clothes.
There wasn't a single tear left in his eyes, filled with sorrow and despair; he was like a rag doll whose limbs had been torn apart, unable to move.
Gu Mai suddenly opened his eyes and gasped for breath, gulping down large mouthfuls of cold air until the moisture in his throat seemed to freeze into ice. Swallowing felt like being cut by a knife.
The fishy smell rising in his mouth made Gu Mai want to vomit.
He hurriedly took the transparent glass tube out of his breast pocket; the warmth of his chest kept the solution inside the tube shimmering with a bright sheen.
He opened the lid with trembling hands and drank it down without hesitation.
The warm liquid slid down my throat, diluting the blood in my throat, and the bitter taste didn't even linger on the back of my tongue for long.
He leaned weakly against the rock behind him, the glass bottle slipping from his hand and shattering with a crisp sound.
The sound quickly blended into the open forest wilderness. A crow on a distant withered tree let out a startled cry, which startled the snow off the tree, creating a white curtain.
He smiled.
Zhuo Wen heard about this the next morning, not from some widely reported news media, but from a well-dressed man with meticulously styled hair who came to Orland Manor and said he wanted to see him.
The man didn't utter a single extra word, like an emotionless robot. His movements were rigid and his voice was colder than the outdoor temperature.
“Hello Mr. Zhuo, I am the lawyer entrusted by the head of the Sige family to handle his will. Mr. Gu Mai passed away yesterday afternoon. Before his death, he instructed me to personally deliver this gift agreement to you.”
Dead?
Zhuo Wen's face showed a rare look of confusion and shock.
His brow furrowed, trying to recall something from his actions in Orlando yesterday.
The lawyer didn't rush to speak, waiting for him to catch his breath before spreading out several pages of detailed will contents on the table.
He glanced casually at the details on the piece of paper on the table and understood.
"So this is his compensation to Zhuo Yue?"
“I’m sorry, I don’t know. I’m just following Mr. Gu Mai’s instructions to carry out the contents of the will.”
The answer is obvious.
Zhuo Wen felt something was strange. In the past, when he wanted to take revenge, this was the most satisfying result he could imagine.
Upon hearing the news of his death, Zhuo Wen felt no relief.
The contents of the will amounted to almost half the value of the Scott family, and he raised a slightly mocking expression.
But he pushed the piece of paper on the table away, saying, "I refuse."
The lawyer sitting opposite him didn't even change his expression, as if someone had warned him that this would happen.
“Mr. Zhuo, you can reconsider. Mr. Gu Mai said that even if you refuse this amount, it will not be included in the subsequent division of property, but will be donated entirely to charity.”
"Heh." He chuckled lightly, seemingly puzzled. "No matter what it's for, I refuse. Please leave. I imagine things are in an uproar over there with Si Ge. Since he anticipated my refusal, let's proceed according to his plans."
The relaxed tone didn't sound like the rejection of a gift of wealth worth half the economic value of a nation, but rather like casually tossing away a crumpled piece of paper, the astronomical figure on it having its fate decided in just a few words.
After the lawyer left, he burned the envelope on Zhuo Yueling's altar, leaving only the paper scraps and ashes floating on the table.
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