Chapter 114: His Life Was a Joke
If it was a suicide case like the rumors said, it wasn’t an unsolvable situation, as long as the hotel fully cooperated with the investigation. Besides, Zhou Fu was a man who had seen his fair share of storms; he should have been able to handle something like this with calm composure.
But the look on Zhou Fu’s face right now was anything but calm.
Shen Xiumo, still standing at the elevator entrance, heard Jiang Su’s question and wanted to join in on the gossip. “Is it about the jumper?”
But the elevator doors had already closed, giving him no chance to get in.
Only Jiang Su and Zhou Fu were left inside.
Zhou Fu’s brow was tightly furrowed and never relaxed. He looked at Jiang Su, his expression a mixture of complexity and sorrow.
Just as the elevator was about to reach the first floor, Zhou Fu finally spoke, his voice heavy. “It was President Huo’s mother…”
Jiang Su’s mind went blank with a buzz. After a few seconds, he managed to ask in a mumble, “What do you mean?”
“While President Huo was with his mother’s doctor, she escaped from the hospital and went to find Huo Zhenheng,” Zhou Fu said, his words slow and clear.
There wasn’t a single wasted word in that short sentence, and each one sent a chill through Jiang Su’s heart.
“How is that possible?” Jiang Su still couldn’t believe it. “How could Auntie Duan have escaped on her own? She couldn’t even get out of bed and walk…”
— Ding!
The sound of the elevator arriving rang out again. They had reached the first floor.
Zhou Fu’s face was filled with a grim understanding. “She fooled all of us.”
Jiang Su repeated the words under his breath. With a grim expression, he followed Zhou Fu out of the elevator.
“Where’s Huo Qingyan?”
…
At the hospital…
As soon as Jiang Su got out of the elevator, he sprinted toward the emergency room. From a distance, he could see a tall figure with his back to them, standing and facing the ER doors.
Jiang Su ran right up to him. “Huo Qingyan!”
Huo Qingyan’s face was ashen. He didn’t seem to hear Jiang Su calling his name at all.
“Huo Qingyan, say something!” Jiang Su put his hands on Huo Qingyan’s shoulders and gave him a shake.
Only then did Huo Qingyan finally show a flicker of reaction. His voice was laced with a sob. “She lied to me.”
“She said she hoped I would be better… She lied to me… She doesn’t want me anymore…” Huo Qingyan was starting to ramble, but Jiang Su understood every word.
Zhou Fu, watching from the side, felt a pang of sorrow and had to look away.
Jiang Su suddenly didn’t know how to comfort him. Although no one had told him the full story yet, he could piece together what had happened from what Zhou Fu had said earlier.
Auntie Duan’s legs must have been fine for a while, but she hadn’t let anyone know. Which meant she had been secretly planning this all along—to take Huo Zhenheng down with her.
Jiang Su had just visited her yesterday. She had been so gentle, telling him stories about Huo Qingyan’s childhood, and she had seemed so full of hope.
But in just one short day, how had it come to this?
Even Jiang Su himself found it hard to accept.
Any words of comfort would seem pale and powerless now.
Jiang Su stepped forward and gently wrapped his arms around Huo Qingyan.
Huo Qingyan stood motionless like a puppet, letting Jiang Su hold him.
After what felt like an eternity, Jiang Su felt arms wrap around his waist. The grip tightened, like a drowning man clinging to his last piece of straw with all his might.
The embrace was so tight it made Jiang Su’s waist ache, but he gritted his teeth and said nothing.
Huo Qingyan buried his face in Jiang Su’s shoulder. A warm liquid seeped through the thin fabric of his shirt, dampening his shoulder. Jiang Su stiffened for a moment but quickly relaxed.
Thank goodness he was wearing a black shirt today.
…
“We’re very sorry. We did everything we could…”
The doctor stood before them, apologizing to Huo Qingyan.
Huo Qingyan ignored the doctor and stepped forward, about to lift the white sheet, but Jiang Su grabbed his hand.
Huo Qingyan turned to look at Jiang Su, his eyes filled with confusion.
Jiang Su looked him in the eye and said just three words: “I’ll help you.”
Anyone who fell from the thirtieth floor would have died instantly, their features unrecognizable. But Huo Qingyan had insisted the doctors try to save them, and they had no choice but to comply.
Huo Qingyan’s gaze moved numbly to the white sheet. “I can do it myself.”
He seemed to be using all his strength, but his voice was still quieter than a normal person’s.
Huo Qingyan gently pried Jiang Su’s fingers off his hand, carefully placed Jiang Su’s hand back at his side, and lifted the white sheet himself.
First was Duan Zhixi. Then, Huo Zhenheng.
The two people who had loved him and tormented him, who shared the same blood, now lay here in silence.
…
Zhou Fu stood guard at the door. When Huo Qingyan and Jiang Su came out, he handed Huo Qingyan a simply folded piece of paper.
“I found this under Madam’s pillow.” A look of self-blame crossed Zhou Fu’s face. He should have been more cautious when she had asked him for a pen and paper that morning. But her condition had been improving so much lately that the thought had never even crossed his mind.
Huo Qingyan’s hand trembled as he took the letter. He tried several times but couldn’t open it.
Finally, Jiang Su reached out and opened it for him.
On it was Duan Zhixi’s elegant handwriting.
Qingyan,
If you are reading this letter, you must be happy for your mother. Do not be sad.
I didn’t do this for you. I did it for myself.
My life was already in ruins, beyond repair. Even if I had lived, the nightmares he gave me would have followed me like a shadow, giving me no peace, day after day.
Before this, I had never done a wicked thing in my life, yet I suffered his torment for no reason. So I had to defeat him. I had to make him die.
A life for a life. I willingly pay with my own…
…
The “he” in the letter was, of course, Huo Zhenheng.
Duan Zhixi wanted to tell Huo Qingyan through this letter that she hadn’t taken Huo Zhenheng down with her just so Huo Qingyan could be free from his control forever.
But Jiang Su remembered what she had said the first time he visited her in the hospital.
— I’m a mother. I want to protect my child, too.
— He is a demon at his core. He will never change.
It was probably then that Duan Zhixi had made up her mind to kill Huo Zhenheng. She knew that as long as Huo Zhenheng was alive, he would never stop using her to control Huo Qingyan.
In the end, she had protected her child in her own way.
Huo Qingyan read the letter over and over again, several times, before he finally whispered, “Everyone who knew my mother said she was a very gentle person.”
But this woman, who was so gentle in everyone’s eyes she seemed fragile, had done something that even he, her own son, had never imagined.
His whole life felt like a joke.
He was not a good husband, nor a good son.
He didn’t know when his partner wanted a divorce. He didn’t know when his mother was preparing to risk her life.
And yet, they had both truly loved him.
But they had both left him.
Now, there was nothing left for him in this world to look forward to.
The rest of his life would be spent repaying the debt he owed to Jiang Su.
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