Chapter 27: Fu Shiyong, Do You Trust Me or Yuyue?!

Fu Shiyong’s mind was flooded with the image of Yu Zao battered and bleeding. He didn’t catch a single word from the bodyguard captain, rushing toward the inpatient department in a frantic state of panic.

Twenty minutes later.

Following the address from a text message, Yu Zao took a taxi to Crescent Mountain. She climbed up the rugged, wild path. The visibility along the way was dim, and she was already nursing injuries. The leg that had just been set felt like rotting cotton, dragging limply across the muddy trail.

"Yiyi!"

When she finally reached the summit, the wind was howling, and raindrops as large as beans pelted her body, mixing with the pain of her unceasing wounds, piercing her to the core. Yet, Yu Zao cared only about finding her son. She staggered toward the edge of the cliff.

But she had only gone halfway when a drone suddenly ascended. A projector was strapped to its frame, and a massive screen unfurled from the treetops.

"Mommy, boo-hoo-hoo, Daddy, I want Mommy, where is Mommy? Yiyi wants Mommy..."

The choked sobs of a young child emanated from the screen. In the video playing, two-year-old Fu Yiyi was covered in rashes from a high fever, his little face flushed a deep, burning red. He was delirious, reaching out into the void, searching for his mother’s embrace.

"Mommy, don't leave, don't dislike Daddy for having no money."

"Please wait a little longer. When Yiyi grows up, I will definitely earn lots and lots of money for Mommy."

"Mommy, Yiyi loves you so much~"

Even in his feverish delirium, the little one forced his limp body to sit up. He gestured a heart shape toward a mother who wasn't there.

"How is it?"

Suddenly, just as Yu Zao was being pushed to the brink of collapse by these images, Yu Yue, wearing a face mask, silently circled behind her. They stood like they had during their best years as children—one behind the other, holding her close.

"Sister, isn't our little Yiyi particularly pitiful?"

"His mother is vain and abandoned her husband and child, yet the darling is still a darling—he loves you so much."

Like a viper, those slick fingers gripped Yu Zao’s dainty chin, which was as rounded and flawless as a rare jewel.

"But it’s such a pity, isn't it? My dear sister, Yiyi ran away from home because of you, refusing to go to the hospital no matter what."

"He kept saying that as long as he was sick, Mommy would feel sorry for him and come back to find him."

"In the end..."

Yu Yue’s voice, laced with a venomous smirk, suddenly paused. The video on the screen switched rapidly. It was surveillance footage from the hospital emergency room. Fu Yiyi lay on a gurney, unconscious. On another bed, Fu Shiyong’s exceptionally handsome face was deathly pale, devoid of all color.

Both of his wrists had had their tendons severed. Even with the makeshift bandages applied in the car, large patches of blood continued to seep through. The doctor shouted, "Quick, quick! One big, one small, father and son—one is in shock from a high fever, suspected meningitis; the other is a failed suicide attempt, excessive blood loss. Hurry! Get them to the operating room, now!"

The scene was in complete chaos. Yu Zao was rigid, as if she could no longer feel the excruciating pain of her broken bones and reopened wounds. Her hands, braced against the ground, dug deep into the filthy dirt. Her fingernails split; the pain was visceral.

"Hee hee hee, the video is over."

"But I love my dear sister so much, so I'll give you a spoiler."

"Yiyi was terribly ill, in a coma for half a month. When he woke up, he had no memory of you at all; he only recognizes me as his mother."

"As for Shiyong, he suffered from severe depression, but with my companionship over these past three years, his illness has improved greatly."

"He even said he would be grateful to me for the rest of his life and love me forever~"

The screen flickered. When the image returned, it was in the lounge of a villa. A man and a half-naked woman were entwined. In the heat of passion, he murmured in a deep, magnetic voice, "Don't leave me, I beg you, don't leave me..."

Seeing Fu Shiyong’s love for Yu Yue with her own eyes once again, Yu Zao had thought that after three years, and having chosen this path herself, she should be used to it, immune to it—perhaps she should even wish for a better future for him and Yiyi.

But why? Why did her heart still ache so much? Why was she so unwilling to accept it?

"Boo-hoo-hoo, Mommy..."

On the cliff, Fu Yiyi’s sickly voice drifted over. Held down by Yu Yue, Yu Zao tried to rise from her knees, but with one leg broken, the slightest pressure from her tormentor left her sprawled on the ground like a helpless fish.

"Sister, look at you—penniless, pathetic, and left with nothing."

"You’re a natural-born jinx. Look at what you’ve done to Shiyong and Yiyi, hmm?"

"Hey! If I were you, I’d just die and be done with it."

"As long as you’re dead, the two of them can finally be truly free, don't you think?"

Die...

Three years ago, in Singapore, she should have died in that ocean and vanished forever.

"Sister, go die. Once you’re dead, Shiyong and Yiyi will be very happy and content."

Yu Yue’s voice became hollow. Yu Zao, like a hollow ragdoll, swayed as she climbed to her feet and walked toward the steep cliff.

In her mind, she saw Yiyi just beginning to learn how to talk. Fu Shiyong had pointed at the word "Daddy," teaching him over and over, "Daddy! Son, your mommy and I have a bet going, you can't let Daddy lose too badly."

But the little one, who couldn't even stand steadily, had tossed aside the paper with "Daddy" written on it and stumbled his way to Mommy’s side. In his sweet, slurred, first words:

"Mommy, love~"

*Poof!*

Hahaha—

The family of three had burst into laughter. Back then, they truly were each other's everything!

"Yu Yue, tell Fu Shiyong for me."

"I am so disgusted by his entanglement that even in death, I never want to have anything to do with that father and son again!"

With those words, she closed her eyes. Her body, like a kite with a snapped string, fell straight into the depths of the cliff.

Fu Shiyong, goodbye.

Yiyi, Mommy is sorry...

"Yu Zao!!!"

In the final second before her consciousness completely faded, she thought she heard a heart-wrenching roar from Fu Shiyong. The next moment, her hands were caught by a powerful force. Then, her body, pushed beyond its limits, plunged into a chaotic darkness.

Three days later.

Yu Zao had just regained consciousness; none of her various injuries had healed, and her broken leg still throbbed with a dull ache. Three or four burly bodyguards, showing not an ounce of gentleness, dragged her like a dead dog toward the top-floor VIP ward.

As she entered, she smelled the fresh, fragrant scent of noodles. It was the Yangchun noodles that Fu Shiyong would cook personally whenever Yu Zao fell ill.

At this moment, the man’s tall, imposing frame was carefully holding a bowl, scooping up a little hot broth with a spoon. He blew on it delicately, tested the temperature, and deemed it just right before feeding it to Yu Yue, who lay in the hospital bed.

"Is it too hot? If it is, let your husband blow on it some more?"

"Husband" at every turn. That gentle tone, that unique doting—it had once belonged solely to Yu Zao.

*Thump!*

A bodyguard kicked her behind the knee. The sudden agony made her unable to stand, and she collapsed to the floor.

"Oh! Shiyong, why did you invite Sister over?"

"Even if she wanted to take Yiyi and commit suicide, I risked my life to save them, didn't I?"

"Since the child is fine, for my sake, Husband~ don't make things difficult for Sister~"

Suicide? Taking Yiyi?

Yu Zao was sharp and intelligent. With just a glance at Yu Yue, covered in scrapes and bruises, she could pretty much guess the whole story.

"Fu Shiyong, if I said I didn't do any of that, and that I only appeared on that cliff to save my son..."

"Would you believe me?"