Lu Shaoyan lay on the soft bed, a wave of comfort spreading through his body. Those two stabs had vented a long-suppressed frustration within him.
At the same time, he once again confirmed the power and allure of money.
Truly something intoxicating.
When he had returned to his room earlier, a maid had thoughtfully sorted out his clothes and brought them back. Though she didn’t dare meet his eyes, he could still sense her cautious yet eager attentiveness.
Heh, a girl with ambition.
Lu Shaoyan didn’t look down on anyone.
He was no different.
As for Lu Linyuan, this father of his, he naturally held no feelings. Back then, the man had allowed him to be sent to Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital—calling it a grudge wouldn’t be wrong.
But now that he had killed Lu Yunhai and Zhou Ting, it was hard to say whether it counted as repaying that so-called upbringing, or taking revenge.
In any case, Lu Linyuan certainly wouldn’t be pleased.
Lying there, Lu Shaoyan didn’t dwell on it for long before sinking into a deep sleep.
He was exhausted.
During his time in Qingshan, he hadn’t slept well for a long time. His body’s fatigue demanded rest.
In the middle of the night, a sudden knock on the door jolted him awake.
He had locked the door from the inside.
His experiences at Qingshan had left their mark. In the past, he slept deeply, but now even the slightest knock made him sit upright instantly.
He had never envied those who were always alert—because that was a sickness. Without some degree of nervous exhaustion, who would wake up at the faintest sound?
Frowning slightly in confusion, he walked over and opened the door.
A slender, graceful figure stood outside.
The faint light in the hallway outlined her delicate silhouette beneath a long, loose nightgown. Through the flowing fabric, he could see both the soft glow of her skin and the subtle curves of her figure. Then he caught a faint scent of alcohol.
His gaze lifted.
It was Lu Keran, her small face flushed red.
She had been drinking.
Her eyes were slightly unfocused, tinged with a pitiful grievance.
Like a forlorn little puppy.
Though this puppy had a habit of biting people, it didn’t affect her looks. For Lu Shaoyan, the only thing that mattered was that she didn’t bite him. This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
He frowned. It was already deep into the night—what was she doing knocking on his door?
Before he could speak, Lu Keran’s soft, aggrieved voice came out, “Brother, I can’t sleep.”
“If you can’t sleep, why come to me? Go ask Aunt Liu if there’s any sleeping pills.”
Lu Shaoyan showed no politeness toward the one who had woken him up.
Lu Keran pressed her lips together, clearly hurt by his response. He had never spoken to her like this before—he had always coaxed and indulged her.
His cold attitude made her feel even more wronged, especially at a time like this.
“Brother…”
Her rosy lips parted, but no complete sentence came out. Her helplessness, paired with her appearance, made the moment oddly vivid.
Although the servants wouldn’t come up to the second floor at night, it wasn’t appropriate to leave her standing outside the door. So Lu Shaoyan said, “Come in.”
Sitting on the bed, he watched as Lu Keran shuffled into the room with her head lowered, looking pitiful. “You’ve been drinking?”
“Mm… I couldn’t sleep, so… so I had a little.”
Noticing his steady gaze on her, she explained in a small voice.
In the past, Lu Shaoyan would never have allowed her to drink.
“Because of your mother?”
Lu Keran nodded. The moment she lay down earlier, her thoughts had spiraled out of control. The possibility that she might truly be Zhou Ting’s daughter made her feel as though her world was collapsing.
A bastard child, born from her mother’s infidelity.
Perhaps others wouldn’t care, but for her, nothing was more terrifying.
“Wait a few days. It won’t take long for the results to come out,” Lu Shaoyan said calmly.
He didn’t know how to comfort people, nor did he care to comfort her.
But Lu Keran couldn’t help asking, “What if… I’m not Dad’s daughter?”
“Then you’re not. If you’re not the Lu family’s young lady, are you going to stop living?”
Lu Keran blinked. She truly might not have the face to go on living. As someone who had always stood at the top, she couldn’t accept such an outcome.
“Brother, back then… when Lu Yunhai came to our house, how did you feel?”
“My heart feels like it’s hanging right now. It’s a mess. I want time to pass faster, but I also want it to slow down. I want to know the result, but I’m afraid to know it. It’s all my mom’s fault for doing something like that! When you found out about yourself… were you afraid?”
As she spoke, she secretly glanced at him. She naturally remembered that he had once gone through something similar.
Though not as “miserable” as her—after all, he had only been switched at birth.
His words made Lu Keran choke. Back then, she had indeed treated him terribly.
She couldn’t even describe her feelings at the time. Even she didn’t fully understand them.
There had been anger at learning he wasn’t her brother, resentment at his attempts to restrain her, embarrassment from being mocked by her friends… a tangled mess of emotions.
“I… I… Brother, I’m sorry.”
Lu Shaoyan looked at her as her eyes reddened, tears welling up as if about to fall. Her fragile, rain-soaked appearance was almost pitiful. He couldn’t help but feel a trace of surprise.
This rebellious little girl could actually cry?
And even say sorry?
He was probably the first person in her life to hear those three words from her.
Yet his heart remained unmoved. Having seen her arrogant side, he understood just how foolish her pitifulness was.
No single moment defined a person.
Her current state was nothing more than a kind of empathy born from her own situation, mixed with fear and anxiety about the unknown.
Back then, she had treated him as a bastard.
Now that she might be one herself, she was panicking.
Some people… the better you treat them, the more they resent you.
Still, Lu Shaoyan did rather enjoy the resentment she carried toward Liu Yun.
He had no intention of comforting her. He only wanted to send her away and get a good night’s sleep.
So he said, “Come here.”
Lu Keran lowered her head and walked to the bedside. Lu Shaoyan spoke softly, “I never blamed you.”
She looked up, a faint light flickering in her eyes. In the past, she wouldn’t have cared at all whether he blamed her or not—she might have even snapped back, asking what right he had to judge her.
After all, the kindness and indulgence others showed her had always felt like something she deserved.
But at this moment, her nose stung with emotion.
Even though the results weren’t out yet, her sensitive nerves had already picked up on what she thought were strange looks from the servants.
If Lu Shaoyan knew what she was thinking, he would only scoff. Those feelings were largely her own imagination.
At the very least, the servants still didn’t dare show her any disrespect.
It was her own fear and anxiety that made her perceive changes in their attitude.
“Brother…”
As she called out softly, a tear finally slipped from the corner of her eye.