Doctor Li, Li Junnan—with this realization, an incredible idea began to take root and sprout in her heart.
Ignoring the pain in her throat, Gu Ran let out a rough, hoarse voice.
“What’s the date today?”
Xiao Ya, who was trying to calm Gu Ran down, was taken aback for a moment before quickly replying.
“Miss Gu, it’s February 12th. You’ve been unconscious for two days. If Doctor Li hadn’t repeatedly confirmed that you were not in any life-threatening danger, Sir would have sent you to the hospital.”
Hearing this familiar date, those blurred memories gradually surfaced in her mind.
Gu Ran lay quietly on the bed, gazing at the familiar room and the familiar faces around her. Tears welled up in her eyes, and due to the pain in her throat, she could only emit rough, raspy sounds.
It seemed like grievance, resentment, regret, or longing.
In that moment, Gu Ran couldn’t utter a single word. Everything, in the end, dissolved into a breakdown of tears.
Zhang Sao and Xiao Ya, standing nearby, were both flustered. Neither of them had ever seen Miss Gu like this before.
“Miss Gu, are you still feeling unwell somewhere? Wait here, I’ll go call Doctor Li…”
As Zhang Sao spoke, she hurried out of the room, leaving only the bewildered Xiao Ya behind.
Xiao Ya crouched by the bedside, using a towel to wipe away Gu Ran’s tears. But no matter how much she tried, it seemed the tears would never dry. Instead, Gu Ran cried even more intensely, until her entire body was trembling with sobs.
“Fu Sijue…”
“Fu Sijue…”
Curled up on the bed, Gu Ran buried her head under the blanket, calling out that familiar name again and again. Each utterance felt like a stab to her heart.
The man she had failed throughout her life, the man who refused to let go until the very end.
Gu Ran wanted to see him. She wanted him to hold her once more.
“Fu Sijue…”
In the room, amidst the waves of weeping, the name “Fu Sijue” echoed intermittently.
Although Xiao Ya didn’t understand why the usually aloof and distant Miss Gu kept calling out Sir’s name, seeing her on the verge of fainting from crying, she spoke up.
“Miss Gu, Aunt Liu has already informed Sir. Don’t worry, he will be back soon.”
Hearing this, Gu Ran tried to get up from the bed. She wanted to wait for Fu Sijue. That man had waited for her for so many years—this time, it was her turn to wait for him.
But after being ill for two days, Gu Ran had no strength left. The moment she tried to sit up, her arms gave way, and she collapsed back onto the bed.
Seeing this, Xiao Ya immediately urged Gu Ran to lie down. If Miss Gu were to fall ill again, everyone in Tan Palace would likely be dismissed.
“Miss Gu, you’re still sick. Please lie down and rest.”
“No… Help me up. I… I… want to see… Fu Sijue.”
Every word Gu Ran spoke felt like a knife cutting through her throat.
But Gu Ran didn’t care. Compared to the physical pain, the emotional torment Fu Sijue had endured over the years was far more agonizing.
Gu Ran still remembered the moment Fu Sijue lay in a pool of blood, watching her resolute retreating figure. It was the first time he had questioned her with such utter despair and disappointment.
“Gu Ran, do you even have a heart?”
What had Gu Ran said back then?
“This is what you owe me.”
Now thinking back to those words she had spoken, Gu Ran desperately wanted to slap herself twice across the face. What did she mean by “owing her”? Between her and Fu Sijue, it had always been her who owed him.
It wasn’t that Gu Ran was heartless, but that her heart had been blinded. Merely because of one lie and those people’s clumsy acting, she had closed off her heart, leaving only hatred behind. Step by step, she had pushed Fu Sijue into the abyss, while also plunging herself into eternal damnation.
Given a second chance, Gu Ran only wanted to make up for all the mistakes she had made in her past life. She wanted to wait for Fu Sijue, to tell him that she loved him, loved him deeply, loved him to the very marrow of her bones, loved him enough to cross the barriers of past and present lives and return to his side.
Thinking of this, Gu Ran’s expression grew even more resolute. Her tear-streaked face showed a kind of shattered fragility and the firmness that comes after profound remorse.
Gu Ran sat up from the bed again.
Just this single movement left Gu Ran utterly exhausted, her face drained of color and covered in cold sweat. But she paid it no mind—she only wanted to see Fu Sijue as soon as possible.
“Sister Xiao Ya, please help me downstairs.”
This was the second floor of the main building of Tan Palace. She needed to go downstairs; she wanted to wait at the entrance. She knew she was very weak now and could only turn to the woman beside her for help.
Xiao Ya frowned deeply. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Miss Gu seemed like a different person after her illness. She ought to refuse rationally, but when she met Gu Ran’s eyes, misty with tears, Xiao Ya couldn’t bring herself to say no.
Xiao Ya helped Gu Ran out of bed. Gu Ran leaned half her weight on Xiao Ya as they slowly walked out of the room.
Just then, Liu Ma, who had finished a phone call and was coming upstairs, saw them and hurried over, immediately scolding Xiao Ya.
“Xiao Ya, how could you let Miss Gu get out of bed? If anything happens to her again, we’ll all be punished by the master.”
Gu Ran looked at Liu Ma, whose attitude toward her had never been particularly warm, and felt a pang of guilt. It was this very Liu Ma, who hadn’t shown her much care, who had lost her life protecting Gu Ran in a car accident.
“Liu Ma, don’t blame Sister Xiao Ya. It’s me… I want to wait… wait for Fu Sijue to come home…”
Gu Ran spoke with difficulty. A flicker of astonishment passed through Liu Ma’s eyes, and she exchanged a glance with Xiao Ya. Clearly, Gu Ran’s current state seemed very unusual to them.
Gu Ran offered no further explanation. Leaning one hand against the wall and the other on Xiao Ya’s shoulder, she made her way toward the elevator.
Just then, a man’s urgent voice came from the first floor.
“The master is back.”
Gu Ran recognized it as Liu Guanjia, Liu Ma’s husband and the butler of this estate.
But at that moment, Gu Ran wasn’t focused on Liu Guanjia—it was his words that mattered: the master was back.
In Tan Palace, only one person could be called “the master”: Fu Sijue, the man she had wronged for a lifetime.
Gu Ran was desperate to see Fu Sijue, and her steps quickened. But after lying in bed for two days with a high fever, her limbs were weak. In her haste, her steps became unsteady, and she stumbled forward.
“Miss Gu—!”
Xiao Ya’s cry echoed in her ears. Both she and Liu Ma rushed forward instinctively, but they were too late. Gu Ran staggered and fell hard to the floor.
Xiao Ya and Liu Ma’s faces turned pale with terror. They knew all too well that the woman before them was the master’s most cherished person. If she were injured from this fall, not even their lives would be enough to repay the consequences.
At this moment, Gu Ran paid no mind to the pain. Besides, the entire Tan Palace Main Building had been covered with soft carpets months earlier because she preferred walking barefoot.
All Gu Ran wanted now was to go downstairs and see Fu Sijue as quickly as possible. She had so much, so very much she wanted to say to him.
Just then, a dark shadow swept over, completely enveloping her.