At this thought, the cold gleam in Bo Yehan’s eyes grew even sharper. He couldn’t help but clench his fists.
“Find her! Dig three feet into the ground if you have to. If you can’t find her…” Su Ning, I will definitely make you pay with your life!
Li Boyan didn’t have the courage to say it out loud, but in his heart, he kept repeating these words to Su Ning.
After a long while, he finally took a step forward.
“Have someone bring her a set of clothes!”
Li Boyan instructed his assistant.
After all, he was still worried she might catch a cold.
“Yes.”
Assistant Song promptly followed Li Boyan’s steps.
Su Ning sat motionless on the cold tiles, barely clothed, not even moving her eyes.
It was as if she had lost her soul.
She didn’t know how much time had passed until someone knocked on the bathroom door.
“Miss Su, are you in there?”
Su Ning’s dull eyes flickered slightly. “What is it?” she asked in a hoarse voice.
Song Ma pushed the door open. “The master asked me to bring you some clothes.”
Su Ning immediately used her hands to cover the mottled marks on her body, looking utterly disheveled.
She hadn’t expected Li Boyan to send her clothes.
She thought he would let her freeze to death in here.
For a moment, she couldn’t understand what Li Boyan was trying to do.
But since there were clothes to wear, she naturally wouldn’t refuse.
“Thank you.”
Su Ning freed one hand to take the clothes from Song Ma, feeling so ashamed she wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground.
Song Ma noticed Su Ning’s embarrassment and wisely remained silent, closing the door as she left.
Soon, Su Ning finished bathing and changed into the clothes before stepping out.
She froze when she saw Song Ma still waiting by the door, surprised that the older woman had been waiting for her all this time.
“Song Ma, is there something you need?”
Song Ma looked at Su Ning with a sorrowful expression:
“Miss Su, Nian Nian is the master’s precious treasure. She likes you so much and kept calling you Mommy. You shouldn’t have abandoned her and run away from the hospital.
Nian Nian went missing while looking for you. The master has been using all his connections to search for her for hours, but Nian Nian still hasn’t been found.”
Nian Nian is missing?
Su Ning was stunned.
She stared wide-eyed at Song Ma. “You said Nian Nian is missing?”
How could that be? She had specifically asked that nurse to look after Nian Nian and call her if anything happened.
“Yes, Nian Nian went missing from the hospital while looking for you. The master is going crazy with worry.”
No wonder…
In an instant, Su Ning’s heart leaped into her throat. Without thinking, she dashed outside.
Having no money for transportation, she ran all the way like a madwoman, running until she reached the hospital and burst into Nian Nian’s room.
Sure enough, it was empty.
“Nian Nian…”
Her voice trembled as she looked at the vacant room, her whole body swaying like a small tree battered by a violent storm!
Tears uncontrollably welled up in her eyes.
Only for Nian Nian would her tears fall so easily.
It was all her, all because of her!
She had already caused the death of Nian Nian’s mother. If Nian Nian went missing because of her too, she would have two lives on her hands. The debt she owed Li Boyan would never be repaid.
Su Ning didn’t know how she managed to run out of the hospital. All she knew was that standing under the neon lights amidst the bustling traffic, she had no idea where to search.
“Nian Nian, where are you?”
In the end, she ran along the road, calling Nian Nian’s name repeatedly.
The tears in her eyes never dried.
Su Ning didn’t know where Nian Nian had run off to. She searched aimlessly until dawn without finding her.
She could no longer run, completely exhausted with weak legs, collapsing to the ground unable to get up.
“Nian Nian…”
“I’m sorry…”
Su Ning had no tears left to cry, her hoarse voice rasping like a saw.
It sounded terrible.
“Miss Su, Nian Nian has been found. Master Li asked me to bring you over now.”
Assistant Song’s voice suddenly sounded beside her. She hadn’t noticed when he had arrived.
Su Ning’s nerves jolted as she suddenly looked up at Assistant Song, panicking, “Where is Nian Nian? Is she hurt?”
“I don’t know yet. Master Li asked me to bring you over,” Assistant Song told her truthfully.
Hearing this, Su Ning scrambled up from the ground, but her weak body made her stumble forward.
“Careful!”
Assistant Song caught her in time. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Let’s go find Nian Nian first.”
Su Ning pushed away Assistant Song’s hand and got in the car.
Jiang City Homeless Shelter.
When Su Ning arrived with Assistant Song, Li Boyan and his people were already there.
Nian Nian, who had been missing all night, was curled up trembling in a corner.
Her sleeveless nightgown was filthy, her chubby face streaked with tears.
Barefoot, the bandages that had been wrapped around her feet and legs were gone. The festering wounds showed fresh blood, a shocking sight.
“Mommy, I want Mommy! I don’t want to go back with you!”
“I want Mommy! Mommy left, Mommy doesn’t want me anymore! I don’t want to go back! I want to find Mommy and bring her back!”
She cried loudly, uttering words of resistance, her small shoulders shaking with sobs that twisted Li Boyan’s heart.
His tall figure crouched on the ground as he carefully said to Nian Nian, “Nian Nian, be good. Come, let Daddy hold you. Come home with Daddy.”
“No! I don’t want to go home! You don’t love me at all—you’re always busy with work!”
Nian Nian was tired of that cold, loveless home and didn’t want to go back with him at all!
“Be good. Daddy will make time to be with you more from now on, okay?”
“No! I don’t want you! I want Mommy! Waa…”
The heartbreaking scene and sorrowful words were like sharp ice picks brutally stabbing into Su Ning’s chest, making her ache with unbearable pain.
She knelt directly before Nian Nian. “I’m sorry! It’s all my fault! I’m a sinner! I deserve to die!”
If that medical malpractice hadn’t happened five years ago, Nian Nian’s mother wouldn’t have died, and she wouldn’t be like this.
The sudden voice made Nian Nian’s small body tremble.
She lifted her head and eagerly threw herself into Su Ning’s arms.
“Mommy! Mommy! Where did you go? Waa…”
“You promised me you wouldn’t leave Nian Nian again! Why did you sneak away while I was sleeping?”
Su Ning choked with sobs, holding Nian Nian tightly, unable to speak through her tears.
She wasn’t Nian Nian’s mother. She had caused the death of Nian Nian’s mother, Shen Mu’an. She was a murderer, a sinner!
She didn’t deserve to be called Mommy by Nian Nian, yet Nian Nian placed all her hope and dependence on her. Facing this expectation and reliance, her heart felt torn by knives, filled with grief and shame.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”Apart from these three words, she didn’t know what else to say. Everything was her fault.
“Mommy, please don’t go, okay? Don’t leave Nian Nian. I don’t want to be without Mommy… Waa…”