Su Ning, who had been sleeping very lightly, was startled awake. However, her eyes were far too weary, and she didn’t want to open them at all.
Her consciousness remained hazy, to the point where she instinctively murmured:
“Sister Hua, I’m so tired. Let me sleep for five minutes, just five minutes.
In five minutes, I’ll get up and scrub the toilet. I promise to clean your personal toilet spotless.”
“…”
These sudden words inexplicably made Li Boyan’s heart tremble, and his fingertips resting on Su Ning’s shoulder visibly shook.
Sister Hua?
Scrubbing toilets?
Had Su Ning been scrubbing toilets for someone called Sister Hua in prison?
Ever since he personally sent Su Ning to prison five years ago, he had paid no attention to her life there, never even sparing her a thought.
He had never known what kind of life she was living in prison.
He only knew that those sent to prison had to undergo reform through labor.
Scrubbing toilets was a normal task, but scrubbing a personal toilet for this Sister Hua was somewhat unbelievable.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but recall those five humiliating characters branded on Su Ning’s body.
Although it was only a brief glimpse, he clearly saw that they had been meticulously imprinted with a branding iron.
Moreover, some kind of pigment or substance must have been deliberately used to make them so glaringly vivid and shocking!
At this thought, Li Boyan’s heart twisted inexplicably.
Su Ning was the woman he loved. Sending her to prison five years ago had been heart-wrenching, and the blow to him had been devastating enough.
Now, facing everything she had endured, even though he knew it was a punishment she had to accept, it still ended up piercing his heart.
Almost without thinking, Li Boyan lifted Su Ning into his arms, unaware that his movement would startle her awake. Her eyes snapped open abruptly.
When she met the man’s deep, icy gaze, Su Ning’s body trembled violently. She was so nervous she didn’t know what to do with her hands and feet. “What are you doing?”
Li Boyan replied without changing his expression, “I just want to carry you to the bed to sleep.”
“No need.”
Su Ning quickly refused. “I don’t need to sleep on the bed. I have to take care of Nian Nian. She has sleepwalking and can’t be left alone.”
Su Ning knew very well that Nian Nian’s escape from the hospital last night was partly due to her sleepwalking.
Therefore, she had to stay by Nian Nian’s side.
“Song Ma will watch over Nian Nian tonight.”
Su Ning hadn’t slept at all last night; she must be exhausted.
“No, I said I want to stay with her. Isn’t that exactly what all of you want?”
Su Ning was well aware that whether it was Li Boyan using Grandma to threaten her into marrying him, or his earlier insistence on keeping her when Zheng Qiuyun tried to drive her away, the sole purpose was for her to atone for her sins by staying by Nian Nian’s side.
Moreover, Li Boyan had clearly stated in front of Zheng Qiuyun that she should stay to redeem herself.
Hearing this, Li Boyan’s wrist stiffened, and he came to an abrupt halt.
Seizing the opportunity, Su Ning slipped out of the man’s embrace, stepping back a few paces to put distance between them.
Her distant and guarded demeanor made Li Boyan’s heart tremble inexplicably.
“Fine, since you want to stay with Nian Nian, then stay!”
Li Boyan said indifferently, then strode away with his long legs.
But before he reached the door, Su Ning called out to him, “Wait!”
Li Boyan stood with his back to Su Ning, his words sparse and measured. “Speak!”
“In the future, please don’t defend me in front of your mother. I caused your wife’s death—she resents me and harbors deep hostility toward me. Whatever she does to me is justified.
So, from now on, don’t help me anymore. I don’t want to owe you any more!”
Su Ning hadn’t forgotten how Li Boyan had been slapped by Zheng Qiuyun at the hospital that morning for speaking up on her behalf.
She had caused the death of Li Boyan’s wife, leaving his daughter without a mother. For that alone, the debt she owed him was beyond repayment.
She truly didn’t want to owe him even a shred more.
Li Boyan acted as if he hadn’t heard her. After a brief pause, he strode out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Once outside, he tugged irritably at his tie, unbuttoning his shirt collar as if Su Ning’s words had left him suffocating.
She was the one he loved, yet he couldn’t express that love—not even a single word of concern.
This feeling tormented him unbearably.
Assistant Song approached him. “Master Li, your mother has already had her belongings moved in. She intends to stay here from now on.”
Li Boyan’s head throbbed as if it might split. “Let her do as she pleases!”
“It seems Miss Shen Muyao’s luggage was also brought along.”
“Whether it’s moved or not, I don’t care!”
Li Boyan truly had no desire to deal with Zheng Qiuyun and Shen Muyao’s antics, feeling they were merely adding fuel to the fire.
He didn’t linger long at the estate. After descending the stairs, he left the Li Manor with Assistant Song.
Once inside the black Rolls-Royce, Li Boyan instructed his assistant, “Investigate immediately what Su Ning endured in prison over the past five years.
Especially that woman called Sister Hua—look into her thoroughly. I must find out whether the words on Su Ning’s back were left by her!”
The sudden command caught Assistant Song off guard, tightening his nerves.
“Words on her back? Master Li, are you referring to the writing on Miss Su’s back at the Tang Dynasty Club? Could it have been written by Mu Shao and his crowd to liven things up?”
Li Boyan ignored the question, his eyes dark and stormy. He, too, wished the words had been scribbled by Mu Chengyu for amusement.
But they weren’t. Someone had branded them onto her in his name.
So, who was that person?
He had to find out.
And make them pay—doubly!!!
The heavy silence made Assistant Song’s heart sink.
As Li Boyan’s personal assistant, he knew him best. When Li Boyan fell silent, it was far more terrifying than when he spoke.
That looming, tempestuous aura could erupt like a volcano at any moment, unleashing a force ordinary people couldn’t withstand.
“Understood, Master Li. Rest assured, I will get to the bottom of this.”
“And Mu Chengyu—he must pay the price!”
Li Boyan gritted his teeth, the words hissed out with a chilling intensity that sent shivers down Assistant Song’s spine.
He couldn’t help but feel a cold sweat for Mu Chengyu.
He knew all too well that Mu Chengyu was Li Boyan’s longtime rival. For years, they had clashed openly and covertly in the business world, with Mu Chengyu frequently scheming against Li Boyan behind his back.
But he never would have imagined that Mu Chengyu, that playboy, would dare to target one of Li Boyan’s women.
To dare to provoke the tiger in his den—if he didn’t draw blood, not even Master Li could quell the fury in his heart!