Wen Lan couldn’t help studying her daughter more closely.
The little girl had delicate features, her cheeks still carrying soft baby fat. She wore a pale blue outfit, and her chubby little hands were holding an orange segment as she ate. From Wen Lan’s angle, she could even see her daughter’s puffed-up cheeks moving as she chewed.
She looked unbelievably adorable.
Turning his head slightly, Lu Zhixing caught sight of the faint smile in his wife’s eyes and paused.
After recovering from this latest delusional episode, his wife seemed… different.
Wen Wu carefully ate her orange, but it was so juicy that some juice inevitably stained her fingers.
Sensing her mother’s gaze, she grew even more nervous.
Standing on tiptoe, she reached for a wet wipe to clean her hands.
But she lost her balance.
Her tiny body tipped sideways to the right.
Frightened, she immediately squeezed her eyes shut.
Lu Zhixing quickly bent down, intending to catch his daughter.
Unexpectedly, a pale arm swept past him first.
Someone had already lifted Wen Wu into their arms and settled her gently onto their lap.
Lu Zhixing stared at his wife in a daze.
She had probably forgotten.
In the past, she had rarely ever held Dudu.
Looking down at the little girl on her lap, Wen Lan picked up a wet wipe from the table and carefully wiped the orange juice from her daughter’s hands.
While doing so, she subtly gauged the child’s weight.
A faint smile surfaced in her heart.
She looked so tiny and adorable, but she was actually quite solid.
Noticing how stiffly the little girl sat, clearly unsure of what to do, her eyes instinctively drifting toward the man beside them, Wen Lan gently handed her back to her father.
As expected, the moment she returned to familiar arms, the little girl immediately turned to look at her.
Those round black eyes were as bright and transparent as crystal.
She stared intently at Wen Lan.
With a face so much like her own, it was almost as though Wen Lan were looking at herself as a child.
Being stared at by a miniature version of herself made Wen Lan’s heart tighten.
Feeling strangely self-conscious, she turned her head away and looked back at the television.
Lu Zhixing gently unclenched the little fist his daughter had been hiding behind his back and soothed her with a light kiss.
Father and daughter understood each other without words.
Only he knew how happy the little girl was at this moment.
If her mother had not been present, she would probably have already buried herself in his arms and started acting spoiled.
“Dudu, are you tired now?”
Wen Lan quietly pricked up her ears, listening to the conversation between her husband and daughter.
“Mmm.”
The little girl’s voice was sweet and babyish.
She even let out a tiny yawn.
“Then shall we go back to your room and rest for a while?”
It seemed her principal husband had a very gentle temperament.
Even his voice was warm and soothing.
“Okay. Daddy, carry me.”
Only after the two of them went upstairs did Wen Lan withdraw her gaze.
She stared blankly at the coffee table in front of her.
They had spent only a short time together, yet she had already begun to like them.
A gentle husband.
An adorable daughter.
They looked every bit like a warm, loving family of three.
And yet…
She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Pressing a hand over her heart, she felt its steady rhythm beneath her palm.
The familiar oppressive heaviness in her chest returned, making her brow furrow once again.
Meanwhile, upstairs, after laying his daughter down on the bed, Lu Zhixing stayed beside her until she fell asleep.
The bedside lamp cast a gentle golden glow across the room.
Lowering his head, Lu Zhixing kissed Wen Wu softly on the forehead.
“Go to sleep.”
His voice was warm and tender, completely devoid of the cold detachment he showed in front of outsiders.
Wen Wu tugged on her father’s hand, blinked, and whispered, “Daddy, Mommy came here.”
Her tone was full of certainty, tinged with excitement and delight.
“I could smell Mommy.”
Lu Zhixing froze for a moment before smiling warmly.
“Mmm. Mommy has always loved Dudu. She’s just not very good at expressing it. You can feel it too, can’t you?”
Clutching her little blanket, Wen Wu’s usually expressionless little face blossomed into a radiant smile.
“Mommy hugged me today. I’m so happy.”
“When you wake up, Mommy will hug you again,” Lu Zhixing said, gently stroking his daughter’s head, his voice growing even softer. “Now go to sleep.”
“Really?” Wen Wu asked in delighted surprise.
“When has Daddy ever lied to you? Be good and go to sleep.”
“Will you sing me a lullaby?”
“Yes,” Wen Wu murmured sleepily as she closed her eyes.
Her room was filled with Mommy’s scent, and Daddy’s gentle voice lingered beside her. As she gradually drifted off to sleep, a smile unconsciously spread across her face.
Only after his daughter had fallen asleep did Lu Zhixing quietly leave the room.
He carefully closed the door behind him before beckoning to Leng Feng, who had been waiting silently in the shadows.
The two of them walked into Lu Zhixing’s study.
Leng Feng stood before Master Lu and reported everything that had happened to their mistress in meticulous detail.
Seated in a black leather chair, Lu Zhixing listened in silence.
Without the gentle smile he reserved for his family, his ordinarily refined face took on an unexpectedly cold and sinister air.
“So… my wife ordered all of those servants dismissed?”
Once the warmth he showed his family disappeared, even his voice carried a chilling edge. The crimson birthmark on the side of his face resembled dried blood against his pale skin, making Leng Feng unconsciously straighten her posture.
“Yes. Yesterday.”
Lu Zhixing pondered for a moment before dismissing her.
Walking over to the window, he looked down at the garden below, lost in thought. His gaze wandered between his wife’s room and the places where the servants were most likely to have been.
Something had definitely happened to his wife.
He strolled leisurely through the spacious villa.
He knew every corner of his home by heart, every room, every layout.
His wife’s room had a balcony from which she could overlook the most beautiful tree-lined garden on the estate.
Stopping beneath it, he looked up.
Green vines wound around the underside of the balcony, clusters of pale pink blossoms blooming in abundance. The breeze carried their sweet fragrance.
He could almost picture his beautiful wife leaning lazily against the railing.
Her expression would surely be calm and indifferent.
She would be dressed casually, and the glimpses of pale skin revealed beneath her clothes would carry that familiar coolness.
She always seemed like someone who didn’t belong to this world.
A beauty so breathtaking that it unsettled him.
Lu Zhixing lowered his gaze.
After a moment’s thought, he turned onto a narrow side path.
Walking with his head lowered, he seemed to be searching for something.
Had Wen Lan been there, she would have been astonished to discover that the route her husband took was almost identical to the one she herself had followed.
It wasn’t long before Lu Zhixing stopped.
Bending down, he picked up a long black strand of hair resting atop a fallen leaf.
It belonged to his wife.
It still carried her unique fragrance.
He gazed at it quietly for a while before taking a handkerchief from his pocket. With great care, he wrapped the strand inside it and tucked it close to his chest.
Straightening up, Lu Zhixing narrowed his eyes toward the servants’ kitchen.
…
“Have all the servants been dismissed?” Lu Zhixing asked after taking a sip of tea, turning toward Leng Feng.
Leng Feng nodded.
“Tell the people below that they won’t be receiving this month’s wages.”
“Understood.”
Although she didn’t understand why, Leng Feng obediently nodded.
She looked at Master Lu, wondering why he still hadn’t dismissed her. Did he have something else to ask?
“…Did my wife’s candy… get eaten?”
Master Lu’s voice seemed to soften.
Looking at him through the rising steam from the tea, Leng Feng nodded and answered in her rough voice,
“Master ate it.”
“Mmm. You may go.”
After Leng Feng left, silence once again settled over the room.
Lu Zhixing set down his teacup and lowered his eyes to the rippling tea.
Then he opened a drawer beneath the desk and took out a piece of candy.
It was identical in shape to the one Wen Lan had eaten.
Thinking of something, the tips of his ears hidden beneath his dark hair flushed a deep red. Even a faint blush spread across his cheeks.
His wife had eaten the candy he had made with his own hands.
Imagining that the piece of candy in his mouth was the very one his wife had eaten, Lu Zhixing savored it slowly and reluctantly, lingering over every bit of its sweetness.