Qi Wan fell silent for two seconds.
“Mr. Jiang, you seemed perfectly normal just now.”
Jiang Yuan exhaled a warm breath from his lungs, closed his eyes, and made a gesture.
Understanding his meaning, Qi Wan drove toward the office building.
The ventilation in the car was turned off, making it somewhat stuffy and hot.
Jiang Yuan felt his breathing gradually grow scorching, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable sensation.
Chewing over the lingering scent, sound, and touch from earlier, he looked at the note again and again.
From the neat handwriting, he could almost see her slender fingertips holding the pen.
He even felt a twinge of jealousy toward that pen.
What if…
What if he could be touched so gently by her too?
Stop dreaming. She’s so pure.
He would only taint her.
…
This Rolls-Royce, with its completely blacked-out windows, was highly recognizable.
When driving through the campus, everyone who saw it would carefully make way.
By the time the car stopped at the foot of the office building, the school director had been waiting for a long time.
He forced a smile and personally came to open the car door for Jiang Yuan.
“Mr. Jiang, you’ve arrived.”
Jiang Yuan nodded at him.
The note clenched in his palm had grown hot, yet he couldn’t bear to let it go.
He glanced back once more in the direction of the dormitory building before turning to go upstairs.
As the second-largest shareholder of the Griffin Group, Jiang Yuan listened expressionlessly to the reports from everyone else, lightly tapping his fingertips.
When he finally spoke, there was not a trace of the gentleness he had shown when talking to Yan Sui earlier.
Without any pretense, only that perpetually impatient tone and icy, hoarse voice remained.
He mercilessly pointed out every flaw and each person’s selfish motives, one by one.
Everyone was on edge, yet no one dared to argue.
In the end, the reform project proposal was finalized by him.
He signed it.
The school director beside him carefully placed the document in front of Jiang Yuan.
“Mr. Jiang, regarding this document… we’ll need to trouble you to have… Mr. Jiang sign it.”
Jiang Yuan coldly uttered an “Mm,” without reaching out.
Qi Wan, standing nearby, took the document, nodded to the others, and followed Jiang Yuan as he walked out.
The atmosphere in the meeting room finally eased from its oppressive tension.
The school director wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Every time he had to ask Mr. Jiang to take documents back for his father to sign was when he felt the most pressure.
Back in the car, Qi Wan glanced at Jiang Yuan’s expression and asked softly:
“Shall we go to the hospital now?”
“Yes.”
On the top floor of the city’s best private hospital.
In the luxurious, penthouse-like ward, a middle-aged man sat in a wheelchair by the floor-to-ceiling window, silently gazing outside.
Despite his age and the pallor and gauntness brought on by illness,
the chiseled features of his face still revealed how stunning he must have been in his youth.
Footsteps sounded behind him. Without turning around, he curled his lips expressionlessly.
“I’m not dead yet. Disappointed?”
“Indeed, disappointed.” Jiang Yuan threw the document in front of him. “Jiang Yuzhou, sign it.”
Jiang Yuzhou picked up the document and looked it over. “Well done.”
Jiang Yuan didn’t look at him. “I’m not here for your opinion.”
Jiang Yuzhou laughed. “Unfortunately, I’m still the largest shareholder. Whether you want to hear it or not, you have to listen.”
Jiang Yuan closed his eyes briefly and said nothing.
Jiang Yuzhou tilted his head back, staring at Jiang Yuan’s face.
His dark, heavy gaze roamed over Jiang Yuan’s features, as if searching for the faintest trace of familiarity in the depths of memory.
Those eyes, numb with pain, stirred again with the sudden gusts of a cold night.
Jiang Yuzhou murmured, “A-Yuan, smile. When you smile, you look most like her.”
Jiang Yuan finally could bear it no longer, his eyes tinged with crimson.
“Jiang Yuzhou, my mother has been dead for so long, yet you still won’t let her go. Can you be any more disgusting?”
The middle-aged man blinked, unoffended, and actually let out a low chuckle.
“Yes, I loved her too much.”
Jiang Yuan’s fingers involuntarily clenched, and after a sharp pain shot through his palm, he abruptly released them.
“Loving her meant driving her to her death, then not even sparing her body and ashes?
“Don’t think about provoking me into killing you. I won’t let you die.
“I’ll make sure you live well, suffering more and more each day. Father.”
Jiang Yuzhou’s eyes flickered with something—whether anger or pain—as he gasped heavily, his voice low and hoarse, like an inescapable curse.
“Jiang Yuan, my son, you carry my blood in your veins.
“You’re just as unforgivably insane as I am.
“When you meet the person you want to possess…
“You’ll be just like me.
“You’ll destroy everything.”
A sharp, throbbing pain shot through Jiang Yuan’s temples.
His back stiffened, and a metallic taste of blood rose in his mouth.
He snatched the signed documents and strode out without looking back.
Outside the door, he paused, enunciating each word clearly.
“I’m not like you.
“At least I know I’m insane.
“So I’ll cut it off at the root. I won’t take a single step down that path.”
Back in the car.
Jiang Yuan’s brow was tightly furrowed.
The migraine brought with it bizarre, flickering spots before his eyes and a violent urge to vomit.
He fumbled for the aspirin and brought it to his lips.
Jiang Yuzhou’s words echoed in his ears like tinnitus, ringing incessantly.
He was right.
They were indeed the same kind of person.
Ruthless, obsessive, pathological madmen.
But he absolutely could not become like him. Absolutely not—
Tap, tap, tap.
A soft knocking suddenly sounded against the car window.
Before Jiang Yuan could take the medicine, he forced his eyes open. The word “get lost” caught in his throat before he could utter it.
Outside the window, a young girl was peering in curiously.
Even though he knew she couldn’t see inside, Jiang Yuan instinctively adjusted his expression.
He sat up slightly straighter and took a deep breath.
The window slowly rolled down.
Yan Sui flashed a sweet smile. “Mr. Jiang, what a coincidence!
“I dropped my things off at the dorm, signed in for the class activity, and came out.
“The hospital is close to the school, so I came to visit my brother. I didn’t expect to see your car here too.”
Her eyes sparkled as she tilted her head, noticing Jiang Yuan’s even paler complexion. She asked with concern,
“Are you feeling unwell?”
Jiang Yuan’s fingers curled slightly. He glanced at her quickly, then lowered his gaze to his knees, murmuring softly,
“No, I’m here to visit someone too.”
“Ah, that’s good then~ You look very tired, Mr. Jiang. Make sure to rest well and drink plenty of warm water~”
The girl waved sweetly. “I’ll head in now. Goodbye!”
Only after she turned away did he dare to look up.
He stared greedily at her retreating figure until she disappeared from sight.
How could someone’s voice be so soothing?
He felt his ears tingling, the sensation spreading all the way to his heart.
Jiang Yuan let out a sigh and looked at the aspirin in his hand.
Strangely, his headache seemed to have eased a little, and the palpitations had lessened.
He tossed the pill aside and sat in silence for a long while before finally stepping out of the car.
It was just a coincidence, not intentional.
He just wanted to see if that so-called brother had learned his lesson.
Jiang Yuan lifted his foot and walked back through the hospital doors.
At the same time, Yan Sui walked toward Lin Qi’s hospital room.
Along the way, she casually picked up a fruit platter left at the door of another room—someone had prepared to throw it away.
None of the patients here were poor, and with so many visitors, there was always too much fruit. What a waste to just toss it.
The young girl held the fruit platter, even taking a moment to adjust the arrangement slightly.
She glanced at the time.
It would be about ten minutes before Lin Jian and the others brought Lin Ran over.
Perfect timing.
She pushed open the door, her delicate and pretty face filled with deep concern and worry.
“Are you okay? I brought you some fruit.”
Lin Qi was idly playing on his phone when he saw Yan Sui enter, his eyes lighting up.
“I’m fine, I’m actually planning to be discharged today. What brings you here?”
“I was worried about you and wanted to check on you. I can’t help but feel like this is all my fault.” The girl frowned, sniffling slightly.
Her small nose was slightly red, and her damp, almond-shaped eyes were clear and transparent.
For a moment, Lin Qi couldn’t look away.
Just as he was about to speak to comfort her, Yan Sui had already speared a small piece of strawberry and brought it to his lips.
Lin Qi’s face flushed instantly.
But at that very moment, Yan Sui’s fingers tightened—
Without warning, that familiar, chilling sensation of being watched from behind.
It was back.