BOOM!
The words exploded like thunder in broad daylight.
“What? Ye Cang’s mother is dead? Grandpa, you’re joking, right…”
Gu Yuyao gave a confused laugh. She truly thought Gu Zhenghong was trying to scare her.
Ye Cang’s mother had been alive and well. How could she be dead all of a sudden?
But when she saw Gu Zhenghong’s lifeless expression, and the steady stream of tears rolling from his eyes, the smile on her face slowly faded.
By the end, her entire face turned ghostly pale. Her mind buzzed endlessly, thoughts crashing into each other like waves.
“Gr-Grandpa, don’t scare me… That’s not funny at all…” she said, holding Gu Zhenghong’s hand, her body trembling. Her face twisted in a forced smile, clinging to a sliver of hope—maybe he was lying. Maybe Ye Cang’s mother was still alive.
“Who’s joking with you!” Gu Zhenghong angrily pushed her hand away, his eyes filled with hatred as he roared, “Xiao Cang’s mother is really dead! Just a few days ago! And it was because of you, unfilial girl! I wish I could kill you myself!”
BOOM…
With confirmation, Gu Yuyao’s whole body trembled violently.
It felt like the sky had fallen. As if tens of thousands of knives had pierced her heart all at once.
Mountains crumbled, oceans surged—nothing could describe the emotional collapse she experienced in that moment. Her mental defenses shattered. Her world became a lifeless, ashen apocalypse.
What?
What?
Ye Cang’s mother… is dead?
Her chest suddenly clenched with unbearable pain. She couldn’t breathe. Her whole body stiffened.
So that’s why her grandfather had called her dozens, hundreds of times yesterday. It was to tell her this.
But she hadn’t answered.
“BZZT BZZT…”
Just then, another phone screen lit up.
Gu Yuyao lowered her head mechanically and happened to glance at it. It was a call from Qiao Mohan—she had called dozens of times.
“…Hello?” she answered dully, like a soulless puppet.
“Finally! Yuyao, are you sure the address is No. 18 Yong’an Road?”
“Yeah. Why?”
Gu Yuyao’s dazed eyes regained a bit of clarity, and she instinctively replied.
“That’s the Jiang City Funeral Home!” Qiao Mohan shouted.
“What?!”
Already on the edge of collapse, Gu Yuyao was struck again. Waves of terror surged in her chest.
Funeral home… The address Ye Cang gave her was a funeral home?
The news hit so abruptly, she wasn’t prepared at all.
She stumbled backward and fell to the ground.
Her mouth opened as if to scream, but no sound came out—just like Gu Zhenghong’s reaction before. Only worse.
Her body completely froze.
Her mind went blank. Her functions shut down.
She looked like she aged several years in an instant. The change was visible on her face.
“What? Ye Cang’s mother is actually dead?”
Hiding around the corner, Gao Yanqing had heard the commotion. His heart skipped a beat.
No wonder Ye Cang had looked at him like an enemy—his closest family member had died.
Was it… because of him?
His mind worked quickly and immediately connected it to that Life-Saving Medicine Gu Yuyao had given him.
He had warned her multiple times. He’d had a bad feeling from the start.
But in the end, the worst had come true.
Over ten minutes passed before Gu Yuyao, still pale as a sheet, managed to recover a little. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
She looked up at Gu Zhenghong and forced a weak smile. “Grandpa… I’m sorry about Ye Cang’s mother, but this has nothing to do with me, does it?”
She was severely ill. Who knew when she would’ve passed?
How could this be her fault?
Besides, Ye Cang had taken his mother from the hospital on his own. If anything, it was his fault.
It had nothing to do with her.
Gu Yuyao wasn’t completely heartless—she just thought the situation over calmly. She didn’t want to take the blame.
“YOU BASTARD!”
Gu Zhenghong slapped her again, this time hard enough to split her lip.
Her hair fell over her face, soaked by the rain. She looked like a drenched ghost—utterly wretched.
“If you hadn’t selfishly given Xiao Cang’s Life-Saving Medicine to someone else, would his mother have died?! She died because you took that pill! You’re the one who killed her!”
Gu Zhenghong roared with fury.
“What?”
Gu Yuyao’s mind blanked again. This was the third time she froze.
So the cause of death… was the medicine?
That Life-Saving Medicine?
BOOM…
Understanding hit her like a bomb. It was as if her soul had been ripped out, her spirit crushed into pieces.
Now it all made sense.
Why Ye Cang had insisted on divorcing her—it wasn’t because of Brother Yanqing. It wasn’t her indifference.
It was because she had killed his mother.
It explained everything.
Why he took his mother away. Why the hospital room was empty.
Because the deceased’s body had to be claimed by family.
Why he gave her the address ‘No. 18 Yong’an Road.’
That was the funeral home!
Why he told her to come before noon—it was the funeral!
Who shows up late to a funeral?!
She didn’t know any of this.
Instead, she mocked him, insulted him…
“AHHHH!!”
Gu Yuyao finally snapped.
She grabbed her head and screamed in agony, her cry piercing the rain-soaked sky.
BOOM BOOM…
As if in response, thunder rumbled above. A heavy rainstorm poured over Jiang City.
Gu Yuyao was instantly soaked.
She lay in the mud, unmoving.
She was going insane.
Gu Yuyao had lost her mind.
She hadn’t wanted to kill Ye Cang’s mother!
She and Doctor Zhang had been treating her. There was improvement. She might’ve recovered.
They just needed that one pill.
She had truly cared…
But then Brother Yanqing returned.
Her priorities shifted.
But she had been wrong. So wrong.
Now she wasn’t just indirectly responsible.
She was the killer.
“Urgh…”
She couldn’t accept the truth. Her body started retching violently.
Tears and drool streamed down her face, washed away by the rain.
“Why…”
Her voice cracked as she looked up at Gu Zhenghong, her pupils unfocused. “Why didn’t anyone tell me… that Ye Cang’s mother had died…?”
“We’ve been saying it for days, Director Gu!” Doctor Zhang stepped forward. Everyone who knew the truth had arrived.
“If you had paid even a little attention, there’s no way you wouldn’t know Ye Cang’s mother was gone.”
“But your heart was always with your dear Mr. Gao. No one else mattered to you.”
“And since it was your private affair, we didn’t feel right confronting you.”
“PUH!”
Their words were like daggers stabbing her heart.
Her soul collapsed.
She coughed up a mouthful of blood.
She really had been the last to know.
“Wh-Where is Ye Cang?”
Gu Yuyao suddenly jumped up from the ground, her eyes wild, her voice shaking.
She finally remembered.
That day when Ye Cang had rushed to bring her somewhere—it had been to see his mother’s body.
Tears burst forth uncontrollably. She scrambled to her feet, grabbing Gu Zhenghong’s arm.
Her sobs choked her words, “Grandpa… No. 18 Yong’an Road… we have to go. We have to see Ye Cang’s mother one last time…”
Gu Zhenghong didn’t hit or scold her anymore. He just let out a cold snort. “Of course we’re going. All of us. We must go beg for forgiveness at Xiao Cang’s mother’s funeral!”
A car quickly pulled up.
“To No. 18 Yong’an Road—funeral home! Hurry!”
Gu Zhenghong urged frantically.
The car sped into the pouring rain.
…
Meanwhile, Gao Yanqing finally stepped out from behind the corner.
But he wasn’t alone.
A mysterious man in a black trench coat and sunglasses stood beside him.
“You’re not going with them?” the man asked.
“Why would I?” Gao Yanqing smiled calmly. “To share the blame? Or to see my woman on her knees, sobbing and begging for forgiveness?”
He knew now wasn’t the time to show up.
No woman wanted the man she loved to see her at her most pathetic.
And if he did show up, Ye Cang’s fury would fall entirely on him.
He had already taken Ye Cang’s woman.
Now, she had also caused the death of his mother.
That kind of grudge… was no joke.
“Suit yourself,” the trench coat man shrugged and smirked. “I came just to remind you. Don’t forget your mission. Don’t actually fall for her.”
“Relax. I know exactly what I’m doing,” Gao Yanqing sneered. “Getting close to her was never about love. This ‘key’ is already close to the ‘lock’…”
He looked at the downpour ahead and said coldly, “What heavy rain…”