Song Qingxian woke up in the hospital bed. Has she been reborn again?
The pain coursing through her body reminded her that she probably had not died. She had merely been taken to the hospital.
She looked around the empty ward. Lu Nanzhan was not here?
Her hand instinctively moved to her lower abdomen. After falling down the stairs, was the child alright?
Butler Zhou pushed open the door and entered the room. “Miss Song, you’re finally awake.”
“Where is Lu Nanzhan?” Song Qingxian asked immediately.
Butler Zhou fell silent for a long moment before speaking slowly. “Miss Song, Mr. Lu has already passed away.”
Song Qingxian could hardly believe her ears. How was that possible? If he had died, there was no reason for him to let her live. After all, before this, he had always chosen to perish together with her.
“That’s impossible. You’re lying to me, aren’t you?!” Song Qingxian’s emotions instantly spiraled out of control.
Butler Zhou looked unusually old and exhausted. “Miss Song, it’s true. Mr. Lu left something for you at the villa. Once you’re discharged, you should go take a look.”
Song Qingxian reached up to rip out her IV needle, but Butler Zhou hurriedly stopped her. “Miss Song, please don’t do this. You just miscarried, your body is still very weak. Mr. Lu’s greatest wish was for you to live well.”
One shocking piece of news after another crashed down on her without warning. What exactly had happened while she was unconscious?
“What happened? Why did he die?”
The one who had been injured and collapsed in a pool of blood was clearly her, so why was Lu Nanzhan the one who died?
“Miss Song, Mr. Lu committed suicide last night.”
“Huh?” Song Qingxian’s mind went completely blank.
“Miss Song…” Butler Zhou could not continue speaking. Perhaps this was a form of release for Song Qingxian after all. The two of them had tormented each other for far too long.
At that moment, Lu Chiyan’s voice suddenly sounded from the doorway. The gentle smile still lingered at the corners of his lips. “Qingxian, I really underestimated you.”
Song Qingxian frowned at him. “Why are you here?” If he had not deliberately provoked Lu Nanzhan at the restaurant that day, maybe Lu Nanzhan would not have lost control.
“Thank you.” His voice was smooth and pleasant as he leaned close to Song Qingxian’s ear. “Your methods were impressive. You actually managed to make that monster end himself.”
First, she made Lu Nanzhan fall in love with her. After discovering he was mentally ill, she found ways to stop him from taking his medication, constantly worsening his condition. Again and again, she hurt him, destroying him psychologically before finally delivering the fatal blow that completely shattered his mental defenses.
‘Song Qingxian’ was truly brilliant, and equally ruthless.
Song Qingxian only felt an unbearable ache in her chest. Scene after scene of her time with Lu Nanzhan flashed before her eyes. Even now, she still could not accept it. Lu Nanzhan was really dead?
“Qingxian, you’ve worked hard. I’ll take back everything that belongs to the Lu Family. I’ll send you abroad too, and you can begin a new life.”
Song Qingxian looked at him coldly. In Lu Chiyan’s eyes, she had always been nothing more than a chess piece.
“Second Young Master Lu, I’m afraid Mr. Lu’s belongings are not yours to inherit,” Butler Zhou interrupted.
Lu Chiyan lazily brushed at his sleeve. “Everything he had was stolen from the Lu Family in the first place. Now that he’s dead, naturally it should be returned. Besides, he still carried the Lu surname. Don’t tell me you expect to inherit it instead?”
“Second Young Master, before Mr. Lu died, he completed a notarized will. All assets under his name, including company shares, savings, real estate, and everything else, will be inherited solely by Miss Song.”
Shock flashed through Lu Chiyan’s eyes. Lu Nanzhan had valued Song Qingxian this deeply? Still, since it was Song Qingxian, he could always find a way to make her transfer everything over.
Song Qingxian also stared at Butler Zhou in disbelief. Lu Nanzhan had clearly hated her enough to want to kill her, so why would he leave all his wealth to her?
“Qingxian, since that’s the case, let’s discuss the asset transfer.” Lu Chiyan spoke as though it were only natural.
“Get out!” Song Qingxian suddenly exploded emotionally. “Butler Zhou, make him leave!”
Lu Chiyan curled his lips into a smile. “Since you’re so emotional right now, we’ll talk another time.”
Song Qingxian watched his elegant departing figure, her eyes filled with disgust. She ripped out her IV needle and said, “Butler Zhou, I want to go back.”
Butler Zhou sighed. In the end, he still could not refuse her and brought her back to the villa.
The enormous estate remained unchanged. The field of golden sunflowers still bloomed brilliantly, growing toward the sun.
“His…” Song Qingxian’s voice trembled. “Where is his body?”
“Miss Song, Mr. Lu’s body has already been cremated.”
“So quickly?”
“It was Mr. Lu’s request.” Lu Nanzhan had left instructions for Butler Zhou in his will. “He said he was afraid the way he looked after death would be too frightening and might scare you, so he asked me to have him cremated as soon as possible.”
Tears instantly streamed uncontrollably down Song Qingxian’s face. “Where was he buried? I want to see him.”
“He’s beneath that flower field.” Butler Zhou led Song Qingxian toward the sunflowers.
At last, Song Qingxian could no longer hold back. She collapsed to her knees and burst into heartbroken sobs. She had not even had the chance to save him. She truly pitied him, truly wanted to pull him out of the abyss, so why had he left like this?
Butler Zhou helped support Song Qingxian, who was nearly crying herself unconscious. “Miss Song, your health is poor. You should return to your room first. Mr. Lu left you a letter.”
Song Qingxian urgently grabbed his arm. “Take me to it. Take me to it.”
Study room:
Only now did Song Qingxian learn that Lu Nanzhan had spent most of his life in a state of dissociation. He struggled desperately to maintain the illusion of normalcy, yet the slightest mistake would cause everything to collapse instantly.
A violent split had formed between the desires of his inner world and the reality of the outside world. The immense disparity between his cognition and reality gradually tore him apart and drove him insane. He longed for love and salvation, yet he was constantly trampled on and wounded.
And Lu Nanzhan died during one of his rare moments of clarity. He realized that his existence would only continue hurting others. The person he loved most had been wounded beyond recognition by him and collapsed in a pool of blood. So he chose to end his own life.
Song Qingxian trembled as she opened the letter Lu Nanzhan had left behind for her. His handwriting was bold and powerful. It was as though she could still see him standing beside her, obsessively twisted and sick, yet stubbornly loving her all the same.
Xianxian, when we first met, you held an umbrella in the rain and smiled so gently. You tilted the umbrella over my head and told me not to stand in the rain or I would catch a cold. In that moment, it felt as though there was only you left in the entire universe. You were so beautiful and flawless, yet all I wanted was to possess you.
I’m sorry. Someone as wonderful as you ended up meeting someone as insane and broken as me. I’m sick. I have always known that I was sick. Yet I still desperately wanted to hold onto you. It was as though I had wandered through an endless desert for a very, very long time before finally encountering a single drop of water, so I exhausted every ounce of strength just to get closer to you. You were like the only light in my darkened life, like a flower blooming in my barren and desolate existence. To me, you were like a whale drawn to the sea, like a bird returning to the forest.
I do not regret obsessively possessing you, but I despise myself, this lunatic, this monster who uncontrollably hurts you. As long as I remain alive, I will never stop harming you. So I am willing to end my life, to end this sinful and filthy existence of mine, in exchange for the beautiful smile you deserve for the rest of your life.
Azhan.