Returning - Chapter 96
Chapter 96: Truth in Lies
"Xiao Jin, what should I do? I'm pregnant."
"He doesn't know yet. I... I want to get rid of the child."
"I'm increasingly feeling there's no future with him. I don't want this child..."
"Please... I'll abort the child, I promise I will. Please... let me go to the hospital for the surgery myself."
"What are you doing? Godmother! Godmother, call the police, they're taking Xi Xi away!"
"Godmother! Let go! You—ah..."
Stinging blood, piercing cries, the cold morgue... fragmented memories surfaced incessantly. Zhao Yu instinctively clutched the bedsheet, curling up into a ball.
"Zhao Yu, Zhao Yu!" Seeing her trembling all over and sobbing uncontrollably, Xue Zhan called out softly twice before grabbing her shoulder and shaking it hard, "Zhao Yu, wake up."
As if suddenly pulled out of a dark ice cellar, Zhao Yu's eyes snapped open, meeting a pair of deep eyes.
Seeing her staring at him motionless with wide eyes, clearly not yet recovered from the nightmare, Xue Zhan reached out to stroke her cold-sweat-covered face and whispered, "It's all right. You were probably having a nightmare just now."
After staring at him blankly for a while, two streams of hot tears suddenly slid from her eyes. Zhao Yu closed her eyes, pulled the blanket over herself to hide, and curled up, crying silently.
The moment she regained her composure, she realized she needed to continue the act in front of Xue Zhan. But having cut open the wound so deeply, she didn't need to fake it at all.
Song Xuan's interrogation, those memories she had been trying to escape, had utterly broken her. Even she couldn't distinguish what was pretense and what was truth displayed before Xue Zhan.
Xue Zhan could only hear very, very low sobs, but even through the blanket, he could clearly see her trembling inside growing more intense.
After watching quietly for a moment, he finally sat on the edge of the bed, patting the blanket gently and slowly. He didn't even know if this would help.
After a long time, the frequency of her trembling finally slowed. But once she calmed down, she still didn't lift the blanket, just lying motionless inside.
Looking at the shape she made under the covers, Xue Zhan paused, then stood up: "I'll have Xia Nan take care of you."
If none of this was her acting, then the person she least wanted to see right now was surely him.
When Xia Nan came in, she was carrying a tray of hot food. Zhao Yu was already sitting up against the headboard, staring blankly.
"Zhao Yu, you must be hungry. Want to eat something first?" Xia Nan dared not ask more, her attitude extremely cautious.
Zhao Yu smiled at her and shook her head.
Xia Nan had wanted to say that Xue Zhan had specially ordered this, but remembering the trouble her loose tongue had caused earlier, she quickly swallowed her words.
Yet seeing Zhao Yu's haggard and weak state, after some regret, she couldn't help but speak: "I'm sorry, Zhao Yu. It's all my fault for meddling and gossiping."
Zhao Yu's throat hurt fiercely, her voice hoarse: "It's fine. It has nothing to do with you."
How could she blame Xia Nan? In fact, she was the one who should apologize.
She had based everything on Xia Nan's personality, calculating every step so that Song Xuan would appear just when Xia Nan went to get a delivery, and deliberately let Xia Nan hear her tell the front desk that he was looking for Zhao Yu.
Xia Nan's self-blame for meddling was precisely the most crucial part of this grand performance.
"What about Song Xuan?" After sitting dazed for a long time, Zhao Yu suddenly spoke again.
Xia Nan took a moment to react: "I don't know. A few of us went downstairs to the tea room to eat takeout, and when we came back, he was gone. We only knew what happened to you when the doctor arrived..."
Seeing her worry and self-reproach, Zhao Yu smiled at her again: "I'm fine, don't worry. It's not your fault, so don't blame yourself."
After resting a while, Zhao Yu threw off the blanket and got out of bed: "Has Director Xue left?"
"Probably... not."
This was the lounge inside Xue Zhan's office. As soon as Zhao Yu opened the door, she saw him sitting at the desk, looking at his computer.
Xue Zhan didn't expect her to get up so quickly. Surprised, his gaze fell on Xia Nan: "You can go back now."
Xia Nan looked at Zhao Yu and only turned to leave after getting a nod from her.
Zhao Yu looked straight at Xue Zhan: "Where's Song Xuan? How is he?"
"I had someone take him to the rest area downstairs. He left two hours ago."
"Thank you."
This "thank you" was for Xue Zhan not immediately kicking Song Xuan out, since Song Xuan's state at that time had been just as bad as hers—real emotions mixed within the fake act, and as they acted, he had collapsed too.
Xue Zhan said: "You don't hate me?"
Zhao Yu gave a self-deprecating smile: "Hate you for what? For sleeping with me? You were right. I was the one who provoked you. Who else can I blame? Or hate you for letting Song Xuan come up? I was already a murderer; how could I escape it?"
Xue Zhan was silent for a moment, then stood and closed his laptop: "I'll drive you home."
Zhao Yu didn't refuse. In her current state, she couldn't drive at all, and there was no point being hypocritical in front of him.
But during the entire ride, they didn't speak. One continued to huddle in the passenger seat, staring blankly, while the other drove seriously, only occasionally glancing at her from the corner of his eye.
As they neared her apartment complex, Zhao Yu finally spoke: "I'd like to request two days off, to go back... sweep the graves for my mother and Xiaoyu."
Xue Zhan said: "All right."
Zhao Yu was truthful with Ji Sui. She explained that because of a business trip over the Qingming Festival, she was taking compensatory leave now to visit her hometown tomb-sweeping.
Ji Sui didn't suspect anything. Their relationship hadn't reached the point where he could accompany her to her hometown, so he didn't come looking for her at her apartment.
The next morning, after dawdling since getting up, Zhao Yu finally received a message from Xue Zhan:
[I'm downstairs, coming with you]
It was both to further verify the truth and because he wasn't comfortable letting her go alone in such a state.
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