The mother and daughter said no more about the medical condition.
"You're engaged to Fu Hanyi, aren't you?" Feng Xishu asked, changing the subject.
"We are." Liang Xinwei raised her hand, flashing a massive diamond ring in front of Feng Xishu. "This is the engagement ring he gave me. It’s worth two hundred million."
Feng Xishu breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to stroke the diamond gently. "Xinwei, if you hadn't been sharp enough to notice Fu Hanyi developing feelings for Wen Yuan and schemed to drive a wedge between them, this ring would probably be sitting on that idiot's finger right now."
I was stunned.
What scheme had Liang Xinwei used to drive a wedge between me and Fu Hanyi?
A look of hateful jealousy flickered in Liang Xinwei’s eyes, though her tone remained scornful. "Hanyi hates Wen Yuan to the bone; how could he possibly have feelings for her? I merely pushed things along to help him cut the knot quickly. Mom, you didn't see the pathetic way she was mocked on that cruise ship—it was truly pitiful, like a clown. Especially when Hanyi threw those imported pills she’d bought, one by one, onto the floor. Seeing the look of heartbreak on her face was a real treat. Hanyi even told her to get lost just like those pills."
Liang Xinwei couldn't help but laugh happily as she spoke.
Feng Xishu’s expression was equally gleeful. "Fu Hanyi would naturally find it disgusting that she slept with men to pay for medicine. Of course he would throw it away and humiliate her in public. Even if he didn't have real feelings for her, he wouldn't want to be cuckolded. But I never expected him to believe those photos so easily without checking if they were real. I suppose he was only ever playing with her. Even if you hadn't faked those bed photos, Xinwei, he would have dumped that idiot once he grew bored."
Listening to their conversation, my heart chilled.
No wonder Fu Hanyi had thrown away the medicine I’d bought, pill by pill, even telling me to get lost with such contempt. He thought the money for that medicine had been earned by selling my body. But every cent had been earned by working multiple part-time jobs and selling my own blood; every penny was clean.
No wonder that day, when I called Fu Hanyi for help, Liang Xinwei had said over the phone that I had been forced into selling my body. It turned out she had designed the fake bed photos to make him misunderstand and believe I was involved with another man. This must also be the "betrayal" that Fu Hanyi had just stopped Liang Xinwei from mentioning earlier.
This viper was truly plotting against me in the shadows.
But since the photos were fake, how could Fu Hanyi have believed them so easily? We had been intimate. Even if Liang Xinwei had found a woman who looked like me to pose, he should have realized it was an impostor if he had cared for me even a little.
But he didn't care. As Feng Xishu had said, I was just a plaything to him. He didn't even bother to verify the photos, and he never once confronted me about them. He kept it all buried, silently cooperating with Liang Xinwei to stab me in the back.
From the moment he told me he wanted to propose, I had already become a toy in their hands. He wanted to humiliate me in public and make me the laughingstock of the city. Yet, why would a billionaire with a net worth in the hundreds of billions want to toy with a Cinderella from the bottom of society? That was the question I could never resolve.
At that moment, Liang Xinwei sneered, "Hanyi wasn't just 'playing' with Wen Yuan."
Feng Xishu was slightly startled. "Then what was it?"
Liang Xinwei paused, then whispered wickedly, "It was revenge!"
Feng Xishu looked shocked. "Just because of those fake photos?"
"Of course not." Liang Xinwei leaned down and whispered a few words into Feng Xishu’s ear.
Upon hearing them, Feng Xishu’s expression smoothed out, and she said with satisfaction, "Until the day she died, that idiot never even knew why Fu Hanyi was taking revenge on her. How pathetic."
I felt a cold shiver run through my entire body. I never could have imagined that the reason Fu Hanyi was toying with me was revenge! What deep grudge could he possibly have against me? He was a high-and-mighty financial mogul, and I was just an ant struggling to make a living. If he hadn't deliberately sought me out, I wouldn't have had the chance to come within three feet of him. What kind of history could we have? What was he taking revenge for?
Liang Xinwei’s words had been too soft for me to hear. But it didn't matter anymore. Whether it was a misunderstanding or I had truly offended him, my sincere heart hadn't been enough to move him; he had still chosen to take his revenge.
This viper of a mother and daughter had actually been worried he might have developed real feelings for me, so they schemed to drive us apart.
*Heh.* How unnecessary. If he had felt a shred of sincerity for me, he wouldn't have fallen for Liang Xinwei's scheme so easily. A man as shrewd as him—if he hadn't been deliberately ignoring me, if he had cared at all—would never have been fooled by such a shallow trick. He simply hadn't wanted to investigate. He had used this so-called "betrayal" as an excuse to carry out his revenge with a clear conscience. He just needed a staircase to step down from to finish the trap.
The sky was overcast, and a light rain began to fall. I drifted in the air, looking at the gloom above. The raindrops were gentle, yet they lashed at my paper-thin body like whips.
*Wen Yuan, you couldn't see people for who they really were. You deserve to be toyed with.*
Overcome by the weight of it all, I collapsed onto the grass, curling up and weeping like a lost ghost.
*No.* I already was one.
"So, Fu Hanyi, our grievances for this lifetime... we should be even now, right?"
But we weren't. I was soon back at his side.
Inside the police station, an officer was saying to Fu Hanyi, "Mr. Fu, you asked us to notify you immediately if there were any new leads regarding Wen Yuan. That is why we called."
Fu Hanyi sat with his legs crossed, leaning back in his chair, one hand supporting his chin. His posture was as casual as if he were at a relaxed party, yet that very nonchalance exuded his innate power and aura of oppression.
He gave a deep "Hmm."
Watching the cold-faced man, I felt no more heart-racing love; instead, I felt a surge of disgust at his arrogant, holier-than-thou posture. It was as if no one dared to cross him.
*Hmph.*
I suddenly floated above him and squatted on his head. If the living dared not ride on his shoulders, then I, a ghost, was someone he could do nothing about! I folded my arms and squatted on top of Fu Hanyi’s head, listening with composure as the police shared their new findings.
I had no lingering attachment to this man; I only wanted the police to find my body so I could be laid to rest and sever all ties with him.
The officer continued, "We reviewed the call logs from the day Wen Yuan went missing and discovered that after she left the cruise ship, she had a phone conversation lasting over two minutes. The owner of that number is Mo Xueying. Our investigation shows she and Wen Yuan were very close. The call lasted quite a while; the content of their conversation may very well involve Wen Yuan's whereabouts."
Fu Hanyi maintained his indifferent posture, his lips curling into a cold smirk. "In the future, do not notify me of such irrelevant leads. You are wasting my time."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a sharp voice cut through the air: "Fu Hanyi, how can you say such heartless things? Do you have no conscience? How can you face the sincerity Wen Yuan had for you?"
Hearing that voice, warmth flooded my heart, and my eyes instantly turned hot with tears.
*Xueying, my dearest best friend, you’ve finally come back!*