CHAPTER 114: CHAPTER 114; CAN I COME WITH YOU?

The door to Fang Lin’s apartment slammed shut behind him, the echo lingering like a war drum. Rain pounded against the windows as the man strode into the hallway, his black coat already draped over his broad shoulders.

A fleet of black SUVs waited below.

"Uncle... Uncle...."

"Can I come with you?" Fang Lin was worried and couldn’t stay still. She chased after him wanting to accompany him.

"Stay indoors, it’s dark outside! Close all the doors and lock them." He walked away while dismissing her. She didn’t have any other options apart from listening to him.

She went back inside and closed the door, locking it. The man walked out of the building.

Jin Zhou stood at attention near the lead vehicle, speaking into his comms. "Teams Alpha and Echo are in place. The South and East entrances are covered. The backup team will tail in five."

Without a word, the man opened the rear door of his car. A small figure was curled up on the seat, a little girl, no more than four years old, her head resting against a folded blanket. Her lashes trembled as the sudden movement disturbed her sleep.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she murmured, voice soft and slurred, "Daddy...? Dear Daddy?"

He slid one arm beneath her, lifting her small, warm body effortlessly against his chest. "I’m here," he said, his voice low but steady.

"Where are we going, Daddy? It’s so late into the night!" she queried, rubbing her eyes and clinging to his coat.

"We are going to see your mother," he told her, his tone softening in a way it never did with anyone else.

Her little face lit up, excitement flickering in her sleepy gaze, then confusion clouded it. She had grown up with only her father; the word mother was something from other children’s stories, never her own life.

"Really? I... I have a mother? Daddy, you ain’t lying to me, right? I have a mommy?" she asked, her small voice trembling with wonder.

"Really, I’m not lying to you, she is slightly sick but she is fine..." he confirmed, tucking the blanket around her as though guarding her from the world.

She blinked at him, the corners of her lips lifting in a hesitant smile. "Is she... nice? Does she look like me?"

"You will see," he said, his gaze unreadable.

She sighed happily, as if the possibility alone was enough, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Okay... I’m tired..."

"Then sleep," he murmured, brushing her damp hair away from her forehead.

The door closed, and the engine roared to life.

"Drive," he ordered, his voice once again steel.

The convoy moved swiftly, headlights slicing through the downpour as they disappeared into the night, carrying a man with vengeance in his heart and a child about to meet the mother she never knew existed.

---

SHEN MANSION – NIGHT

The hallway was dimly, lit only by the low amber glow of wall sconces that flickered with every roll of thunder outside.

Shen Xiao stood at the threshold of Bai Zhi’s guest bedroom, his tall figure a shadow against the doorframe.

Inside, the room was still and quiet and only heartbeats echoed.

Bai Zhi lay curled on the edge of the bed, a silk blanket draped over her body. Her long hair spilled over the pillow, dark strands clinging to the dampness of her temple. Her breathing was shallow, but steady, more like someone sedated by exhaustion than sleep.

There were faint red marks along her wrists with the cotton wrap removed, a raw reminder of the earlier struggle, their earlier recall of the past. Her skin, usually porcelain-smooth and vibrant, looked ashen under the golden lamplight.

Shen Xiao stepped inside quietly, his eyes scanning the room. There were no nurses, no machines, just silence, and the lingering scent of medicine and rain.

He moved to her bedside but didn’t sit. His gaze lingered on her face, unreadable and eerily calm.

"You never knew when to stop," he murmured, his voice low and tightly controlled. "Don’t act silly again! I still care about your life... You should know how hard it is for me...."

His hand twitched slightly at his side, and he reached for her. He lightly touched her face, moving the fringes to the side.

"Wake up soon... I will always be here...."

He left the bedroom and went back to his master bedroom. He was exhausted and felt like he needed to have a very long nap.

After getting into the master bedroom, he took a shower, freshening up before wearing his sleeping pajamas and lying on the bed.

He didn’t even have any appetite to eat.

But the quiet of the room only made his mind louder.

Two women.... two bonds he could not sever. Whichever side, he was bound to lose....

Bai Zhi, his long-time sweetheart, the girl he had once chosen without hesitation, the woman bound to him by something deeper and darker than love, a pact of life and death. If she died, he would follow. That truth had shackled them together for years, a chain neither of them could break. She was the past he couldn’t abandon, the living embodiment of promises made long ago, of guilt and obligation carved into his bones.

And then there was Yueyao, his wife, the mother of his child. She was warmth where Bai Zhi was fragility, resolve where Bai Zhi was dependence. She had given him a family, a future, and yet he had wounded her more than anyone else. Every time he thought of her eyes, filled with both love and betrayal, something inside him twisted until he could barely breathe.

He closed his eyes, lying in the darkness, feeling the weight of both women pressing against his chest. One was his past, chained to his fate. The other was his present, slipping through his fingers. And he didn’t know which loss would destroy him first.

Sleep came quickly, but it was not restful. Nightmares after nightmares were woven around him.