Lin Yu was also looking back at her, and he realized that Sheng Jiaoyang was very different from before. There were now traces of ferocity and decisiveness between her brows, similar to a newly-sharpened treasured sword.

"Jiaojiao, I asked you out today because I wanted to ask you something," said Lin Yu.

"Ask away." Although they couldn't become lovers, Sheng Jiaoyang still treated Lin Yu as a friend.

Lin Yu pursed his lips and organized his thoughts before he asked, "You know that s.h.i.+yun's mother has been detained, right?"

Sheng Jiaoyang looked up at him and sneered before straightforwardly admitting, "Of course I do, I was the one who sent her in."

Lin Yu was stunned and left dumbstruck by this revelation.

Sheng Jiaoyang picked up her teacup and casually took a sip from it.

"Do you hate her that much?" At this moment, Lin Yu had complex feelings in his heart. In his eyes, Sheng Jiaoyang had always been a bright and cheerful girl, a girl who lived without a tinge of darkness in her life. It never crossed his mind that she would harbour such hatred in her heart.

"Hate her? I definitely did when I was weak and powerless. But now, do you think I will hate a vicious mosquito that had once bitten me? No, I would just smack it dead." Sheng Jiaoyang replied nonchalantly with a relaxed and carefree tone, as though she was just gossipping with Lin Yu.

Since she caught hold of Liang Xiaohui's tail, there was no way she was going to let her off. It was almost like finding out that the mosquito that had previously been sucking her blood was now being trapped in a mosquito net. Naturally, her first thought would be to kill it, and not let it live for even a second longer, in case it ever tries to suck her blood again.

To Sheng Jiaoyang, Liang Xiaohui was like that vicious mosquito that had once sucked her blood and left her with a swollen and itchy b.u.mp.

"Jiaojiao, you have changed," Lin Yu let out a sigh and lamented.

Sheng Jiaoyang c.o.c.ked her head to the side and looked at Lin Yu, "Do you find the current me very terrifying?"

"No…" My heart feels pained for you. Lin Yu swallowed the last sentence and left it unsaid. He wished for Sheng Jiaoyang to live a blissful life where she wouldn't be surrounded by vile and evil. He wished for her to be a princess whom everyone doted on, but now she was living life on the edge of swords and blades. Yet, there was nothing he could do to help her.

"Are you here today to plead for mercy for Sheng s.h.i.+yun and her mother?"

"No, I just want to know what happened."

Sheng Jiaoyang raised an eyebrow. She was slightly surprised by Lin Yu's answer. Sheng Jiaoyang's impression of Lin Yu had always been that he was an extremely just and kind person, who was born with a heart that sympathized with the weak.

"What happened was, Liang Xiaohui previously hired thugs to threaten a mistress who was pregnant. The woman then committed suicide by jumping off a building. Then, to kill two birds with one stone, she made use of this incident, by getting the thugs to claim that I was the main perpetrator. Now, they got the same group of thugs to a.s.sault me, hoping to disfigure me. Luckily, my boyfriend, Mr. Shen, came in time to rescue me, and apprehended a few of them. The police then looked into their records and realized that they were the same bunch who had threatened that pregnant woman. You already know what happened next. Villians will get their just desserts, I was merely sending her to where she ought to be."

Lin Yu was once again left stupefied. I never expected that s.h.i.+yun's mother would be someone like this. Wait—

"Did you just say 'them'?"

"Do you seriously think Sheng s.h.i.+yun is uninvolved in instructing the thugs to ruin my face? Hah! Lin Yu, I have told you long ago to never see Sheng s.h.i.+yun as an innocent and naive person. You have known her for so many years, but have you seen how she is like in private?"

Looking at Lin Yu's face that was full of conflicting emotions, the corner of Sheng Jiaoyang's lips curled up slightly, and she continued, “Both mother and daughter have the same set of morals. In front of everyone else, they try their hardest to tarnish my reputation in a roundabout way. They act like they have been bullied by me, so as to create a pitiful image to get everyone to feel pity for them. Then, as soon as I am not around, they use my stuff, take my jewellery, and even cursed me by saying that it was a good thing that I died. I even have audio recordings to serve as evidence for all the things I have said.”

Lin Yu had a solemn expression on his face.

How could he not? Someone whom he treated and took care of like his own younger sister was actually such a person. Anyone would feel uncomfortable about it.

"If you are here to persuade me to let them off, then don't bother, for it's impossible. If they didn't come to find trouble with me, I really wouldn't care. But now, too bad. Since they sucked my blood, they should be prepared to repay the debt with their blood!"

Sheng Jiaoyang stood up, "Alright, I have to go to the hospital now, feel free to go on with your day."

Lin Yu promptly stood up as well, "Are you going to go visit Uncle Sheng?"

"Yeah."

"I'll go with you, I want to visit Uncle Sheng too."

Sheng Jiaoyang took a glance at Lin Yu and didn't reject his proposition.

Sheng Xun was still the same as usual. He was still lying on the bed, motionless. For the past half a month or so, he was being kept alive by the IV drip and glucose solution. However, his face had thinned rapidly, his eyes had sunk in, and his cheekbones had become more prominent. He was as thin as a bone.

The visiting timing for Sheng Jiaoyang and the other members of the Sheng family were staggered. Hence she didn't run into that 'one of a kind' family.

Lin Yu looked at Sheng Xun on the bed with melancholy and said, "Uncle Sheng, I have heard about what happened to you. I'm so sorry that I only came to visit you now."

Sheng Xun didn't exhibit any reactions. There were no significant changes in his heartbeat as well.

Sheng Jiaoyang sat down beside the bed and took the diary out. She disregarded Lin Yu and simply said, "I will read the rest to you today. After that, I won't be coming here anymore."

She felt that Sheng Xun could hear her, because whenever she read the contents of the diary out loud, his heartbeat would fluctuate differently from usual.

She read the contents page by page, and soon, Sheng Jiaoyang had flipped to the last written page of the diary.

August 30th, Sunny

The heavens are kind to me for allowing me to accompany both of you for another 8 years. Though there were times when my illness relapsed, I can clearly feel today that my time is going to be up soon. I am really fortunate to be able to press through till the day where our little Jiaojiao celebrates her 8th birthday. But unfortunately, in the future, I won't be able to play a part in the lives of my loved ones.

I often wondered if what I did was right. Why have I not fallen in love with a fickle man? Alright, if I did fall in love with someone like that, we would have never gotten together.

If there's a next time, I wish I can have a healthy body, and I wish I could meet you again. Let me love you well then.

Sorry, Sheng Xun, and also…

"I love you," Sheng Jiaoyang slowly read aloud the three words that felt extremely heavy today.

There was suddenly a huge fluctuation in the heartbeat shown on the electrocardiograph.

Sheng Xun's eyes remained close and he didn't come around, but his heartbeat was racing.

"This diary was initially left to Grandfather for safekeeping. I secretly took it out from the box. Before she pa.s.sed on, she told me to never tell you about this, or I would lose you. But in the end, I realized that even if I didn't tell you, I still lost you. So before I left the country, I placed this diary in that secret compartment, hoping that one day you would find it yourself and come to look for me, but you didn't."

Sheng Jiaoyang took in a deep breath and looked at Sheng Xun as she continued in a dejected voice, "Only now do I understand her intentions. She was right not to tell you about it. At least you would still be alive…"

At this point, Sheng Jiaoyang suddenly couldn't continue speaking.

She closed the diary, leaned down, and gently whispered into Sheng Xun's ear, "Goodbye, Father."

A teardrop welled up in the corner of Sheng Xun's eye and rolled down his cheek.

"Beep—" The line on the electrocardiograph which represented his heartbeat suddenly flatlined.

Sheng Jiaoyang didn't even straighten back up. She froze in that position, and her expression was indescribable. She looked as though she was going to cry, but she didn't.

"Doctor, Doctor—" the caretaker finally came around and hurriedly called for the doctors.

Lin Yu walked over to Sheng Jiaoyang, raised a hand and placed it on her shoulder. "My condolences."

There was a scurrying of footsteps.

A group of doctors and nurses swiftly entered the room. Sheng Jiaoyang was also 'invited' to the side. They started to do emergency cardiac resuscitation, but as the seconds and minutes went by, there was no change to the line on the ECG monitor.

Sheng Jiaoyang turned and dashed out of the ward. She only slowed down when she reached the outer corridors.

Lin Yu followed after her. He just walked beside her, and silently accompanied her without saying anything.

Sheng Jiaoyang stopped before a window. Placing both her hands on the window grill, she bowed her head to look at the diary she was holding in one of her hands, her face void of expression.

"Just cry if you feel upset," Lin Yu said softly. Seeing Sheng Jiaoyang's current expression, he felt a piercing pain in his heart. Sometimes, the lack of expression didn't mean that one wasn't sad, but rather, that it hurt so much that one became numb.

"I thought I was already well-prepared for this, but when it happened, I realized that I have overestimated myself," Sheng Jiaoyang remarked suddenly.

"Even after Uncle Sheng is gone, you still have us. We will always be here for you," comforted Lin Yu.

Sheng Jiaoyang didn't look at Lin Yu. Instead, she looked out of the window and happened to see a bird on the pavement flying up, startled, when a pa.s.serby walked past it. After what seemed like an eternity, she said, "Actually, it's better this way too. Rather than live on in pain, it's better to die a swift death."

Lin Yu's gaze fell on the diary in her hand, and he was reminded of the last diary entry which she read aloud. He then thought about how Sheng Xun swiftly pa.s.sed away the moment he heard the entry. He felt a stirring in his heart, and all of a sudden, he felt a little envious.

He looked at Sheng Jiaoyang. The person I love is right here, yet I will never become the person she loves.

Within an hour of the news of Sheng Xun's departure, many people came. The whole Sheng family was here.

Grandmother Sheng hugged Sheng Xun's body as she sobbed her lungs out. Grandfather Sheng was also in tears

Though Sheng Xun had grown apart from them during these past few years, he was still their biological son. For them to see their child die before themselves, it would be strange if they didn't feel sad over it.

Sheng Xun's two elder brothers had tears in their eyes too. To them, Sheng Xun being sick, and him pa.s.sing on were two entirely different matters. Previously, Sheng Xun was just ill, and hence they didn't feel that upset about it, and could even scheme for his a.s.sets. But now that their younger brother had pa.s.sed on, they were suddenly overwhelmed with sadness.

As for the two children from the younger generation, they were never close to Sheng Xun, and hence just kept quiet.

Meanwhile, Sheng s.h.i.+yun, who only just rushed over, stood by Sheng Xun's bed in a daze as she stared at his corpse. She knew that he would die eventually because of his cancer, but she never thought he would be gone just like that.