Su Linyu touched a porcelain urn with hand-painted design . She was staring at it for almost an hour .

Her eyes blinked . She was still not convinced that it was her son whom she cremated that day .

Indeed, three days after Verdan Zhou went missing, the private investigators, with the help of the police, recovered his barely-resembling-car Peugeot 508, with an unrecognizable burnt body inside .

Thus, the investigators believed that it was her son and the search ceased . Their cover up included making the police treat the case as highly cla.s.sified .

Despite all these, Su Linyu had doubts in the investigation . She might just be in denial, but she can feel that Verdan is still alive .

"Madam . " A young man in a suit greeted .

Su Linyu jerked her finger off the urn and blinked multiple times, as if she just woke up from her trance .

She maintained a stern face . "Any news?"

"We haven't found him . . . but now, we have a lead . " he was hesitant with his answer .

"What?! What did you say?" Su Linyu bolted from her chair with wide eyes .

"A fisherman whom we asked said that he saw someone resembling the young master . Our men are on their way to confirm this . "

"Be certain about this . " Her voice was stern, but her face had hope and happy tears . "Go now . "

"Yes, Madam . " He bowed and left the study, gently shutting the door behind him .

As the young man turned along a corridor, his collar was yanked off and he was pushed and pressed hard against a wall .

He was shocked to see his Young Mistress glaring at him, her face only an inch away from his .

"What did you tell my mother?" she demandingly asked .

The young man hesitated . He pondered briefly on whether he could divulge the information to the Young Mistress . He remembered that the order was to keep their search unknown to the public .

"Young Mistress . . . " he was sweating buckets . "Our men may have found your brother . " He decided that the Young Mistress is not an outsider, so he answered when asked .

"What?!" Her grip on him loosened and her voice cracked . "He's really still alive?!" Tears were br.i.m.m.i.n.g from her eyes .

"We . . . we still need to confirm his ident.i.ty . "

"When are you going to where he is?"

"Our men will be heading to the island now . . . for the initial search . "

Vanessa Zhou had a stern face, resembling her mother's . "When are YOU heading there?" She inched closer to his face again .

"Tomorow . . . early morning . . . we will be at the pier at 0500H . " He was getting fl.u.s.tered by the distance .

"Oh . . . then we'll be coming along . " She swiftly let go of him and pivoted away with her clicking heels .

Vanessa Zhou drove her Porsche Panamera directly to the airport .

When she arrived, Monty was waving at her with a big smile .

"h.e.l.lo, Miss Zhou! Why are you suddenly going to City T?"

"I need to talk to my sister-in-law . " She had a gentle smile .

"Oh . . . then buckle up, Miss . " He went into the c.o.c.kpit .

_______________

"Open your mouth now . " Takagi Ryuuji coaxed as he held a spoonful of porridge towards Midori's lips .

Like a lifeless mechanical doll, she followed the instruction, but her expression did not change . She continued to stare blankly straight ahead .

Takagi Ryuuji was just thankful that she was at least willing to eat . At least, it will save them the trouble of providing nutrition for her through tubes .

He continued to coax her until she finished the bowl . He carefully held a gla.s.s of water for her to drink .

As he was about to walk out of the room with the food tray, the door burst open .

The fl.u.s.tered face of Vanessa Zhou came into view .

Aoi Xiu came in after her .

"Midori! My brother is still alive!"

For the first time, after a long time, they had elicited an expression from Midori Zhou, proving that she is still alive .