Chapter 2: Chapter 2 I Want to See Him_1
Translator: 549690339
The premier family of Haicheng, the Xiang Family, had collapsed.
News of the event quickly spread throughout Haicheng, with everyone focusing on the nearly adult orphan Xiang Wan, wondering where she would go and who would take over the vast family business.
Her father died in a car accident without a complete corpse, while her mother fell from a building. Xiang Wan, who had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth and grew up coddled, fell from the pedestal of Haicheng's number one socialite. Countless people were waiting to see her become a laughingstock.
In the hospital bed.
Xiang Wan lay there as fragile as a lifeless puppet, the first rays of the morning sun streamed through the windowpane, casting her already pale skin in a nearly transparent light, allowing one to nearly see the delicate capillaries beneath her thin outer layer of skin.
Her raven hair spread beneath her, contrasting starkly with the white sheets, as her slightly curled eyelashes cast a faint shadow on her eyelids. Even in her stupor, her brow was slightly furrowed, as though heavy with sorrow.
Disturbed by some dream, she began to murmur hastily, sounding particularly uneasy, until she awoke with a start, "Mom! Don't——!"
Nurse Zhang, on seeing her awake, was overjoyed, "Miss! You're finally awake. Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?!"
Haunted by the nightmare of the previous night and driven by a surge of vitality, Xiang Wan struggled to sit up and tried to get out of bed, "Where is my mom? Where is she?! I need to find her!"
No sooner had her feet touched the ground than she staggered as if stepping on cotton, nearly tumbling down.
Nurse Zhang hurriedly helped her back onto the bed, hesitated for a moment before breaking the harsh truth, "The Madam fell from the building, and sustained injuries to her spine and brain. She hasn't woken up yet... She's in the ICU, and even if we go there, we won't be able to see her. Miss, you can't even stand steadily now, you should take care of yourself first..."
On hearing this, Xiang Wan's breath hitched, and the discomfort in her heart threatened to spill over. She knew all too well what it meant to have a spine and brain injury—it meant becoming a vegetable, right? Even if she woke up, she would likely be paralyzed.
She felt suffocated by the enormity of the tragedy that had befallen her overnight, and when she thought of the man who had burst into her room as she neared death, she grasped the bedsheet beneath her tightly.
The appearance of Zuo Xingyun only confirmed what her mother had said... all this... it was all thanks to him...!
She tried desperately to suppress the emotions welling up inside her, and after a while managed to croak out, "Where is Zuo Xingyun? Was it he who brought me to the hospital?"
Nurse Zhang nodded, "Yes, the doctor said it would have been dangerous if it had been any later..."
Xiang Wan found this extremely ironic. Her father was dead, her mother was half-dead in the hospital, what did it matter if she died too? Why didn't Zuo Xingyun just let her die? Wasn't that the outcome he wanted?
She clearly had no desire to be grateful, "I want to see him!"
Nurse Zhang looked troubled, 'The Second Master is very busy... Someone has to take care of your father's funeral arrangements, you should just focus on getting better in the hospital.'
The words 'Second Master' made Xiang Wan painfully close her eyes, biting her already pale lips to an even whiter shade.
If she could start over, she would have preferred never to have gone down that dark alley, never to have asked her father to save that boy, but there were no ifs...
She maintained her last shred of dignity, sending Nurse Zhang away before allowing herself to cry unrestrained.
The next day.
After learning from Nurse Zhang that Zuo Xingyun would hold a funeral for her father that day, Xiang Wan disregarded the strong opposition of the doctors and stubbornly went to the cemetery; she had to send her father off on his last journey!
As she got out of the car, she saw the crowd of black-clad funeral attendants from afar, her figure swaying.
It was said, at the time of her father's accident, the car had exploded, leaving no remains.
And that day, Father had gone to prepare a birthday gift for her...
She broke free from Nanny Zhang's support and staggered forward.
The crowd parted way for her, many of the faces were familiar and a few were strangers, almost all of them once subordinates of her father.
Clad in her sickly attire, she stood out sorely among them, her weak frame as slender and delicate as the willow, her pallid face adding a fragile beauty that evoked an urge to crush her.
Several greedy eyes with ill intentions cast themselves upon her, but she was completely oblivious, her gaze fixed solely on the tall figure at the forefront of the crowd. Her steps faltered, a momentary haze clouding her senses.
Eight years she had waited, eight years she had imagined countless reunions, never anticipating he would return cloaked as a demon, dragging her into an abyss of family ruin and death...
The man stood in front of the tombstone, his posture as sturdy as a pine, his neatly tailored black suit solemn and dignified as though specifically prepared for today's occasion. His left hand hung by his side, with well-defined joints, while his right, gloved in black, was slightly raised in front of him, pinching a white chrysanthemum, an image of reverence for the deceased.
Perhaps sensing Xiang Wan's gaze, the man slowly turned around.
That familiar yet unfamiliar face came into Xiang Wan's view, causing her pupils to tremble slightly.
He still looked as he had when he left all those years ago, time had not diminished his dignified appeal, his countenance clear and noble, arrogantly handsome.
Exquisite gold-rimmed glasses concealed his eyes full of ambition, not revealing any sharpness, appearing naturally noble.
In a daze, Xiang Wan couldn't tell if the man before her was really the same downtrodden young man she and her father had once rescued...
Unnoticed by her, a hint of red began to color the corners of her eyes.
In a hoarse voice, she asked, "Did you really do it...?"
She hoped he would answer 'no,' but when he parted his thin lips, what came out were cold, emotionless words, "If I say no, would you believe me?"
This implied admission drained the last shred of hope that had been sustaining Xiang Wan, leaving her body swaying, on the verge of collapse.
Nanny Zhang hurriedly stepped forward to support her: "Miss... it's windy here, you're weak, let's go back to the hospital quickly, shall we?"
Xiang Wan shook off Nanny Zhang's hand, looking around at everyone present. Without exception, they all looked at the man with eyes full of compliance; it was clear, he had taken over everything from her father!
She looked at the man before her and said with a sneer, "It's not appropriate to call you 'Second Master' now, is it? With my father gone, no one stands in your way, is this what you wanted?"
The man did not answer, his cold eyes devoid of emotion, he simply raised his hand to signal Nanny Zhang, "Take her back to the hospital."
Xiang Wan's eyes were red with stubborn refusal to leave, but Nanny Zhang forcibly pulled her away.
She stumbled along, feeling a deep gaze lingering on her from behind for a long time.
Seeing Xiang Wan at a distance, the man's eyes frosted over, his voice cold as he ordered his subordinates, "Those bastards who were eyeing her, dispose of them."
Before the lewd expressions on their faces had time to fade, they were subdued and dragged away. As they came to their senses, they begged in terror, "Xingyun, Brother Xingyun, I was wrong! I won't dare again...!"
The man paid no attention to this clamor, bowing deeply towards the tombstone and staring a good while at the smiling, refined, and gentle middle-aged man pictured on it before turning to leave.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone