Chapter 48 Chapter 48

Chapter 48

1

The Second Miss stared without blinking at the Young Master lying in the hospital bed, her face completely expressionless.

On the pristine white bed, the Young Master was so thin he was just a shadow.

Outside the door, Lin Chenxin was listening to the doctor speak.

"The patient has severe malnutrition..."

"Malnutrition?" Lin Chenxin was startled. "Only malnutrition?"

The doctor gave her a strange look.

Was she hoping the patient was sick or something?

"Sorry," she said softly.

"If you're worried, you can have the patient stay in the hospital for a few days of observation."

She was silent for a moment, then turned to look at the Second Miss and the Young Master inside the ward, and said in a low voice, "We'll think about it."

Pushing open the ward door, she stood at the entrance. The Second Miss looked at her slowly.

Meeting the Second Miss's empty eyes, she pressed her lips together and said, "I need to go out for a bit. A nurse will bring food soon. Have something to eat and wait for me here."

The Second Miss said nothing, turning back to stare at the Young Master on the bed.

She was like a statue, completely stiff and lifeless.

Lin Chenxin watched her for a moment, then turned and walked out of the ward. She went to the nurse's station to ask a nurse to bring food to the ward before leaving the hospital.

This hospital was quite far from her sister's hospital, and she didn't plan to visit her younger siblings. She planned to buy clothes for Chen Gujun and then come back.

But after Lin Chenxin left, the still Second Miss suddenly grabbed her pant legs tightly, her eyes burning with a fierce light.

She gave a long look at the Young Master, then turned and walked away without a backward glance.

—

Standing in the wide plaza, the Second Miss looked up at the tall buildings ahead and strode in determinedly.

A security guard inside immediately stopped her, saying, "You can't come in here."

She turned, her gaze sharp as she looked at him.

"I'm Miss Chen of the Chen family. Who do you think you are to stop me!"

The young guard frowned. Not far away, the security manager made a discreet phone call, then quickly walked over with an apologetic smile. "The new guy doesn't know the ropes. What can I do for you, Second Miss?"

She raised her chin and said, "I need to see my father."

The security manager's smile remained unchanged.

"Sorry, but Mr. Chen isn't here."

"How is that possible!"

The Second Miss frowned and tried to barge in anyway.

"If I can't see him, I'll wait inside!"

"This..." The security manager looked uneasy, not sure whether to stop her or let her through.

Just then, a voice called out from up ahead.

"Second Miss."

When he saw who it was, the security manager breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

The Second Miss looked up to see a few men in suits staring coldly at her, with secretaries and assistants beside them.

"Where is my father?" she asked, her eyes blazing.

The middle-aged man who spoke let out a cold laugh. "You're asking me? Who do I ask?"

She snapped, "How could you not know!"

Someone nearby said, "We obviously don't know. He was taken away for investigation. Even if we had superpowers, we couldn't find him."

"What..." The Second Miss's face fell. She stared at them, saying, "How can that be?"

"How can it not be? You come to us asking for him, and we want to find him too. Because of him, the company's stock keeps dropping, and the company's interests are hurt. Today we're talking about kicking him off the board," another middle-aged man said coldly.

The Second Miss's fingers trembled, and anger welled up inside her.

"How dare you! Without our family's money, you wouldn't even have the right to stand here and talk to me!" she said, her voice sharp.

But they just sneered at her.

"That was then."

With those words, they turned and walked into the elevator without looking back.

The Second Miss's eyes turned red, and she charged in like a madwoman. The security manager gave a signal, and people nearby stepped forward to block her.

"I want to see my father's secretary! Have her come to me!"

But no matter how much she shouted, no one paid her any attention.

In the end, she was thrown out.

The security manager looked at her pathetic state, sighed, and said in a low voice, "Second Miss, you'd better leave. Mr. Chen was taken away days ago. Probably..."

She stood blankly at the entrance.

She didn't understand how things had come to this.

There had been no warning at all...

Thinking this, she shuddered, a chill running down her spine.

There had been warnings.

She just never cared about family matters and never thought the changes at home were unusual.

Standing at the entrance of the towering building, the Second Miss looked up, her eyes dazed as she stared at the sun overhead.

The harsh light made her dizzy, and everything in front of her went blurry.

The sky looked as fake as painted oil, and even the blazing sun couldn’t reach through her.

She pulled her gaze away, dazed, staggering along like a lost soul, just an empty shell.

The security manager by the door watched her and shook his head, sighing.

—

Lin Chenxin walked back into the hospital with a smile. The nurse at the station saw her and stood up right away, saying, “Miss Lin.”

“What’s wrong?”

The nurse glanced at the lunchbox on the table and said carefully, “That young lady stepped out earlier. When she came back, she didn’t say a word and looked awful. If something’s wrong with her health, I’d suggest she see a doctor.”

Lin Chenxin’s smile dropped, and she said softly, “Thank you, I understand.”

When she entered the ward, the second young lady was sitting motionless on a chair, facing away.

Her back was more hunched than before, making her look even skinnier.

Lin Chenxin set her stuff down and asked from behind her, “The doctor says you should stay for observation. What do you think?”

The sunlight outside was bright and warm, spilling golden rays onto the hospital bed.

The second young lady stared hard at that beam of light, her pale lips parting as she spoke, “I want to go home.”

“Okay.”

She walked over. “But you need to eat first.”

The second young lady’s shoulders shook. She slowly turned her head, her red-rimmed eyes looking at her sadly.

“Lin Chenxin…” she said, her voice hoarse.

The next second, everything went dark, and she collapsed onto the bed.

Lin Chenxin pressed her lips together and walked right out of the ward.

—

When the young master woke up, the sunset hadn’t fully faded. He stared blankly for a good while, his eyes slowly filling with the dazzling colors.

“You awake?”

At Lin Chenxin’s voice, he snapped to and whipped his head around.

“Big sis!”

His voice was hoarse, but you could hear the excitement in it.

Lin Chenxin gave him a smile.

“How are you feeling?”

The young master looked down at himself, then around the room. Realizing something, he trembled and parted his lips.

“I… thank you…”

With a swoosh, Lin Chenxin pulled the curtain open, revealing the second young lady lying in the bed behind her, and said, “Thank your sister.”

The young master’s face went pale, and he quickly got out of bed.

“What happened to her?”

“Nothing serious. Malnutrition, too much stress, she’s just worn out,” Lin Chenxin said, looking down.

The young master looked at the second young lady’s peaceful face as she slept and sighed in relief.

Lin Chenxin watched his back, her eyes deep, and asked, “The doctor says you should stay for observation. What do you think?”

The young master hesitated and turned to look at her.

After a long pause, he dropped his head and said, “I want to go home.”

Lin Chenxin was quiet for a moment, then stood up and said, “Okay.”

This time, it was the young master pushing the wheelchair with the second young lady in it.

The road ahead was dark and cold in the night.

The young master’s face went pale, and he stood there, hesitating.

He didn’t know how this familiar road had turned so strange.

So dark it was scary, so cold it made you want to back away.

Lin Chenxin said nothing.

One step back was the clear night sky; one step forward was the impenetrable dark clouds.

One step in the human world, one step in hell.

The young master’s hands gripping the wheelchair trembled incessantly. After a long while, he lifted his head, gritted his teeth, and stepped forward.

He walked slowly and with difficulty, and on closer look, he was even shaking.

Yet even so, he still wanted to go home, back to that place he had once desperately wanted to escape.

Lin Chenxin sometimes didn’t understand what they were thinking.

But she couldn’t help feeling a deep sorrow.

This twisted, deformed family, this bloodline that had persisted in stubbornness—was it truly alive, or had it long since died out?

She took a deep breath and stepped inside.

—

Ms. Liang stared at that cup of tea for a long time, the scalding hot tea long gone cold.

The middle-aged woman behind her hesitated and spoke, “Madam…”

She reached out and picked up the cup of tea expressionlessly.

The middle-aged woman was startled and quickly stepped forward.

“Madam!”

Ms. Liang stared at her own twisted reflection on the surface of the tea, then leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

A wave of immense grief and helplessness washed over her.

She knew that if she drank it, it would all be over for her.

But that would be true cowardice.

She opened her eyes, trembling, she set the tea down on the table, the sloshing liquid splattering a few dark red drops.

“Do you think they’ll hate me?” she asked in a hoarse voice.

The middle-aged woman urged, “You are their mother—how could they possibly hate you?”

Ms. Liang shook her head, letting out a sad sigh.

“You don’t get it, you just don’t get it…”

—

This was Lin Chenxin’s first time visiting the Second Miss's courtyard. It wasn’t as lively as the Longevity Courtyard, but the flowerbeds, pavilion, swing, and cradle were still pretty and bright.

The Young Master helped the Second Miss into bed, his face pale, gasping for breath.

He straightened up, but his vision went black, and he staggered back two steps.

Lin Chenxin quickly reached out to steady him, but he raised a hand and said, “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Lin Chenxin withdrew her fingertips, watching him sink weakly onto a stool.

“Sister-in-law.”

The Young Master closed his eyes for a moment to recover, then opened them and said, “Since you came back this time, Sister-in-law, you always seem so weighed down, and you talk less than before.”

Lin Chenxin pursed her lips, silently looking at the Young Master’s gaunt face.

When she didn’t respond, the Young Master looked at her, a faint sparkle in his eyes, and gave her a small smile.

“Is something troubling you, Sister-in-law?”

The image of herself reflected in his eyes was too pure, making it hard for Lin Chenxin to breathe.

She turned her face away and said, “It’s nothing. Get some rest.”

With that, she turned and strode away, quickly vanishing into the night.

But the Young Master’s eyes remained behind her, shining brightly as he watched her leave.