Sixteen

At this moment, Zhang Momo did not wish to utter another word to him. She stepped aside, anxiously scanning her surroundings—where was Zhang Nianqing?

“Hey, Momo, don’t go. Just let me finish, I swear I’ll only say one thing. Just listen to me, just one thing…”

“Shut up! You’ve already said far too much! Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! When I was in that car accident, you vanished without a trace, and now you come back talking about getting back together? Let me tell you the truth—my accident left me with serious complications. My heart, liver, spleen, lungs—none of them are right. I’m dying!”

With a flick of her wrist, Zhang Momo left Lou Keyu standing behind her, his face drained of all color. Her words startled him at first, but a man of his intelligence quickly realized she still held a grudge against him. And if she hated him, didn’t that mean she still cared?

With this thought, Lou Keyu hesitated no longer and caught up to her in a few quick strides. “Momo, just listen to me—”

No one searching for someone could possibly outrun someone determined to chase them. Zhang Momo was both anxious and furious, her mind a mess from his constant pestering. He had once been an outstanding, elegant man, but now it seemed some wire in his brain had short-circuited—he was simply not himself. She could only wish to slap him across the face to end it all.

“Let go! Stop following me!”

She turned around to shout, and suddenly caught a glimpse of a pale blue silhouette flashing across the road. Without a moment’s hesitation, she dashed toward it, but Lou Keyu grabbed her arm again. “Momo, just give me one minute—just one minute…”

Her sister out of reach, Lou Keyu stuck to her like a shadow. Zhang Momo’s heart was burning with anxiety as she watched Nianqing, lost and dazed, wandering in the middle of the bustling road, oblivious to the sidewalk. In desperation, she spun around and stomped hard on Lou Keyu’s polished shoe. He yelped and finally let go, bending over in pain. Freed at last, Zhang Momo turned and sprinted away.

A deafening screech of brakes split the air, and the world plunged once more into chaos and darkness…

Zhang Nianqing stood in the middle of the street. A tremendous crash sounded not far away, followed by screams and cries and sighs rising from the crowd. In an instant, every nerve was irreparably severed. She stared blankly as Zhang Momo’s slender figure collapsed beneath the wheels of a car—she saw it all, every detail. It was as if Momo weighed nothing at all, crumpling before the silver-white car.

The hospital corridor was silent, the ceiling lights casting a cold, sterile glow—bright, but utterly devoid of warmth.

Outside the intensive care unit, four chairs were lined up side by side. On the leftmost one sat a woman in a pale blue silk dress. Her features were graceful, her attire meticulous; she sat in utter stillness, as if she had not blinked once, resembling nothing so much as a statue—elegant, yet sorrowful.

Her face was half-turned, her gaze fixed on the narrow gap beneath the ICU door. The door stood ajar, yet it seemed impossibly heavy, so hard to open. The scene within kept replaying in her mind—Xiang Zuo, sitting motionless by the bedside, his eyes filled with regret and anguish, gazing with boundless tenderness at the unconscious woman. The entire world seemed to have faded away for him. For as long as she had stood outside that door, he had kept his eyes on Momo without a single glance away.

Zhang Nianqing’s hands clutched the hem of her dress so tightly she threatened to tear the soft silk, her nails pale from the pressure. She could not cross that threshold—she simply could not force herself inside. Even if she were blind, she could not bear to see him give that look to another woman.

Suddenly, the half-open door swung soundlessly wider, and Xiang Zuo stepped out, closing it gently behind him. Zhang Nianqing looked up instinctively, her exhausted, vacant eyes flickering with life—only to be plunged, the very next second, into another wave of searing, unanticipated pain.

This man, always so full of energy and ambition, now looked nothing but weary and pale. His sharp, penetrating eyes brimmed with worry. Her heart ached for what he had become, yet every furrow in his brow was for another woman.

“Nianqing, I’ll arrange for the lawyer to handle the divorce as soon as possible.” His voice was husky with anxiety, yet he stood tall and straight, unwilling even to sit beside her for a moment’s rest.