The Vanishing Lover

Found.

What had they found?

The door slammed shut firmly. Qin Guan, who had just managed to calm his mind, felt his heart leap to his throat once more.

He couldn't see, and he couldn't hear—Old He had rushed out the moment he heard "found it," leaving Qin Guan alone in the room with a resounding bang.

Also left behind for Qin Guan was the forensic report on the table.

The report was normal; Old He hadn't lied to him—epithelial cells from both him and Qi Min, along with traces of a certain brand of essential oil (massage oil), had indeed been found on the stockings.

This was a substantial piece of evidence.

It proved he had secretly met Qi Min at the lakeside villa and had intimate relations with her. It further cemented his status as the prime suspect—Qi Min had gone missing right after this business trip. Moreover, after her disappearance, her phone had appeared in Qin Guan's possession, and her SIM card was found beneath his office chair.

The current situation was extremely unfavorable for Qin Guan.

His only hope was Qi Min's body.

As long as they couldn't find Qi Min, as long as he held his ground and didn't crack, there was still a chance for him to survive this case.

But… what had they found?

Qin Guan had no idea.

Through the thick door, he could only hear the hurried, excited footsteps outside.

Impossible. They couldn't possibly have found Qi Min's body.

So what had they found?

Anxiety clawed at Qin Guan's heart like a cat's claws. He pounded on the table in front of him, demanding water, demanding food. No one paid him any attention. He demanded to use the toilet. He shouted seven or eight times before the door finally opened.

An officer came to escort him to the restroom.

Stepping out of the room, Qin Guan immediately sensed the excitement in the air—people were striding purposefully back and forth. The door to the video room diagonally opposite was slightly ajar; through the crack, he could see it was packed with people.

Old He was hunched over a computer, eyes fixed intently on something on the screen, his expression extraordinarily animated.

"This… it's him! That figure is him, no doubt about it!"

They were reviewing surveillance footage.

Footage from where? What had they discovered?

No one told Qin Guan. Everything felt like a dream. Only the faint, chilly night breeze seeping in through the window reminded him that this was all terrifyingly real.

He endured a night of torment. No one came to interrogate him.

Early the next morning, Qin Guan was jolted awake by the sound of the door opening.

He lifted his head from the cold, hard table, rubbing his eyes and aching arms—he hadn't truly slept; the shallow state of unconsciousness he'd been in was likely due to sheer exhaustion.

An officer brought him breakfast.

The sounds of footsteps and conversations outside told him the police station was already bustling with the morning shift.

Qin Guan forced the tasteless breakfast down his throat, drank some water, and was soon bundled back into a car.

The car returned to the lakeside villa.

Sure enough. Back here.

Had they discovered something here last night?

Qin Guan didn't know, and no one told him. He was taken directly to the third floor.

Pushing open the door to the third-floor terrace, he saw Old He already standing there.

A familiar place—everything on this recreational platform was just as before. The giant waterslide coiled silently, stretching all the way down into the lake.

Seeing it, Qin Guan couldn't help but recall that morning: his heart pounding as he hid the suitcase containing Qi Min's "body" behind the water tank, only for it to be mistaken for a toy and kicked down the slide into the lake by those two rich kids…

"Well, well, Lawyer Qin, you're looking rather fresh! Must have slept well last night," Old He was eating again. He clutched a soft, snow-white steamed bun in his hand, tearing at it like jerky, his eating manners utterly crude.

He turned and walked towards Qin Guan, throwing an arm heavily over his shoulders. "You lawyers really are something else. Such nerves of steel, able to sleep anywhere. So, Lawyer Qin, remembered anything yet?"

The stench of cheap tobacco mixed with days of unwashed body odor emanating from Old He was truly foul.

Qin Guan frowned, held his breath, and ignored him.

He wouldn't say anything reckless now—without a body, finding more stockings was useless.

They couldn't count as direct evidence. Without finding Qi Min, they couldn't determine if she was merely unreachable or actually deceased under suspicious circumstances.

"Nothing comes to mind?" Old He lowered his voice. "Ah, it's not too late to confess, you know? I'm genuinely trying to help you!"

Qin Guan remained impassive—no matter how Old He probed or prodded, he would hold his tongue. Because ultimately, Old He had only one goal: finding out where Qi Min was hidden.

However, what Qin Guan didn't expect was that Old He didn't ask that question directly.

"Having said that, I can understand you," Old He chuckled, his greasy lips and face shining with the yellow grease of sleep deprivation seeming to laugh with him. Then, in an instant, his smile vanished. "Did Qi Min find out that the car accident involving your father-in-law… had something to do with you?"

Qin Guan's heart lurched violently.

His father-in-law's accident—no one had ever suspected him. Just before the incident, while "hurrying after" his father-in-law's retreating wheelchair in the park, he had "accidentally" stepped on and ruined a little girl's kite. He'd immediately compensated her with 100 yuan.

She had testified for him.

But Qi Min had noticed something suspicious.

That very day, in the bed at the lakeside villa, after the first wave of passion had subsided, Qin Guan lay lazily sprawled on the large bed. Qi Min, wrapped in a towel after her shower, was poking around the room, murmuring about the prices of the furniture.

"If I ever have my own place, I'd want cabinets this color too. They look so classy!"

She chattered on, then suddenly turned her head. "Hey, Qin Guan, have you sold that apartment in Xincheng yet? Colleagues said prices there have gone up again. You've really hit the jackpot."

This chapter isn't finished. Click [here](link to next page) to continue reading!

The Xincheng apartment had been bought by his father-in-law as an investment years ago.

"Your father-in-law really had foresight back then! Buying a place was the first thing they did when they moved to the city. Look at you now, sitting pretty with assets worth millions!" Qi Min played with her long hair in front of the mirror, smiling at him through the reflection.

Qin Guan felt deeply uncomfortable listening to this.

"Now you've got solid capital to strike out on your own." She was smiling, but Qin Guan heard the envy lacing her tone.

"Qin Guan," Qi Min turned around, leaning against the TV cabinet, her gaze heavy and complex, settling on Qin Guan's face. "Didn't your father-in-law oppose you starting your own firm before? This… accident of his came at such… perfect timing!"

Old He didn't press further on that point.

"Qin Guan, I really am trying to help you. Of course, I'm also helping myself. Look at me these past few days—haven't had a decent night's sleep. Pressure from above, pressure from the bosses. A grown woman disappears, no sign of her alive, no sign of her dead. The case hasn't made any progress. It's downright embarrassing if word gets out."

He loudly, vulgarly chewed his bun, his arm tightening around Qin Guan's shoulders as he lowered his voice again. "Just do me a favor, alright? Tell me where Qi Min is?"

Qin Guan stood firm as Mount Tai.

"I know what you're thinking. You're a professional lawyer. You're convinced that as long as we can't find Qi Min, we can't touch you. Right?" Old He's smile widened. "But are you really so certain… that we won't find Qi Min?"

They absolutely wouldn't.

Qin Guan didn't even bat an eyelid.

"We've checked the surveillance footage multiple times. True, we didn't see Qi Min arrive, and we didn't see her leave. Seems like you covered your tracks perfectly. But," Old He's grip tightened, pulling Qin Guan closer, "in this world, walls have ears. Remember that worker who came to fix the water tank? He gave us a very interesting piece of information. That morning, a suitcase appeared on this platform."

They'd found out about the suitcase.

Qin Guan's face remained expressionless—so what? What could it prove? He'd told them about Qi Min's charade, but they hadn't believed him.

"What was inside the suitcase? Where's the suitcase now? You didn't take it, and it's not on any footage. So… where did it go?" Old He posed the questions, but clearly didn't expect Qin Guan to answer.

He already had the answer.

"Lawyer Qin, care to guess… where that suitcase might turn up?"

With that, he shoved Qin Guan forcefully forward—the two of them stood right at the edge of the parapet.

From here, they had a panoramic view of the entire lake below. At that moment, over a dozen figures in diving suits formed a human wall, slowly advancing across the water.

They were searching.

Searching for the suitcase.

The suitcase those two young rich kids had kicked into the muddy pit.

The one filled with the scrap books Qi Min had used as stuffing.

Yes. A suitcase packed with scrap books.

But… Qin Guan swallowed hard—why was that ominous feeling surging over him like a dark wave, building into a massive crest, threatening to crash down any second?