The Vanishing Lover

The thing Xu Ruyi was most grateful for in her life was discovering that will.

She shouldn't have found anything at all—from the moment her father passed away, when she had raced to the accident intersection and witnessed the ambulance taking him away, her world had completely collapsed.

The pain tore her apart inside, agonizing enough to make her wish for death.

She had no part in any of the arrangements for her father's funeral, including the investigation and determination of the traffic accident, because she simply couldn't bring herself to participate.

The immense shock plunged her into an inescapable haze. Her head throbbed unbearably; she couldn't think, couldn't sleep, moving through the days like a walking corpse.

If it hadn't been for her young child, she might have impulsively followed her parents in death.

She never harbored any doubts about the accident itself or the conclusion reached by the traffic police—that intersection had five forked branches, with a circular flower bed obstructing drivers' views, making it a notorious accident-prone spot. Moreover, her father's wheelchair was newly purchased, and he hadn't yet mastered its use.

There was simply nothing suspicious about it.

So she never went to investigate it herself.

She didn't dare to look. She couldn't bear to look.

She didn't even dare to set foot in Jiayuan Community—Qin Guan handled all the subsequent matters, big and small, even the cleaning, tidying, and sweeping inside the Jiayuan apartment.

Naturally, Qin Guan's cleanup work was extremely thorough. After his repeated efforts, the apartment was left without a trace of anything suspicious.

By all logic, Xu Ruyi shouldn't have discovered anything.

"Had you seen this will before?"

Captain Qi's gaze fixed deeply on Xu Ruyi.

Xu Ruyi's face remained calm, but her heart was pounding violently in her chest—yes, she had seen it.

If she hadn't seen this will, she would have been kept in the dark by Qin Guan for her entire life.

And this will had almost slipped through her fingers.

Qin Guan had nearly discovered it first—a little over a month after her father's death, an out-of-town friend of her father's suddenly called.

The call came to Xu Ruyi because the friend was unaware of her father's passing, merely puzzled as to why his phone number was constantly unreachable—to prevent Xu Ruyi from being constantly reminded of her father, Qin Guan had taken it upon himself to discard her father's phone and cancel the number.

Over the phone, upon learning of her father's death, the friend expressed profound sorrow and regret.

After hanging up, Xu Ruyi broke down in another bout of uncontrollable sobbing.

Unexpectedly, a few days later, the friend sent Xu Ruyi an exquisite ornament depicting a famous mountain from their local area. "Old Xu always talked about wanting to visit this place. We had actually planned to go next year, during the red maple season, once my legs recovered. Who could have imagined we'd be separated by life and death so soon! Please place this mountain before his spirit tablet. Consider it me accompanying him on the journey he wanted to take."

Upon receiving this gift, Xu Ruyi wanted to select one of her father's calligraphy or painting pieces to send back as a token of gratitude.

This task should have fallen to Qin Guan. He had tidied up the Jiayuan apartment; he knew best where her father's belongings were.

He had agreed to do it, but he happened to be tied up with a new case during those few days, swamped with work.

"The day after tomorrow, or maybe tomorrow? I'll definitely get it done for you tomorrow, alright? Things are just really hectic these two days!" That morning after breakfast, Qin Guan tossed out these words before rushing out the door.

"Miss, maybe... maybe I could go with you?" Seeing Xu Ruyi sitting at the table looking utterly distressed, Auntie Feng spoke up softly. "You have to face it eventually, don't you? Hiding away, refusing to see... maybe the old master would want to see you..."

It was only after that day that Xu Ruyi came to believe that some things are truly destined by heaven.

If her father's friend hadn't sent the gift, if there hadn't been an immediate need to reciprocate, if Qin Guan hadn't been busy, if Auntie Feng hadn't spoken those words... she likely wouldn't have stepped into Jiayuan Community for another six months.

But she went.

Alone, burdened by boundless sorrow and grief, her eyes traced every inch of the familiar apartment until she stood in her father's study.

She opened the study cupboard and pulled out the calligraphy works her father had written in the past.

The will was tucked away among a stack of small regular script pieces.

They were pieces he was rather dissatisfied with—he was a meticulous man, usually sorting his satisfied and unsatisfactory works separately. In the past, it was always Xu Ruyi who came periodically to help him organize them, going through them before discarding the rejected ones.

This had always been Xu Ruyi's task, never Qin Guan's, because Qin Guan never paid close attention to those works. He had absolutely no interest in calligraphy, viewing it merely as a pastime for wealthy old men with time on their hands.

The will was sandwiched within that stack of rejected pieces.

Meaning, her father had originally intended to throw the will away as trash.

No one could comprehend Xu Ruyi's feelings upon discovering that will.

Her father, whose life had been taken by an unexpected traffic accident, had actually written a will before his death!

He had never told her!

And what shocked her even more was the content of the will.

Her father, who had always treated Qin Guan like his own son, declared in the will that all property under his name was to be inherited solely by Xu Ruyi, leaving nothing for Qin Guan.

What astonished her further was that Qi Min was mentioned in the will.

"Qin Guan and his assistant Qi Min are engaged in an inappropriate relationship. This behavior has severely harmed my daughter, Xu Ruyi."

The shocking Chinese characters exploded like thunder, leaving Xu Ruyi utterly unprepared.

It was in that very moment that Xu Ruyi awoke as if from a deep dream—the man she had loved since she was seventeen, the man to whom she had devoted her entire youth, had betrayed her long ago.

His affair partner was that ever-present assistant at their home—the capable and seemingly obedient Qi Min, who always called her "sister-in-law" and often played with her child.

They had carried on their affair right under her nose!

And her father... he had known all along!

If Xu Ruyi had been a rash and foolish woman, she would have surely stormed off with that will that very day to confront Qin Guan and demand answers.

She was furious. Heartbroken.

Betrayal is like an invisible knife; it leaves no scar on the skin, but the pain is excruciatingly real.

Gritting her teeth, she paced back and forth in her father's small study.

If she hadn't managed to restrain herself, if she had succumbed to the agony of betrayal, run home to accuse Qin Guan, to argue, make a scene, cry, wallow in self-pity... the final outcome would likely have been divorce, dividing the assets based on this will. In that case, she would never have uncovered the full truth of the entire matter in her lifetime.

She didn't do that.

Though she was nearly crushed by this sudden, devastating blow—both parents gone, a decade of love misplaced.

Yet, precisely because she had lost her parents, precisely because this was her father's will, she found herself astonishingly calm at this painful juncture.

Had her father known about Qin Guan's infidelity long ago?

When had he found out? Why hadn't he told her?

The will, both in content and handwriting, was remarkably messy. It was scrawled with revisions, deletions, and additions, completely unlike her father's usual precise style.

When had he written it? Why had he written it? Why the changes?

How long had this been going on?

Could... could this possibly be connected to his accident?

This sudden thought sent a jolt of terror through her.

She put the will down and continued rummaging through her father's bookcase—not even knowing herself what exactly she was searching for.

She searched for what felt like an eternity. Finally, beneath the draft of the will, tucked within the small regular script copybook her father often consulted, she found a piece of paper.

Her mother's medical examination report.