The Vanishing Lover

"So, this was the first time you saw this will?"

The fragrance of tea wafted through the silent living room. On the utility balcony, Auntie Feng was doing laundry; the hum of the washing machine and the sound of water occasionally drifted in.

Captain Qi's sharp gaze was fixed on Xu Ruyi's face.

Her pale, cool face showed shock, sorrow, and confusion. Her eyes were glued to the will, quickly reddening.

She couldn't speak, seemingly deaf to the surrounding sounds.

Seeing it for the first time—that should be the reaction.

"My dad... he knew all along... knew about the affair..."

Her hand clutching the tissue trembled slightly, large tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Yes, your father knew about Qin Guan's affair with Qi Min before his accident. He never told you? Something so significant, and he didn't even confront Qin Guan? Why would he hide it from you?"

This question was precisely what Xu Ruyi couldn't understand back then.

Something so huge, why would her father hide it? Why not tell her? Not a single word, not even a hint?

It wasn't until she found that medical report tucked inside her father's calligraphy copybook.

Her mother's examination report, issued by the hospital on the day she passed away.

Xu Ruyi would always remember that day. Hearing the tragic news of her mother's sudden death, her father fainted on the spot. Her own stomach clenched, and she couldn't stand; she ended up calling 120 and being admitted to the hospital.

Relatives rushed to Jiayuan Community to help at the scene.

What happened there was relayed to her later by those relatives.

"Your Qin Guan was truly heart-wrenching. He knelt on the ground crying, trying to help. When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics said she had no pulse or breath left, but he just couldn't accept it. He begged, kowtowed, cried as if his heart were breaking."

Qin Guan had called 120. When the ambulance arrived, they told him her mother showed no vital signs. Qin Guan knelt, pleading for them to take her to the hospital for continued resuscitation.

The relatives all felt Qin Guan's actions were beyond reproach.

"We all knew his insistence was because he couldn't accept reality. The ambulance took her anyway. At the hospital, the doctors said the same thing... hopeless, the attack was too sudden, absolutely no chance... The hospital took a scan, and we learned it was a cerebral hemorrhage. A brain bleed—it happens in an instant, how could anyone save her?"

Her mother's final examination report, known to everyone present that day, had been reprinted by her father.

Moreover, her father had written a large, bold "?" on that report.

Beneath the report were several printed pages, likely picked up by her father from a print shop. The content seemed searched from Baidu:

"Triggers of Cerebral Hemorrhage," "Common Causes of Sudden Cerebral Hemorrhage," "Can Anger Induce Fatal Cerebral Hemorrhage?"...

Why, years later, had her father suddenly become interested in her mother's cause of death?

Xu Ruyi almost immediately recalled the seemingly nonsensical things her father had said to her on the day he died. Sitting in his wheelchair in the park, he had taken her hand:

"Ruyi, is Qin Guan good to you? Tell your father the truth."

"Ruyi, what do you think of Qin Guan's character?"

"Ruyi, how much do you know about Qin Guan's work? What has he told you about his plans to quit and start his own firm?"

"Ruyi, you know, your mother and I have some savings over the years. Added up now, it's quite a sum. Honestly, has Qin Guan ever asked you about this? Mentioned it?"

"Ruyi, did he and your mother ever argue before? Do you remember? Three years ago, before your mother passed, did she say anything to you? After she passed, did he behave any differently?"

...

That day, sitting quietly in her father's study, piecing together everything before her with seemingly ordinary memories, Xu Ruyi realized something was wrong.

Before his death, her father not only knew about Qin Guan's affair, but he also clearly suspected Qin Guan was involved in her mother's death!

Was her mother's death truly connected to him?

Did Qin Guan cause her mother's fatal anger?

If so, this was no longer just a matter of betraying their marriage and feelings.

"Miss Xu, seeing this will for the first time must be very painful?" Police Officer Xiao Lu looked sympathetically at the tearful Xu Ruyi, offering another tissue.

No, not painful.

It was shock, it was fury—at that moment, Xu Ruyi almost rushed back to confront Qin Guan. If her mother's death was truly linked to him, this man was a demon.

But she didn't act impulsively.

She had lost both parents; she had no one to rely on but herself. If it were true, once she confronted him, tearing open this half-formed truth, the consequences would be unpredictable.

She dried her tears and decided to find out first.

Gathering the will, the report, and the printed pages, Xu Ruyi first contacted the lawyer her mother had scheduled to meet that day. The lawyer didn't say much, only mentioning that her mother had been emotionally agitated and hung up before finishing the call.

She then went to Jiayuan Community, subtly questioning the neighbors. Sure enough, she found clues there.

A neighbor recalled that on the day of the incident, her mother had returned home with Qin Guan.

Naturally, Qin Guan had explained this to Xu Ruyi before. He said he had been visiting a client nearby, and after finishing, took a taxi to Jiayuan Community. Getting out of the car, he saw her mother storming home and followed her back.

"It didn't look like a chance meeting. More like they arrived together, walking one after the other towards home. Qin Guan was behind, Aunt Min in front. Aunt Min was walking very fast. They weren't arguing or making noise, but it just didn't look right," the neighbor said.

"Your mother looked extremely upset. I called out 'Aunt Min' but she didn't answer—something that never happened before. Qin Guan did nod at me, but he clearly wasn't in a good mood either, frowning, preoccupied."

Being in a bad mood, emotionally agitated because of the Shi Jie case, harboring resentment towards Qin Guan, leading to high blood pressure and a cerebral hemorrhage—that was the cause of death Xu Ruyi and her father had previously believed.

But the neighbor spoke of their argument.

"I heard Aunt Min arguing loudly with Qin Guan when they were inside the house. I really couldn't make out what they were arguing about."

They had actually argued.

Qin Guan had never mentioned this.

He consistently maintained that he was completely baffled by her mother's intense anger. He said that after entering the house, he tried to ask what was wrong, but this only angered her more. She slammed the bedroom door shut. He knocked, trying to communicate, but hearing no response, he pushed the door open, only to find his mother-in-law collapsed and unconscious on the floor.

That was Qin Guan's account, and Xu Ruyi had harbored no doubts before.

But knowing they had argued, Xu Ruyi knew he had lied.

The room, however, had long been thoroughly cleaned, naturally leaving no trace or clue of any argument.

She refused to give up.

She searched the room alone, inch by inch, finding nothing.

The next day, she went again, alone, searching once more.

Finally, this time, near the bedroom door, she noticed the patch Qin Guan had "accidentally" covered with paint. She pried off a small piece and saw old bloodstains beneath.