The Vanishing Lover

The car slowly drove towards the police station.

Xu Ruyi sat in the back seat, gazing calmly at the familiar streetscapes outside the window.

"The environment in the new district is much better than the old city center. The roads are so wide, and this is a prime location. Your property value must have increased quite a bit, right?"

Team Leader Qi sat in the passenger seat, making casual conversation. Seeing Xu Ruyi seemed disinterested, he suddenly turned around and smiled, "Don't you want to know sooner who the helper we invited to the station is? Don't you have even a little curiosity?"

He was probing.

Testing to see if she was anxious, if she was flustered.

Testing to see if she actually knew who the helper they found was.

This was a scenario they had anticipated long ago.

Xu Ruyi turned her head slightly, a faint, helpless, indifferent tug at the corner of her mouth. "I've said it before, I never really had any helper. Qin Guan made all that up. If I had known about his relationship with Qi Min earlier, I would have ended things with him long ago."

They arrived at the police station very quickly.

Walking through the busy corridors and pushing open the door to the reception room, Xu Ruyi saw the face she had expected.

A young girl.

Miaomiao, the receptionist at Qin Guan's law firm.

The so-called "helper" the police could find could only be her, and must be her.

"Sister Xu…" The girl stood up awkwardly the moment she saw Xu Ruyi. Her eyes darted around, her face flushed with shame and embarrassment.

Of course she was ashamed. Just a few days before all this happened, she had accepted an expensive gift from Xu Ruyi – a costly watch.

"Sister Xu, I… I just told them some things… I… I really had no choice…" The girl nervously twisted the hem of her clothes with both hands, unable to form a complete sentence, her face turning crimson.

A young girl, inexperienced in the ways of the world.

She had no idea what role she was playing in this drama – she thought she really was the "helper."

In truth, this girl was merely a pawn.

Xu Ruyi had thought of many ways to deal with Qin Guan.

First, gathering evidence – there wasn't much, but it was enough for Xu Ruyi to see the truth clearly.

After confirming the location where her mother had met the lawyer on the day of the incident, she easily investigated the hotel diagonally opposite and obtained the room registration record for Junjun that day.

He Junjun – Xu Ruyi recognized the name because Shi Jie had mentioned it.

Yes, Shi Jie. The defendant in the case Qin Guan had handled, the Shi Jie her mother could never let go of or get past.

Shi Jie had once come to their door personally, dressed plainly, carrying local specialties to thank Qin Guan – that day at Guanlanting, her father chatted with Shi Jie. Shi Jie talked incessantly about his wife and children. Her father praised him as a good father and husband and asked how he had achieved such success at such a young age.

When Shi Jun recalled his simple, hard-working story of building his fortune, he mentioned the name "Junjun." He even pulled Qin Guan into it then, "My friend who runs the beauty salon, He Junjun, ah, Lawyer Qin has met her too. Our group of friends all started from scratch, built our fortunes with our own hands. We eighties generation are the ones who can endure the most hardship!"

He Junjun was no longer in this city.

But Xu Ruyi still found her.

It was from her that Xu Ruyi confirmed Qin Guan had long been unfaithful.

She finally clearly understood that her mother's sudden attack that day was caused by witnessing Qin Guan's betrayal of their marriage. She had died of rage.

She had been literally angered to death by Qin Guan.

And her father, her kind father, had accidentally discovered the abnormal nature of Qi Min's relationship with Qin Guan during their interactions. He hadn't exposed it, obviously giving Qin Guan chances, hoping he would turn back.

However, when her father discovered her mother's death might also be related to Qin Guan, he could no longer sit still – his words in the park were proof.

Her father must have ripped off Qin Guan's disguise. Qin Guan knew his past deeds were about to be exposed. To cover up his crimes, he then targeted her father as well.

This was the whole truth.

Everything was clear, yet she could do nothing – during those days, using her bad mood as an excuse, she refused to share a room with Qin Guan, moved into her daughter's room, refused to eat at the same table, even refused to look at Qin Guan more than necessary. She lost weight – Qin Guan thought it was due to excessive grief for her father.

The truth was, living under the same roof as the murderer of her father and mother was a feeling no less agonizing than death by a thousand cuts.

Yet, she could do nothing.

Gathering information, consulting lawyers, Xu Ruyi finally faced reality – she had no way to hold Qin Guan accountable for her parents' deaths.

She could report the case, hire a lawyer, and fight a lawsuit openly and honorably.

But that lawsuit would be lost beyond doubt.

Leaving aside the lack of any useful evidence, Qin Guan had studied law. The law firm where he worked after graduation, its largest shareholder was a friend of her father's. Because of this connection, Qin Guan received more training and opportunities than others.

He was inherently smart, capable, and extremely competent, quickly becoming the rising star of the firm, a well-known new talent in the industry.

Her parents had used a lifetime's effort to nurture this poisonous man-eating flower.

They poured their hearts and souls into watering him, cultivating him, raising him, only to be devoured by him in the end.

So, based on her father's will, divorce, kick Qin Guan out?

Divorce was easy. But, the house at Guanlanting would have to be split, half going to Qin Guan. Qin Guan would surely fight for custody of their daughter. Even more, he would definitely not let go of her parents' property.

That will, scribbled with alterations, was just a draft. Her father hadn't even signed it or written the date – Qin Guan was a lawyer. Could that will win against him?

And most importantly, could it be that after he caused her parents' deaths, merely divorcing him and kicking him out was sufficient?

"I did indeed ask her about Qin Guan's situation. I heard about his affair from Miaomiao,"

Xu Ruyi sat down and calmly admitted.

This young girl was the first step in her plan – she needed to establish a specific time for "knowing about Qin Guan's affair."

This time couldn't be too early; it couldn't even predate Qin Guan's business trip with Qi Min – knowing about their affair too early would only add a clear "motive" to herself.

"Didn't I say before? After Qin Guan returned from his business trip, I accidentally found lipstick on his clothes. I suspected he was having an affair, so… I found Miaomiao,"

A young receptionist.

The girl was clever. After receiving the watch, she quickly told Xu Ruyi what she wanted to know.

Compared to Qin Guan, Xu Ruyi understood women better – even though Qin Guan warned Qi Min every time to strictly keep their affair secret, the vanity of having snagged the youngest, most promising lawyer at the firm made it impossible for the attention-seeking Qi Min to keep it hidden from everyone forever.

"Yes, that's exactly what happened. Sister Xu... Sister Xu asked me, and I... I told her. Qi Min actually had... a relationship with Lawyer Qin a long time ago..."

Receiving Xu Ruyi's tacit approval, the girl's words finally flowed smoothly. "Qi Min said Lawyer Qin was very good to her, bought her many things. She also said she wasn't Lawyer Qin's first, that he'd had... lovers before. Lawyer Qin had even compared them..."

"She also said she knew who Lawyer Qin's previous lover was, and that Lawyer Qin wanted to start his own practice but lacked funds. But Lawyer Qin's father-in-law and mother-in-law were very wealthy..."