The Vanishing Lover

Qin Guan was fighting a battle.

A battle for survival, clinging to the edge of a cliff.

During his detention, he had broken down, gone mad, despaired, and even impulsively wanted to drag Xu Ruyi down with him to mutual destruction...

Only after all that proved futile did he truly calm down.

Calmness allowed for thought.

In that ample time alone, he re-examined every detail—giving Qin Guan a clearer understanding of the case.

The understanding of a professional lawyer.

He wasn't at a dead end; he still had a chance to win—provided he told the entire story completely and told the truth.

He had to tell the truth about anything the police could verify.

"Xiao Zhi definitely went to the lakeside villa. He was definitely tracking me. That is a fact. No matter how he concealed his movements, one thing is certain: he absolutely skipped classes during those days I was away on business. Go to his school; you'll know as soon as you ask."

He looked calmly at Old He. "His purpose in tracking me at the Lakeside Villa Hotel, I believe, was initially to capture evidence of my affair with Qi Min—things like photos."

"Xu Ruyi needed such photos because she wanted a divorce. Even though she appeared very close to me before my business trip, she actually already knew about my affair at that time."

"I suspect she learned about my relationship with Qi Min when she discovered that will."

"She's doing this to me out of hatred for my betrayal, but that's just the surface reason. The deeper cause is that will, the massive inheritance under her parents' names. She doesn't want me to get a single cent."

The pieces were fitting together more and more smoothly.

"Actually, this will you mentioned—I never saw it at all, from start to finish," Qin Guan's gaze was steady, his speech measured. "You can check all the fingerprints on that piece of paper. I didn't read it, I didn't touch it. My fingerprints wouldn't be on it."

"Many people know how to erase fingerprints because it's simple to do. But even I, as a criminal defense lawyer, don't have the ability to transfer or duplicate fingerprints. That requires specialized tools to operate. You know this."

Old He said nothing, just blinked silently, watching him.

Qin Guan was right. That will indeed did not bear Qin Guan's fingerprints.

Xu Ruyi hadn't managed to get his fingerprints onto it.

This was a blind spot in her knowledge, her expertise.

"Of course, she doesn't understand this. I do. I could have erased my own fingerprints,"

Qin Guan's mind grew calmer, his thinking more thorough. "But if I had erased them, it should have been clean, without any other people's fingerprints,"

Yet the will bore several messy, indistinct smudges.

Qin Guan knew without Old He saying a word—Xu Ruyi must not have cleaned it properly because she wasn't professional. Qin Guan silently drew a breath. From the calm polygraph readings and Old He's constantly shifting expression, he could see Old He was gradually accepting his words.

"Actually, Xu Ruyi has held resentment towards me because of my father-in-law's death,"

Qin Guan continued. Mentioning his father-in-law, his breath became even steadier.

Choose the truth, speak the truth—he admonished himself constantly.

"I was at fault in that accident. Before, I didn't dare tell Xu Ruyi the complete truth, but I've always felt guilty deep down. I bear responsibility. That day, the reason my father-in-law had the car accident was because we argued in the park. He had discovered my relationship with Qi Min,"

"If he hadn't been so disappointed and angry with me, he wouldn't have pushed me away and tried to go home alone in his wheelchair... and the accident wouldn't have happened..."

Qin Guan let out a long sigh.

"So, I actually understand Xu Ruyi's resentment. Her father was gone, and then she discovered my affair with Qi Min,"

"She hated, she resented. She sent Xiao Zhi to track me on my business trip, to take photos of me and Qi Min. I suspect her initial plan was probably to use these to blackmail me, to make me give up any claim to the property and custody of our child. She doesn't know much about law, but she knows that adultery, even with solid proof, doesn't legally entitle her to make me leave the marriage with nothing,"

"But public opinion could destroy me. She could upload those photos online. A phoenix man, one who achieved a better life through his wife's family, an ungrateful phoenix man—would be universally despised. And if this phoenix man also tried to seize her property, he'd be like a rat scurrying across the street."

He gave a bleak smile.

"What do I need money for anyway? My parents are long gone. My father was a scoundrel, a bastard, a drunk who only knew how to beat and curse me since I was a child. My mother was insane. Whether I became a man or a ghost, a lawyer or a thief—to her, it was all the same."

His eyes reddened.

When he looked up again, the expressions of the two recorders, besides Old He's, had gradually changed.

Become a little softer.

The world always sympathizes with the "underdog." It's the kindness of human nature, but also its flaw.

"Xu Ruyi hates me, resents me, planned these things to keep me away from that property, to make me leave with nothing—I can understand all of it. After all, it was all earned by her parents."

"People, faced with such immense interests, will have a guarded heart. It's normal. Especially since I betrayed her."

"Someone like me, a child raised by her parents, should be loyal for life. Even a dog raised by someone would be faithful."

He ended this sentence perfectly, leaving enough room for contemplation, then sighed softly.

"It's okay for her to hate me. It's okay for her to want me to leave with nothing. But her framing me, especially for something as serious as murder—that, I absolutely cannot accept."

"So," his voice became solemn, "the entire process of what happened next was orchestrated by Xu Ruyi, my nanny Feng Xiangping, and Feng Xiangping's son Xiao Zhi, conspiring together..."