The Vanishing Lover

"Call the police! Call the police right now!"

When news of Qi Min's "murder" came, Xu Ruyi's first instinct was to call the police.

She paced back and forth at home, tense, anxious, flustered, afraid.

She never dreamed in her wildest dreams that Qin Guan would kill Qi Min.

This sudden turn of events left her completely flustered.

"This is our chance, a perfect chance! We have to call the police immediately, right now! Catch him, make him go to jail, make him rot in prison! We can't let him escape!"

But this excitement quickly wilted.

Because the suitcase placed beside the third-floor water tank had been swapped out.

"These two suitcases look exactly the same, but if you look closely, there are some subtle differences,"

"Sis, this case is really heavy, it's locked, I can't open it. What should I do?"

"Ah! I found something! It's books inside! A page of paper is caught in the zipper! It's not Qi Min inside! Someone swapped her out! What do we do? Sis, should we still call the police?"

"It feels off. I think someone is secretly scheming to frame Qin Guan. Qin Guan himself obviously doesn't know yet. Sis, maybe we should wait and see? Calling the police now and opening this suitcase won't convict him; it'll just alert the enemy!"

"The suitcase was swapped out. I had no idea at the time. Because I thought I had 'killed' someone, my entire state was one of extreme terror. I couldn't think calmly,"

Qin Guan hadn't even seen the swapped suitcase.

When he rushed back to the third floor, the suitcase was already gone. Two playboys were laughing and treating the suitcase like a toy, sliding it down a chute into the lake.

"They were two typical rich kids who live for fun. I've seen plenty like them. They can turn anything into a game, the more thrilling the better,"

Qin Guan closed his eyes, trying to recall the two young men in his mind—one seemed to have dark skin and thick lips, the other had very fair skin and a row of shiny earrings in his ear.

They were two completely unfamiliar guys.

Qin Guan had never seen them before.

He also hadn't seen Xiao Zhi.

"Looking back now, those two weren't quite normal either. First, it was evening, the temperature was low, the light wasn't good, it was dangerous, yet they went swimming and playing in the lake. Second, even for a fun-seeking rich kid, it's impossible they'd just grab someone else's suitcase without a word and throw it into the lake. Therefore, I think those two boys were likely incited by Xiao Zhi. For example, Xiao Zhi might have made a bet with them or provoked them verbally. Anyway, Xiao Zhi has that ability. He's the student council vice-president at school; communicating with people is his strong suit."

Qin Guan reasoned calmly. "That day, Xu Ruyi stayed at home, but she was in constant communication with Xiao Zhi, remotely guiding him to do all of this. After discovering that the suitcase didn't contain Qi Min's body at all, they chose to throw the suitcase into the lake because, that way, I would never know the secret inside it. I would always believe I had 'killed' Qi Min."

With the suitcase thrown into the lake, Xu Ruyi's heart settled slightly for the moment.

It was a case full of books, looking more like some kind of "trick" by Qi Min—she needed to figure out what Qi Min was really doing.

She waited quietly until Qin Guan returned from his trip.

Qin Guan seemed completely normal—the card stuck in his car window didn't seem to affect him much. After coming home, he hugged his wife warmly, lifted his daughter high, placed her on his shoulders, and ran around joyfully.

He ate two bowls of rice with a hearty appetite, constantly praising Auntie Feng's cooking: "Ah, Auntie Feng, you wouldn't believe it, the restaurants there, the chefs' skills are terrible, completely incomparable to yours. I really missed your cooking for every meal."

Xu Ruyi and Auntie Feng secretly searched every corner of the bag and suitcase Qin Guan had brought home from his trip and hadn't unpacked yet.

They found nothing suspicious.

But seeing Qin Guan's flawless performance, Xu Ruyi became increasingly convinced—this man, it had to be this man, who had caused the deaths of her mother and father.

He had just killed his mistress at the Lakeside Villa Hotel—at least, he thought he had—and yet his behavior upon returning home could be so composed and calm.

Regardless of what exactly had happened at the villa hotel, at that moment, Xu Ruyi gained a clearer understanding of the depth of Qin Guan's mental fortitude and cunning.

Such a person was the hardest to deal with.

To be precise, she couldn't deal with him at all.

The night Qin Guan returned, she tried to get close to him, make casual conversation, probe. When she deliberately mentioned Qi Min, Qin Guan didn't even flinch.

"Her? She didn't come back with me. We didn't see her on the last day, I think. Heard she went to find some friends. Young people, they have friends everywhere."

She asked about the meeting schedule, the learning content, the hotel arrangements, etc. Any question was effortlessly deflected by Qin Guan with an air of nonchalance.

Qin Guan acted as if nothing had happened at all. He talked while tasting the oranges Auntie Feng had cut.

Asking more would be counterproductive, arousing Qin Guan's suspicion.

Xu Ruyi shut up. She then tried to look through Qin Guan's phone—when he was showering, she gathered her courage and opened it.

But again, she found nothing.

Qin Guan hid things extremely well, deep beyond sight.

Xu Ruyi simply couldn't see clearly—what exactly had happened at the lakeside villa? What kind of scheme was it? What were they doing?

To force out the truth, she bought an identical Hanke suitcase.

"The card in my car window was placed by Xu Ruyi. The Hanke suitcase that appeared at my doorstep was also Xu Ruyi's doing."

That Hanke suitcase appearing at the doorstep nearly scared Qin Guan out of his wits.

"At first, I thought it was Qi Min. Because Qi Min's plan was to fake her death and then use it to blackmail and extort me. So her sending me a Hanke suitcase to remind me, to scare me, was completely reasonable."

"Precisely because of this, this suitcase completely derailed my thinking. I was convinced someone was blackmailing me. I never imagined it was actually Xu Ruyi who did it."

Qin Guan narrated quietly, his thoughts becoming increasingly clear.

"That was Xu Ruyi trying to scare me. She wanted to bluff the truth out of me."

Qin Guan was absolutely right.

On the day the suitcase arrived, before Qin Guan got off work, Xu Ruyi had someone deliver it to the doorstep. As soon as it arrived, Auntie Feng told her: "The cleaning lady just told me, a boy in an orange-red shirt was at the complex gate asking the security guard where Qin Guan's house is."

Looking out the window, it was an unfamiliar boy.

Xu Ruyi didn't recognize him.

But she instantly concluded—this boy suddenly looking for Qin Guan must be connected to what happened at the villa hotel.

So, she changed tactics, claiming it was delivered by that strange boy, to observe Qin Guan's reaction.

Sure enough, the moment Qin Guan saw the suitcase, his face turned deathly pale. Terrified, he rushed out desperately to chase the supposed "delivery person."

He didn't catch anyone, but Qin Guan got the "blackmail letter" from the security uncle.

Xu Ruyi hadn't seen the letter, but as soon as Qin Guan left, she wheedled the information about it out of the security uncle.

No matter what the letter said, Xu Ruyi knew—this game had truly begun.

Lovers Who Disappear.