Chapter 113: All I Ever Wanted Was Someone Beside Me

2022-05-20

“So, how did it go?” As soon as I hung up, Gu Chen hurried over, his voice laced with concern. “Did you get the test results?”

I nodded without looking back and started walking out. “Yeah, the results are in. Liu Feier isn’t actually Liu Yinyan’s biological daughter. That fits with my guess, so the rest of my theory is probably right too. Remember those questions Wu Zui asked Liu Feier in the workshop?”

Gu Chen paused to think, then finally replied, “Yeah, I remember. I was tied up by the stairs on the first floor at the time. Couldn’t see what was happening, but I heard every word Wu Zui said. But what was wrong with those questions, anyway?”

“A lot was wrong,” I muttered, tugging at my hair. “Those questions were way too specific, stuff not even Liu Yinyan would know. So where did Wu Zui get that information? I doubt it came from Liu Feier herself.”

Gu Chen’s eyes widened. “Then who told Wu Zui?”

I’d pretty much pieced everything together. Now all I needed was proof that Liu Feier had met with the left-handed guy—and then everything would fall into place.

I stopped and turned to Gu Chen. “It’s too soon to say for sure. Let’s wait until we find Liu Feier. I’ll tell you then, alright?”

Gu Chen just shrugged, a small smirk on his lips. “Keeping secrets again?”

I only smiled and kept quiet.

There wasn’t much left to do but wait for news from Song Zhe. About an hour and a half later—just as dusk fell—Song Zhe finally called.

“Hello?” Song Zhe’s voice was hushed, but there was excitement he couldn’t hide. “Get over to 26 Heping Road, quick! I just saw Liu Feier and that middle-aged man go in one after the other. I don’t know when they’ll come out, so hurry—if you’re late, you might miss them.”

I waved my phone at Gu Chen and said, “The truth’s about to come out. Let’s head to 26 Heping Road—looks like it’s not far from their school. If I’m right, we’re about to witness something tragic.”

“Tragic?” Gu Chen repeated, clearly confused.

“Yeah.” I struggled to describe how I felt. “Sometimes we’re like surgeons—on the surface, everything seems fine. But once you peel back the layers, you realize just how rotten things are inside. When the truth finally comes out, it’s not always something people can accept.”

Gu Chen drove, and neither of us spoke for the rest of the trip.

When we arrived at the address Song Zhe had given us, we found him lurking behind a trash bin, glancing nervously around but never taking his eyes off number 26. It was a two-story cake shop, stylish and inviting in its own way, but a sign out front read “Closed for Business.”

I patted Song Zhe on the shoulder, catching him off-guard. He jumped and nearly tumbled right into the trash.

“Oh, it’s just you guys?” Song Zhe let out a breath. “I almost thought I’d blown my cover.”

“You’re sure they’re inside?” I pressed.

Song Zhe nodded seriously. “Positive. As soon as I got your text, I ditched class and waited by a tree near the school gate for Liu Feier to show up. Sure enough, she appeared soon after. Even though my spot was obvious, she still didn’t notice me.”

He seemed a little down. “Not that it matters, really. I never dared to hope for anything from her—not even a glance. Anyway, after that, I just followed her. When she left the office, instead of using the main entrance, she slipped out a side door.”

“That struck me as odd,” Song Zhe scratched his head. “Her driver was still waiting at the front, but she took the side. I tailed her from a distance and spotted the middle-aged guy. They walked here together. As soon as the man went inside, the shop closed up.”

I nodded intently. “You might not want to see what happens next. Your heart probably won’t be able to take it.”

“For real?” Song Zhe stared at me in disbelief. “What are you talking about?”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I asked Gu Chen, “Any way for us to get inside?”

“There are ways,” Gu Chen eyed the cake shop. “Just depends how above board you want to be.”

I stared at the locked door and said, “Let’s see you get us in—doesn’t have to be all that legal.”

Before I could finish, the sound of shattering glass rang out. By the time I registered what happened, Gu Chen was already standing inside the shop. I stared, stunned.

Gu Chen just shrugged, unfazed. “What are you waiting for—get in here.”

With one well-placed kick to the inside-locked glass door, Gu Chen had us inside, shards of glass scattered across the floor. The moment we entered, I saw a scene that would have broken Song Zhe.

Judging by their startled movements, Gu Chen’s kick had clearly tipped the two people off.

“L-Liu Feier?” At some point, Song Zhe had followed us in.

Then, to my surprise, he suddenly dropped to his knees with a thud. “You… how could you do something like this? I always thought you were different from everyone else. But you’re just the same. I thought you were so kind, so sweet and gracious… but you…”

Tears streamed down Song Zhe’s face.

I really couldn’t relate to that kind of emotion, so I just nudged him aside and faced Liu Feier and the middle-aged man. “We need to talk.”

Neither of them said a word. I had Song Zhe bring them some clothes.

A moment later, the two sat down across from me and Gu Chen. The middle-aged man was well over six feet tall, handsome even in his forties, and sported a neatly groomed beard. He was left-handed, too—which cleared everything up. This man was Liu Feier’s real father.

Back then, Liu Yinyan was already fifty, while his wife was barely in her twenties. Around Dongxing City, plenty of people gossiped about their May-December romance. But Liu Yinyan did what he wanted, and never let anyone tell him otherwise.

So they got married anyway.

But at fifty, after a lifetime of hard work and with only one kidney left, Liu Yinyan’s wife knew he’d probably never father a child of his own.

In other words, if Liu Yinyan hadn’t given her a life of luxury, she never would have married him.

A young, pretty woman with money attracts plenty of suitors, naturally.

The handsome man sitting before me, with his looks and presence, was her top pick. They had a child together. Liu Feier’s mother thought about ending the pregnancy at first, but changed her mind and decided to keep the baby.

At the end of the day, she was thinking of Liu Yinyan as well, since he so desperately wanted a child.

After Liu Feier was born, Liu Yinyan never had a doubt. He gave his daughter the very best and treated her mother like royalty.

For a moment, Liu Feier’s mother felt like a terrible person, like she was the lowest of the low. Liu Yinyan had offered her everything, yet she’d betrayed him. When Liu Feier got older, her mother left for her hometown and ended the affair for good.

But the man in front of me never stopped loving Liu Feier’s mother—hopelessly, endlessly. What he didn’t know was that, for her, the whole thing was just a fling; but he’d fallen hard.

Growing up surrounded by wealth, Liu Feier always felt starved of real love from her parents. Then, at some point, an ‘Uncle’ entered her life.

Liu Yinyan once said, “You only realize after so many years that the things you thought you wanted aren’t what you actually needed.”

But Liu Feier figured that out at sixteen.

She didn’t care about money. All she wanted was someone by her side.

Suddenly, all the questions made sense.

Other than Liu Feier, only one other person knew the secret between them. So the only one who could’ve told Wu Zui was this man.