Chapter 22: This Is the Room

"It's none of your business." Lin Lu turned to leave, but Xu Yancheng had no intention of letting her go so easily.

"Lin Lu, you really are something," he sneered, gripping her chin, his fingers tightening with deliberate cruelty.

Lin Lu smiled indifferently, resigned to her own degradation. "What, is this news to you?"

Her careless smile pushed Xu Yancheng over the edge. He yanked her into a stall. "Which one? Where were you just now with him?"

She smiled seductively. "This one."

He nodded in a fury. "Fine. You really have some nerve."

With the metallic click of a buckle, he began without warning, rough and unyielding.

Lin Lu braced herself against the wall, teeth clenched, enduring in silence.

By now, Xu Yancheng already knew the answer he sought, but he had no intention of showing her mercy, continuing to torment her as before.

Tears welled in Lin Lu's eyes. As it finally ended, she turned her head to look at him and said, "During those six years when you and Su Yi were so in love abroad, do you know how I survived?"

"You're not worthy to mention Su Yi, and you're even less worthy to be compared to her."

His gaze was cold and clear, tinged with frost.

"Listen well, Lin Lu. We're done." With that, he finished.

"In a few days, I'll contact you to delete the video," Xu Yancheng said lightly. "And remember to take your pills. I don’t want any unnecessary trouble."

Lin Lu tidied her clothes and sat on the toilet lid for a long time before finally stepping out. The lights in the mall were harsh, almost painfully bright—perhaps that’s why her tears wouldn’t stop.

Her phone vibrated relentlessly in her pocket; all the calls were from Yuan Ruoxia. Lin Lu didn’t answer, instead sending a message: she’d eaten something bad and would be delayed for a while, telling her friend to shop without waiting.

After sending the message, she crouched down, hugging her knees in a protective gesture. It was a posture she’d often assumed in those six years—sitting like that, night after night, staring at the inky sky until it gradually turned pale.

She’d tell herself, no matter how dark the night, morning would always come. Yet for her, when would the darkness finally end?

Lin Lu stayed there for a long time. When she got up, her legs were numb. She left the mall and found a nearby pharmacy, swallowing a pill with mineral water and tossing the rest into a trash bin.

When Yuan Ruoxia saw her, Lin Lu’s eyes were red, her expression exhausted. Lin Lu said she wasn't feeling well, that she’d already taken her medicine, and asked Yuan Ruoxia to take her back to the dormitory.

In all the time Yuan Ruoxia had known her, she’d never seen Lin Lu look so defeated. In her eyes, Lin Lu had always been neat, disciplined, and beautiful—never like this.

Leaning against the backseat, Lin Lu watched neon lights flicker past the car window, a wave of sorrow crashing over her. She wondered how her mother was now.

She’d worked so hard; she couldn’t fail now.

Lin Lu slept in the dormitory until late morning. After getting herself together, she went to Professor Huang to request three days off. In the following days, she returned to Nancheng, sneaking into the hospital to visit her mother.

Her mother still lay on that bed, serene and peaceful, just as she had six years ago.

Lin Lu stood outside the door, watching from a distance. Pressing her fingers gently to the glass, she traced the outline of her mother’s face.

Time seemed to have left no mark on her, but she would never again open her eyes to look at her daughter, never again say, “Don’t cry, Lulu…”

Lin Lu wiped her eyes and pulled her cap lower.

At the end of the corridor, a man stood, watching coldly.

“Sir, shall I—” a subordinate began.

The man raised his hand. “Let her be.”