“Kill her! Stab her to death!” Dong Wanqing’s eyes were sparkling with glee as her face twisted into an evil smile.

“Yin Anran! What are you doing?!” Qin Jinhuan initially assumed that Yin Anran had picked up the knife to attack Dong Wanqing out of vengeance, but he soon realized that she was actually aiming the knife at Mu Yu. Qin Jinhuan’s face was aghast all of a sudden, and he screamed in horror as he charged forward.

Meanwhile, Mu Yu was terror-stricken. She instinctively reached out to grab the knife, but Dong Wanqing was sharp enough to catch her arms from behind.

As such, she could only watch helplessly as the knife in Yin Anran’s hand approached her at light’s speed. In fact, she was so startled that she was prepared to break free from Dong Wanqing’s hold with all her might.

Bang!

Just then, a gun was fired. Its blast, along with the high-pitched cries of two women, attacked Mu Yu’s ears without a warning. For a split second, she didn’t know what was happening, but there wasn’t time to think about that. As she bit back the pain in her abdomen, she crashed backward into Dong Wanqing’s belly and forced her way out of the latter’s grip before she bolted, wanting to escape through the entrance of the rooftop floor.

However, before she could take another step, someone grabbed onto her undone hair.

“Put down your gun at once! Otherwise, I’ll stab her to death!” Dong Wanqing screamed at the top of her lungs.

It was only then did Mu Yu finally notice Bian Zijun standing a distance away in front of her. He was holding a gun, and it was pointed straight at her chest—no—he had intended to aim it at Dong Wanqing, but the woman quick-wittedly pushed Mu Yu in front of herself to act as a shield.

Mu Yu didn’t know why Bian Zijun would suddenly appear by the guardrail, but naturally, she didn’t have time to linger on that matter in the moment of panic; she only wanted to get to safety as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Yin Anran stood rooted on the spot as she trembled in fear. After losing the knife in her hand, she didn’t know what to do next.

“Let go of Mu Yu, Dong Wanqing! If you do that, I promise to send you away from An City safely!” Qin Jinhuan’s eyes were fixed anxiously on the knife in Dong Wanqing’s hand as he persuaded her to change her mind—he had just rushed to the scene and realized that his rescue plan had failed.

“I wouldn’t have attacked the police and escaped if I was planning to stay alive.” Dong Wanqing crazily yanked Mu Yu’s hair as she spoke, pulling the woman closer to the guardrail behind them. “You’re the one who has given me no reason to live! I want you to regret this for your entire life!”

Mu Yu was so overwhelmed by the pain in her scalp that she couldn’t say anything, so she could only follow Dong Wanqing’s steps as she steadily approached the railing.

“Don’t do this, Wanqing! You’re still young!” Yin Anran urged as she sobbed.

“Shut up, you deceitful two-faced b*tch! I’ve finally seen your true colors! I hope you live in hell from now on!” Dong Wanqing was already standing at the edge of the guardrail with Mu Yu’s hair clutched tightly in her hand. Then, she swiftly turned and glared fiercely at Qin Jinhuan as she said, “My life has been totally ruined in your hands! I hate you! Remember this—Mu Yu’s death is all because of you! Just put the blame on yourself! Die, Mu Yu!”

Just as Dong Wanqing was about to push Mu Yu down the rooftop, Yin Anran, who was standing nearby, took advantage of Dong Wanqing’s full attention on Qin Jinhuan and pounced on the woman all of a sudden. She then gave Dong Wanqing a heavy push, sending her tumbling down the rooftop with no hesitation.

“Ah!”

Dong Wanqing grabbed Mu Yu’s arm as she lost her footing on the ground. With that, Mu Yu stumbled from the momentum and ended up plummeting down the deck along with the former.

Before she knew it, Yin Anran’s hand quickly latched onto Mu Yu’s other arm as she threw herself against the railing, strenuously keeping the woman from falling.

Right now, both Dong Wanqing and Mu Yu were hanging on the other side of the railing.

They were on the topmost floor of a 36-story building, and a fall that high would definitely break a body into pieces.

Yin Anran didn’t have the courage to look down, so she could only bite her lip as she sobbed uncontrollably while grabbing Mu Yu’s arm with both her hands. She was afraid that the two women would fall down if she accidentally let go of that arm.

“Yu!”

Qin Jinhuan and Bian Zijun rushed over to the railing at once. Following that, they stood beside Yin Anran on either side and reached out to grab Mu Yu’s arm while working together to pull her back up.

Mu Yu was about to pass out from the shock, but her fight or flight kept her sober and gave her strength to keep holding onto Yin Anran’s arm. When she felt the force of two other hands on her wrist, she knew she would be safe at last, so she instinctively grabbed Dong Wanqing who was below her. However, due to the injury on the latter’s shoulder, her arm was already entirely exhausted; she slowly let go of Mu Yu’s hand and her body plunged toward the ground below.

“Ah!”

Her wretched screams made Mu Yu’s blood run cold. Just then, her mind went blank and she immediately passed out in Qin Jinhuan’s arms.

“Yu!” Qin Jinhuan’s tone took a terrible turn as he held her in a tight embrace.

Similarly, Yin Anran was paralysed as she collapsed to the ground, her face white and her entire body shaking.

“Quick! Get her to the hospital!”

Rong Jian’s reminder finally returned Qin Jinhuan to his senses. At once, he hastily carried Mu Yu and bolted toward the rooftop entrance.

Meanwhile, Yin Anran’s round eyes were filled to the brim with tears. She watched Qin Jinhuan’s figure as it disappeared, hiding her bitter hatred and sorrows behind her teary eyes.

“Let’s head to the hospital, Miss Yin.” As Rong Jian spoke, he helped her up together with Liu Xiaofan.

“Thank you.” She lowered her eyes while beads of tears trickled down her face.

A chilly breeze blew past as clouds of gray gathered in the sky. High up above, a weak sliver of sunlight peeked through the clouds and lightly illuminated the now-empty rooftop, making it seem awfully cold and gloomy.

Dong Wanqing, who had long since turned into a lifeless lump of flesh in the midst of a pool of blood, lay motionless at the base of the 36-story building. Her brain spilt out of her skull and her eyeballs bulged from their sockets, for she was met with an incredibly gruesome death. Passersby couldn’t help but scream and cover their eyes as they encountered the scene by chance.

As a woman who had spent her life making herself look beautiful, she probably never imagined that she’d be leaving this vibrant world in such an ugly way.

As night fell, the cold weather intensified. Onlookers had already retreated back home with fear in their hearts, and the only ones left at the scene were the police who were tasked with taking care of the aftermath.

The policemen emotionlessly placed Dong Wanqing in a hard and cold body bag before they put her in the car and promptly left.

Soon, street lights gradually lit up the darkening night. Just a few feet away from the pool of dried blood, something tiny sparkled brightly under the yellow beam of light—it was a mini rhinestone which had come off of Dong Wanqing’s manicured nail. Although it was lying on the crusty pavement, the shoddy environment it was in did not dull its dazzling beauty even by the slightest.

Just then, a gust of wind blew by and sent it flying mercilessly. It tumbled a few rounds before reluctantly falling through the metal gutter straight into the sewer. Its eye-catching radiance was now gone, just as how it was for Dong Wanqing who had perished in the blink of an eye. Just like that, she departed this world once and for all.

Qin Jinhuan sat by Mu Yu’s bed in her ward at Fraternity Hospital. As he held her hand tightly, his eyes were filled with urgent concern. Even though Rong Ying had countlessly reassured him that Mu Yu was fine, her words failed to lighten his worry for even a fraction.

“Ah!”

“Everything’s fine, Yu!” He wrapped his arms around Mu Yu who had just woken up from a nightmare as he frantically tried to soothe her troubled state of mind.

“Where am I?” Mu Yu stared at him in confusion, and her eyes were a little dull.

“You’re at the hospital—you’re safe now.”

Mu Yu stared at him for a full minute before she came to her senses.

“Where’s Dong Wanqing?” She already knew the answer, but she still decided to ask warily.

“She’s dead.” Qin Jinhuan’s tone was a little heavy.

“She’s dead…” Mu Yu repeated after him under her breath with a stunned look in her eyes.

Due to Mu Yu’s relationship with Qin Jinhuan, Dong Wanqing had never been fond of her ever since their first meeting. Likewise, Mu Yu didn’t like the woman either. However, she assumed they simply hated each other mutually, and she never expected Dong Wanqing to despise her to such an extent. In fact, she didn’t even mind taking away both of their lives.

Disregarding what happened today, Mu Yu had always sympathized with Dong Wanqing; after all, she knew that the woman was simply a tool to Dong Yueyun all these years.

Since she was an orphan, Dong Wanqing had always taken pride in being her aunt’s niece. She believed the best thing in her life was having an aunt like her, but little did she know that it was precisely the unluckiest part of her life. If only she didn’t have an aunt that she was so proud of, there was no doubt she would’ve lived a tougher life. However, at the very least, she wouldn’t have met such a horrendous demise at the peak of her youth.

“Even if she was the one behind the car crash, she would’ve been released after a few years in jail. Why did she have to do something so extreme?” Mu Yu expressed her doubts as she stared at Qin Jinhuan.

On the other hand, Qin Jinhuan avoided her eyes and looked downward. He was silent for a moment before he replied, “She lost her parents at a young age and was raised single-handedly by Dong Yueyun. To her, Dong Yueyun and Qin Wentao were like her own parents. The moment those two gave up on her for their own benefit, she felt like a child who had been abandoned by her own parents—she lost all hope in family and life. Not only that, the constant longing for a home eventually made her go crazy and lose her senses. In the end, she’d rather put all the blame on you and me, letting violence get the better of herself.”

“Isn’t it too much to do all of this just to satisfy her longing?” Mu Yu endured the pain in her abdomen as she continued to ask in confusion.

A faint smile appeared on Qin Jinhuan’s face. “You have been loved by your parents since young, so you wouldn’t be able to understand the inner workings of a child’s mind who lacked parental love. The more you lack something, the more you crave it. When that longing grows, you become more afraid of losing it.”

When he noticed the lingering doubt in Mu Yu’s eyes, he sighed and said, “If you see a stray dog chewing on a meatless bone by the side of the road, you might want to go up to it and throw it away. However, the dog would probably attack you until you decide to give up on that. That piece of bone is nothing but a worthless junk to you, but to the dog, it’s probably the tastiest and rarest delicacy in the entire world. As someone who’s never lacked meat on your bones, you’ll never understand the dog’s needs.”

Mu Yu was stunned for a long while before she asked again softly, “Do you think it was Dong Yueyun and Qin Wentao who killed Dong Wanqing, or was it us?”

Qin Jinhuan’s eyes flickered momentarily before he lowered his eyes again. He then responded, “Her own obsession killed her.”

“Her own obsession? She…”

“All right, don’t think about it too much. You’re still wounded, so you need more rest.” He gently helped her to a lying position on the bed.

“How’s Yin Anran doing?” Mu Yu asked again the moment she lay down.

“She’s doing well. She was only a little traumatized by the incident, but she’ll be fine after some rest.”

“What about the cut on her face? Is it serious?”

“She could be left with scars.”

“Scars?!” Mu Yu was astonished.

She knew how long the two cuts were—for a woman, to leave behind scars as long as that would be the most horrifying news to hear. She thought that it was especially so for Yin Anran who enjoyed having an elegant and polished appearance, and it would probably give her a heavy emotional blow.

“Would cosmetic surgery be able to help her?”

“Probably.”

“In that case, you should get Ying to make an appointment for her at a good plastic surgery clinic once she gets better.”

Although Qin Jinhuan was a little surprised, he nodded without saying much.

After that, Mu Yu didn’t say much either; she simply stared at the ceiling in silence.

If it was a day ago, she wouldn’t have asked about Yin Anran. Moreover, she wouldn’t have allowed Qin Jinhuan to show even a tad bit of concern toward the woman. Whatever it was, though, Mu Yu knew that she’d probably have met the same fate as Dong Wanqing today if it hadn’t been for Yin Anran.

After all, Mu Yu always prioritized those who lent her a helping hand—it was a principle she stood by firmly.

“Boss!” Bian Zijun came in after a brief knock. “I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Um…” Bian Zijun glanced at Mu Yu with a troubled expression.

“Go ahead. I’ll get some rest.” Then, she closed her eyes immediately after.

She could easily guess the reason why Bian Zijun was here for Qin Jinhuan.

Meanwhile, the latter seemed to have picked up on it as well. He hesitated for a moment and stood up in the end before heading out of the ward with the other man.

“Boss, Miss Yin has gone crazy!”