Priceless: A widow with a baby asks the prince to marry again

"As for her father..." the staff member shook his head. "The records describe him as having been hanging around the local nightclub scene for years, making money by socializing there. He was also addicted to it, drinking out almost every night. He was rarely home during that time, and when he was, he was usually drunk and would assault people."

"Because of these reasons, after only a month living at her father's house, Liu Rusi couldn't stand it anymore and ran away to the high school she was about to attend. She begged the teachers there to let her live on campus early, even if it meant sleeping in a classroom or a utility room. The school didn't agree due to regulations and safety concerns."

"But..." the staff member's voice became a little subtle. "The male teacher who received her at the time, named Wang, expressed his willingness to 'kindly' take her in and let her stay in his home temporarily until school started."

Ling Yu's heart sank to the bottom in an instant, and an ominous premonition gripped him.

"The next day... at Teacher Wang's home, a crime broke out." The staff member's voice became cold and impersonal. "Liu Rusi pierced Teacher Wang's throat with a pen!"

"Only one strike! Pierce, pull out!"

Ling Yu gasped, her stomach churning. A pen piercing her throat... How could it be so precise... and how much force was needed...

"According to the transcripts from that time," the staff member continued, "after the incident, Liu Rusi's condition was very similar to what she had been like in the mediation room. She was crying and speaking incoherently, repeatedly saying things like 'I'm scared,' 'He pounced on me,' and 'Don't touch me.' The on-site investigation also showed signs of a struggle."

"The most suspicious thing is a surveillance video in the school office... Take a look for yourself..."

The staff operated the equipment, called up the video clip and handed it to Ling Yu to watch.

The picture is Teacher Wang’s office.

The furnishings are simple, with a desk and office chair.

The evening light was a little dim.

Liu Rusi, her face still tinged with childish innocence, sat awkwardly on the sofa, her body huddled, her hands tightly clutching the washed-out straps of her old schoolbag. She looked like a bow stretched to its limit. Her face was pale, dark circles beneath her eyes, and her lips were tightly pursed, revealing the tension of prolonged stress and extreme fatigue.

This tension is not just the uneasiness of living under someone else's roof, but more like something on the verge of exploding inside the body.

Teacher Wang sat on the chair behind his desk, leaning forward with a "friendly" smile on his face, but his eyes were wandering over Liu Rusi.

Teacher Wang's tone was filled with exaggerated concern: "Xiao Liu, I understand your difficulties. The school has regulations that it is indeed not possible to live on campus in advance. But I can't bear to ignore your situation. Don't worry, since I promised to help you, I will definitely help you." He stood up, walked around the desk, went to the sofa, and sat down next to Liu Rusi. The distance was too close to be comfortable.

Liu Rusi's body stiffened imperceptibly, her head lowered even lower, and her voice was as thin as a mosquito's: "Thank you, Teacher Wang..."

Teacher Wang reached out his hand, as if wanting to pat the back of her hand resting on her knee, and said in a coaxing tone: "Look at you, at such a young age, you've suffered so much. It really makes me sad. Don't be afraid, stay at my house tonight and wait for school to start again..."

Just as Teacher Wang's fingers were about to touch the back of Liu Rusi's hand——

Liu Rusi suddenly raised her head!

That’s the look!

Ling Yu's heart seemed to be gripped by an ice-cold hand!

Liu Rusi raised her head with a resolute burst of energy! All the timidity and fatigue on her face were torn away in an instant!

Those eyes - Ling Yu had never seen such a complex look on anyone's face: extremely cold, sharp, with long-suppressed violence, and an almost crazy, all-consuming determination!

It wasn't fear, but the fierce glare of a hunter, forced to the brink of collapse, casting his gaze upon his false prey. The darkness and danger contained in those eyes sent a chill down Ling Yu's spine, even through the screen.

This glance lasted less than a second.

Then, the expression on Liu Rusi's face changed quickly, and returned to that timid gratitude, and even forced out a weak smile: "Thank you... Thank you Teacher Wang for taking me in..." She calmly moved her hand away and put it on her schoolbag.

Teacher Wang seemed stunned by the sudden, destructive look in his eyes. His outstretched hand froze in mid-air, and his smile became unnatural, even tinged with a hint of uncertainty. He withdrew his hand awkwardly: "Ah... well... you're welcome. It's my duty, my duty..."

The atmosphere became extremely strange.

The video ends.

"That look was extremely... unusual." Officer Li's voice was filled with unprecedented gravity. "It showed that Liu Rusi's mental state at that moment was far from ordinary alertness, but rather... the precursor to a violent outburst of intense repression. That look... was nothing like that of a helpless fifteen-year-old girl."

"But a look alone doesn't convict. And a look doesn't prove intent."

"What really determined the course of the case were the numerous photos and videos subsequently discovered on Mr. Wang's phone and computer... showing him secretly photographing and assaulting other female students." Officer Li's tone was filled with deep disgust. "The evidence is irrefutable. He's a repeat offender, preying on introverted, left-behind, or divorced female students from difficult backgrounds, using the guise of 'care' and 'help' as a pretext."

"Combined with the signs of a violent struggle at the scene (the couch shifted, items scattered), Liu Rusi's obvious signs of resistance (scratches and bruises, particularly on her arms and neck), her underage status and the long-term exposure to high-pressure and abusive environments (confirmed by background investigations into her family and boarding school), which led to her unstable mental state, and Wang's proven record as a serial sexual predator, the prosecution ultimately concluded that Wang unlawfully assaulted Liu Rusi at his home that night. Liu Rusi, facing imminent danger and intense mental stress, engaged in defensive action. Wang was pierced in the throat by a pen and died instantly. The defensive measures were proportionate to the danger (Wang was an adult male, with a significantly greater physical disparity), and the case was ultimately ruled legitimate self-defense, acquitting her of criminal responsibility. That surveillance camera glance... in the face of overwhelming evidence of sexual assault and her extreme background, was interpreted as a 'stress response caused by the combined effects of a long-term, multiple, and abusive environment.'"

Ling Yu felt dizzy.

He thought he had been spying on her for two years and had seen the pain in her heart, but he had never truly "seen" her. The girl who ran on the playground, cried in class, and worked quietly in the cafeteria, deep in her soul, carried a past so heavy, so dark, so...heartbreaking.

It's not just a criminal record, it's an indelible mark of survival engraved in her flesh and blood and soul.

He slowly raised his head and looked at the staff. His voice was as dry as sandpaper: "So... she has been living with this 'criminal record' all this time?"

He couldn't imagine how a girl with a dark shadow in her heart could walk step by step to where she is today, and walk into the bright lecture hall recognized by Professor Qin.

The staff member sighed, "Yes. But it's sealed. In theory, it won't affect her further studies or employment. It's just... a record in our system. It serves as a background reference, especially when it comes to disputes involving her." He glanced towards the mediation room, hinting, "For example, today, we now have a clearer explanation for her 'stress reaction.'"

Ling Yu was silent...the huge amount of information impacted his cognition.

He needed time to digest this Liu Rusi, who was far more complicated, more dangerous, and more...heartbreaking than Ke Jinfeng's entanglement, and more than any of his peeping and imagination.

This trip to the police station completely tore apart Liu Rusi's simple world-weary appearance, revealing the bloody and thorny reality underneath.

Ling Yu felt as if he had sunk into the cold seabed, surrounded by suffocating darkness and heavy pressure.

The records provided by the staff are like a Pandora's box, which contains fragments of Liu Rusi's unknown and bloody past.

He took a deep breath, his fingers trembling slightly as he clicked on another video file labeled "Family Contact and On-Site Record." The timestamp showed that it was shortly after Teacher Wang's case occurred.

Video clip (interrogation room/mediation room environment):

The atmosphere in the picture is depressing.

Liu Rusi sat on a chair, wearing an ill-fitting coat that might have been given to her by a policewoman. She lowered her head, her shoulders twitching slightly, and her messy hair hung down, covering most of her face. Only the wet tears on her chin could be seen.

She clasped her arms tightly around herself, curled up like a shivering fledgling, flung to the ground by a rainstorm. Her fragility and helplessness practically spilled off the screen. A female police officer sat nearby, whispering soothing words to her.

At that moment, a uniformed police officer walked into the scene, cell phone in hand, his expression grim. He said to the policewoman and Liu Rusi, "Liu Rusi, I've contacted your mother." He paused, as if weighing his words. "She's...she's in the hospital right now and can't leave. She said..."

Before the policeman finished speaking, Liu Rusi suddenly raised her head as if pricked by a needle! Ling Yu saw her red, tearful eyes, filled with childlike, almost humble hopes - instinctively longing for motherly care.

The policeman avoided her burning gaze, gritted his teeth, pressed the speakerphone button on his phone, and turned up the volume.

A middle-aged woman's voice, tired and filled with impatience and anxiety, instantly filled the entire space and struck Ling Yu and Liu Rusi's hearts hard on the screen:

"Comrade police officer! I beg you! It's not that I don't want to help! I just really have no other choice! My little daughter has had another heart attack! She's waiting outside the intensive care unit of the Provincial Children's Hospital right now! I can't leave her!"

The woman's voice was tearful, but it was filled with resentment from being crushed by the burdens of life and an anxious desire to shirk responsibility. "Liu Rusi...she's already so old! Her problems...she can handle them herself! Or you can go find her father! I...I really can't take care of her now! I have to protect my daughter's life!"

The voice on the phone was like an icicle, every word piercing the heart.

Liu Rusi's lips moved, but no sound came out. The hope in her eyes was like a candle in the wind, gradually extinguished by her mother's anxious sobbing. The humble plea solidified on her face, and then, like a mask, it cracked and peeled off.

Just when Ling Yu thought she would break down and cry, or scream in despair——

All the expressions on Liu Rusi's face disappeared in an instant.

Tears still welled up in her eyes, but the light in them faded, cooled, and solidified at a speed visible to the naked eye. Her face, brimming with fragility and hope one moment, was now reduced to a heart-wrenching indifference, an eerie calm like stagnant water.

No anger, no sadness, no grievance.

There was only an empty, bottomless silence.

She didn't even look at the phone that was on the call, as if the voice of her mother, who gave her life, was just insignificant background noise.

Slowly, extremely slowly, she lowered her head again and buried her face in her arms, maintaining that tired curled-up posture.

But the aura she exuded was completely different. No longer a fragile, helpless bird, she was like a stone dropped into absolute zero and instantly frozen. That calmness was more worrying and unsettling than any hysteria.

The policeman hung up the phone awkwardly and helplessly, shaking his head at the policewoman. The policewoman looked at Liu Rusi with sympathy and worry in her eyes, sighed softly, and continued to soothe her in a low voice, but Liu Rusi seemed to be isolated from the outside world and did not respond at all.

The video ends.

Before Ling Yu recovered from the cold and evasive phone call from Liu Rushi's mother, Officer Li had already clicked on the next video file, marked "Biological father arrived and handled the matter."

Video clips:

In the picture, Liu Rusi remained in that curled-up position, head buried, like a lifeless stone sculpture. A dead silence enveloped her, blending seamlessly with the oppressive atmosphere of the room.

The door was pushed open roughly and a man rushed in.

Surprisingly, he was a middle-aged man in good shape, dressed in seemingly casual but expensive clothes. His hair was stylishly styled, and his features were even handsome, but now distorted by anger and hangover swelling.

Liu's father's gaze instantly locked onto Liu Rusi, who was curled up in her chair. His face was devoid of worry or fear, only a raging rage. He ignored the police officer beside him and rushed over to Liu Rusi, pointing his finger at her nose, his spit practically spraying her face. His voice was shrill with anger:

"Liu Rusi! Why did you run away?! Huh?! You were staying at home peacefully, why did you run out like crazy?! Now you're in such a big trouble! You killed someone?! Are you really that capable?!"