No reconciliation, no forgiveness! Mr. Pei leaves with nothing.

“I was worried about you coming here alone. From now on, wherever you go, have Kagel come with you. He knows everything here.” As he spoke, the hand wearing the wedding ring grasped Jiang Hua’s hand.

The wedding ring that Pei Zhan was wearing was one that she designed herself on a whim. The style was very simple, but the patterns on the ring were all drawn by her stroke by stroke.

When it was first made, Jiang Hua lied to him, saying it was something she found at a street stall. She forced him to wear it, but not long after, she saw him take it off. After that... she doesn't know when he started wearing it all the time.

His words were pleasant to hear, but Jiang Hua didn't bother to look at him again.

The hospital's architecture resembled that of a Roman church. Upon arriving at the hospital, Jiang Hua opened the car door and got out. Just as she stepped onto the stairs, her hand was suddenly gripped by a strong force, their fingers intertwined. Jiang Hua looked down at their tightly clasped hands, feeling a sudden unease.

Pei Zhan: "Holding Mrs. Pei's hand is perfectly legal and legitimate."

Jiang Hua moved her fingers, only to find that she couldn't pull her hand out. "You surnamed Pei, how come I never knew you were so shameless?" She gave him a disdainful look and took a step forward, pulling him along with her.

The nurse led them to a ward in another building. Standing outside the door, they could hear the doctor's voice coming from inside.

Kagel pushed the door open, and Jiang Hua saw the people in the ward.

Bai Rui was writing down the doctor's instructions when she heard the noise. She looked towards the door with surprise in her eyes, paused for a second, and then reacted, "Jiang Hua? You...when did you arrive?"

Jiang Hua sensitively noticed that in Bai Rui's eyes, besides the shock of her arrival, she seemed to be panicking about something. But in that instant, that emotion disappeared, and she glanced at the person next to her.

Pei Zhan went from holding her hand to putting his arm around her waist, and they walked into the ward together.

After saying a few words, the doctor left. Bai Rui dragged a chair to the side of the bed, poured two glasses of water, and placed them on the bedside table. "Please sit down, I'll go get the medicine."

Jiang Hua glanced at the person sitting on the bed, whose face was weak and pale. He seemed even thinner than when she had seen him in the capital.

"I'm going outside for a smoke." With that, Pei Zhan let go of her.

Jiang Hua placed the flowers she had just bought from the florist on his bedside table and sat down. "Was the surgery...going smoothly?"

"You seem to have lost a lot of weight compared to before."

The man's bangs obscured his dull, lifeless eyes, and his wrists were bandaged to prevent infection. Jiang Hua could easily imagine the pain he would endure during such surgery.

"I'm fine, don't worry."

Did you receive everything I sent you last time?

Ji Liangchuan clenched his fingers. "Mmm."

Jiang Hua tilted her head, as if trying to see his eyes clearly, but he seemed unwilling to see her. From the moment she entered, Wen Qian hadn't glanced at her once. His silence made Jiang Hua feel that she had come at the wrong time.

Did I disturb your rest?

"Or, I can come see you again next time?"

Only after this last question did the man finally turn his gaze to her, "Are you... alright?"

Jiang Hua was puzzled, but she still smiled at him and said, "I'm fine. What you said to me that time made a lot of sense to me."

Ji Liangchuan: "What did you say?"

Jiang Hua: "If there isn't much time left, do what you want to do and live according to your own ideas... I came here to find someone, even though they knew I had a heart condition, I still flew here."

Ji Liangchuan's weak voice carried these tentative words: "He...is he really that important to you?"

Jiang Hua truthfully replied, "It has always been... important."

“When I was little, around four or five years old, my dad didn't celebrate my birthday with me, so I got angry and ran away from home. I ended up on the street and was taken away by human traffickers. For six months after I was abducted, I was kept in a tiny, pitch-black room... During those six months, I almost thought I wouldn't make it through, until I met him. Although he was in cahoots with the traffickers at the time, he was there for me through the most terrifying period of my life.”

If it weren't for her, given her condition at the time, she wouldn't have made it through the last six months.

Ji Liangchuan had heard her voice before…

Back then, Jiang Hua was locked in the basement, and the person guarding her was Pei Zhan. Whenever he passed by, he would always hear the voice of a four or five-year-old girl cursing.

At that time, Pei Zhan was the most outstanding among the group of children. He was taciturn and rarely spoke, but no one could match his ruthless methods. He was vengeful and could do anything to anyone. Even those people were afraid of him, but he could only silently endure her.

Back then, no one dared to mess with Pei Zhan…

Later, perhaps her sharp temper was worn down, and the scolding decreased, but her crying could still be heard, including... the door that shouldn't have been opened, from which came the sounds of conversation.

Twelve-year-old Pei Zhan, with his uniquely calm voice, asked, "No one's going to touch you yet, so why are you crying?"

Jiang Hua: "I heard everything. You're all going to sell me out."

"No, take your medicine first, you have a fever." Four or five-year-old Jiang Hua cried until her face was red. She had a fever and could only hear someone talking, but she couldn't make out his voice.

"Please don't sell me, okay? My family is very rich. If we run away together, my dad won't abandon you. My family has a super big house, even bigger than this one. From my room, I can see a beautiful lake, and on the lake... are all the white swans my dad keeps. But I don't like them; they keep chasing me."

Have you ever seen... a crystal that glows?

Pei Zhan: "No."

Jiang Hua: "I'll show it to you after we leave and go home together."

Pei Zhan: "Okay."

Jiang Hua was delirious with fever and didn't even know what she was saying anymore. Actually, her fever wasn't from catching a cold, but from fear and mental oppression, which made her sick all at once. She was locked in a small, dark room, which had everything except a light, and everything was gradually filled in later...

Little Jiang Hua held the crystal ball that had no electricity in her hands, and lay in his arms with her eyes closed. At that time, he was like an older brother to Jiang Hua, giving her a great sense of security. "I have a lot of things that can light up... and my nanny auntie makes the best little cakes. I can eat ten of them every time, but eating too many will make my teeth hurt."

"There's someone who's always trying to take things from me. She's too fat, and I can never win against her..."

"I dislike her the most."

"You have to help me in the future, you have to be even more capable than her brother."

Pei Zhan: "Okay."

Late that night, Xiao Jianghua mumbled a lot of things in her sleep. He listened to them talk in the dark corridor and learned that she was a rich family's little princess from the capital.

Actually, he had guessed it. Such a young person with a bad temper and a spoiled attitude... When he started cursing, he wasn't afraid of offending people.

But she didn't tell him her name, saying she would only tell him after she left.

Over the course of six months, the two went from complete strangers to developing a brother-sister-like relationship…

It was his fault back then. He... had thoughts he shouldn't have had, impersonated Pei Zhan, stayed by her side, and enjoyed everything that should have belonged to him.

Ji Liangchuan had always known that the person she truly cared about was Pei Zhan, who had been there for her during her darkest times in the basement, and never him…

He had considered whether things would be different if he were the one by her side!

But... what's fake will always be fake, and it will never become real. What's stolen will eventually be returned.

Although the nearly ten years of companionship were all thanks to Pei Zhan's companionship... he just happened to take his place.

If it weren't for his selfish motives, and Pei Zhan had been the one by her side all these years, would she... have always been living a good life?

Maybe...

Now, so many years have passed, and even though there were many twists of fate and he separated them, they eventually got back together. They were destined to be together...

Bai Rui returned with medicine, her expression strange. "I'm sorry, I can't invite you to stay for dinner. We'll treat you after Wen Qian is discharged from the hospital."

Jiang Hua stood up from her chair. "It's okay, we can make another appointment when you have time."

Pei Zhan stood outside the corridor. When he saw the person coming out, he threw away the half-smoked cigarette in his hand, stubbed it out with his foot, put one hand in his pocket, and followed behind her unhurriedly. "So, Mrs. Pei is afraid to turn off the lights when she sleeps at night, is that one of the reasons?"

Jiang Hua crossed her arms and glared at him angrily, "Who told you to eavesdrop?" He thought he would be angry to hear what she and Wen Qian were saying, but instead he seemed rather pleased and smug.

Pei Zhan: "The soundproofing isn't good. I'll go further away next time."

Jiang Hua glanced at him up and down, "You really need to stay away from me, the smell is awful." Actually, it wasn't that it smelled bad, she just wanted to yell at him. Her mood had been fine, but for some reason, she suddenly found him incredibly annoying and quickened her pace, wanting to get away from him.

No matter how fast she walked, Pei Zhan was always behind her, within three steps.

Kagel drove Jiang Hua back to her hotel first, and then took Pei Zhan back to the overseas branch of Jiang's Jewelry Group.

"Young Master, are you in a good mood?"

Pei Zhan crossed his legs and leaned back in the car seat, tapping his index finger rhythmically. "Not bad."

This time, Ji Liangchuan should finally see things clearly.

All Jiang Hua cared about was the six months they spent together, while his years of impersonation in the Jiang family became a joke.

...

"It's all my own fault." The moment Ji Liangchuan closed his eyes, tears silently streamed down his face, and his voice trembled.

Bai Rui couldn't bear to look at him like this. "No, it's not like that. How can just half a year compare to the eight years you've been by her side? In all this time, you've long since become more than just the brother she brought home; you've become the person she loves in her heart."

"What the Jiang family suffered was simply that she had no choice but to marry someone else."

"If Jiang Hua knew that you were the Ji Liangchuan she was looking for, even after all that you did for her, she... would still fall in love with you."

"Liangchuan! None of you are wrong, you just made a mistake..."

"Mistakes can be made up for with time."

Ji Liangchuan's tone was tinged with sadness, his voice light and weak: "Everything... can never go back."

"If she finds out that I wasn't the one by her side back then, rather than let her hate me, it's better to... kill off the Ji Liangchuan she used to love!"

Bai Rui didn't speak, but carefully took his hand, which was cold and devoid of warmth, as if trying to make him feel better. "I know I'm not good enough. In your heart, I'm not as good as her."

"But I will always be by your side, even if you can't forget her, I don't care."

If you can't forget it in a day, then try ten days, ten months, ten years...

Time will gradually fade everything.

Back at the hotel, her bodyguard was like a persistent ghost, following her everywhere she went…

Pei Zhan deliberately hired these people to annoy her. Jiang Hua also knew that she could never hide her purpose in coming to France from him. No matter how much she denied it, he could always guess what she wanted to do.

and so…

After returning to the hotel, Jiang Hua retrieved her passport and other documents, and under the pretext of shopping, she ditched her bodyguard.

The bodyguards waited outside a store in a shopping mall. When the person in the dressing room didn't come out for a long time, the sales clerk knocked on the door. The door opened as soon as they knocked, but the person inside had already disappeared, and the clothes were gone too.

Pei Zhan finished his work at the company early and was on his way back to the hotel when he received a call from Kager informing him that Jiang Hua had gone missing.

He wasn't in a hurry, as if he had expected it.

There are some things that Jiang Hua will only give up if she does them herself. Pei Zhan can never stop her from doing whatever she wants.

Jiang Hua took a flight that took more than an hour to reach Nice.

Little did they know that all of Jiang Hua's schedules and activities were under Pei Zhan's surveillance.

Pei Zhan looked at the photos that had been faxed over ten minutes later. Kagel then delivered some unfortunate news: "The owner is also at the hotel that the young mistress booked. If nothing unexpected happens, we should meet soon."

Pei Zhan put aside every single photo of Jiang Hua that could be taken secretly, picked up a glass of red wine, stood up, and looked at the coastline below the floor-to-ceiling window. "Seeing it isn't a bad thing."

Then, Kagel added another piece of news: "The young mistress's parents met in Nice."

Pei Zhan: "What did he do in the past?"

"When the master learned that the young mistress's mother was in France, he was very happy and thought about... starting over. But the master was too late. At that time, the young mistress's mother was already pregnant and had already held a wedding in Nice Church. By the time the master arrived, the wedding was over and the young mistress's mother had returned to China."

...

When booking a room in Nice, I learned my lesson and used cash instead of a credit card.

The hotel had a fairly nice environment, but she was surprised to learn that some important person had booked the entire presidential suite on the fifteenth floor…