Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

She walked out of the hospital. A handful of nurses pointing at her secretly, discussing in hushed whispers.

“What do you guys think she works as? She obviously looks poor. How did she get so much money all of a sudden? I remember she did not have enough money to pay the medical bills at the start and only finished paying everything after a few days.”

“She only goes out at night. Can’t you guess how a woman can make money?” Another nurse continued.

“Well, yes. I’ve seen wounds on her body sometimes. Obviously, that’s what she does.”

“Okay, stop this conversation. She’ll hear this. She is very pitiful, too, so we shouldn’t talk behind her back. After all, she is doing this for her daughter. It isn’t the time to hate the job of the woman who is doing this for her daughter. We just need to know that she is an amazing mother. A mother’s love is the greatest. I won’t hesitate to cut ties with whoever talks bad about her from now on.”

The rest nodded in agreement. They saw, and they understood; that’s why they sympathized with her. They did not think that she was a shameless slut because she did it for her poor daughter and not herself.

Xia Ruoxin covered her own mouth and ran forward with big strides. Yes, she did it all for her daughter. She was not afraid of how others would see and think of her as long as her daughter could be healthy. It did not matter that she had to sell her body. She would not regret it even if she lost her life.

She wiped the tears off her face, her lips raising reluctantly into a bitter smile, and yet the smile was so forced. She did not want to smile, but she kept smiling.

She needed to. It was her job. She would earn the money to pay for her daughter’s medical bills.

She changed into an incredibly revealing outfit and sat in the hall, looking at everything in a daze. She heard laughter everywhere but could not tell whether they were fake or genuine.

Shen Wei sat beside her, a wine glass in her hand. She swirled it gently occasionally. “You feel that this place is very fake and hypocritical, too, don’t you?” She placed the wine glass against her lips and said lightly, with faint mockery and slight sarcasm.

“But some people like it like this. They don’t need reality. Perhaps they find it dirty, but it’s the truth. They like beautiful surfaces and ignore the real dirt.”

She put down the cup and leaned back against the sofa. “Tell me, if the man realizes his mistakes and comes back to find you, would you forgive him?

“Would you forgive him? After what he did to you. When you were feeling worse than death, he abandoned you. When you were hurt—when you needed help, he let you down. Tell me, would you forgive him?”

She traced the rim of the glass gently, her lips slightly dark. She didn’t know whether the ‘you’ was referring to Xia Ruoxin or herself.

Xia Ruoxin raised her head with a bitter smile. “There is no such thing as forgiving or not forgiving. It’s not possible. Everything started with hatred and ended with hatred. I never thought too much about forgiveness.

“Because all things come to an end.”

The ‘if’ would never happen so she would not think much about it. Even if that day would come, they have already missed their time. A missed opportunity could sometimes be forever.

She placed a hand on her left arm. This was the best proof.

Her arm could never recover again.