Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The bedroom had been kept the same way as the day she had left the villa.

The familiar interior seemed to mock the struggle she was going through.

Qiao Lian took a good look at her surroundings and calmly sat on the sofa.

It was around 3 pm when she heard the sound of a car coming up the driveway.

Qiao Lian got up and quickly made her way downstairs. She stood waiting in the main hall, as every muscle in her body tensed up. Shen Liangchuan and Qiao Yi entered.

Since he had flown yesterday and then back again today, Shen Liangchuan was exhausted. But his tiredness quickly faded the moment he set eyes on Qiao Lian.

She was smiling like a loving wife waiting for the return of her husband. Her eyes were already shining with anticipation even before he stepped in.

His footsteps halted for a moment. For some reason, even though he understood that she was putting that joyful expression for Qiao Yi and not for him, he was still glad.

He was silent as he watched her approach them enthusiastically… and run past him, towards Qiao Yi who was in a wheelchair.

She bent over happily and took his hands. “You’re back.”

Qiao Yi glanced at Shen Liangchuan for a moment and then nodded like an obedient child. “Yes.”

He did not ask her why she had sent him away, neither did he question the reason for his sudden return.

And of course, he would not ask her about this new brother-in-law that he had suddenly come to have.

This was because he was afraid of saying anything that might get his sister into trouble with these strangers.

Qiao Lian’s heart ached when she realized how considerate her brother was.

Most other boys in his plight would have developed twisted aspirations.

But Xiao Yi had never lost his temper. Even those years that she had had no means of taking care of him properly and blamed herself for being inadequate, he had turned around to comfort her instead.

Her little brother was the most tender man in the universe.

Despite their own feelings, all three of them held the same bright smile on their faces as this scene unfolded.

Shen Liangchuan sat back on the sofa as he watched Qiao Lian speak gently with her brother.

A sort of moodiness spread across his face.

Her smile was as beautiful as before, as though nothing about her had changed.

The atmosphere had become quite lively with Qiao Yi’s arrival.

But he, on the other hand, felt no real joy.

One could even say he was quite at a loss, and a sense of helplessness overcame him.

Exactly that, helplessness.

While it was true that he had forced her to return, this outcome had done nothing to fill the black void in his heart. The weight of the loneliness that consumed him was crushing.

Half-way dinnertime, Shen Liangchuan announced, “I’ve managed to arrange for Qiao Yi to be transferred to Bei San Hospital. There’s a well-known rehab specialist working there.”

Qiao Lian froze holding her chopsticks in the air. Then she smiled at him and said, “Great.”

The two behaved as though nothing had ever happened between them.

However Shen Liangchuan had lost his appetite. Although there was a delectable variety of exotic delicacies before them, he was indifferent to them.

Furthermore, he watched her place a piece of bamboo shoot in Qiao Yi’s bowl, saying, “You have to eat more.”

There was unmistakable happiness in her eyes as she gently nagged at him.

Shen Liangchuan shifted his gaze away, trying to look indifferent.

So… that was what she was like towards someone she cared deeply about.

And it so happened that he was not the recipient of this sort of attention from her.

Suddenly he put down his pair of chopsticks and said, “I’m done eating.”

Before anyone could say anything, he left the dinner party and headed upstairs.

He felt like an outsider, a misfit among them.

He sat on the sofa in his bedroom with his gaze lowered, staring blankly at the floor.

After a while, he heard footsteps approaching. It was Qiao Lian.