Chapter 366: Too Heartbreaking to Watch

With something this major happening, Ke Zhongyu wasn't comfortable leaving Jiang Lai here alone, and since the seminar would continue tomorrow, he wouldn't be at ease unless he personally took her there in the morning.

Living under the same roof wasn't unprecedented—after the car accident before the New Year, Jiang Lai had stayed briefly at Nanshan Villa Number One for a few days, but Mo Yi had been there then, Chi Ce had been there, Ke Zhongying had been there too, and his parents came by from time to time—unlike today, when it was truly just a man and a woman alone together.

Without a proper status there had at least been a boundary line, but now that they had a name and a status, and he was a normal man, with the person he'd coveted for so long right in front of him, and right at a time when her heart was vulnerable—what man wouldn't have some dirty thoughts? He wasn't a saint.

While Ke Zhongyu silently agonized over all this in his heart, the physically and mentally exhausted Jiang Lai had already dozed off leaning against the sofa.

He glanced sideways, thinking to himself that Jiang Lai was truly defenseless around him, and that trust made his heart feel warm.

"A Lai, sleep on the bed."

"Mm." Jiang Lai was groggy—she'd overused her brain during the day, and then encountered something that weighed on her mind at night, so her whole person just shut down.

Getting an "Mm" from Jiang Lai, Ke Zhongyu bent down and scooped her up in his arms, placed her on the master bedroom bed, and was about to leave when her fingers caught his hand, and she looked at him with hazy, half-asleep eyes.

Ke Zhongyu's heart felt like it had been jolted by electricity.

His family's Dr. Jiang was always teasing people, teasing without even knowing it.

"I'm in the next room." After saying this, Ke Zhongyu tucked the blanket around her and left, keeping a small desk lamp on at the bedside so she wouldn't panic if she woke in the middle of the night not knowing where she was.

The instant Ke Zhongyu closed the door, his eyes turned cold—the words Gu Zhiyan had said in the bustling area outside the banquet hall, calling Jiang Lai fatherless, motherless, and kinless, were something he would never get over for the rest of his life.

He called Assistant Zhou: "Contact Xiang Lv's assistant and schedule a time for tomorrow afternoon."

Assistant Zhou instantly turned serious—it seemed the Eldest Son of the Gu Family had really pushed CEO Ke over the edge; going straight past the Nian Family and the Gu Family to meet the Eldest Son of the Gu Family's boss was a clear sign he was out to get someone.

"I'll give you an answer before twelve."

"Mm."

After hanging up, Ke Zhongyu sat on the living room sofa, his gaze involuntarily falling on the glass of plain water Jiang Lai had only taken one sip of, then looking up again toward the master bedroom.

He still couldn't stop worrying.

Jiang Lai kept too many things bottled up inside.

He sat on the sofa for half the night; the master bedroom remained quiet, and eventually he couldn't fight off the drowsiness anymore, so he simply lay down on the sofa and fell asleep.

Jiang Lai didn't sleep soundly that night—she woke up several times midway, but she didn't go disturb Ke Zhongyu in the next room.

A little past five in the morning, when she woke this time, she couldn't fall back asleep, so she simply sat up.

She thought she didn't care, but her restless sleep was telling her that she actually did care.

She cared about being abandoned.

She cared that her biological parents were right in front of her yet wouldn't acknowledge her.

She cared that this matter had been suddenly brought into the open, leaving her at a loss.

Jiang Lai had dealt with plenty of erroneous data, but rarely with relationships between people—one person's energy couldn't be that abundant, and she wasn't that one percent genius.

Her throat felt a bit dry, so she tiptoed out to pour a glass of water to moisten it, and was surprised to see Ke Zhongyu asleep on the sofa.

Jiang Lai froze.

A large flat with so many rooms, yet Ke Zhongyu chose to sleep on the sofa—and in a spot where he could see the master bedroom the moment he opened his eyes.

Jiang Lai's heart clenched.

She walked over slowly, crouched in front of the sofa, and quietly watched Ke Zhongyu.

In winter the sky got light late, and it was pitch black both inside and out; Jiang Lai had also taken off her glasses, so she actually couldn't see Ke Zhongyu's face clearly, yet his appearance was deeply imprinted in her mind.

One of Ke Zhongyu's hands dangled off the edge of the sofa—the long-limbed man's knuckles nearly touched the floor; there wasn't wall-to-wall carpeting here, and Jiang Lai worried his hand was cold, so she reached out to take it, gently placed it down, and covered it with the blanket.

Her hand was grasped in return.

Ke Zhongyu wasn't actually awake—his body just instinctively wanted to hold Jiang Lai's hand.

That touch was like tripping some nerve of Jiang Lai's—she suddenly, desperately wanted Ke Zhongyu to hold her.

As she climbed onto the sofa and was about to tuck herself into Ke Zhongyu's arms, Ke Zhongyu woke up and murmured "A Lai" in his daze.

Jiang Lai's body paused for a moment, but she didn't stop what she was doing—she just lay down into Ke Zhongyu's arms, facing his chest, and took his arm and draped it over her waist.

She was like a wounded little animal that had finally found a warm refuge, cautiously curling herself up, quietly licking her wounds.

It made one's heart ache for her so much.

Ke Zhongyu pulled her in a little tighter, wrapping his whole body around her, then wrapped the blanket around both of them together like a cocoon.

Jiang Lai still didn't cry—she slowly closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

Ke Zhongyu couldn't sleep; he wanted to tear the Gu Family apart.

……

Last night the Gu Family had looked calm on the outside, but inside it was no different from being torn apart.

When Song Shiwei saw the slap mark on her husband's face, she seemed to understand something, and her hands and feet began to tremble uncontrollably; Gu Yinxue tried to help her mother back to her room, but was refused.

And when Gu Zhiyan saw the slap mark on his father's face, then saw his mother's pained and panicked expression, he had a very bad suspicion in his heart.

He had to get to the bottom of this matter.

Father and son, both sporting matching slap-marked faces, went into the Shufang; the maid urged the eldest miss that it was time for bed, but how could Gu Yinxue possibly sleep—she kept feeling exposed, her heart seized with anxiety.

In the Shufang, Gu Zhiyan said bluntly: "Dad, what did you mean by that? What do you mean Jiang Lai is my biological sister? I know Jiang Lai looks a bit like you when you were young, but you can't just go around claiming a daughter outside—what would Mom think? What would Yin Xue think?"

Gu Sen looked at his son and said solemnly: "She is your biological sister."

The veins on Gu Zhiyan's forehead bulged: "Did you do a paternity test or what?"

Gu Sen: "No need—age, appearance, G Province, K City, the heavy snow, everything lines up."

Gu Zhiyan's heart sank: "You betrayed Mother."

Gu Sen's breath caught in his throat: "I did not betray your mother. Jiang Lai is me and your mother's daughter—your biological sister!"

With a thunderclap, Gu Zhiyan felt a bolt of lightning crash down on his head, splitting him in two.

Jiang Lai was his biological sister?

He asked back in disbelief: "Then what about Yin Xue?"

"She…" Gu Sen parted his lips, but before he could finish, a cry of alarm came from the maid at the Shufang door, and father and son opened the door and went out.

Gu Yinxue's heart disease flared up.

The servant explained while speaking: "Miss was worried about you all, refused to rest, and kept standing at the door of the Shufang without knocking."

That's what was heard.

Gu Zhiyan anxiously picked up his sister; Gu Sen had the servant quickly call an ambulance; Song Shiwei heard the commotion and came out, saw her fainted daughter, her face deathly pale, and as she followed up, she demanded of the father and son, "What did you two do!"

Over these years, the family had taken careful care, so the daughter's heart disease hadn't acted up much; last year she had an episode in A City, then after returning home she had another, and this time it's even more serious than before.

The next morning, Gu Yinxue finally woke up, looking at her parents, and the first thing she said was: "Dad, Mom, I'm not your biological daughter, right?"

Song Shiwei's hands and feet turned ice-cold instantly.