CHAPTER 113: CHAPTER 113; SHE SAW NOTHING

Fang Lin’s fingers trembled as she picked up the phone call. "Hello? Hello..."

There was a crackle, and then...

"Lin..."

"Lin.... Lin...."

Fang Lin’s knees nearly gave out. Her hand clutched the edge of the table for support, her voice breaking as she whispered, "Yueyao?!"

"It’s me," Yueyao said softly, the sound of her voice was dry and faint, but unmistakably hers.

The man sitting on the couch signaled Fang Lin to press the phone into loudspeaker.

"Lin Lin...."

"Please help me...."

"I’m not crazy...."

"Please help me, I’m dying..."

"Lin Lin... Help me...." You could hear that broken and lost hope voice coming from her, even if she called her, she knew she didn’t have any means to help her, but she still wanted to call.

"They think I have gone crazy, but I haven’t, they have locked me up like a crazy mad woman, but I’m not.... I want to die Lin Lin... I want to die...." The voice from the other end was exhausted and hopeless.

Fang Lin stood frozen, one hand over her mouth, the other trembling as she held the phone. Her eyes filled with tears.

The man beside her, tall, dark-eyed, and composed, leaned in. The moment he heard Yueyao’s voice, a faint crack appeared in his usually unreadable expression.

"Trace the call," he said to the assistant silently stationed at the desk. "Now."

Fang Lin choked back a sob. "Yueyao, where are you? Tell me where you are. I will come. I will come right now."

Yueyao’s voice cracked over the speaker, whisper-thin, already fading, "No don’t... Don’t come here... Don’t come here..." She couldn’t want her to get hurt even the slightest bit. She knew the current Shen Xiao wouldn’t let her get any closer to her.

"Fang Lin, I’m sorry...."

"Fang Lin, I’m sorry...." She broke down apologizing.

The man snatched the phone away from Fang Lin who couldn’t say a word anymore.

"Tell me where you are and I will come to you... Yueyao my girl, talk to me." That voice, sounded calming and held so much authority and hope.

"Where are you? You left me behind when I chose you? Where are you, why can’t I see you?" She was now having hallucinations because this same voice was the one she heard in her nightmare calling her over, it was him she had chosen but still woke up in the same place and he was gone.

"Shhhh... Calm down... Yueyao, you have to tell me where you are so that I can save you out."

"No... No... Don’t come here... Don’t come here..." She knew Shen Xiao was powerful and could hurt the two of them. Hle could she allow that?

"Yueyao, tell me... I will save you."

"No... No... You don’t exist, you are a devil! A ghost, haha... My baby is a ghost too...."

"She was so tiny, beautiful and sweet..."

"She couldn’t even see life! I didn’t protect her... I failed her..."

"Shhh... I know where your baby is, you just need to tell me where you are so that I can bring her over, she is beautiful." The man could tell her mind was off, and only word manipulation could work at the moment.

"You have my baby? You have my baby, my little one.."

"What do I have to do in return after saving me? I know there’s nothing for free... I know it.. I know it, but I need to see my baby even if I have to make a deal with the devil...."

"Just be my wife, nothing much I would ask of you... Just be mine... I don’t have much...." Yes, he didn’t want anything from her and Yueyao immediately knew she was running from one home to another! Did she have a choice?

There was silence on the line, long, fragile silence.

Then a shaky breath came through.

"You... you’re real?" she whispered, like a frightened child clinging to a dream.

"Yes, I’m real," his voice remained steady, but his eyes were wild with urgency now. "I have always been real. And I’m coming. Just tell me where."

She knew she was trapped, but it was better with someone else rather than Shen Xiao, she didn’t want to stay in that mansion a minute longer.

There was another pause. Then, faintly...

"...East wing... first floor... locked from the outside... white walls..."

The line went dead.

"Damn it!" he barked, rising to his full height.

"Sir, we got it," the assistant said immediately, tapping furiously on his laptop. "Signal came from Shen Mansion. East wing, like she said. She must be in one of the unused secret rooms. We will need a floor plan."

"We don’t need a floor plan," the man snapped, already grabbing his coat. "That mansion is so small to waste time on that... Just arrange more armed men and her."

He turned to Fang Lin, who was still standing in shocked silence, tears glistening in her lashes.

"Don’t open the door for anyone tonight. No one. Do you understand?"

Fang Lin nodded weakly. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I don’t know," he said grimly. "But if she isn’t, someone’s going to burn for it."

— — — —

"Time’s up," Xiao Ning said softly, stepping back into the room with a tray in hand.

Yueyao had already ended the call. The phone was turned off and resting face-down on the sheets.

She looked up and gave the maid a faint, grateful smile.

"Thank you, Xiao Ning. I’ll eat now."

The maid glanced at the phone, seemingly relieved that all was well, and walked over to set the tray on the table.

She heard nothing. She saw nothing.

Just a fragile girl reaching for congee with shaking hands.

And outside, the storm had only just begun.

— — — — — —

The door to Fang Lin’s apartment slammed shut behind him, the echo lingering like a war drum. Rain pounded against the windows as the man strode into the hallway, his black coat already draped over his broad shoulders.

A fleet of black SUVs waited below.