CHAPTER 159: CHAPTER 159; DID HE COME TO YOU?

"Hehe... she just has her insecurities," Fang Lin muttered under her breath, trying to brush away her unease. "She will come around, you don’t have to worry..."

Still, the doubt lingered in her heart. Rising quietly, she drifted toward Jin Zhou, who was buried in the files while her Uncle managed the meeting. If anyone had answers, it would be him.

In a hushed voice, she asked, "Jin Zhou... what happened to Tang Fei? Do you know anything?"

The man stiffened, his pen pausing mid-stroke. At the same time, Jin Shuren lifted his head, his piercing glare cutting across the space like a blade.

"Miss, why don’t you ask your Uncle?" Jin Zhou replied tersely, clearly unwilling, or unable, to explain further, as this matter the best suited person to answer was him.

Fang Lin swallowed hard, turning toward Jin Shuren. She wanted to ask, but fear held her tongue.

Then, with deliberate calm, Jin Shuren muted the microphone of the laptop. His voice carried the weight of command even in its quietness.

"She isn’t well," he said. "And since you are her friend, you must be careful with what you say or do. In her mind, she has created a dream, and that is the world she is living in now. Some traumatic memories were replaced with those illusions. Any careless word could shatter them... for better or for worse."

"Ahhh?" Fang Lin’s eyes widened, her voice a mixture of disbelief and fear. She stared at her Uncle, searching his expression for some hint of jest, but there was none.

His face was carved in stone, his words heavy with an authority that left no room for doubt.

"You mean... she doesn’t remember some of the past memories? She really thinks all this is real?" Fang Lin’s voice dropped further, trembling despite her effort to stay steady.

Jin Shuren’s gaze lingered on her for a long, suffocating moment before he turned back toward the glowing laptop screen.

He unmuted the call, his tone shifting seamlessly back into cold command as if the private exchange had never taken place to begin with.

Yet the warning in his eyes remained etched in Fang Lin’s mind: Be careful.

Her heart heavily pounded. The weight of his words settled inside her like a stone. Yueyao’s smiles, her possessive glances, her sudden fierceness toward even her own daughter, all made sense now, but in a way that frightened Fang Lin more than it reassured her.

If she’s living in a dream... what happens if she wakes up from it?

She looked back toward her best friend. Yueyao sat on the sofa with Yueqin locked against her side, her expression composed, tender even, as she whispered something into her daughter’s ear.

But Fang Lin, watching closely, saw the flicker in Yueyao’s eyes, the way her gaze darted toward Jin Shuren, like a tether she refused to release.

Yueqin, restless under her mother’s arm, squirmed with a muffled protest. "Mommy, let me go, I want Daddy...."

"Shhh," Yueyao soothed, though the firmness of her hold contradicted the softness of her tone. "Daddy is busy right now. You will disturb him. Stay with me."

Fang Lin’s throat tightened. She had known Yueyao as carefree, even mischievous, back when they were girls. Yet the woman before her now seemed like a stranger, beautiful, fragile, but dangerous.

A cold thought crept into Fang Lin’s mind, one she dared not voice aloud: If Yueyao’s whole world is built on a dream... then Jin Shuren isn’t just her husband in her eyes. He’s her anchor. If that anchor is shaken, what will become of her?

And for the first time, Fang Lin wondered if Jin Shuren’s warning wasn’t just for Yueyao’s sake, but for all of them.

When the meeting resumed, the room settled into an uneasy quiet, but Fang Lin’s heart refused to calm.

Jin Shuren’s words echoed in her ears, clashing with the image of her best friend clutching her daughter like a possession.

Finally, she couldn’t hold back any longer.

Crossing the room, Fang Lin lowered herself onto the sofa opposite Yueyao. Her movements were slow, deliberate, as if approaching a wild animal that might bite.

"Yueyao..." Fang Lin murmured, tasting her name between her lips, heavy with hesitation.

"Yes, Lin Lin? What’s the matter? Is something troubling you?" Yueyao turned fully toward her, her gaze calm yet penetrating. Fang Lin could see the faint worry lines on her friend’s face, a look that made her chest ache.

"Can I ask you something? Just a small issue." Fang Lin’s voice trembled slightly, though she tried to mask it with a faint smile.

Yueyao tilted her head, studying her. "Lin Lin, if you have anything troubling you, you can tell me without any worries, please don’t keep quiet."

Fang Lin hesitated, fingers twisting together on her lap. She had rehearsed this moment in her mind, but now that Yueyao’s clear eyes were on her, the words stuck in her throat. What if the truth shattered her? What if it pulled the ground from beneath them both?

"Have you ever... fought with a man?" Fang Lin finally asked, her tone cautious, almost tentative. She let the words fall as if in passing, probing indirectly, hoping Yueyao wouldn’t sense the storm brewing underneath.

Yueyao blinked, tilting her head slightly as though reaching back into a hazy past. "Yes," she said at last, almost innocently. "I think I fought with Shen Xiao, several years ago. I don’t recall clearly what it was or how, but I believe I injured him. Since then... we never crossed paths again."

Her earnestness was disarming, almost childlike, and it left Fang Lin momentarily speechless. Because she knew what had really happened, far darker, far heavier than Yueyao’s softened recollection.

"Did he come to you?" Yueyao pressed suddenly, her brows furrowing with genuine concern. "Is he disturbing you? If he does, tell me immediately..." Her voice carried traces of malice toward Shen Xiao, only worried for Fang Lin herself.