"Xiao Er, are you okay?"
Gu Xiaoer shook her head to clear it and confirmed that the disheveled, down-and-out man standing before her was Lu Tianze. Opening her mouth, she found herself at a loss for words.
Lu Tianze no longer cared about his appearance, the gloominess cloaked his unrefreshed face completely. Standing there casually, his gaze fell on the glaring "VIP ward" sign, and a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth: "It seems, you're doing quite well."
The sarcasm was obvious.
"What do you want?" Gu Xiaoer gathered her thoughts, struggling to calm herself down.
"As your ex-boyfriend, can't I come to see how you are after the fire incident?" He suddenly sneered coldly, "I've finally understood something—anyone who has ever crossed you is bound to meet a bad end."
Gu Xiaoer felt an inexplicable twinge in her heart; she also lowered her voice, "What do you mean by that?"
"A fire broke out in the residential complex where you lived; half of Mofeng City knows about it. Media reports suggest that Yang Xue set the fire intentionally, and although they didn't state the reason, I know why..." Lu Tianze spoke with an unyielding bitterness, no longer the bright and handsome guy from his school days.
But at that moment, Gu Xiaoer felt somewhat dazed. She wondered if half of Mofeng City knew, then did her father also know? Then why hasn't he ever come to see her?
Did she already no longer exist as a daughter in his heart?
Lu Tianze's probing gaze fell on Gu Xiaoer unabashedly as he spoke coldly: "Do you know what happened to Yang Xue in the end? She had a manic disorder but died in a mental hospital the next day! They say she banged her head against the wall in the middle of the night, literally battered herself to death!"
He leaned in so close to the girl's face, his eyes deep and dark as a venomous snake, hissing as if about to swallow her whole.
Gu Xiaoer snapped out of it, forcefully pushed Lu Tianze away, and stumbled from where she had just stood, clutching her chest, still reeling from the shock.
"What exactly are you implying? Yang Xue, how could it be Yang Xue?"
"Building three caught fire, and the investigation concluded it was arson. I think the only person she wanted to hurt was you. Gu Xiaoer, haven't you ever introspected?"
"Me? Why would she..." She pointed at herself, unable to believe that a girl from the same complex, though incompatible in personality, would ever go as far as murder.
"Su Jiaxuan..." Lu Tianze mouthed in silence.
Gu Xiaoer's face turned ashen increment by increment, devoid of color like a sheet of paper.
"Xiao Er, let's do some calculations. I'm your ex-boyfriend; you see what a mess I've become. Lin Kexin, your half-sister, was expelled from school, drugged, and utterly disgraced; your biological father, Gu Zhengjin, has gone bankrupt, now living in a humble house; Yang Xue was expelled and now a suspected arsonist, dead in a tragic way. Tell me, aren't these all people from your life?"
"You're talking nonsense!" Gu Xiaoer covered her ears, resisting the cruel words from entering her mind, shaking her head continuously. "I've always been sincere with you all, never once feeling guilty about anything. I've tolerated and yielded to the hurt you've caused me out of consideration for kinship, past affections, and gratitude. But what about you? You've hurt me even more cruelly. Now that it's come to this, you turn around and blame me? Have you forgotten all you've done?"
Gu Xiaoer shouted, her vocal cords still not fully recovered, rasping and intermittent.
Lu Tianze watched coldly from the side and after a moment, sneered with sarcasm: "Indeed, you've done nothing. The only thing you did was find yourself a powerful man!"