When I open my eyes again, I find myself lying in a hospital room so luxurious that it makes my jaw drop.
Haley Tang is standing beside the bed, but at this moment, she has shed her innocent and naive appearance, replaced by a neat police uniform, her eyes sharp as knives.
"What...
what's going on."
I stammer, not daring to call her "little siste."
anymore.
Haley Tang snorts coldly, "You're really lucky to be alive."
As she explains, I slowly come to understand the truth of the matter.
It turns out that Cedric Su is not some upright business tycoon at all, but a financial fraudster hiding behind a glamorous facade.
The Su Group appears to operate traditional industries like tea and silk on the surface, but is actually engaged in large-scale illegal financial activities behind the scenes.
"No wonder he's so rich and always acting weird."
I mutter to myself.
What shocks me even more is that those "sister."
who left the Su family did not get to live a wealthy life as they wished.
They either inexplicably went bankrupt in business disputes or disappeared in "accidents".
In order not to tarnish Camellia White's purity, Cedric Su never makes a move on his own turf, but once they leave...
"When you came, you were blindfolded and had no idea that the Su family estate is surrounded by cliffs and precipices.
Those missing girls mostly fell from there."
Haley Tang's voice carries a hint of barely noticeable sadness.
It turns out that Cedric Su had been in hiding for many years, and the police had been unable to find any evidence on him.
If it weren't for the fact that the bodies of several "sister."
who had recently disappeared under mysterious circumstances were discovered and drew attention, they probably wouldn't have been able to catch his tail.
"Those sisters were sent away all at once because Cedric Su suspected there was a mole by his side, but didn't know who it was at the time.
You were the last to come, so you escaped by chance."
Haley Tang explains.
"The previous Sister Lilian Pear was an undercover agent trying to rescue the women under Cedric Su's control."
Haley Tang's tone becomes heavy, "Unfortunately, she had been undercover in the Su family for a full six years and was about to succeed, but because of her age, she was 'retired' and in the end...
not even her bones remained."
I shudder, suddenly realizing that over the years, who knows how many people like Lilian Pear have silently sacrificed themselves, their names unknown to anyone.
Haley Tang gently wipes the corner of her eye and says earnestly, "Girl, you need to protect yourself in the future and not easily believe other people's sweet words.
She tells me that it was precisely because I had recklessly impersonated Cedric Su's daughter that she took the opportunity to fabricate the DNA test report.
This not only saved my life but also bought her more time to gather evidence.
I nod vigorously, still shaken by the experience.
This ordeal was like a nightmare, and I swear never to be so rash again.
A few days later, I am finally discharged from the hospital.
It feels so good to stand under the sun again, and I can't help but smile.
I take out my phone, and a news push catches my eye: the recently popular online TV drama "Wealthy Bride: Reforming the Financial Tycoo."
is a big hit.
I can't help but smile wryly.
How many naive girls fantasize about being able to change a "deeply affectionate and charmin."
bad man, not knowing that what awaits them may be utter disaster?
In Cedric Su's study, I had inadvertently discovered some clues about past events.
It turns out that Camellia White, the one he could not forget and spared no expense to find substitutes for, was not some pure first love.
Camellia White was Cedric Su's arranged marriage partner when he was young, a woman who possessed both beauty and intelligence.
Their marriage was supposed to be the beginning of two major families joining hands to dominate the business world.
However, on the eve of the wedding, Camellia White discovered the Su family's many crimes and threatened to report them to the police.
The young Cedric Su, in order to protect the family business, had no choice but to take action against his own fiancée.
He staged a car accident, letting Camellia White sleep forever at the bottom of the lake.
From then on, he was as if possessed, frantically expanding his business empire on one hand and constantly searching for Camellia White's substitutes on the other, as if this could make up for his inner guilt.
However, no matter how many substitutes, they could not fill the void in his conscience.
Cedric Su's so-called "deep affectio."
was nothing more than a morbid obsession.
His hands were stained with the blood of the innocent - those investors he had swindled, those business rivals he had framed - which one of them was not a living life?
Standing on the cliff of the Su family estate, I gaze at the turbulent sea.
Although the seawater is a beautiful azure, it can never wash away the hidden evils.
Those lives that disappeared in this sea, those nameless heroes who silently sacrificed themselves like Lilian Pear, should not be forgotten.
Suddenly, an idiom comes to my mind: flowers do not bloom for a hundred days.
No matter how beautiful a flower is, it will eventually wither; no matter how powerful an empire is, it will crumble.
The business empire that Cedric Su painstakingly built may seem prosperous, but it is ultimately a castle in the air built on sin and lies.
People often say "wealth and rank are sought amidst perils."
but I prefer to believe that "goodness will ultimately be rewarded."
Money and power may be tempting, but if obtained in a way that harms the heavens and reason, they will eventually vanish like foam on the sea.
As the sun sets in the west, I turn and leave this place filled with conspiracy and betrayal.
Once, I too was nearly bewitched into becoming part of the Su family empire.
But now, I choose to walk my own path and face this world with integrity and kindness.
After all, true happiness has never been built with money.
(The End)