Chapter 3: The Bridal Chamber

With Qiao Yanxin’s skills, if she were willing to investigate carefully, she would surely uncover the truth. Yet, she stubbornly refused. Perhaps she knew I was innocent, but what did it matter? I was merely a trivial person; if my sacrifice could bring happiness to the one she loved, then my sacrifice held some value.

Memories rushed back suddenly. Looking at the person before me, my gaze grew colder. Qiao Yanxin was truly heartless to the extreme. But I wasn’t too surprised—after all, wasn’t she always like this?

Leaving the police station, I returned to the Qiao family home. As soon as I pushed open the door, a cup flew to Qiao Yanxin’s feet. In an instant, the glass shattered into several pieces, scattering everywhere.

Qiao Yanxin barely frowned. “Dad, what are you doing?”

“Don’t you have the face to ask what I’m doing?!” Qiao’s father clutched his chest, his breathing heavy and erratic.

Qiao’s mother stood nearby, holding a fast-acting heart medicine.

“You ungrateful daughter! Today is your wedding day with Yunzhou. Where do you think you’ve been?!” His irritation deepened. Qiao Yanxin waved her hand, signaling the servants behind her to clean up the broken glass.

Clearly, Qiao Yunzhou was also missing, so why did her parents only accuse her? Who was truly the child of the Qiao family?

“Where else could I have gone? Besides, Qiao Yunzhou is missing too. Why don’t you say anything about him?” I was trapped in Qiao Yanxin’s small world, and seeing Qiao’s father in such pain made my heart ache sharply.

Except for Qiao Yanxin, the others in the family treated me fairly well.

Qiao’s father looked at his daughter with a bitter, disappointed expression. “Don’t think I don’t know where you went. Today of all days, your wedding day—why did you still go looking for that man? Before the wedding, no one said anything about your antics, but now that you’re married, you should settle down!”

He seemed to remember something and asked, “Where is Yunzhou? No one answers his calls. Why did you suddenly run off during the wedding? Do you know how much shame you’ve brought to the Qiao family by running away like that?!”

“Your mother and I thought you went looking for Yunzhou, but it wasn’t true!”

Seeing their faces, Qiao Yanxin curled her lips into a cold smile. “Of course, I went looking for Qiao Yunzhou. The police called me during the wedding, saying they found his belongings in the suburbs. He’s dead.”

“What?!” The disbelief on Qiao’s parents’ faces was unmistakable.

Qiao Yanxin knew perfectly well that Qiao Yunzhou couldn’t be dead; she said this only to provoke her parents.

“Yanxin, tell us exactly what happened!” Qiao’s mother rushed to her side, her eyes filled with earnestness.

Seeing her mother’s expression, Qiao Yanxin recounted everything the police had told her at the station.

As she finished, Qiao’s mother collapsed to the floor, tears instantly flooding her eyes. “I knew it! That man, once released, would surely cause trouble for Yunzhou! My poor Yunzhou…”

The endless family turmoil left Qiao Yanxin restless. Not wanting her mother to keep crying, she gave up, “Alright, alright. He’s just throwing a tantrum like before. It’s all because I went looking for Tingchu. I thought he would tolerate anything for our marriage.”

“The police haven’t found a body yet. Maybe the whole thing is a setup—there’s nothing really wrong!”

But Qiao’s mother was skeptical. “Yanxin, those bandits aren’t to be taken lightly. Send people to find Yunzhou quickly. If he’s alive, bring him back whole. If not… if you find his body, at least give him a proper burial.”

With that, she lowered her head and wiped away tears.

Seeing her mother so distraught, Qiao Yanxin didn’t say more and dispatched people to conduct a thorough search across South City for me.

Watching her dramatic efforts, I merely smiled indifferently. I was already dead. Qiao Yanxin, where do you plan to find me?

Honestly, I had no idea where my body was. After my consciousness faded, I returned to Qiao Yanxin’s side. As for who the killer was, I had no clue.

Qiao Yanxin wore the latest Burberry sunglasses, her lower face rigid with coldness.

“What’s the result?” Secretary Zhang respectfully approached her. “Ms. Qiao, we’ve searched all over South City, even the sewers, but found no trace of Young Master Qiao.”

Qiao Yanxin sneered. “What did I tell you? Qiao Yunzhou is a master of drama. Seeing me make such a big fuss searching the city, he’s probably overjoyed.”

Secretary Zhang was less optimistic, still worried. “Ms. Qiao, we’ve searched everywhere and found nothing. Could something really have happened to Young Master Qiao?”

“What accident could happen to a grown man?” Qiao Yanxin shot a cold glance at him. “He’s just throwing a tantrum. Wait a few days; he’ll come crawling back. Without the Qiao family, he’s nothing.”

Hearing this, I only found it amusing. Qiao Yanxin, I wonder if you’ll still say this when you see my corpse?

Today, for some unknown reason, she unexpectedly came to the bridal suite we had prepared for ourselves.

Though it was supposed to be ours, Qiao Yanxin did nothing to prepare it. Every detail inside was arranged by me alone.

Qiao Yanxin disliked me deeply, and naturally felt no fondness for the room.

After buying the house, she had never set foot inside. But since it was our shared home, I had given her the code.

Had I known what she intended to do here today, I would have regretted ever telling her the password.

Pushing open the door, the enormous wedding photo on the living room wall immediately caught her eye.

In the photo, Qiao Yanxin was unsmiling, her face full of impatience.

Beside her, I grinned broadly, teeth shining.

Looking at the photo, Qiao Yanxin was suddenly lost in thought.

After a moment, she sat down on the sofa.

I didn’t know why she had come to the bridal suite today—was it to remember me?

As I pondered this, the door opened from outside.

The person who entered was someone I never would have expected.