Chapter 5: The Desperate Counterattack

I stared at Zhou Jingnan for so long that I forgot to blink.

He raised an eyebrow slightly. “Fufu?”

That single word snapped me out of my daze. I suddenly threw myself into his arms and burst into tears.

Zhou Jingnan looked momentarily flustered before slowly wrapping his arms around me, soothing me.

“Don’t cry anymore. We won’t do it again. Not ever.”

I buried my face against his chest and shook my head furiously.

“No!”

“No what?”

“No more stopping.”

Zhou Jingnan let out a helpless laugh. “You were crying from the pain just a minute ago.”

I looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes, speaking with the gravity of someone discussing a matter of national importance.

“If we stop now, wouldn’t all that pain have been for nothing? And if we do it again later, I’ll have to go through all that pain from scratch. I’m not taking that kind of loss!”

He froze for a second before bursting into laughter.

It was the first time I had ever seen him laugh so freely.

He was so beautiful that, for a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

Outside the window, a soft spring rain drifted down.

Inside that room, I was reduced to a puddle in his arms. He carried me all the way to the clouds, then held me as we came tumbling back down to earth together.

The moment my flight landed in Beijing, my phone exploded with breaking news.

“Zhou Group Chairman Zhou Jingnan has suddenly fallen into a coma and is currently in critical condition in the ICU…”

I stared at the screen.

My vision went black, my legs gave out, and I collapsed.

Thankfully, the passenger beside me caught me just in time.

I sat on the floor, half convinced my soul had already left my body.

Then a faint cramp in my lower abdomen jolted me back to reality.

No!

Jiang Yifu, you have to stay calm.

The baby inside me was the only bloodline Zhou Jingnan had left in this world.

I gritted my teeth, forced myself back onto my feet, and stumbled out of the airport, racing against time to get to the hospital.

The hospital was packed with reporters and surrounded by security guards.

By chance, I spotted Lin Zhenghui hurrying inside.

The moment he saw me, he stopped in shock.

“How is Zhou Jingnan?” I asked breathlessly.

Lin Zhenghui was silent for a long time before slowly shaking his head.

At that exact moment, a panicked nurse came running downstairs.

“Dr. Lin! Mr. Zhou’s condition has taken a turn for the worse! You need to get upstairs!”

I leaned against the wall and slowly slid down, watching the doctors disappear down the corridor.

A while later, Lin Zhenghui came back, his voice hoarse.

“Miss Jiang… do you want to go in and see him one last time?”

I walked into the hospital room on legs that felt like they were made of cotton.

One machine after another was switched off.

The tubes attached to his body were removed one by one.

The room fell into a terrifying silence.

Zhou Jingnan lay there, his pale skin almost blending into the white sheets, looking as though he were simply sleeping peacefully.

I remembered all the times I had chattered away like a sparrow.

He had never once complained that I was annoying.

Instead, he would suddenly kiss me and say,

“When you get talkative… you’re adorable.”

I walked to his bedside and tremblingly reached out to check his breathing.

My hand was shaking so badly that I couldn’t bring myself to touch him.

I was terrified that the truth would snatch away the last bit of hope I had left.

I closed my eyes and slowly began to pull my hand back in despair.

But at that very moment, a hand suddenly clamped around my wrist.

It was as though, in the middle of a pitch-black abyss, someone had torn through the darkness and pulled me back to solid ground.

A familiar voice sounded beside my ear.

Hoarse.

Lazy.

With just the faintest hint of teasing amusement.

“Jiang Yifu.”

His eyes remained closed, but the corners of his lips curved into a faint smile.

“Don’t be in such a hurry… You haven’t even worn all your battle outfits yet. I’m not dead just yet.”

It was that same familiar line.

Not a single word had changed.

Only Zhou Jingnan’s voice was raspier this time, as though he had just clawed his way back from the gates of hell.

I stared at him in stunned disbelief.

Maybe I was dreaming.

Or maybe that ridiculous melodramatic plot had finally decided to show some mercy.

His hand around my wrist was warm.

A dead man wouldn’t have a pulse of warmth like this.

“Zhou… Jingnan?”

I called his name again and again.

He didn’t answer.

He simply tightened his grip and pulled me into his arms.

His lips brushed lightly against my ear, his voice low and thick.

“Fufu, cry a little louder. Like you did the other times.”

Before I could figure out what he meant, a commotion erupted outside.

Footsteps rushed toward the room.

Zhou Shijun—his sharp-minded uncle, whose ruthlessness could cut like a knife—walked in.

The moment I saw his grief-stricken expression and the barely concealed excitement in his eyes at the thought of inheriting the family fortune, I instantly switched into full performance mode.

“Ahhh! Zhou Jingnan!!! How am I supposed to live without you?!”

I dropped to the floor and wailed like the world was ending, even banging my head against the edge of the bed with absolute commitment.

The crying skills I’d honed since childhood went completely above and beyond.

Even the funeral staff quietly retreated from the room.

The moment Zhou Shijun left, I immediately went limp.

Zhou Jingnan pushed himself upright and pulled me into his arms.

“Fufu, get some rest.”

Wu Fan, his trusted assistant, walked in and reported,

“Mr. Zhou, everything went according to plan. Zhou Shijun has completely fallen for the fake documents. We’ll do whatever it takes to uncover the truth behind your parents’ accident that year.”

Sure enough, rich people really knew how to play mind games.

Zhou Jingnan hadn’t faked his death to escape his debts.

He had done it to lure an entire den of old foxes into the open.

Dr. Lin shot me a knowing look before reminding Zhou Jingnan,

“You should get some rest too. You haven’t eaten or slept properly for days. You look like a socialite zombie. Some things… don’t need to be rushed.”

I blushed and muttered under my breath,

“The emperor isn’t even worried, but the eunuch is already panicking.”

I burrowed deeper into Zhou Jingnan’s arms, searching for the most comfortable position.

The pregnancy-induced sleepiness was already washing over me.

Half-asleep, I murmured,

“That accident involving your parents… was it really caused by someone else?”

“What were you like when you were thirteen?”