After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

four years ago.

A black luxury car was parked on a private helipad, and the back door was opened, revealing an umbrella.

"Miss An, please."

Under the torrential rain, Anning could barely see the road ahead.

Before boarding the plane, Ji Xiu politely reminded her, "Ms. An, if you want to continue your studies in Australia or go to another country, you can tell the chairman at any time. You can also mention any difficulties you encounter, and the chairman will help you solve them."

Anning asked him, "When can I go back to Jinghai?"

Ji Xiu shook his head. "What the chairman means is that you can live abroad with peace of mind. Your brother is already undergoing heart transplantation and will be able to have the surgery soon. After the surgery, he will be able to live a normal life."

An Ning understood that as long as she didn't come back, Yu Can's surgery could be done, and the An family wouldn't have to bear the medical expenses or struggle to pay for them anymore.

My parents and younger brother can all live normal lives and attend school normally.

All she needs to do is give up her love to give up a peaceful life for her family.

But if she disobeys and comes back, the An family's peaceful life will be shattered, and they will even face great difficulties.

She nodded, and turned to look behind her before boarding the plane.

There was no longer Lu Xiyan to support her.

After her private jet landed in Australia, An Ning stayed there for a few days. Once she was sure that no one from the Lu family was watching her, she bought a new ticket back to China.

Instead of returning to Jinghai, she went to Jining, one of the most remote cities in China.

She could choose not to see Lu Xiyan again, and she understood that Lu Xiyan hated her to the core and didn't want to see her. But she still wanted to live under the same sky as Lu Xiyan, see the same sky, and experience the changing seasons of the same country.

This was her only source of support.

Jining City is sparsely populated and vast. No one here knows her, no one knows where she came from, or what she has been through. It is quite peaceful.

She rented an old house.

The house wasn't big, but it was clean and tidy after being cleaned up.

She bought some daily necessities and simple food, and didn't leave the house for a week.

She felt weak and very tired, so tired that she didn't even want to talk, so she simply stopped talking.

During the first month after leaving Lu Xiyan, she rarely went out.

But she would be overwhelmed and defeated by waves of longing.

Every time I open or close my eyes, all I see are memories of being with Lu Xiyan.

Those two years were among the few happy days she experienced.

She missed him so much that she started having insomnia, staying up all night with Lu Xiyan on her mind.

She couldn't eat or sleep, she was like a walking corpse, only still breathing.

In the second month after leaving Lu Xiyan, she developed psychological problems.

She became extremely thin, and would even cut her wrists with a fruit knife in the middle of the night.

It felt like there were two little people pulling at each other in her mind.

She cut it off, and she was freed.

Another reason is to keep her alive, to keep her alive, so that she might have a chance to see her lover again, or perhaps find her biological parents.

During those nights, it was the voice messages and texts from Lu Xiyan that kept her going. She knew that Lu Xiyan was thinking of her too, and this longing kept her barely hanging on.

But she didn't dare reply, not even a single word.

Three months after leaving Lu Xiyan, she began vomiting incessantly and felt extremely unwell. She even thought she had a terminal illness.

It wasn't until she discovered her period was two months late that she suddenly realized—she might be pregnant!

Because on the day Lu Xiyan left, they made love again and again without using protection.

Realizing this, she went to see a doctor and confirmed her pregnancy.

She cried as she returned home from the hospital that day.

She doesn't even want herself anymore, how can she possibly want a child that suddenly comes along?

That was the first time she had the idea of ​​giving up on the child.

Four months after leaving Lu Xiyan, she felt the baby move.

There was a slight movement inside her belly.

At that time, she was already skin and bones, and her hair was falling out in clumps.

But it was also at that time that she first had the will to live.

She stood by the narrow, old window, gently touching her still-flat stomach.

A strong thought popped into her mind—this child was the only bond between her and Lu Xiyan.

It was her moon, a gift left to her after they parted.

She wants to live, to live well.

Live on and raise this child.

She went to see a psychologist, and her speech became somewhat illogical.

She said, "I may not survive, but I want to survive."

She sat in front of psychologist Xu Zhijun, her small face so thin it could barely hold any flesh, and her already large eyes were sunken and lifeless.

Her skin was as white as paper, a sickly white that had never seen the sun.

He sat there thin and frail, yet incredibly sincere.

Others only saw her thin, bony body and gave her pitying, sympathetic looks.

But after a psychological consultation, Xu Zhijun saw her beauty, her clarity, and her tenacity.

He asked her gently, "Anning, do you really want to live?"

She nodded, a glimmer of hope flashing in her dim eyes.

Hsu Chih-Chun smiled warmly and told her, "Then just think of yourself as a plant. When you're hungry, eat properly; when you're thirsty, drink water; when you need sunshine, go outside and bask in it. Just stay alive first. Everything else can wait until you're alive."

......

In the living room, the wall clock pointed to twelve o'clock.

Xu Zhijun looked at the man sitting opposite him, who was holding a cigarette and taking one puff after another. His cold face showed unease and panic through the smoke.

There were more than a dozen cigarette butts stubbed out in the ashtray on the table.

His hand trembled several times when he tried to light the lighter.

Xu Zhijun knew that his current outward forbearance was just a paper mask. People like Lu Xiyan, who came from a respectable background, were used to being presentable and well-mannered in front of others and would not lose their composure in front of him, but in reality, they were already completely defeated inside.

"I told you these things without telling Anning because I wanted you to see clearly how much she loves you and how worthy she is of being loved."

Xu Zhijun took a deep breath. "Her view on love is actually very simple: if she loves someone, she will give her all. So she fell in love with Mr. Lu, someone she couldn't afford to love, and she didn't leave herself a way out."

Hsu Chih-Chun stood up and continued, "As her psychologist, I advised her to let go of the past and start anew. I've seen her radiant with confidence, and I admit I was once attracted to her."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Xiyan suddenly looked up at him.

"So I'm willing to help her get through this, to love her, to protect her, and I'll even treat her and your child as my own."

At this point, Hsu Chih-Chun gave a self-deprecating smile, "But it's no use that I'm willing, she's not. She has only ever loved you. So she would rather endure the suffering in silence, swallow all her grievances, and raise her child alone as a single mother than admit that she doesn't love you."

"Mr. Lu, she has undergone many psychological counseling sessions over the past four years. Each time, she has unhesitatingly admitted that she loves you, has always loved you, and will always love you."

She said, "You deserve it."

Xu Zhijun chuckled softly, "Mr. Lu, I really hope you can do what she said is 'worth it' and live up to her persistence."

After Xu Zhijun finished speaking, he strode away.

The footsteps faded into the distance, leaving only Lu Xiyan in the living room.

Even though he hadn't been slapped, Lu Xiyan's face hurt more than if he had been slapped dozens of times.

It hurts like fire.

The pain is so deep it cuts to the core, so intense it's hard to breathe.

He hung his head, his chest heaving violently, and tears suddenly fell down his cheeks.

He didn't even realize that the cigarette butt in his hand had burned his fingers.

After a long while, two loud slaps suddenly rang out in the quiet living room.

Then came the sound of a man sobbing softly.

The crying grew louder, and he buried his head, sobbing uncontrollably.

He thought he was the only one who had suffered the pain of missing her and losing loved ones during those years, but little did he know that she suffered even more than he had.

After she returned to Jinghai, her relieved and carefree attitude towards the past fueled his resentment.

He even felt he should hurt her with harsh words, humiliate her, and take revenge on her severely. He didn't know that every time she felt relieved, she was saving herself.

Every hurtful word he uttered was like a knife stabbing her.

Even after they reconciled, he bury his head in the sand and didn't have the courage to ask her how she had been during those years.

These unwarranted torments he inflicted on her have made him wish he could kill himself!