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

At night, dim light shone through the low door of the main room in Xiyuan Village, followed by a woman's shrill screams.

"Anning, please let me die, Mom begs you, please let me die!"

Li Chunfang tossed and turned in bed, her thin cotton clothes soaked with sweat. She arched her body and craned her neck, screaming in a heart-wrenching voice, the veins on her neck bulging.

"Ouch! It hurts so much!"

"God, let me die!"

The sheets beneath her were crumpled into a ball, and in the dim light, Anning was frantically trying to get her painkillers.

Ordinary painkillers were ineffective for Li Chunfang; she took several pills but the pain persisted.

This was the first time Anning had seen Li Chunfang suffer an attack. The pain nearly took away half of her life, leaving her in unbearable agony and delirious.

Anning held Li Chunfang's hand tightly. Without medication or a doctor present, she couldn't imagine whether Li Chunfang could make it through the night.

"I know I haven't done many good deeds in my life. If God doesn't like me, just take me away. Don't torture me like this!"

"Just like you took An Tianhua, you took my life!"

Li Chunfang was in so much pain that tears streamed down her face, and her thin, bloodshot eyes were filled with redness.

Anning trembled all over, tightly holding Li Chunfang's hand, and said in a tearful voice, "Mom, just hang in there, just hang in there, there will be a way soon."

She has just asked around to see what medications she can buy to relieve Li Chunfang's pain.

However, the other party has not yet replied to her.

He always replies to her messages very promptly; he must be busy.

A solution will surely be found soon.

Li Chunfang was drenched in sweat, in so much pain that she had lost her mind, and took Anning's words as a way of comforting her.

Anning glanced at her phone, which hadn't received a reply yet, and quickly picked it up to go outside and make a call.

The call went unanswered.

Perhaps he is treating a patient right now?

Anning silently prayed that the other party would call back soon so she could hurry up and buy the medicine.

Just as she turned to go inside, her eyes suddenly widened, and she dropped her phone on the floor.

"mom--"

Li Chunfang, without any apparent struggle, got out of bed and laboriously reached for the scissors in the bedside drawer.

She pretended to take out scissors to cut off the two lumps of flesh on her chest.

It hurts so much, I might as well just cut it myself!

Anning practically knelt down and lunged forward, her eyes red, as she snatched the scissors from her hand. "Mom! Don't do this, there's a way!"

"Peace and tranquility!"

Li Chunfang had been tormented by illness to the point of losing all her color. She held Anning's hand tightly, looking at her with tears streaming down her face and pleading in her eyes.

"My dear daughter, Mom is in so much pain! Why don't you... why don't you go find Xiao Lu..."

An Ning stared blankly at Li Chunfang, tears streaming down her face.

"Mom knows it was Mom's fault back then... I'm too ashamed to ask Xiao Lu for help again... but Xiao Lu's family is very wealthy and powerful, he'll definitely find a way..."

Li Chunfang wept bitterly, gripping Anning's hand tightly. "Mom would rather die than endure this excruciating pain..."

An Ning lowered her head, her face pale, tears streaming down her face.

"Okay..." An Ning nodded with tears in her eyes, "Just hang in there."

......

Yuhe Duke's Mansion.

The large living room was brightly lit but empty.

On the large black leather sofa, a cell phone with an incoming call displayed is casually tossed about.

The phone rang for a long time, but no one answered.

The study on the second floor was dark, but moonlight streamed in through the huge French windows, falling on the tall figure of the man standing by the window.

He wore a black suit, with a neatly pressed white shirt collar and a tie of the same color as his jacket, exuding an aura of cool elegance.

The man stood by the window, his left hand in his pocket and his right hand holding a clear glass wine glass. He had a perfect proportion with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs.

Silver moonlight shone on his exquisite and deep features, his indifferent and detached gaze fixed on the moon hanging in the sky.

"Lu Xiyan, I've never loved you. I was just playing around with you. Don't cling to me like a dog and refuse to leave."

"Son, Dad is going to the US on business this time, and I'll take this opportunity to give her a message and ask her to come back and see you."

"Xi Yan, why are you so disobedient! If it weren't for your stubbornness, your father wouldn't have had this accident! Now that your father is dead, how am I supposed to live?"

"Young Master, your hand... I'm afraid you can never race again."

Countless faces and countless words from four years ago seeped into the man's ears in the quiet night.

A tear slid down his cheek, which he wiped away with his hand.

He gripped the wine glass tightly in his hand, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp.

There was a gentle knock on the study door.

"Young Master."

The housekeeper, Li Quan, stood outside the door and gently reminded them, "You left your phone downstairs; it's been ringing for a while now."

......

In the dimly lit, cramped room, a few phone calls made became Li Chunfang's lifeline.

But they received no response time after time.

Anning felt cold all over and slumped helplessly to the side of the bed.

Lu Xiyan hates her so much, isn't this the result he wants? How could he possibly answer her call, how could he possibly help her?

Li Chunfang leaned against the headboard, in so much pain she was on the verge of death.

"Never mind..." She looked at An Ning, resigned to her fate, "Never mind..."

Li Chunfang's voice was like a knife piercing An Ning's heart.

Her tears fell onto the number on the screen, and a voice inside her cried out, "Try Anning one more time, for Mom's life, try one more time."

She wiped away her tears, took her phone, and stumbled to the door. With trembling hands, she dialed the number again.

Lu Xiyan, I beg you, please answer the phone!

Please, please answer the phone!

Lu Xiyan!

Please!

After the beep, the call was suddenly connected.

An Ning felt as if her heart was being gripped tightly. She lowered her head and bit her knuckles hard, "Lu Xiyan..."

The man on the phone gave a soft hum and didn't say anything.

Anning knew he was listening. She choked back a sob, "My mother really needs to be taken to the hospital. Her condition is very bad. Take out your past actions on me; could you please be merciful and give my mother a chance to live?"

A low, mocking voice came from the other end of the line, "Anning, why should I help you?"

Anning almost bit her fingers through. "I'm the one who betrayed you, I'm the one who toyed with your feelings, it has nothing to do with my mother."

She wiped away her tears. "For the sake of how good she was to you before, could you please save her?"

Li Chunfang's helpless wails came from inside the house. An Ning held the phone in her hand as if it were a lifeline, her words filled with urgency.

"I know the city hospital is an investment of your family. Just say the word, and the hospital will admit my mother and arrange surgery. We will do our best to cover the costs. Is that alright, Lu Xiyan?"

The other person didn't speak, and An Ning's heart sank to the bottom little by little.

Just when she thought the other party had hung up, she heard two deep words from the man on the phone.

"Beg me."