Chapter 13: A Choked Voice

After she finished speaking, she looked up at him once more.

The car was dark, and she couldn’t make out his expression, but these words had to be said. She was terrified of the feeling of gaining something only to lose it again.

They say no one remembers anything before the age of three, and she was no exception. Yet she often wondered—if she truly were his biological daughter, would he have treated her better? Would he have been less distant all these years?

Before she turned three, before the truth about Jiang Wei was uncovered, back when they were passionately in love and she was conceived, had he once been surprised and delighted by her arrival?

“Mu Gui, you won’t lose me again,” he said in a low voice that pierced through the darkness straight into her heart.

His words were so warm that tears welled up in her eyes almost instinctively.

If he had made such a promise when she was a child, or during those early years when she was often neglected, she imagined she would have been overjoyed.

She remembered back in elementary school, Mu Anyan once came home with a box of candies and chocolates for her. She was so happy she placed it by her bedside, under her pillow, eating one piece each day for an entire month.

Even after all these years, she still remembered the taste. Though Mu Anyan had broken many promises to her since then, she could forgive him, holding onto that box of sweets in her heart.

“Dad was just too busy,” she told herself.

But no one stays a child forever. She was no longer the girl she once was. After a brief moment of clarity, she curved her lips into a faint smile. “Yeah, because I never really had it.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said, his guilt clearly evident now. For such a proud man to explain himself so much at this moment was surprising.

“Doesn’t matter,” Jiang Mu Gui smiled softly. “I don’t care anymore. Like if I asked you to leave Fang Muqing and spend more time with my mother, you wouldn’t agree anyway.”

Saying this half in frustration, she was about to open the car door and leave.

“Jiang Mu Gui,” he called after her.

He hadn’t called her by name in a long time, and she had begun to wonder if he even remembered what she was called. But this time, hearing her name made her stop involuntarily. She wanted to hear what he had to say, but just as he opened his mouth, she received a message on WeChat.

It was from her uncle, and after reading it, her face changed immediately.

“Dad, I’m leaving now. Goodbye.”

Her voice was low, still trying to hide a hint of panic. Mu Anyan immediately sensed something was wrong. “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Mu Gui didn’t explain. She jumped out of the car and ran toward home, forgetting even to grab her luggage. As her figure gradually disappeared into the darkness, even her assistant noticed something was amiss. “Mr. Mu, is something wrong with Miss?”

Indeed, something was wrong—but it wasn’t Jiang Mu Gui. It was the new message from her uncle.

[Grandma is gravely ill. Your mother’s phone is unreachable. Return quickly.]

Jiang Mu Gui’s face was filled with anxiety. When she rushed home, she found the living room filled with people laughing and chatting, loud music playing, the clinking of glasses, and the occasional sound of drinking games. Her mother was sitting amid a group of men, laughing wildly.

Trembling, Jiang Mu Gui pushed through the crowd and pulled Jiang Wei out. “Mom, come with me!”

Jiang Wei was clearly tipsy and let out a startled cry when yanked up. “Who’s there?”

Jiang Mu Gui didn’t even have time to explain. Perhaps because there were too many people around, she couldn’t speak frankly. Feeling her mother resist, she snatched the wine glass from her hand and slammed it heavily onto the coffee table. Gripping her wrist tightly, her voice almost breaking, she pleaded, “Mom, come with me first, we’ll talk later!”