Chapter 353: Chapter 353 This is Not the Result I Wanted_1
 

Death penalty?

This outcome indeed caught me by surprise.

I had never thought that Gu Yuanzhou would be sentenced to death, my expectation was to have him stay in prison for a lifetime.

The result left me somewhat at a loss.

Afterwards, what Wenya said to Su Peisheng, I completely tuned out.

My entire being felt somewhat adrift.

It wasn’t until after six in the evening when Jiang Yuyan walked into the office and looked at me.

Only then did I realize that I had been in the office by myself, lost in a daze the entire afternoon.

“Miss Song, aren’t you leaving work yet?”

“Hmm, you go ahead.”

“Miss Song, how about I accompany you home?”

“I don’t want to go back, I want to stay here for a while. It’s fine, you can go.”

“Uh, are you hungry? Shall I get you something to eat?”

“No need, I’m not hungry!”

Jiang Yuyan stayed by my side for quite a while, making sure I was okay before she left.

But, the girl was very thoughtful; she seemed to see my distraction and phoned Shen Yishu on her way out.

I originally didn’t know that Shen Yishu would come, but he was waiting outside…

I was completely immersed in my own shock, unable to snap back to reality for a long time.

I don’t know why I couldn’t accept this result.

I even questioned myself, was I too soft-hearted? Or did I have excessive mercy?

Or… in my heart, did I always reserve a little space for him, still harboring some vain hope for him?

I don’t know. I couldn’t articulate the feeling, it was indescribable.

Anyway, that day, I was somewhat distracted, sitting alone in the office until late at night.

It wasn’t until two in the morning that I suddenly realized I needed to go home.

Stepping outside, there was Shen Yishu’s silhouette, wandering in the night.

I was shocked to see him, “What are you doing here?”

Shen Yishu looked at me,

“Someone said that the entrance to Tianjiao Company is the best spot in the city to watch the stars, so I came to see if it was true.”

“Cut the nonsense, Jiang Yuyan asked you to come, didn’t she?”

“How did you know?”

“I think I heard her call you.”

“My car is over there, let me take you home!”

“Okay!”

Truth be told, I had a car parked nearby too, but I was very aware that with my mind so hazed, I was in no shape to drive.

Having Shen Yishu by my side was good!

Once at Xishan Residence, he also ordered takeout for me.

“I can’t eat, Yishu!”

“Just have a little!”

“I really can’t!”

“Okay, no worries, I’ll keep you company! Or, you can go to sleep if you want, and I’ll just stay in the living room.”

“Hmm, okay, thank you, Yishu!”

Honestly, I didn’t have the energy to send Shen Yishu away, so I quietly returned to my bedroom and lay down on the bed.

That night, as soon as I closed my eyes, various nightmares tangled together.

I dreamed about the times Gu Yuanzhou chased after me.

And then I saw the scene of that fire again.

Over and over, it felt like I was awake, but at the same time, not quite.

Engulfed by nightmares all night, when I opened my eyes the next day, I saw Wenya sitting by my hospital bed.

“How did you get here?”

Trying to get up, I realized that I was lying in bed, completely weak and lacking the energy to even sit up.

Wenya hurriedly reached out to touch my forehead,

“Oh my, you have a fever, why is your forehead so hot?”

“It’s nothing, I probably caught a cold from staying up late these days!”

“No, you have to go to the hospital, if you keep burning up like this, you’ll turn into an idiot.”

“Wenya, I really am fine!”

“Enough, you need to listen to me now!”

At this moment, Shen Yishu, who was standing guard outside the door, heard that I had a fever and also rushed in hurriedly.

He immediately draped his coat over me and lifted me up,

“Come on, to the hospital!”

Oddly enough, I somehow fell ill with a mysterious sickness, suffering from persistent high fever that left me dizzy and befuddled.

Every day I was in a haze, and whenever I closed my eyes, I could always see Gu Yuanzhou’s bloodshot eyes, as he looked at me with a sneer, “Ayun, do you really want me to die?”

When I woke up, I would see Wenya and Shen Yishu staying by the bedside, holding my hand, constantly encouraging me to keep up the fight.

Keep up the fight?

For what?

It was just a common cold.

This illness came on suddenly and aggressively, like a collapsing mountain.

It was Wenya and Shen Yishu who took turns caring for me by the bed, calling my name over and over again.

They snatched me back from the grip of death.

It took a full half month before I gradually began to get better.

Only when I had recovered, did I learn that I had acute leukemia. Fortunately, although the disease was extremely dangerous, I still managed to escape death and returned to life.

When I left the hospital, I met Zhou Chenming again.

“Miss Song! I’m very happy to see you!”

Zhou Chenming no longer seemed to have his previous confidence and composure.

I had heard from Wenya that Zhou Chenming lost Gu Yuanzhou’s lawsuit, and his competence had come into question within the industry; it seemed like he might not even keep his job.

I was reminded of a saying, “When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.”

“What brings Lawyer Zhou to see me now?”

I was in the ward, organizing my clothes and preparing to be discharged from the hospital.

Zhou Chenming sighed, “Mr. Gu… he will be executed next Monday. He wishes to see you before he dies!”

“So soon?”

I said indifferently.

Zhou Chenming continued to sigh, “Isn’t this what Miss Song wants to see?”

I looked up and saw the helpless bitter smile at the corner of Zhou Chenming’s mouth.

“Zhou Chenming, saying these things now is meaningless. His death is what he deserves for his crimes!”

“Miss Song, we are not saints. I don’t stand on the moral high ground to criticize anyone. But… as an old friend, I still suggest that you see him for one last time.”

“Sorry, I am very busy! Even if I had the time, I would not give it to someone meaningless.”

I grabbed my suitcase, ready to leave.

Zhou Chenming said from behind me, “It’s kind of strange, Mr. Gu claims you’re his ex-wife. He says you’re Ayun, his wife… After so many years of marriage, don’t you want to see him?”

I scoffed, “He’s talking nonsense! I am Song Xiaoyun, the wife of Ding Yinuo. I have nothing to do with him, Gu Yuanzhou.”

“Ah, people facing death often speak well. If you go, maybe you would hear something different!”

Zhou Chenming seemed very keen for me to take one last look at Gu Yuanzhou, persistently following me around, even as I completed my discharge formalities, he kept on talking.

I completely ignored him.

Until we reached the hospital gates, I turned to look at him,

“Lawyer Zhou, do you know what it means to avoid suspicion? I am Ding Yinuo’s wife. Earlier on, Gu Yuanzhou wanted to harm me by deliberately creating a scandal between him and me. Now if I went to see him, wouldn’t that just verify the scandal, causing unbearable harm to the Ding Family’s reputation?”

“Again, to this day, everything he suffers from is his own doing! No one else is to blame in the slightest!”

“But Miss Song, Mr. Gu, he loved you so much…”

“Stop! Don’t say that, he never loved me, he just despised the Song Family. He has always been scheming against the Song Family’s people, and that includes my visit to the prison today—it’s another one of his plots. He wants to make me the sinner of the Song Family, to make me the woman who would stand condemned and reviled. I can see right through his conspiracies.”

Perhaps the many days I spent in the hospital not only healed my body, but my mind as well, making it clearer than ever.

Zhou Chenming, realizing this, just shook his head, continuing to say,

“You’ve misunderstood, Mr. Gu has always loved you deeply.”