My Scheming Little Devil

She hated this woman.

...

Ye Lu fainted from exhaustion and overwhelming grief, left in the village clinic with an IV drip.

At night, it was not appropriate to have a child keep watch, and considering Ye Lu was a woman, the village chief asked a young and sturdy woman to stay up with her.

This woman managed to stay awake for the first half of the night but slipped away to sleep in the next room as the night progressed.

About half an hour passed, and a figure silently leaped in through the window, making his way to the bedside under the moonlight.

His eyes, deep and vast as the ocean, were filled with intense concern and helplessness. His pale fingers gently brushed her cool and gaunt cheeks. In just a short span of ten days, she had lost a lot of weight, looking so wan and distressed.

It tormented him so much that he could hardly eat or sleep.

"You foolish woman, didn’t I tell you to recover properly and not to do anything dangerous? Why won’t you listen, risking your life by coming to such a hazardous place? Are you out of your mind? You really make me worry to death."

His voice was low, tinged with barely concealed anger, yet even more so with deep tenderness and persistence for her, unable to help himself.

He gazed down at her with lowered eyes, noting how her hands still clutched the tattered bloodied cloth tightly, so determined not to let go even in unconsciousness, causing his heart to lurch in pain, realizing how much anguish that cloth must have caused her, a pain so intense she wished for death.

And all of this was orchestrated by him.

"You fool."

He gently lifted her sleeping form into his arms, capturing her in an embrace, and lovingly kissed her forehead, her lips, filled with lingering attachment and reluctance.

To think of the tremendous effort he had put in these past few days, controlling himself from looking at her too much, from caring for her more than necessary, trying his best to be a stranger to her, so she wouldn’t suspect a thing.

He had succeeded.

He even managed to make her see that bloodied cloth, letting her believe he was dead, eaten by crocodiles.

He hoped that upon discovering this ’truth,’ she would quickly leave this perilous place.

He thought she was strong enough to endure the pain. He never expected her to be so utterly distraught and hopeless at the sight of the bloodied cloth, looking like a shell of a person, devoid of emotion, without a response, scaring him to his core.

He wanted to send her away quickly, confident that Ling Kong would surely take her back to North America soon, where many people would be there for her, and her grief would slowly subside.

He fought the urge to comfort her, to tell her the truth.

But to his dismay, she fainted as she got into the car, and in that moment, he felt himself on the verge of breaking down.

"Lu, you must leave tomorrow. Don’t stay here any longer. I’m not dead, so don’t be so upset. Pull yourself together and leave quickly." He embraced her tightly, kissing her pallid face and lips with heartache, seeing her look of despair, the pain in his heart no less than hers.

Yet, he endured, not showing any sign.

Because, in his current situation, he had to feign death to escape.

He had planned to seek evidence of the Su Family’s collusion with his godfather, risking his life to infiltrate. But instead, he stumbled upon a shocking, unbelievable secret, leaving him almost dumbfounded.

To keep this secret safe, he had to use the ruse of death, convincing his godfather that he was indeed dead.

But Ye Lu’s appearance nearly ruined his plan.

If Ye Lu recognized his identity here, it was likely they both wouldn’t escape unscathed, so he couldn’t acknowledge her, no matter what.

He was forced to employ the ploy of the bloodied cloth, making her believe he was truly dead, forcing her to leave.

Today’s update is finished.