Nie Yixiao, seeing that Huo Zhenyang let go and didn’t care, felt a surge of anger and blood rushing to his head, and in one move, grabbed Huo Zhenyang by the collar: "Why are you treating her like this? Do you know what kind of suffering she has endured for you — If something happens to her, you will regret it! Regret it for a lifetime!"

As the last word fell, a fist also simultaneously smashed into Huo Zhenyang’s face!

The servants all cried out in alarm, watching as the young master staggered back several steps, rushing over: "Young Master, are you alright—"

Some servants ran out to call the bodyguards.

Unexpectedly, there was not a hint of anger on Huo Zhenyang’s face, nor did he strike back. Instead, he wiped the blood oozing from the corner of his lips and just stared straight at Nie Yixiao, as if pondering his words.

"Young Master— Let me help you upstairs to apply medicine, and call the family doctor." A servant supported Huo Zhenyang.

But Huo Zhenyang’s brow was heavy, and he suddenly pushed the servant away, propping himself up, and addressed Nie Yixiao:

"What did you just say? Make it clear to me."

Just then, George and several bodyguards were called in by the servants and stood blocking the entrance.

Nie Yixiao, with his path blocked, paused his steps, turned his head back, but said nothing.

Huo Zhenyang grew impatient, took two steps forward, his deep eyes flickering with a cold light like arrows, shooting towards Nie Yixiao: "Make it clear!"

Nie Yixiao’s lips curled into a cold smile: "You sent a message to Jiayi before you left Yunling, wanting to see her, but she replied to you with a message saying she wanted to be with me, asking you not to bother her anymore, and to have a good trip, right?"

Huo Zhenyang’s eyes darkened, his expression turned furious: "How do you know? You looked through her phone?"

Nie Yixiao calmly said: "Not only did I look, but I also replied to the text for her. From beginning to end, she didn’t know you wanted to see her."

Fury flashed in his eyes, and he punched Nie Yixiao in the face, sending Nie Yixiao stumbling back two steps.

So Jiayi never received that message!

That cold response that had bothered him for so long was not actually sent by her!

In his furious rage, there was also a hint of indescribable, faint joy.

One punch was not enough to sate his fury, he took two steps forward, about to grab Nie Yixiao’s collar to continue the beating, but Nie Yixiao had already wiped off the blood from his lip, his tone even colder: "But do you know why her phone wasn’t with her?"

His fist stopped mid-air, something flickered through his eyes, sensing the hatred in Nie Yixiao’s tone.

"Because she was hospitalized during that time, having just had a miscarriage."

Nie Yixiao watched unmercifully as the man’s face started to change bit by bit.

Miscarriage?

Miscarriage...

She was pregnant at that time?

Wasn’t it said to be unsuccessful...

His gaze condensed for a moment before dispersing again, his heart contracting sharply.

"At that time, she was already more than one month pregnant. She stayed so long in the detention center, you never visited her once, she was in a bad mood, which affected the fetus, the pregnancy wasn’t stable, and the real cause of her miscarriage, it happened on the day you came to my apartment looking for her."

Huo Zhenyang’s mind flickered with something, his eyes growing dark.

He remembered.

He forced her to go back, and in the tug and struggle, she fell.

At that time, he didn’t think she would be harmed.

Because he was angry at how she was taken away by Nie Yixiao immediately upon release from the detention center and even lived under the same roof, he was so furious that he turned and left, and after many days, he didn’t look for her again.

Was it that incident that caused her miscarriage?

No wonder she was so angry with him, crying a mess while drunk, saying he couldn’t compensate her...

So, it was him who caused her to lose their child?

He dared not imagine how she was alone in the hospital undergoing surgery, sitting through her confinement.

And him, still here wanting to discipline and punish her for her coldness.

The fist he clenched loosened, his deep and cool pupils somewhat shattered and lost.

*

The phone was out of battery, and I couldn’t tell the time.

It must be the wee hours of the night.

Jiayi felt that time was getting harder to endure, feeling both cold and sleepy, but she dared not sleep, fearing she might miss someone looking for her while asleep.

She could only lean against a rock, silently counting numbers to distract herself.

There were the sounds of the night breeze and faint insect chirps near her ears.

The natural scenery, which seemed normal or even poetic during the day, became terrifying at night due to irrational fears.

"Squeak—" A sharp shriek pierced the silent environment, and a black shadow darted in front of her, causing the vines and leaves in the pit to rustle.

Jiayi exclaimed in shock and broke out in a cold sweat, instinctively recognizing it as a rat and scrambling away in fright.

This kind of environment, almost like the wilderness, wouldn’t lack snakes, insects, rats, or ants at night.

Anyone accustomed to city life would not tolerate such an environment.

She was no exception.

The rat was hiding somewhere, making squeaking noises from its hiding spot, as if ready to jump out and frighten someone at any moment.

She originally thought she could hold on until someone came, but now she felt close to breaking down.

Would someone really come when it’s daylight?

How much longer did she have to wait?

Finally, she raised her head once more and shouted towards the top of the pit: "Is there anyone—"

Her throat was hoarse from shouting, and there was no response.

Giving up once again, as she bent over, she felt the salty wet tears finally roll down from the corner of her eyes.

It was a familiar feeling, like being left abandoned in the detention center months ago.

She squatted down, burying her face in her knees and sobbing silently.

**

On the island, a night scene was being filmed.

In front of the camera, two actors were reciting lines when they suddenly stared at something and stopped.

The director was stunned: "Why did you stop without me calling cut?"

One actor was staring blankly behind the director: "Director, it looks like Huo Zhenyang is coming."

Why would the film’s major financier fancily visit the set in the middle of the night?

The director stood up in surprise and hurried over to greet him.

Meanwhile, the sound of hurried footsteps and voices drew closer and closer.

"Boss, the young madam doesn’t seem to be here either." George quickly looked around.

Jiayi’s car was still at the dock, indicating that she hadn’t left the filming island.

Upon arriving on the island, they had searched the makeup area of the crew but found no one.

Now she’s not at the filming site, so where could she have gone?

Could a living person just vanish into thin air?

Next to George, the man’s face was as dark as the island’s night sky, thick and dense like ink. Before the director could say "Why is Huo Zhenyang here...",

George interrupted with a serious tone, "Did Ms. Chu come to the set earlier to deliver costumes?"

Hearing this, the props and costume director hurriedly replied, "No, we waited for a long time and didn’t see anyone. We thought she must have already left the outfit in the costume room and gone home."

So, the crew thought she had left the island.

But in reality, she hadn’t gone home at all, with her car still on the other side.

Then, nine times out of ten, she’s still on the island.

Huo Zhenyang was decisive: "All crew members, stop working."