After Divorce, Hidden Marriage Husband Became Addicted to Me
Chapter 233 - 176: Farewell Forever

Chapter 233: Chapter 176: Farewell Forever

"We interrupt your evening programming with a news bulletin: a cruise ship bound for Lugang City from this morning at ten has met with an accident, leading to the ferry’s sinking. Rescue teams and staff are currently carrying out salvage and rescue operations. Our station will continue to report on this major incident, so please stay tuned."

In the living room, someone had kicked over the coffee table with great force. The glass cups, kettle, landline phone, and other items on top were scattered and overturned on the floor, creating a complete mess. The air was filled with a deathly silence under furious rage.

Nie Xiaoyun was kneeling on the ground, her face pale as she watched the television.

Her mouth opened slightly, and she trembled all over in horror, "Tang... Tang Xi was on that ferry..."

When Tang Xi left this morning, she had clearly heard those two people say that if they had been any later, they would have missed this ferry.

Fu Tingzhou abruptly stood up, clenching his fists, his throat tense.

"What did you say?"

He grabbed Nie Xiaoyun by the collar, "Say it again."

Nie Xiaoyun was trembling, not just out of fear of the man in front of her, but also due to her concern for Tang Xi’s safety; she cried out, "Miss Tang Xi was on that ferry, I heard it clearly this morning."

In an instant, Fu Tingzhou seemed to lose all his strength, stumbling backwards two steps and sitting down on the sofa.

He had thought that Tang Xi had taken the opportunity to leave and that Nie Xiaoyun was helping her hide that fact, but Fu Tingzhou could never have imagined...

That this would be their final farewell.

The news report on the television continued.

But at this moment, Fu Tingzhou had lost his soul.

Sitting on the sofa, he was like a stiff puppet, his eyes normally cold and stern. Now they carried a hollowness, a void, as he lost his spirit, rigidly maintaining one pose for over ten minutes before Fu Tingzhou stood up.

The car raced along the road.

It arrived at the port.

Here, the area was already cordoned off by police tape.

Countless rescuers, search teams, and police officers were present.

Besides them, there were many others...

Relatives of those on the sunken ship.

At this moment, cries, shouts, pleas, and heart-wrenching screams could be heard.

Fu Tingzhou’s head hurt unbearably, and his vision began to blur.

He crossed through the police tape and went inside, only to be stopped by two police officers. He broke free regardless, rushing forward until the night waves lapped over his legs.

The sea in the deep night of April was bone-chillingly cold.

As if numb to the sensation, he kept walking forward against the resistance of the water and the strong winds, while someone behind him tugged at him trying to pull him back.

Fu Tingzhou’s calm facade cracked as he bellowed like a madman, "Let go of me!! Let go of me!!"

The man struggled powerfully, the two police officers unable to restrain him.

Fu Tingzhou had lost control completely.

But to the police, this was the norm, because... all of the family members of the sunken ship were just like him, driven mad by the shock of losing their loved ones, a multitude collapsing emotionally.

With the ship sunk, how many could be saved?

How many could be recovered intact?

It was next to impossible, like searching for a needle in the deep sea.

Seeing Fu Tingzhou’s blood-shot eyes and his frenzied breakdown, one police officer exchanged a look with his partner, and then they dealt a heavy blow to Fu Tingzhou’s neck. The man’s vision swam, and he closed his eyes, slowly collapsing.

The moment Fu Tingzhou fell.

The surrounding siren wails blared, as the sorrowful cries and howls of the relatives grew louder and louder.

His pupils slowly became vacant.

His last thread of consciousness dissipated in the dizziness.

-

Fu Tingzhou opened his eyes again the following morning.

And Fu Tingzhou, he was forced to accept this reality.

He lay in bed, closing his eyes once more, his mind clear yet unwilling to face the situation before him.

He would rather lie here rigidly.

Guan Yue walked in, "President Fu..."

Fu Tingzhou did not respond.

Guan Yue said, "I have deployed more people to search for Miss Tang’s whereabouts. As soon as there is news, we will immediately..."

Suddenly, Fu Tingzhou bolted upright, a wave of dizziness hitting him, but it was as if he had grasped a straw, "Do you think Nie Xiaoyun has tricked me!"

A light of a flaming torch gradually surfaced in the depths of the man’s dark and still eyes.

The light got brighter, igniting his eyes.

Guan Yue was stunned for a moment, "I’ll bring Nie Xiaoyun over right now."

Nie Xiaoyun cried all night out of guilt. She meant to help Tang Xi, to allow her freedom and happiness. But she had not anticipated that this assistance would lead her...

If there were a pill for regret, Nie Xiaoyun would surely choose to go back to the morning before yesterday. She would grab Tang Xi’s hand and convince her to stay.

"I heard with my own ears... I... I also hope in my heart that Tang Xi didn’t get on that ship."

Fu Tingzhou said in a deep voice, "Which means, you did not actually see her get on the ship. You only heard that she was planning to go."

Nie Xiaoyun was stunned for a moment, then nodded her head.

Indeed...

Fu Tingzhou suddenly smiled, a glimmer of hope flashing in his bloodshot eyes, "Maybe she was deceiving you, just so you would deliberately say that, to throw us off the scent, to buy time for her escape."

He muttered like a man possessed, as if he had finally found a reason to believe that Tang Xi was still alive.

"Right, it must be so. She definitely pretended to take a boat to leave. Maybe, maybe she took a bus, fearing that high-speed trains and airplanes could be traced by us, so she took a bus!!"

Fu Tingzhou got out of bed and immediately shouted his orders for Guan Yue to check all the bus routes and surveillance that had gone to and from North City in the past two days.

It was a huge task, but hope was ignited in Guan Yue’s heart as well.

As long as Miss Tang was fine, everything would be okay.

Fu Tingzhou’s cold eyes turned to Nie Xiaoyun, "You won’t escape punishment. Don’t think that just because you are Lu Qinghe’s girlfriend, I will let you off easily!"

His eyes were blood red.

Nie Xiaoyun shuddered, "You never really knew what Tang Xi wanted... Keeping her here, do you intend to keep her locked up forever?"

Guan Yue had not yet left. Standing at the door, her face showing complex emotions, she hesitated before pushing up the glasses on her nose and couldn’t help but speak up, "Nie Xiaoyun, actually, President Fu was already preparing to propose to Miss Tang Xi... If Miss Tang Xi hadn’t gone, things might now be..."

Different.

Nie Xiaoyun’s eyes widened in shock.

Would Fu Tingzhou propose to Tang Xi?

She didn’t even dare to imagine it.

Fu Tingzhou was a person who always kept others guessing, and Nie Xiaoyun had grown up in the Fu Family home. Lu Qinghe was Fu Tingzhou’s right-hand man, and they had grown up together. From a young age, she had followed Fu Tingzhou’s orders, but she had never truly understood this man.

He told her to take care of and protect a woman named Tang Xi.

Nie Xiaoyun obeyed the command.

She saw the tenderness for Tang Xi in Fu Tingzhou’s eyes a few times, but she also saw his suspicion and indifference.

She saw the desire for power in his eyes, his jealousy, jealousy that Tang Xi harbored feelings for Xu Yiran.

Jealousy implies affection.

But he would not easily confess his affection.

His affection was murky and indefinite, and it was precisely because of this ambiguity that Tang Xi chose to let go and leave.