The Tycoon's Mysterious Darling Wife
Chapter 367 - 370. The Death of Zhao Jiaqing (second update)

Chapter 367: 370. The Death of Zhao Jiaqing (second update)

Doug was silent, and Ya Xi immediately understood, "Is there really no hope?"

"Ya Xi, I don’t want to lie to you. Your mother’s condition is very bad. The fact that she can maintain like this is already the best outcome," Doug said.

Ya Xi looked desperate, tightly holding Zhao Jiaqing’s hand, "Mom, please wake up and look at me, even just for a moment. Mom, it’s Xiao Xi, your dearest Xiao Xi."

Doug looked at Ya Xi crying like a child, and regretted a bit inside, wondering if he should have told her the harsh truth, "Ya Xi."

Ya Xi ignored Doug.

**

At the Yan Family house, Yan Anbang had already been called back by the military leaders for unknown reasons. Qin Yan was alone on the balcony, trimming the plants and humming a tune, obviously in a great mood.

When her phone rang as she was watering the potted plants, she put down the watering can, glanced at the number, hesitated, and then answered, "Hello."

Whatever the person on the line said, Qin Yan’s lips curled into a cold smile, "I know. Tell him, I’ll be back immediately."

After hanging up the phone, Qin Yan looked at the vast Yan Family house, which used to be lively but was now just an empty house. Satisfaction filled her eyes.

Yan Anbang was now disgraced and his family torn apart, but that was not enough for Qin Yan. She thought for a moment and dialed a series of numbers, "Tell that person to start the second plan. I want results in three days. If he can’t complete it, don’t expect the final payment. If he does, I can give him more money, enough for him to live comfortably for a lifetime."

"Alright, madam."

"Also, book a ticket to Country Y for me, the sooner, the better. I won’t be coming back here for a while. You know what to do next."

"Understood. Please rest assured, madam, I will handle everything here."

Qin Yan hung up the phone, and a moment later, she received a text message with the flight information to Country Y for that night at ten. She smiled, tossed her phone aside, and picked up the watering can to start smashing things.

Before long, from the bedroom to the entrance, everything was in chaos. Upon closer inspection, one could see it looked like traces left after a struggle.

After making the scene look appropriate, Qin Yan brewed herself a cup of coffee in the kitchen, then sat in the living room watching TV, waiting for nightfall.

Winter nights always came especially early. As dusk fell, Qin Yan went upstairs to change her clothes, took a hat from the closet to cover her hair, wore sunglasses to hide most of her face, and put on a mask. Fully equipped, she then went to the garage and drove a car. She headed toward the outskirts, stopping in an unmonitored area, threw off her disguise, and made a call. Not long after, a car drove towards her and stopped in front of her. She got in, "To the airport."

**

Yan Anbang left the military, turned around, and deeply gazed at the place where he had spent most of his life. The emotion in his eyes was complex. The leadership in the military had already spoken to him, hoping he would voluntarily submit his retirement application. His position had long been revoked, and now, he was no worse off than an ordinary soldier, who was still young, while he was merely an old man.

Yan Anbang had once imagined retiring from the military when he reached a certain age and then spending his old age at home. He had never thought he would leave the military in such a manner, losing the Yan Family’s honor. Even if he were to die, he could not face his ancestors.

Yan Anbang took one last look at the place, then turned and left.

When he arrived home and opened the door, the sight of the house in complete disarray immediately struck him as wrong—it was too chaotic.

"Yanyan," Yan Anbang called out, but there was no response. His expression turned unpleasant. He went upstairs. The bedroom was also a mess, flower pots on the balcony were smashed, and shards and soil littered the floor everywhere.

He called Qin Yan, but her phone was off. The valuable items in the house were still there, even Qin Yan’s passport and ID, but she herself was missing.

Yan Anbang’s expression became anxious. He ran to the residential complex’s security guard to ask about Qin Yan’s whereabouts, but no one had seen her. He immediately realized something must have happened to her and rushed to the police station to report it.

"When did the person go missing?" asked the policeman.

Yan Anbang shook his head, "I just came back from the military, and when I returned, she was gone, and the house was in chaos, as if it had been robbed."

"Are any valuables missing?"

Yan Anbang continued to shake his head, "No, all the valuable things in the house are still here, except for my wife."

The policeman looked at Yan Anbang with a strange expression, "Does your wife usually like to go somewhere? Maybe she felt upset and went out to clear her mind?"

Yan Anbang’s face sank slightly, "No, she knows I would worry. Even if she went out, she would have called me. Officer, I’m sure something happened to my wife. Please help me find her."

"Mr. Yan, it hasn’t been forty-eight hours since the person disappeared. We can’t even open an investigation right now. Perhaps you’re just overthinking it. Maybe when you get home, your wife will already be there waiting for you." The policeman’s attitude was very dismissive.

Yan Anbang’s face turned ugly. In the past, no petty policeman would dare treat him this way. He left the police station and called his old friends, but either they didn’t answer, or they answered and hesitated to speak, clearly unwilling to help.

Yan Anbang was so furious he smashed his mobile phone. Truly, a tiger that had fallen to the plains was being bullied by dogs.

Back at home, Yan Anbang continued to try calling Qin Yan using the landline at home, but the phone was still off. He didn’t even know if Qin Yan had any friends in Nancheng. At this moment, Yan Anbang realized he knew nothing about Qin Yan’s current life. It seemed she had no friends; normally, when she came home, she would stay in and never mentioned going out with friends or dining out.

With no one to help and unsure where to search, Yan Anbang had no choice but to wait at home. What if, just as the police had said, Qin Yan had gone out because she was feeling downhearted? If something had indeed happened to Qin Yan, whether she was kidnapped or targeted for revenge, the perpetrator would surely have contacted him.

Yan Anbang waited for a full day. The home phone was eerily silent, not even a marketing call came through. Unable to sit still any longer, he went to the police station again, but the police maintained the same stance; the kidnapping of Qin Yan was merely Yan Anbang’s conjecture, not evidence. Since the person had been missing for less than forty-eight hours, they could not file a case.

Yan Anbang wanted to create a scene at the police station; the officers’ indifferent attitudes made him very uncomfortable, but he was no longer Chief of Staff Yan. Now, he was just Yan Anbang.

Yan Anbang was certain that if he dared to cause a scene, these people would dare to put him behind bars. Upon leaving the police station, he stared at the bustling street, shivering. A coldness crept from his collar, burrowing into his heart, and settling deep within his bones.

**

In the hospital, Doug had barely convinced Ya Xi to return to the hotel to rest, leaving Yan Shengyu to take care of things at the hospital.

Doug tucked Ya Xi into bed and whispered, "Don’t think about anything, just get some good sleep for now. I’ll accompany you to see your mom at the hospital tomorrow."

Ya Xi looked exhausted. Having endured so many days in the hospital, it was a miracle her mental state was still intact.

Ya Xi couldn’t sleep. She clutched the corner of Doug’s shirt, "Can you stay and talk with me?"

Doug, initially planning to leave, halted his steps and sat beside the bed, "What would you like to talk about?"

Ya Xi shook her head, "I don’t know, anything. Just talk about whatever you want to say or maybe some stories from your past."

Considering her words for a moment, Doug began softly, "This was a patient I met soon after I became a psychologist. She was a fifteen-year-old girl who had lived with her mother all her life. They had a very close relationship, more like best friends. Her mother, for her sake, turned down many suitable men. She stayed by her side until the girl grew up, thinking that after she graduated, she could take care of her mother and live together forever. However, she never expected that one day, when she returned home from school, she would find her mother asleep in bed, never to wake up again."

Listening intently, Ya Xi then asked, "Did her mother pass away?"

"Yes, due to the hardships of life, her mother overexerted herself working multiple jobs to provide a better life for her, until one day, she simply didn’t wake up," Doug continued.

"And then what happened?"

"The girl couldn’t accept the fact that her mother was gone. She neither called the police nor the hospital but continued like her mother was still alive, going to school and coming back, and at night, sleeping next to her mother’s body. It wasn’t until her mother’s coworkers from the places she worked noticed she hadn’t been there for several days and came looking that they realized something was wrong."

"By that time, her mother had been dead for over a week. Due to the hot weather, her body had begun to decompose, which shocked her coworkers who immediately called the police. Only then did the neighbors learn that the pillar of their household had fallen."

"With the help of others, her mother’s body was cremated and the child was taken in by her uncle’s family. However, it didn’t take long for her uncle to notice her deteriorating mental state. She would often sit alone, lost in thought, and developed tendencies toward self-harm, cutting her arms repeatedly with a knife."

"So her uncle brought her to see you?"

Doug nodded, "Yes, I conducted several assessments and found she suffered from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. If her uncle had delayed any longer, she might have ended her own life. I treated her for about three years, and her condition gradually improved until she was able to lead a normal life again. Now, she’s married and a mother, with her own new life. I’ve seen photos of her child, quite adorable, and she’s smiling warmly at the camera while holding her child."

Ya Xi was silent for a long while before speaking softly, "Doug, by telling me this story, are you trying to say I should be strong in case... my mother...?"

"Ya Xi, you’re a smart girl. There are some things that, even if I don’t say them, you understand. The best outcome for your mother now is to remain like this, lying in bed for a lifetime, without consciousness or the freedom to move on her own."

"Doug, you’re really cruel. Why do you have to tell me these things? Can’t you just tell me my mother will wake up, stay by my side like before, and be there until she grows old?" Tears welled up in Ya Xi’s eyes.

Doug gently stroked her hair, "I could say that, but Ya Xi, it wouldn’t benefit you at all. You need to learn how to be strong."

Slowing closing her eyes, Ya Xi murmured, "Doug, stop. I want to sleep."

"Alright, you rest. I will stay until you fall asleep," Doug replied gently.

Ya Xi closed her eyes, and Doug quietly watched her until she fell asleep before he left.

The next day, as soon as Ya Xi and Doug reached the doorway, they sensed something was amiss—neither Zhao Jiaqing nor Yan Shengyu were in the hospital room.

Ya Xi’s expression changed dramatically, and Doug quickly grabbed a nurse, asking, "Where are the people who were in the room?"

"They’ve been taken for emergency treatment," the nurse replied briefly.

Ya Xi’s hands trembled, dropping the thermos she was holding, and she rushed to the emergency room, where she indeed saw Yan Shengyu standing outside.

Yan Shengyu leaned against the wall, his expression blank. Ya Xi approached him, her voice trembling, "Brother."

He glanced at her but said nothing. When the door of the emergency room opened and the doctor walked out, Yan Shengyu immediately approached the doctor.

"I’m sorry, we did our best."

The light in Yan Shengyu’s eyes extinguished instantly. Ya Xi stared at the doctor in disbelief, fixating on him, "What do you mean you did your best?"

"I’m very sorry, please accept our condolences," the doctor responded. Such life and death situations were routine for them; from an initial reluctance to a now commonplace acceptance, the doctor had developed a heart of steel.

Yet, such a farewell was an unwashable pain for the family of the deceased—hardly something that could be soothed by mere words of condolence.

Ya Xi’s legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor. Doug swiftly caught her, "Ya Xi, are you alright?"

Her lips trembled lightly as she tried to speak but found she could make no sound. The buzzing in her ears overwhelmed her; all she could see were moving lips with no sound coming through.

Her consciousness drifted further away, the world grew dark, and she finally fainted completely.

"Ya Xi!"

"Ya Xi!"