The aunt recalled the times when she went out on her own and said, puzzled, “How strange. When I went out, I didn’t feel anyone following me or watching me. Is the other party targeting you?”

Lin Xiaowan did not have the answer to this question as well. She really wanted to move, but she did not know where to go. Even if she returned to her hometown, she did not have a place to stay. She would have to find a house to rent first. She had checked various rental apps for places to rent in her hometown in the north. Rentals were cheaper in a small city, and they were even cheaper places further away from the heart of the city. In the end, she found a place in an old neighborhood. It was a 90-square-meter three-bedroom apartment that only cost 600 yuan.

However, every night, she would make up her mind to leave, but when she woke up the next day, she would hesitate again.

After sending her the address, Huo Zheng did not come home nor did he contact again.

…

At this moment, Huo Zheng sat expressionlessly in Huo Cheng’s office. He emitted a dark aura as he read a document.

An intern entered the office tremblingly and reported some matters to Huo Cheng. As soon as she was done and Huo Cheng nodded, she hurried out of the office as though she had seen a ghost.

Upon seeing this, Huo Cheng said with a helpless expression on his face, “Why are you here when you have nothing to do here? You’re going to scare everyone to death with that face of yours.”

Huo Zheng did not reply nor did he look at Huo Cheng.

Huo Cheng continued to say, “If you really miss your wife, you can sneak back to see her. If you’re worried about her, then send her somewhere far away. Isn’t her hometown in the northern city? You’ve broken up, and she’s also said that she wanted to leave. You should let her leave. During this time, the further away she is from you, the safer she’ll be.”

Huo Zheng’s expression was unsightly as he said, “We didn’t break up. The northern city is too far away. I’m worried something will happen there.”

Huo Cheng thought about it for a moment. Song Zhiyi had already met Lin Xiaowan. If they moved Lin Xiaowan too far away, it would be bad if Song Zhiyi or the people behind her decided to make a move against Lin Xiaowan. Indeed, it would be easier to keep an eye on Lin Xiaowan if she was close to them.

Finally, Huo Cheng said, “I told you to send her to the Qiao family. My wife is there anyway. I don’t know why you’re unwilling to do so.”

“I don’t want her to get too involved with us,” Huo Zheng said. As he spoke, he grew frustrated again. He and Lin Xiaowan were clearly in the same city, but it had been a long time since he had seen her. Every day, he had to wrack his brain for the Huo family; he was also worried about Lin Xiaowan. Fortunately, she had always been very sensible.

Nonetheless, Huo Zheng was still angry and helpless about the breakup. In his opinion, as long as he made her stay, he would not have anything to worry about after the dust settled. At that time, he would have a good talk with her and tell her everything she wanted to know. He would not hide anything from her at that time.

The more Huo Zheng thought about it, the more he found that he could not concentrate on the document in his hands. In the end, he simply threw the document on the ground and closed his eyes to rest.

On the other hand, Huo Cheng was not doing too well either. His position was too crucial, and many people were eyeing him from all directions now. He had to constantly guard against open and secret attacks. The mastermind behind Song Zhiyi had yet to show up, and he was completely tied up by the information in Song Zhiyi’s hands. Just like how Huo Zheng had not seen Lin Xiaowan for a long time, he also had not seen Qiao You’an and his two sons for a long time now.

Hu Dabao and Hu Erbao had been pulled out of school recently due to safety concerns. Moreover, they could not trust tutors to homeschool the two children so in the end, the task of homeschooling the children was given to family members.

Huo Cheng thought of something at this moment and said, “Hey, don’t blame me for being nosy, but don’t you still have a helper at home with Xiaowan? In my opinion, you should fire her. She’s an outsider after all. If she were to be blinded by her greed, who knows what will happen.”

“I understand,” Huo Zheng said with his eyes still closed.

The more Huo Cheng thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt. He did not even know when he lost such a thick stack of documents and account books; he had not brought them out after putting them away after all. It was highly likely that Song Zhiyi had acted many years ago when she visited the Huo family.

Huo Cheng could not help but curse, “That dogshit ex-girlfriend of yours is really a f*cking disaster!”

Huo Zheng did not say anything, but his expression was dark.

…

When Lin Xiaowan learned that the aunt was leaving, she was shocked. She asked, perplexed, “Why?”

The aunt naturally did not know the reason either. She only received a call from the agency in the morning, informing her that her work was over and to move out as soon as possible. The agency even asked her if she needed them to look for a new job for her. Since her contract had yet to expire, Huo Zheng compensated her with a large amount of money for the early termination of the contract. As such, she could not even say anything.

At this moment, Lin Xiaowan’s eyes suddenly widened, and she asked, “Did Huo Zheng do this?”

The aunt did not answer the question and left soon after.

Lin Xiaowan was now the only one left in the huge house after the aunt’s departure. Even the cook no longer came. Her three meals were now delivered by servants from the Huo family.

She really could not figure out what Huo Zheng was up to.

Without the aunt, Lin Xiaowan was even more afraid to leave the house. She was truly afraid of being watched. Even when she went out to throw the trash, her heart would pound in her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe.

Apart from that, Lin Xiaowan also had difficulty falling asleep. She often woke up in the middle of the night with palpitations, wondering if someone was hiding in the dark house. She would turn on the lights in her room and clutched her phone tightly, frightened out of her wits. She was overwhelmed by the urge to call Huo Zheng several times but managed to resist in the end.

On such nights, she would sit until the sky turned bright before she allowed herself to fall asleep curled up on the couch.

…

It was not until Lin Xiaowan’s birthday that Huo Zheng returned.

The weather was very cold now. Apart from throwing out the trash once a week, Lin Xiaowan did not go out at all.

At this time, Lin Xiaowan was hugging her knees and watching a drama on the television. She did not like watching dramas in the past due to their convoluted plots or bad storyline. However, now, they became her way to kill time.

When the doorbell suddenly rang, Lin Xiaowan trembled and quickly muted the drama. Her heart rate quickly shot up to 180 bpm. She slowly walked to the door and looked through the peephole. When she saw that it was Huo Zheng, the tension eased immediately, and she felt dizzy from the relief.

She held the doorknob and took a few deep breaths to calm down before she opened the door like nothing was wrong.

When Huo Zheng saw her pale face, his heart tightened. He thought she was sick so he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Xiaowan shook her head and stepped aside to let him in.

“You don’t look well,” Huo Zheng said. When he tried to hold Lin Xiaowan’s hand, she quickly avoided him.

“Maybe I slept for too long,” Lin Xiaowan said.

Lin Xiaowan missed Huo Zheng terribly. She thought about him every day. When she closed her eyes, she thought about their past, and sometimes, she would think about his past with Song Zhiyi.

However, now that Lin Xiaowan saw Huo Zheng, she did not know what to say.

The two of them walked into the living room.

Huo Zheng placed the colorful bags with brand names on the ground in a row before he took a seat.

Silence continued to permeate the house, but Lin Xiaowan felt at ease. It had been two months, and she had been living in fear. She would turn on the lights at night and check the house carefully. She would only turn off the lights when dawn came.

With Huo Zheng’s presence, even if he was only sitting silently, Lin Xiaowan felt extremely relaxed. She wished she could just lie down and sleep at this moment. However, despite her wish, she asked, “Are you done with your work?”

Huo Zheng shook his head. “No.”

Then, after a brief pause, he added, “It’ll be done soon.”