Qi Linhan was the first to wake up. He pressed his throbbing temples, blinking his eyes in a daze.
But in the split second he opened his eyes, his expression gradually turned to horror.
Why was his Yan lying in a crystal coffin? That clearly... wasn't how it was supposed to be!
He stumbled and ran to the crystal coffin, the immense gap in reality almost driving him insane.
He trembled, saying, "Yan... Yan, wake up! You promised me, we agreed we'd get married, that we'd be together forever..."
His eyes were nearly bloodshot as he choked back sobs, tears streaming down his cheeks.
The others heard the noise and gradually woke up too.
The first to wake up was Ye Anning. She frowned, rubbing her forehead as she struggled to open her eyes.
But the sight before her was almost unbelievable. She bit hard on her tongue, the stinging pain piercing her brain, the bloody taste in her mouth reminding her... she had had a beautiful dream, but now, the dream was over.
One by one, the others woke up too. They gathered in the hall, but not a soul spoke to another.
Only Qi Linhan knelt by Sui Yan's coffin, crying bitterly.
Shen Nian's gaze was vacant as she stepped towards Sui Yan. She gently grasped Sui Yan's hand, tears streaming down her face, "Yan, wake up, please? Wake up, don't forgive us... Live on, let me die in your place?"
They despaired at accepting reality, yet could do nothing, only kneel before Sui Yan in repentance.
But... what use was there?
Suddenly, Qi Linhan wiped his tears dry. He lowered his eyes, slowly rising to his feet and walking towards the only person in the hall who had not woken up.
As the only one who had a good relationship with Sui Yan in both reality and the dream, Qi Linhan undoubtedly had the right to handle what came next.
If Ye Anning and the others' dream was an impossible fantasy, then Lu Yunling's dream was a nightmare about to come true.
She dreamed of being locked in prison, her entire family meeting a terrible end, suffering unimaginable torment behind bars.
She bit hard on her lip, her eyes snapping open as she sat up, gulping air like a drowning person.
Before she could recover from the nightmare, someone's hand was suddenly clutching her throat.
Qi Linhan looked no different than usual, except for his reddened eyes.
He tightened his grip on Lu Yunling's neck, his long fingers gradually constricting. He calmly said in a chilling voice, "You're awake."
Lu Yunling snapped back to her senses, almost relieved to realize she had only been having a nightmare.
But the next second, she was engulfed in terror again, "Qi... Brother Qi, I..."
Qi Linhan lowered his gaze, "Don't speak. Just await death."
His voice was as level as if recounting his lunch, yet the words sent a chill down Lu Yunling's spine.
Qi Linhan dragged Lu Yunling over to Sui Yan's coffin, forcing her to kneel. "You did so much to her, yet she never even looked at you properly. You don't even deserve to be her opponent."
Lu Yunling gritted her teeth, perhaps realizing the reality of the situation, and broke into a cold laugh, "So what? She's still dead. She's dead!"
"Slap!"
Shen Nian's face was expressionless as she struck Lu Yunling hard across the face. "She's just asleep. The one who should die is you."
Before Lu Yunling could say anything more, Qi Linhan shoved her head down, making her bang it against the floor three times.
"She'll be fine eventually," he said, "but your good days are just beginning. From now on, even death will be a luxury for you."
They had all cast aside grief and despair, and were instead unnervingly calm and lucid.
Finally, Lu Yunling felt afraid. The few years of prison life in her dream were hellish enough that she never wanted to relive it.
At that moment, Qi Linhan's phone rang.
He had a sinking feeling, and tossed Lu Yunling aside to check the caller ID.
It was Bai Heng...
He fell silent for a long while before placing a call. "Bai Heng."
Bai Heng was panting on the other end, "How's Yan? We were supposed to be back yesterday to surprise her, but there was an accident that delayed us a day."
Qi Linhan forced the words out, "Yan... has passed away."
Bai Heng heard the words clearly, but that was precisely why he refused to believe them.
Bai Heng clutched the phone tightly, opening his mouth but no sound came out.
After an eternity, Qi Linhan finally heard Bai Heng's rasped voice, "Don't... Don't curse Yan like that. How could she possibly be dead?"
As he spoke, tears streamed uncontrollably from his eyes. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew it had to be true.
Qi Linhan wouldn't joke about Sui Yan's safety, let alone her life.
Moreover...
Recounting the events, Bai Heng realized with dread that Sui Yan must have planned to end her life around this time.
She had insisted on going to an amusement park, repeatedly promised she would soon be able to protect them, and casually discussed whether taking sleeping pills for suicide would be painful...
Bai Heng's vision blurred as he gritted his teeth and told the driver, "Faster."
Qi Linhan hung up helplessly, awaiting Bai Heng's arrival.
Jin Hong and the others remained silent after Qi Linhan told them what happened.
From his tone, he likely didn't believe it either, or rather, didn't want to believe it.
None of them wanted to believe it... unless they saw Sui Yan lying there with their own eyes.
As they hesitated on whether to tell Sui Yan's grandparents, Qi Linhan coldly said, "Don't tell the elders. And have your parents keep quiet too. She knew this would upset them, so she must have arranged everything."
Sui Yan had arranged everything, but they... were not part of her plan.
Bai Heng and the army doctor rushed in directly from outside. As soon as they entered the hall, they saw Sui Yan lying quietly in the crystal coffin.
She really looked like she was asleep, only her face was exceptionally pale.
Bai Heng's steps slowed down, and he walked over to Sui Yan's side in a panic, with tears welling up in his eyes again, not long after they had stopped.
He carefully touched Sui Yan: "Yan, you're joking with your brother, aren't you? Wake up, brother will take you to eat fried chicken and go to the amusement park, okay?"
When he said that, Qi Linhan and the others realized... Bai Heng was truly Sui Yan's brother.
The Bai family was also truly Sui Yan's family...
