The air in the room was so still and could hear the ticking of the clock, each second falling like a drop of water into a silent lake.
Bai Wanyi said nothing more.She stared at him—her gaze no longer sharp, but distant, as if, in some forgotten corner of her memory, she was looking at a much younger man—The Li Chengyuan who once wouldn't stop chasing after her.
Back then, he had been proud and fearless, full of fire and ambition.To marry her, he had been willing to bear the title of a man who "married in," bowing his head before the powerful and wealthy.
But time had worn that romance into something razor-edged, and buried his passion beneath layers of silence.
"Ah Yuan," she said softly.
For the first time, her voice no longer held its usual cutting force.
"Go. Zeyang… he's your son."
Li Chengyuan looked up.His eyes flickered with something unsteady, but he said nothing.He just nodded and turned to leave.
The butler quickly followed behind him:
"Chairman Li, the car is ready, the route is planned, and the ransom has been converted into paper cash and sealed in boxes as requested. Our Bai Family Trust dispatched a team to retrieve—"
Li Chengyuan raised a hand to silence him.
"I'll go alone."
Bai Wanyi watched his retreating back.For a brief moment, an almost imperceptible weariness surfaced in her eyes.
She knew that this trip…It wasn't just about saving their child.
It felt more like the beginning of an old debt—one quietly buried for over twenty years—finally being brought to light between her and Li Chengyuan.
Meanwhile, fifty kilometers outside the city, in an abandoned factory—
I curled up on the cold, hard floor, my back against the damp concrete wall.Junxi stayed close to me, whispering in a low voice, trying to keep me conscious:
"Zeyang… don't sleep. Hang in there. Dad… he will come."
But I couldn't believe it.
I didn't dare believe it.
Would Li Chengyuan… really come?
Would he… really come for me?