“Yeah, he went from being an introverted and shy person to a gentle, refined, and very talkative man who easily makes a good impression. I don’t know much about psychology, but can studying it really make you that effective? We have a psychology major at the bureau, too. He just got assigned to us this year, and he’s incredible whenever he does a criminal profile.”

The more Qin Xiaolan listened, the more she felt she didn’t know Gao Yuan at all.

The Gao Yuan who was dating her, the Gao Yuan she had known for years, seemed to be nothing more than a persona he had constructed.

A deep sense of dread suddenly washed over her.

Xu Zhi looked up and saw that Qin Xiaolan’s face had gone pale. “Qin Xiaolan, what’s wrong?” he asked quickly.

“Do you think… his missing ex-wife… could he have killed her?”

A person doesn’t just go missing for this long. She wasn’t a child who could be abducted and sold somewhere.

She was a grown adult. It wasn’t like she couldn’t remember her way home.

The man she had been dating for so long might very well be a murderer. Now that she had to face this possibility, Qin Xiaolan felt a wave of fear.

Xu Zhi could see her fear, even though he also felt the possibility was extremely high.

But he still tried to console her. “We can’t be sure yet. It’s also possible she did something and is now in hiding. We can’t jump to any conclusions without evidence.”

“Mm.”

Qin Xiaolan could tell he was just trying to comfort her, but she was grateful nonetheless.

After all, they had only known each other for a few hours.

Seeing she was in a really bad state, Xu Zhi thought for a moment and said, “You seem to be in pretty bad shape. Will you be okay on your own tonight? If not, I can ask a female colleague to come and stay with you.”

Qin Xiaolan quickly replied, “I’m fine, really. I’m just in a bad mood. You should go take care of your work. I’ll have to trouble you again tomorrow.”

Having no other choice, Xu Zhi turned and left.

This small act of concern from a stranger made Qin Xiaolan feel slightly better.

She went and splashed her face with water again, staring at her reflection in the mirror. “Qin Xiaolan, don’t be so useless,” she said. “The daughters of the Qin family aren’t useless like you! Look at your eldest sister, look at Xiao Shi. Which one of them isn’t stronger than you?”

“I’ll go see him tomorrow, get to the bottom of everything, and then end it for good.”

Whether or not Gao Yuan was connected to his ex-wife’s disappearance had, after his repeated deceptions, become less important.

Logically speaking, a man who repeatedly lies to you, for any reason, even faking his own parents… is not a suitable partner.

Even if he might genuinely love you.

But he might also be genuinely dangerous.

Qin Xiaolan was unwilling to bring that danger to her family. So, even though a part of her still loved Gao Yuan, she had to make a decision.

It was just that the process of making that decision was agonizing.

Qin Xiaolan had nightmares all night. She would wake up and find herself crying for no reason. It wasn’t until the sky had fully brightened that she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She quickly got ready, and just as she finished, the doorbell rang.

It was Xu Zhi.

Xu Zhi had brought breakfast. He looked at Qin Xiaolan’s complexion with concern. “You look terrible. How about I take you to the hospital first?”

Although her face was haggard, Qin Xiaolan’s tone was firm. “No need. Let’s go to the sanatorium first.”

The New Year was almost here.

‘I’ll just consider this putting a definitive end to this relationship.’

Xu Zhi nodded and didn’t insist. After they finished eating, he drove Qin Xiaolan to a sanatorium on the outskirts of the city in a black Santana.

When they arrived at the sanatorium, Qin Xiaolan was about to get out of the car but suddenly shrank back.

Xu Zhi, who was unbuckling his seatbelt, froze. “Qin Xiaolan, what is it?”

Her face pale, Qin Xiaolan kept her back turned to the sanatorium’s entrance.

“Gao Yuan is here.”

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