When he felt the faint warmth in his arms, Qi Feng felt his heart ease a little.

He sighed slightly and gently put the things in his hand back onto the tray beside him. Then, he patted her back gently. His raspy voice contained some elements of tenderness as he explained, "I never blamed you. Even though I find it hard to keep up with you, as long as we are willing to turn back and be a little more confident with each other, all of this will be worth it."

Qi Feng's words were sensitive as he sighed. Unexpectedly, Gu Lingsha felt joy that she thought she had lost and just regained.

"Ah Feng...I'm sorry. I wasn't content, and I was too stubborn. Next time, I'll trust you more. I just hope that you would stay true to me." Gu Lingsha choked on her sobs as she blinked those teary, blue eyes and looked at Qi Feng with a faint light reflected in them. "At this point, I've got no other choice. Everything that I used to rely on is now all lost. Ah Feng, are you sure that you still want me? I...really have got nothing left anymore..."

Qi Feng paused with a sigh and lowered his head to kiss her on the head while his dark eyes flashed with a faint tenderness. He said in a low raspy voice, "Don't think too much. No matter what happens, you still have me. Just let all those other things past. I admit that I do admire Xi Xiaye, but that's just an admiration for an opponent just as how I admire Mu Yuchen. On the other hand, you are different from all the other women. Not only are you my wife, but you are also my daughter's mother."

At this point, Qi Feng suddenly stopped and reached out to hold Gu Lingsha's hand. "You should know best how I feel about relationships between men and women. I've got no time for those things, and I'm determined not to go down my father's path to avoid hurting so many women. In the end, he doesn't seem to do any better. My mother was just one of the pitiful women who ended up with him. I found out from Morrison's investigation that she loved him deeply. Perhaps, he did feel something for my mother before this, but no matter what, it couldn't compare to Wang Qin. Right from the start, she was fated to never be able to join the Qi family...

"When I grew up, I told myself that I have to be smart, and I wished for true love. First, I'd have to be prepared to give up a lot. It's not a bad thing to be a cold person. Many times, only when we live a little more selfishly can we lower the chances of getting hurt. This is first time I'm saying these things to you, and hopefully, it'll be the last too," Qi Feng said in a lowered tone, making Gu Lingsha feel gloomy too.

She had forgotten that someone as prideful and unfathomable like Qi Feng would never bring up all these unhappy things to her. Even if she had been by his side for many years, this was her first time hearing him bring up his mother and all the unhappy past.

However, it made her feel sad to see Qi Feng like this.

It was also at this moment when she suddenly felt like there was no need to be as stubborn as before. She should trust him, the way Xi Xiaye seemed to trust Mu Yuchen so much. After all, should her relationship with Qi Feng not be able to stand the test?

"But, Ah Feng, it was also because my mother was worried about these things and because of me that...I'm afraid we only have Weiwei as our only daughter. How could the Qi family...? I can't figure out why would Mother have been behind it? How could it have been her? I can't think of a reason it'd be her! Could it be just because of Hui Gu? Why did Mother hold back when she found out about Father and Lingtian's relationship seven years ago?" Gu Lingsha asked in disbelief as she lifted a hand to wipe the tears on her face away.

Qi Feng froze for a while, then smiled. "I don't know why either. Perhaps apart from these things, there were other reasons. Anyway, these answers have all left with her and they are now an unsolvable riddle. Actually, I was thinking, Mother might have had feelings for Father. Otherwise, she wouldn't have ended up on this path. Before she passed away, she said that she hated Father. If there was no so-called love, there wouldn't have been such strong hatred."

Qi Feng had always been very indifferent to romantic feelings, but for some reason, Gu Qiwu and Doris's matter moved him. He thought to himself that standing from Doris's perspective, might he have done the same in the end?

"She never thought of dragging you into it, so this time, she chose to do this to make it up to you."

As Qi Feng said this, he slowly let go of Gu Lingsha with a downcast expression. "Finish your food first, then come to the study room. I'll let you take a look at how the whole incident went down. The doctor said you're not doing too well, so you need to be more careful. Otherwise, you'll be the one who suffers," he said, and then wheeled himself around and went towards the study room.

Gu Lingsha sniffled when she watched Qi Feng's figure vanish gradually into the study room. Then, she sighed and numbly took over the steaming bowl of bird's nest soup, finishing it downheartedly.

...

After she rushed to finish half the tray of food, Gu Lingsha felt her spirits recover and she quickly got up to walk towards the study room.

Inside the study, Qi Feng was already sitting silently before his work desk, flipping through a document, seeming gloomy and unhappy. His brows were furrowed into a knot too. When he saw Gu Lingsha walk in, he handed a document to her.

"Take a look at this. This is how the whole incident is said to have gone down, including Mother's initial suspicions of Lingtian, the incident from six years ago, and everything that has happened recently. I think once you've looked through this, you might be able to understand why Mother did that. When I put myself in her shoes, it might not be hard to understand why."

Qi Feng tossed the document onto the table with a sigh and calmly picked up another set of documents before continuing to flip through them.

Gu Lingsha wavered for a moment. She bit her pale lip, then a while after, she walked over silently to pick up the document.

"Her subordinate, Glenn, is still nowhere to be found. Since the incident was exposed, police have been looking for him everywhere. If Glenn contacts you, it's best to ignore him so that you don't get implicated too. This issue is too sensitive at the moment, so we'll have to be vigilant at all times. Don't make rash decisions on other things that you can't handle either. Just leave them to me."