Jin Yuelin froze.
Her shallow breaths faltered as her wide, trembling eyes lifted to Bai Zihan.
"Do… do I want to live?"
She whispered, voice hoarse, weak, yet carrying a strange clarity beneath the fragility.
To be honest, the pain made life hardly worth clinging to.
But she knew how much her brother had sacrificed for her sake—how many things he had given up just so she could keep breathing.
If she surrendered now, wouldn't that mean trampling over all his efforts?
And perhaps, more than that—beyond all the excuses she told herself—deep down, she truly did want to live.
Otherwise, surviving until now would have been impossible.
Her lips parted again, but no sound came out.
Her throat constricted, her body shook violently, and another bout of coughing wracked her frame.
"Yuelin!"
Jin Yuanzhan's voice cracked. His grip tightened on her hand, as if he could anchor her life by sheer force of will.
Jin Yuanzhan clenched his fists, his eyes burning with desperate hope.
