After the car accident occurred, the assistant, who hadn't gone far, rushed back to the scene just in time to hear Chu Luyao's final, fragmented words before the darkness swallowed her.
"Don't... let Zhou Du... know."
The assistant acted swiftly, immediately suppressing the public outcry.
News of the car accident and Song Yuhuan's imprisonment was instantly sealed tight.
After the surgery, lying in the sterile silence of the intensive care unit, Chu Luyao drifted through a haze of anesthesia and pain. Her consciousness pulled her back... back to the past.
She was back at the university, on the day she first met Zhou Du.
She was still wearing that white cotton dress. Opposite her stood Zhou Du—tall, straight, and radiating the high-spirited energy of youth.
Chu Luyao's hands, hidden behind her back, trembled as she clutched the hem of her dress. Her heart pounded anxiously, beating like a drum against her ribs.
This time, there was no Song Yuheng by her side, nor was there a Song Yuhuan. The corners of her mouth lifted in an instinctive smile.
Zhou Du raised his hand, looking as if he were about to pat her head.
"Yaoyao, do you know what I wanted to say to you the first time I saw you?"
Zhou Du raised his eyes, which held fragments of shimmering light.
"I like you. Will you be my girlfriend?"
In Chu Luyao's mind, the scene of Zhou Du's affectionate confession at their wedding ceremony replayed.
Suppressing the heart-fluttering excitement that bounced like a deer in her chest, she stared at the Zhou Du before her with eyes full of anticipation, waiting for him to say those words of confession that belonged to her.
But Zhou Du's hand missed her entirely. It landed on the shoulder of another person.
It was as if he hadn't seen her at all. The deep, hidden love in his eyes was gone, replaced only by the polite indifference one gives a stranger.
In the dream, Zhou Du brushed past her, walking further and further away.
"Ah Du! You can't abandon me!"
"Ah Du! Didn't you love me the most? This time I won't cheat! There won't be Song Yuheng in my heart, and certainly no Song Yuhuan!"
"This time, my heart only has you! Zhou Du! Stay by my side, okay? Don't leave me..."
Chu Luyao gazed at Zhou Du's receding back, begging bitterly.
Hearing her cries, Zhou Du's figure paused for a moment. But he did not turn back. Not even a single glance.
Chu Luyao ran desperately forward. But after just two steps, her legs gave out, and her entire body crashed to the ground. She couldn't stand up anymore.
She cried and screamed Zhou Du's name, dragging her body, struggling to crawl in the direction he had left.
Zhou Du didn't love her anymore. He didn't want her anymore. She had nothing left.
"Zhou Du... Ah Du..."
In the real world, Chu Luyao's eyes were tightly closed. Her pale, bloodless face was covered in fine beads of sweat, and she bit her dry lips until they stained red with blood.
During her seven-day coma, Chu Luyao called Zhou Du's name countless times.
Chu Luyao's assistant had followed her for many years. In his heart, she had always been an invincible "Iron Lady."
Now, seeing her torture herself into this state for love, he sighed with pity. He took a video of Chu Luyao calling Zhou Du's name in her unconscious state and sent it to Zhou Du.
Zhou Du watched it. He didn't reply. He simply deleted the video.
The assistant waited for several days but received no response. He knew then that there was thoroughly no possibility left between the two of them.
When Chu Luyao woke up and heard about this, she said nothing.
She simply sat dazedly on the bed, staring out at the towering skyscrapers beyond the window for the entire day.