114. As it turns out, this is how things truly are....

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In the photo on her phone, a tall man in a police uniform had one hand holding back the surging crowd while the other kept a beautiful woman tightly shielded behind him. The woman trembled with fear and fragility, hiding behind him, her hand still resting on his shoulder. They looked overwhelmingly intimate.

Headline: “International star Jiang Ning returns home suddenly; fans were so overly enthusiastic at the airport that a large deployment of police was sent to keep order!”

A sudden chill ran through Wen Shuang’s body. She could not believe it.

“Sister, you should know Jiang Ning, right? She’s a famous international star now. She happened to return on the day of your surgery. And at the moment you needed Officer Ji most, he got her call and rushed off to meet her.”

Wen Yao drove the blade deeper into Wen Shuang’s heart with every sentence. “Look at them in the photo—what a perfect pair! Like a heavenly prince and jade maiden, made for each other!”

“When you were in pain on the operating table, even struggling not to scream, Officer Ji was at the airport with the former first love he could never forget!”

Her own nails dug hard into her flesh.

Wen Shuang forced herself to stay calm. “Is that enough? If you’re done, shut up and leave. I need to rest.”

Her calmness was far beyond Wen Yao’s expectation. She had assumed that because Wen Shuang loved Ji Shen so much, she would go wild with hysteria the moment she heard the news, making a messy scene. If she cried out and collapsed on the floor, maybe her leg would worsen—Wen Yao had almost hoped for that.
Who would have thought Wen Shuang would remain so composed?

Wen Yao narrowed her eyes. “Wen Shuang, Officer Ji is your boyfriend. You’re not angry after hearing this?”

“You think everyone, whenever something happens, only has to throw a tantrum and act like you?” Wen Shuang said coldly.

Wen Yao’s expression darkened.

“Besides, hearsay is unreliable, and what one sees is usually true. A photo can look convincing, but the photographer can choose an angle. These words were painful, and some people may have deliberately exaggerated them.” Wen Shuang lifted her eyes evenly. “Wen Yao, if you want to see me cry and look wretched, that will have to wait for another life.”

With a sharp laugh, Wen Yao stood up. “Fine. Since you can put on such a show, I want to see how long it lasts. Wen Shuang, I’ve told you before—Ji Shen is only playing with you!”

After Wen Yao left, Wen Shuang collapsed on the bed, all strength gone.
The heart that had only just begun to heal tore open again in an instant.
She had already comforted herself: Ji Shen’s sudden disappearance that day had to be work; compared with private matters, duty must have been more important.
But it had been for Jiang Ning.

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Shivering, Wen Shuang began searching the reports from that day.

“International star returns home; airport almost turns into a stampede!”
“Heroic Criminal Investigation Chief rushes to the rescue at airport!”

In recent days, reports about Jiang Ning’s return had flooded everywhere, and Wen Shuang clicked through a few of her interview videos. Jiang Ning was truly beautiful; her beauty was gentle, soft, and disarming, a flawless beauty with no edge of aggression.

Reporter: “Miss Jiang Ning, you’ve built such a successful career abroad these years. Why decide to return so suddenly?”

Jiang Ning smiled faintly: “Because there are people and things in my country that matter deeply to me. This time, I did not want to give them up, so I have to come back.”

Reporter: “Ah, what people and what matters are so hard to let her forget?”

Jiang Ning smiled, but did not answer.

Yet through the screen, Wen Shuang saw the look in the woman’s eyes: determined, inevitable.
Even under high-definition lenses, her beauty held its ground.
This was Ji Shen’s first love.

Wen Shuang stared blankly out the window for quite a while.

“Shuang Shuang, what are you so engrossed in? I brought you the sticky-rice dumplings you like.”

Ji Shen returned from outside carrying a bag.
Wen Shuang’s appetite had been poor recently; after surgery she needed nutrition most, and Ji Shen had gone all the way to North City to buy these for her.

She turned her head away, not wanting to look at him.

Ji Shen looked puzzled.
He had clearly seen her attitude toward him grow warmer these past two days. Yet he had only gone out for a short while in the afternoon. Why was she suddenly avoiding him now?

Ji Shen sat down. “Shuang Shuang, I was out only for an hour to get those sticky-rice dumplings you usually like. I didn’t leave on purpose.”

Wen Shuang pulled back, rejecting even his touch. Her resistance was especially strong.

Ji Shen’s brows pinched. “Are you feeling unwell somewhere? I can call a doctor.”

“I can see you’re not well, Inspector Ji. You’re a very busy man. Please go out.”

Wen Shuang said in an icy tone.

Ji Shen still could not see why she was angry. He checked the ward’s entry and exit footage and found Wen Yao had come by halfway through and stayed inside for ten minutes or more.

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When she left, she wore a rather triumphant expression.
The relationship between the two sisters was delicate—one might even say troubled.
It must have been something Wen Yao said to Wen Shuang that made Wen Shuang react so suddenly.

When Ji Shen opened his phone and saw the headlines of recent days, it came to him all at once.
It had to be Wen Yao embellishing and exaggerating what happened that day in front of Wen Shuang.
Otherwise Wen Shuang would never have changed like this.

Once he understood the reason, he went in at once to explain.

But Wen Shuang only turned over and lay down again, her back to him.
From the whole of her body, she radiated a cold distance as if from far beyond the horizon.

Ji Shen stepped closer, took a deep breath, and said, “Shuang Shuang, if your anger comes from what you saw in the reports or from the whispers of people with hidden motives, I can explain.”

Wen Shuang stayed silent as if she had not heard him.

Ji Shen said again, “Silence sometimes cannot solve a problem. When conflict arises, communication is the first thing needed.”

Wen Shuang sat up at once. Her beautiful almond eyes were already red—she was plainly crying not long ago beneath the covers.

“Fine then, explain. Explain why, ten minutes before my surgery, after receiving a call from your first love, you instantly rushed off to perform your heroic rescue, and then left me there. Ji Shen, you promised you would stay by my side during my surgery—what happened?”

Before, Wen Shuang had thought Ji Shen had been called away by urgent police business and had tried to accept it.
After all, to be the partner of someone in law enforcement, one should be prepared for him to be absent at any moment.

But after learning it had been for Jiang Ning, Wen Shuang could no longer hold back.

“First, before your operation, I did receive Jiang Ning’s call, but I didn’t respond to her—I hung up. I went out afterward because I received a call from Director Wang saying a serious stampede had occurred at the airport and asking me to handle it. I had no choice. As the head of the Criminal Investigation Unit, the airport’s special-response police force was understaffed, and I was the nearest available officer, so I went!”

Ji Shen’s eyes were earnest, his voice steady.
“Shuang Shuang, I know this has been a knot in your heart. I had promised you and still didn’t come. I should have come and spoken to you afterward instead of leaving silently. The truth is the situation erupted so suddenly that I had to mobilize the team at once and head to the airport to prevent casualties.

Author’s note:
Thank you for the five-star ratings, dear—mua. Requests for updates have been coming nonstop lately. As soon as Yaoyao recovers, I’ll keep posting as quickly as I can.